Tag Archives: family

Happy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Comments Off

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m spending today with my mom’s side of the family in San Diego this year. I’ll be doing a recap of my Thanksgiving (and my Grandma’s birthday dinner) soon. But I wanted to take today to share some things that I am thankful for. I’ve been noticing people posting one thing they are thankful for every day on Facebook. I haven’t been doing that this year, but I’ve decided to do a top 10 list of things that I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful that I have a family that loves me and supports me.

2. I am thankful that even though my mom is going through chemo right now, she is doing amazing and I am every reason to believe that at the end of her treatments that she will be cancer-free.

3. I am thankful that even though I might not love my day job, it pays my bills and allows me to do what I love.

4. I am thankful that I have acting in my life, something that I am so passionate about and couldn’t imagine not doing.

5. I am thankful that I have amazing agents who submit me for great parts and believe that I am going to book something big in the near future.

6. I am thankful for the traveling that I got to do this year (and that my parents could pay for it because I would never be able to afford Maui on my own right now).

7. I am thankful that I am healthy enough to do the 5Ks that I’ve done so far (I’ve got one more in a week).

8. I am thankful that I found a workout that I love and that there are instructors there who truly care about me and want me to get in the best physical shape that I can be.

9. I am thankful that I have amazing friends who support me in what I do and are there to cheer me up when I need it.

10. I am thankful for this blog. It has been like therapy for me. I get out things that sometimes are too hard to say out loud. And I feel like by sharing these things, I have been able to get closer to my friends and family and not feel like I am hiding a part of myself.

So those are the top 10 things I am thankful for. I’m definitely thankful for more than that, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you all! I hope that you get to spend today with people who you love and you have a chance to reflect on the things that you are thankful for this year (feel free to share some in the comments if you’d like to!).

Comments Off on Happy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For)

Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged 5K, family, list, SoulCycle, spin class, thankful, Thanksgiving

24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family)

Posted on November 20, 2013 | Comments Off

The original plan for my dad’s weekend in LA was for him to stay until Sunday night. We had a full weekend planned with the concert on Friday, spin class on Saturday, and we were going to check out a couple of museums on Sunday.

But the night before my dad flew down here, he called me with some bad news. My dog, Dante, was diagnosed with a blood vessel cancer and it was pretty advanced. The vet wasn’t sure if Dante would make it that much longer, so my dad wanted to see if I wanted to come home last weekend. After some debating, it was decided that my dad would come down here and then he and I would fly back home on Saturday after spin class and then I would come back to LA on Sunday evening so I could make it to work on Monday.

On Thursday, my dog had a surgery on his leg to remove blood clots (the blood vessels in his leg burst and made his leg very swollen). He wasn’t eating after his surgery and was not really able to walk. When I picked up my dad on Friday, the situation was seeming very grim. Dante still had not had food and he was acting pretty out of it.

But by Friday afternoon, one of our neighbors brought over some wet dog food for Dante to try (my mom couldn’t leave Dante alone to go to the store) and he finally ate something. Later on Friday, my mom emailed me this picture of Dante looking a bit more like his usual self.

He still wasn’t really able to walk too well, but that probably had a lot to do with the giant compression bandage on his leg.

On Saturday, before my dad and I got home, Dante got his big bandage taken off. His incision still has a bunch of stitches (that have to stay in until Thanksgiving), but he was able to walk a lot more. Once my dad and I got home, he was walking a little bit through the house, but since he had just taken a pain pill, he was a little drugged out.

On Sunday, we took him for a little walk outside in the neighborhood to help stretch his leg and to make sure that he stays strong. We usually take him around this one particular long block near our house, and when we got to that corner, he tried to turn the direction that we usually go. So even though he was still limping and walking funny, I felt better seeing that he wanted to just do what is normal to him.

It was tough to leave Dante on Sunday evening. We really don’t know what the future holds for him. My parents are taking him to a dog oncologist this week and we should have a better idea of what we will do then. And even if the oncologist says that he doesn’t have much longer, that doesn’t mean it’s true. There are miracles out there. One of the dogs that is part of the pet therapy program that my mom runs (and Dante is practically the mascot of) had a form of bone cancer and his owner was told that his dog only had 6 months left. That was over a year ago.

But for now, my family is focused on making Dante as happy as possible and giving him the best quality of life we can (which for now means only wet dog food and people food, no more kibble for him). I’m hoping that I will get to see Dante again when I go home next month, but for now, I’m just grateful that my parents paid for me to go home for one day just so I could be with my dog.

Comments Off on 24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family)

Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

Tagged cancer, dog, family, flying

Time For Another Dad Visit (or How Much Can We Get Done In One Day)

Posted on November 18, 2013 | 2 comments

My dad was in town this weekend. This trip was planned back in the spring when my dad picked out a show that he wanted to go to at my work. So after I won tickets for being top salesperson, I got us tickets for the show.

