Invisibly Ill, Visibly Annoyed.

Creating Community: Quality Time vs Quantity of Time

It has not been my year. Whenever I feel like I’m getting my head above the water, something terrible happens and pushes me back under.

Its during times like those that I’m glad I made my word for 2018 “community.” Having a support system is the only thing that makes some things bearable. But building a support system? That can be hard. Especially when you’re a busy mom. Especially when you’re…

That Time I Live-Blogged My Botox

If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’re probably aware that I’ve had Botox done.

No, not cosmetic Botox. I had Botox for migraine.

See, I’ve dealt with migraine since I was in kindergarten, and I’ve had chronic migraine for at least five or six years. I also have chronic daily headaches, which is surprising to many people because like, a migraine is a bad headache, right?

WRONG. Migraine is…

Dying doesn’t seem beautiful.

Death is hard— for the person dying, for the carers, for those left behind. Death can make us hard.

My Pawpaw died last night. It was hard.

It makes us raw.

Death wears down the careless callus we rub onto our heart.

With every new tragedy unfolding, our hearts build a callus, like hands rough from plowing the patch of ground my Pawpaw used to grow tomatoes in.…

Creating Community: Back to the Basics

My focus this year is on creating and inspiring community. So far I’ve been reaching out more  to people I want to create or strengthen relationships with, and attending more events I would normally skip. A few weeks of nasty sickness have held us back from socializing the way I would like to, but it’s let me focus on something else: getting back to the basics.

In my experience, community really…

Yesterday, I was stressed to my limit.

I was hosting a board game party, but everything that could possibly go wrong was going wrong. Several friends suffered terrible, unfair things this week. Justin was sick this week. Critter was sick this week. I hadn’t cleaned. I forgot to buy disposable cups.

I was rushing around, trying to make the house look like civilized people lived in it, when I found…

If you’re on social media at all, you’ve seen it. Those people who decide to forgo resolutions and instead choose a word to focus their intentions on. Some people choose words like “growth,” “wellness,” or “light.” Some choose words like “kindness,” “grace,” or “peace.” These are all great words.

I do a mixture of resolutions and a focus word. Having both really helps me set the course of my…

This Friendsgiving, I was looking for a main dish that was a stunner. I wanted something that was easy, looked hard, wasn’t expensive, could feed a crowd, was gluten free, vegan, and tasted great. I know. I felt like I was searching for a unicorn.

While browsing Pinterest, I came across several recipes that caught my eye. One was for a wild rice and sausage stuffing. One was for stuffed acorn…

Winter brings a special set of health woes. That’s why, every winter, I make myself a “Winter Wellness” box. I include lots of things I’ll need to stay healthy over the cold winter months, and a few treats for when the gloom and grey get me down!

As someone with Classical Ehlers Danlos, I have to take special care of my skin during the winter, when it’s even more prone to dryness and injury. For…

Anyone who knows me well is aware of two of my great loves in the edible arena: tea and tomatoes. Iced tea, sweet tea, hot tea, tea lattes, I’ll drink them. Coffee, hot cocoa, and lemonade hold a close second in my heart, but my first true drinkable love is tea. As for food, anything savory, salty, local, and fresh is good. But if you throw in some tomatoes- and not those white, gritty store…

Southside in Chattanooga, Tennessee, used to be a food desert. To fight the influx of fast food restaurants and convenience stores moving in to take advantage of the lack of healthy food, Enzo’s Grocery was born. Enzo’s enjoyed moderate success as a neighborhood grocery, but attracted few customers outside of the area. In June, it was announced that my favorite grocery was closing it’s doors.…

One of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat during mine and J’s weekly date day is Good Dog on Northshore. I’m not sure if it’s the fun menu- seriously, gourmet hot dogs?- the funky decor, or the fact that it just tastes pretty good. No matter what the reason is, whenever we’re not feeling adventurous enough to try out a new place, Good Dog is our safe bet. They’re gluten-free, vegan, and…

Gluten Free Vegan “Sushi” Bowls

Have you ever made a recipe and after taking the first bite, wondered why you had never made it before? That’s what happened last night, when Justin and I attempted these super easy gluten free and vegan “sushi” bowls. We had seen recipes floating around the blogosphere forever, but since we really only attempt one new recipe a week- sometimes two if we’re feeling adventurous- it took us a while…

Gluten Free at P.F. Chang’s

For Justin’s birthday, we got a gift card to P.F. Chang’s. This was awesome, because we love P.F. Chang’s, and not awesome, because we’re never near the P.F. Chang’s in our area. Yesterday, after a particularly stressful day and a mishap involving some homemade beef stew, we decided to treat ourselves and head on out to the mall area for some delicious gluten-free Chinese food. Now, I hadn’t…

Today, my mom and I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for a Gluten and Allergen Free Wellness Event. My mom was there to blog about the event, and I was there to consume as many free samples as possible. With over twenty vendors and sponsors, there was something everyone could enjoy. I loved that most vendors not only offered gluten free options, but many of them were vegan, low-sodium (which is…

Justin and I had an apartment together for about a week before we realized we had sorely over-estimated our storage space. Clothes were scattered everywhere, waiting for a drawer or closet to land in. After several days of hoping the mess would go away if we denied it long enough, we sucked it up and headed to Target to buy organizational supplies.

Target was right across from a Petsmart, and on…

Fall foods are, undoubtedly, the best foods. Sure, summer has salads and tomatoes, and winter has eggnog, but fall- fall is special. From pumpkin spice everything to butternut squash and chai latte, from chili to apples to pears, fall is the best time to be hungry. It’s cool enough for a hearty meal, but still warm enough to enjoy a bowl of ice cream in a seasonal flavor. Seriously, if you can’t…

As you know, I spent the past two days wandering around Nashville. Other than getting a new diagnosis- myasthenia gravis- I also got to see some sights, meet my friend Lauren in person, and eat some delicious gluten free food. When I told Lauren I would be visiting Nashville, she suggested that we have lunch. I was excited, because I love meeting my chronically ill friends in person, and my mom…