I was noticing last night that there are so many holiday movies that just get a little too close to the heart.  And because they are movies that come around and around, they remind me of my parents in some way—well that’s good, and a little bad, because I am not shopping for them this year.

So here is my choice for the top 5 movies that are just fun, for the holidays:

1.  25th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live

2.  Meet the Fockers

3. 40 year old Virgin

4.  Some Like it Hot

5.  A Fish called Wanda

The best thing one can do when feeling worried, or sad…is laugh.  There is some chemical release in the brain that takes away the blues.  It’s a fact.  Rent these 5 movies, and you might forget your worries for a moment.

The first time I went for a site inspection at the Stanford Hospital, I sat in my car to catch my courage—bad memories of hospitals.  Yet, today I look forward to my first trunk show, tomorrow, at Stanford Hospital (Nov. 19th—Atrium level, 10-5pm).  I have a few new things to show for the holidays.

Like these MoMA borderless floating frames.  They are substantial pieces of art that hold 2 photos (one on each side) that seem to float in the air.  One could even use smaller photos and get more in—which makes these frames especially nice in a hospital, or office.

When I was in Paris, I noticed flower shops displayed flowers in plastic bags filled with water—that way you didn’t need a vase for your hotel room.  When I found these plastic vases that simply fill up with water, I thought they would be flimsy, but no…they are pretty strong…and look fantastic—even nicer than the Paris version because they are reusable. I need to admit, here and now, I MUST have flowers in my room when I travel.  It’s something I picked up a long time ago…flowers just promise a nicer day.

So if you are in the neighborhood of the Atrium at Stanford Hospital, come and visit me tomorrow!  I will have free treats and very pretty Wellness Gifts all around me.

This will be my second holiday season without my parents, and already I am feeling the need to get through the next few weeks quickly—sad too because this used to be my favorite time of year.  Here a are a few tips of what helped me most during the first year of grieving:

1. Do something different, break tradition.  You don’t need to get out the decorations this year if it seems too hard.  I did something simple…I just put a string of orange lights on my mantle.  I found the glow of them to be especially comforting throughout the day and night.  BTW, the color orange has been proven to actually make you feel better.

2.  Do something nice for yourself every single day. Go to the grocery store and buy 5 things:  apple cider, cinnamon sticks, star anis, and 2 oranges.  16 cups juice, 10 2″ sticks of cinnamon, 8 star anis, and grate the rind of 2 oranges.  Heat for 10 minutes. Sip on this for a while.  The house smells good, and it feels good to have something warm on your throat.

3.  Wear warm socks all the time.  It helps.

4.  Don’t watch the news.

5.  Try and sleep. Consider a broken heart to be a little like major surgery, it takes a long time to heal.

I’ll give you more ideas later…this is enough for now.  Remember, forgive yourself for everything…being late, sleeping in, not washing your hair (it does help though), eating too much bread.  Sugar actually causes depression, so watch it…

Just a day at a time.

Yes, it’s TRUE.  I am offering FREE shipping in the SF Bay Area for the month of November.  Why?  Because this is where CAREBOX™ was born, and SF is my favorite city outside Paris—and because November is also my Dad’s birthday month.  We all need to celebrate the small things in life.

So, here’s how you do it:

1.  Go to www.carebox.com

2.  Select your gift

3. On the check out page, calculate the shipping by entering your zip code (center column)

4. Go to the left column, and put in code NOVSF.

5.  Click on apply discount.

6.  Go back to center column and check on free shipping  (the choice with the $0)

7.  Voila!

Thank you for your support of CAREBOX™ and I hope you enjoy free shipping this month.

Christine

A stay in the hospital is boring, lonely and depressing (except of you are having a baby)! TV is not all that satisfying, and magazines and books are only good for a couple hours at a time.  There are long periods of waiting for something or somebody, punctuated with shorts spurts of uncomfortable activity—the best idea is to get out as quick as you can before getting more sick.

After spending amazing amounts of time in hospitals with both parents, I created CAREBOX™ filled with gifts for people who are in need, but what if you have limited funds, or need something quick.  Consider these ideas:

1. An eye mask and/or ear plugs. Don’t even imagine a hospital is quiet at night.  Neither one of my parents slept much at all, and they always complained of people coming in and out of their rooms.

2.  Cool socks.  Yeah, they give you pastel socks, but they make you feel worse.  I like the ones with the rubber things on the bottom so there is no crashing on the way to the bathroom.

3. Good shampoo, familiar toothpaste, nice cream, a good file, or a brush.  Seems so obvious, and it’s a little thing, but Wow!  It makes an amazing difference!  The hospital has the worst stuff anywhere.

4.  Better things to eat and drink.  My mom loved her favorite milk shakes, coffee and green tea.  My dad loved jelly beans.  Snacks are cheerful, and comforting when you have a few of them around.

5.  Bring a blanket from home, it’s amazing how chilly it gets, and there is something so good about familiar smells.

Of course it goes without saying that company really helps, but when somebody is really sick, they can only take so much, so keep visits short and sweet.

And I always say, wrapping something makes a difference.

I hope nobody you know, or even you, need to go to the hospital, but if it happens, I hope these ideas can help with a smile.

