#food

Mar 29, 2019
4 min

Happy Husband Menu

My hubby’s birthday was this week and I wanted to surprise him by freshening up our patio. We had this potentially lovely patio that just needed a little love to become our own oasis. We had nowhere to sit, we had nowhere to eat or set drinks, we had nowhere to accommodate guests. So with my idea and my surrogate MIL we made magic happen. After a trip to athome and Home Depot we had what we needed to transform our outdoor space. While my MIL got to work on putting the tables

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Why Doing the Hard Things As A Mom is Necessary

Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 21, 2018
4 min

Why Doing the Hard Things As A Mom is Necessary

Mom shaming vs. constructive criticism Oftentimes as moms we get overwhelmed, frustrated, and our stress runs high. Everyone is telling us how to parent, book after book, blog after blog, advice after advice. Whatever happened to listening to our intuition? What ever happened to confidence as a parent, that what we choose to do is right for our kid… right for our family. Why do we as moms care so much about what other people think and say about how we parent? I am embarrassed

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Lauren Wiatrek

Apr 21, 2018
7 min

Whole30 Flirty and Thriving

For real though, this has been the best thing I have done for myself this year. It has been a long time coming for me to get my eggs in a basket for this commitment. I took long enough justifying and claiming I needed this and that. Finally, in March I made the decision to start Whole30 in April, so all of March I had time to start eliminating certain bad foods and to wrap my head around it mentally. That part I think was key, it is too hard to jump from burgers and cheesecak

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Lauren Wiatrek

Mar 6, 2018
5 min

I will not be silent.

It is time to be real, to be transparent about my journey. Have you ever cared so deeply about something that it just becomes a part of you? It becomes like a sensation, that starts in your heart and spreads until you take action and DO something about what you truly care about. Over the last nine months my life has turned upside down… my health has always been important to me, so to be diagnosed with breast cancer with no genetic correlation just baffled me. Then I started t

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Lauren Wiatrek

Feb 14, 2018
2 min

I am okay with Valentine's Day

All I have seen lately are moms snappish about how much they hate Valentine’s Day… it bums me out. I mean don’t get me wrong, I get it. We don’t eat candy in this house, so that aspect of VDay makes me cringe… (Halen STILL asks where her Halloween candy is…it is still hiding at the top of my closet…) Sure, Valentine’s Day may seem like a “Hallmark” holiday these days, thanks to grocery stores and Walgreens for splattering cherry red and pepto bismal all over their stores. But

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These are a few of my favorite things...

Lauren Wiatrek

Dec 20, 2017
5 min

These are a few of my favorite things...

During this time of year, I relish certain small treasures, I truly try to stop and soak up the little sparks of joy in my life. My slow morning ritual… Halen is the first up in our house and I often get up with her. I start coffee, turn on the Christmas tree lights, snuggle up on the couch with cozy blankets and turn on a Christmas movie (How the Grinch Stole Ch ristmas has played 20 times in our house so far) thank you Netflix for only having four mainstream Christmas movie

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Lauren Wiatrek

Nov 20, 2017
3 min

Silos + Homestead

I had three weeks to fill my schedule with fun excursions, before it was time for my mastectomy. One thing on my fall to do list was to drive with my mom and girlies to Waco and visit Magnolia Market and the Silos. We set the date for early November and g ot on the road by 9:30. We arrived easily making the drive from Austin and parked on the street nearby. Our first stop was at their bakery, ordering coffee (I was a little disappointed in no real half n half like at coffee s

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Lauren Wiatrek

Nov 18, 2017
8 min

Ann Arbor

After my diagnosis with breast cancer, my husband and I decided that choosing experiences over stuff was vital. The first opportunity we had to getaway we took it. After 18 months of two children we finally had a chance to getaway, just us. We chose Ann Arbor. I wrote about much of it in my previous blog about Michigan football. But I’ve always wanted to write about the places I visit, so here we go. On Friday, we landed in Detroit, Michigan, we were greeted with crisp and co

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Lauren Wiatrek

Sep 29, 2017
6 min

Pink Warrior Angels

When I started this life with cancer, I had no idea the mental and emotional toll it would take. It all seemed very physical to me at first. The first chemotherapy medicine I was given really knocked me off my feet physically, (not to mention balancing two little girls in the mix) and of course trying to understand that I had cancer was emotional. As my body started to feel better, I felt pretty good overall. Months went by and people would ask me how I was, and I always resp

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Lauren Wiatrek

Aug 1, 2017
5 min

The Breast is Yet to Come

It has been difficult for me to accept charity from others on this new journey. I am always on the other side, I prefer the other side. But obviously, we are in a place where we need support. This isn’t just about me, but my family, my daughters. Sometime in the summer The Breast is Yet to Come event was born, a few friends came together and suddenly they were on to something. It was interesting being 1) on the outs of the planning (I was an event planner for a long time and