My Cute Dad

November is a special month because my dad was born on November 10, and because it’s lung cancer month, and I lost my dad to small cell lung cancer.

I was in Great Falls, MT last weekend for another funeral, and had a chance to drive around and say hello to the place where my dad and mom were born—and where I spent so much of my childhood.  WOW.  As I am older now and looking back, I find it striking how brave my parents really were.  They came from poor families and were able to leave home at a very early age to find success and adventure in a world very far away from MT.

In fact, my dad managed to travel around the world many times during his life.  When so many of his peers stayed in his small town, my dad managed to climb to the top of Uluru in the middle of Australia, scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, and trec across Europe more than once.  I loved this about him.  His curiosity about other nations and people.  He was much braver than me.

We were in Sydney, Australia once over Father’s Day, and it took everything I had just to keep up with him.  One day in particular still brings a laugh.  We had a map, but he insisted we not refer to it as we began an early morning walk across the city.  Every time I wanted to look at the map, he made fun of me, and asked about my sense of adventure.  Well, we walked forever and ever and never seemed to get anywhere until finally we had this “moment” when I asked if he had a plan about where were going, and he said yes.  To the water.  I asked if he was referring to any landmarks if we weren’t going to use a map, and he said yes.  The tower.  I looked at the tower and knew in a flash we were never going to get to the water because the tower was round and were just going round and round in a circle!

Well, I had one of the best laughs I can remember..and he turned a thousand shades of red, giggled, and we finally pulled out the map!  That was the thing about my dad though…we still had an amazing adventure together, filled with great conversation, even as we walked in circles.  He could make anything fun.

Lavender Pillowcase with a Cause

Did you know that a silk or satin pillowcase helps keep your hair untangled and prettier?

This soft poly-silk charmeuse case has a removable Lavender sachet in the hem that helps bring on a deep, peaceful sleep while preventing bedhead. Cool.

One of the worst parts about watching my mom suffer with cancer was about her hair.  She only had a short time to live, and chose the no-therapy approach, so she didn’t lose it—which was good because she loved her hair and needed the final dignity of looking pretty when people came to her room.

I was always amazed at how tangled it got and how long it took to comb out each day. But seeing her smile as she laid there in pain—feeling all good about her appearance—helped her accept the rapidity of her failing body somehow. And it helped me too because it was a small thing I could do that made a difference.

Both my parents craved old fashioned candy when they were sick—I think they needed comfort from their past. They ate lots of Hershey’s Hugs and kisses—the happiest candies I know (made in the USA too). I wanted to share this beautiful gift with you, so I am holding an essay contest this month (ends Oct 30), so some lucky person could win a real treat.

All you have to do is go to www.carebox.com, click on the Hugs and Kisses Contest, and follow along.  Write a short statement explaining to WHOM you would send a CAREBOX™, which CAREBOX you like the most, and finally, Why you have chosen this person to win.  That’s it.  Enjoy!

A real edelweiss flower

Our flower

A perfect hat, cancer or not

A good hat is very hard to find. Especially if you’ve lost your hair during breast cancer treatments. It needs to be softer than soft, not rub your ears until they are sore, and have a good shape so your head doesn’t look funny. When my cousin directed me to two nurses in Bozeman, MT. who make ski hats used as “chemo” hats because of their softness and beauty, I was impressed.  And when I could design it myself with an edelweiss flower (a symbol of strength), it was perfect for my Club Pink CAREBOX™.  I love the fact that it’s handmade here in the USA by two of the most caring nurses I know.

A portion of the proceeds for the Club Pink CAREBOX™ go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to find a cure for breast cancer.

This week I am celebrating my mom.  It was one year ago on October 5th, that I lost her to lung cancer, and she is my biggest inspiration to find a cure. She was the kind of girl who could walk into a room, and everybody just stopped and looked at her—just something about her.  Not only was she beautiful, but she had the quickest wit, and maybe the best laugh in the world.  Spend an hour with her and she had you believing you could do anything.  And it wasn’t just me…it was anybody. She loved to go to the Pancake House, isn’t that funny?  She just loved waffles, and she liked to sit and talk for hours, and imagine this…she was able to keep your attention the entire time.

There have been many times we got there for breakfast, and then had lunch, and when dinner came around, we were still there…the only brake was having to go to the bathroom, which was an inconvenience.  We’d go through every shift of people, and they all kept her coffee warmed all day and night.  Sounds crazy, doesn’t it, but I am telling you, these were some of the most fun times I have ever had—and I have traveled the world many times over!  That’s how engaging she was.

Oh, I could go on and on about her, and I will…but I just wanted to introduce you to her so you could understand why it’s so important for me to find a cure for lung cancer. 

I didn’t know what to do besides cry at this important anniversary, so I decided to go to NM to fly high in some red balloon and blow a kiss to her.  She’d think this is a goofy idea, and would much prefer me inside a pancake house…but I like the idea.

OK, about these photos, the top one was taken only a few months before she died. The other one is with me and my mom.  She has a funny look on her face, I am certain she was saying something like—take the picture!  Patience was not her best trait…darn, I think I got that from her!

I hope you all stay well and thrive, OH!  and enter my Show You Care contest.  You could probably seriously use a Hugs and Kisses CAREBOX™.  Hurry and win it before I eat all the candy!