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My Pity Party For One Doesn't Include a Cherry Mojito

Lauren Wiatrek

Jul 27, 2017
3 min

My Pity Party For One Doesn't Include a Cherry Mojito

As I sit here, with a kid’s movie playing in the background, my girls pretending to build Olaf on the playroom floor, hubby off trying to continue the process of getting our house settled, I try to keep up. I try to keep up with the active parenting, but my brain and body are disconnected. I yearn for normalcy. I yearn to be able to pick my kids up and go to a fun playdate without worrying about my low white blood cell count. I yearn to eat a fresh summer salad with the color

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Buh Bye Red Rollercoaster of (Not so Much) Fun

Lauren Wiatrek

Jul 22, 2017
3 min

Buh Bye Red Rollercoaster of (Not so Much) Fun

This past Thursday, I finished my final AC infusion. This is the icky medicine that is harshest on the body, the one that makes hair fall out and the constant nauseated feeling. We call it bubble guts. It just feels bleh and doesn’t really go away. Some of the medicine I take helps, food helps, and my DiGize does a pretty good job…but this medicine is powerful stuff. THANK GOD, I am done with it (praying forever and ever). When I went to my infusion on Thursday, I wanted to t

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jul 13, 2017
5 min

"Mommy I got you."

I was terrified to show Halen my bald head. She didn’t respond well to my initial haircut and was pretty concerned about my head shaving. I convinced her it was for Mommy to feel better and it would keep me cool in the summertime. So, when my hair actually fell out, I was pretty nervous to show her. Obviously, I had to show her eventually. One day when she came home from a playdate, I took her in my arms, told her at the doctor I got another haircut and slipped off my hat. He

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jul 4, 2017
5 min

Pickles & Peanut Butter

I am a foodie at heart. Food brings me joy. Now when I say that I mean…good for you, wholesome, (mostly) nutritious, made with love, homemade, homegrown, farm to plate food. I love creating beautiful dishes out of an array of ingredients. I created a food blog right after I got married, and loved posting about all the dishes I crafted. Somehow life got busy (what…?) and it went on the back burner as we moved and had our babies. But, my passion for cooking is still in my heart

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 30, 2017
3 min

It takes a village

Many think of this phrase when it comes to raising children, and is no doubt truth. But lately this phrase is how we are managing our lives right now, in this chapter of my life. We have so many different people involved to help our day run smoothly (who I firmly believe we would not be able to function without). Right when anyone is diagnosed with cancer you don't just have one doctor, suddenly you choose a team of doctors to work with you. Breast Surgeon- she is the first p

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 28, 2017
3 min

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

I am almost one week past my second infusion... yesterday was a really sleepy day. I took two solid naps and was completely out of it. Good for my body to fully rest I suppose. Since Friday I have been in a strange mental space, I have lost all my hair and it's a milestone no one can quite prepare you for. Yes it is "just hair" but my hair defined so much of who I was physically, my long, thick hair...it was one of the physical attributes I was known for wherever I would go.

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Eat Pie First: Unsolicited Advice from a Cancer Patient

Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 23, 2017
7 min

Eat Pie First: Unsolicited Advice from a Cancer Patient

I truly never thought I would be in this position. I am still finding it pretty odd that this reality has become my life and soon my new “normal”. I am sure as my hair starts falling out soon, I will have to grip with this situation and know that it will not stop from becoming mine. When anyone is dealt a hand like this, you quickly start to think differently. Life will never be the same. Experts always talk about a fight or flight as an attitude when tough obstacles arise. A

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 21, 2017
2 min

All the yes.

On this journey, I have learned to say yes. Even if I wasn’t sure. I grew up as a “yes” girl always wanting to experience something new and never wanting to miss out. But I veered away from her as I became an adult and a mom, trying to be a good steward of my money and time. But there is no reason why I couldn’t have said, “Yes!” More often. Makes you think of the movie, Yes Man. And it’s quite a concept, especially for people like the character Jim Carey plays. But in this j

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 18, 2017
5 min

To My Husband,

The girls are jumping on your belly smothering you with kisses, they have donned you with hat of some sort and placed a tea cup in your hand. Your smile is big as ever, and bright, showing this is exactly where you want to be. I sit on the couch and watch this all transpire, wishing I had the energy to join the wrestling match of snuggles. You amaze me. Our marriage, just like every other has not been a cake walk, but we’ve always been dedicated. We knew what we wanted and we

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Lauren Wiatrek

Jun 16, 2017
5 min

Holistic Sidekick

When we first found out about my cancer diagnosis, we did research on the best diet to be on. We saw a lot about anti-inflammatory…no dairy, no gluten, no sugar. So we felt that was the best way to go until we met with our nutritionist and dietician. Our nutritionist is a very interesting guy and had a lot of data to back up his thinking. You could just tell this is what he loved to do, help people eat better for their personal lifestyle, whatever that may be. For me obviousl

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