My dad flew in early Friday morning. We now have a tradition of going to IHOP for breakfast whenever he flies in, so we headed there first. After breakfast, we headed out to Burbank to visit one of my dad’s childhood friends. This friend is very into gardening (like my dad), so he wanted to show off what he had been working on at his house.

While we were there, we mentioned that I was trying to replant some of my plants in my front yard, so he took us to a plant store and my dad and I found a new pot that we could use in my front yard.

After the visit in Burbank, my dad and I headed back to my house to do a few projects that I’ve been wanting to do.

First was finally hanging up the medal holder that my Aunt Cindy gave to me a few months ago.

I think it’s looking pretty good with all the medals that I’ve gotten so far this year!

The next project was a bit of a surprise for me. My dad makes these planters that are covered in bark and I got one from him back in 2010 that I have outside. But over the years, my dad has learned how to make them better and better. So he brought me a new bark planter, but this time it was a small one that could go inside. So we put it on my dining room table and made a quick run to Michael’s to buy some silk flowers to put in it.

It really looks nice in my dining room and adds a lot of color to my house.

The final project was to work on replanting my outside plants and adding in the new plants that my dad’s friend gave to me. Since my dad is much better and all the gardening type stuff, he did most of the work while I tried to help with the design. I think that all my planters look pretty nice now.

Finally, after all of that, we had a bit of time to relax before heading over to my work for the show. We saw Arturo Sandoval that night. He had a 20 piece band with him and it was such an amazing show! Lots of high energy music and our seats were practically on the stage! It was a great evening.

Coming up in my next post: my dad goes to SoulCycle with me for the first time!

2 Comments

Posted in Family, Fun Stuff

Tagged 5K, dad, family, plants, visit

The Sorority Nobody Wants To Belong To (or Getting Support From Strangers)

Posted on November 13, 2013 | Comments Off

I wanted to share another story from the weSPARK 5K this past Sunday.

After the 5K was over, I spent some time at the expo by the finish line. I was having some serious shin splints (I think it was due to the crazy hill) and I wanted to stretch for a bit before I sat in my car to drive home.

I decided to watch the medals being given out to the winners of the 5K and 10K and the top 3 finishers in each age group. They didn’t announce the times for the winners, but I know that they finished extremely quickly.

As I was watching, the woman who got 2nd place in her age group approached me and asked me if I would take a photo of her and her friend. Of course I said yes. The friend of the 2nd place winner (sadly, I never got either of their names) had never done a 5K before this race, so they were both celebrating.

I congratulated them both and then noticed the hats that they both were wearing which said that they were breast cancer survivors. I mentioned to them that my mom is going through treatment for breast cancer, and it was like instantaneously we were friends.

They both asked me what type of cancer and what stage it is. They wanted to know what treatments she’s had already and what treatments she has coming up. And they wanted to know how she was doing. I shared her information with them and they both shared their stories with me.

While I’ve noticed that since I’ve shared my mom’s story with others that people have been sharing their stories with me. There are friends that I never knew had family members with breast cancer who have told me how well their family members have been doing. I know this might sound horrible, but it’s almost like now I’m a member of a secret club or sorority. As soon as someone who has gone through this learns what my family is going through, they take me under their wing.

It’s kind of nice because this is a big unknown for my family and I appreciate getting advice and hearing stories of how well people are doing after cancer.

I know that sometimes it seems like everything is about breast cancer and not about other cancers (and I’ve read plenty of stories about pink items not going to support breast cancer charities). But I appreciate that so many people are willing to share their stories with me and giving me and my family support.

And to the ladies that I spoke to on Sunday, I’m sorry that I didn’t get your names and properly introduce myself. But thank you for sharing your stories with me and for wishing my mom the best.

Comments Off on The Sorority Nobody Wants To Belong To (or Getting Support From Strangers)

Posted in Family, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged 5K, breast cancer, family, race, support

It’s Always Unexpected (or Sending Positive Energy To A Co-Worker)

Posted on October 25, 2013 | Comments Off

So we’ve been back at work since Tuesday, and while not everyone has been at every shift, there’s been one co-worker who hasn’t been back yet. I knew he just had some dental work, and we all thought that he was recovering from that.

But yesterday, he came into work to talk to our boss about something. Then he came out and told us the news: he has liver cancer.

I’m not sharing who this is to protect his privacy (I didn’t ask him if I could blog about him). But even with this person being anonymous, I’m hoping that we can all share some positive energy his way.

When he told me the news, the next thing he wanted to talk about was my mom. He knew that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer before we all went on unemployment. And he was always asking about her and hoping for the best.

My mom is extremely lucky to have a lot of amazing people in her life. Everyone I know is sending her positive energy and healing thoughts every day. My friend Erin (who does my hair) made a donation to breast cancer research in my mom’s name this week. And my birthday twin Joanna dedicated her yoga practice one day to my mom. I know that every bit of this is helping. I’m not the sort of person to believe in prayer (I was raised very very reform Jewish and we never really went to temple), but I believe in positive thoughts and energy. And I know that it works. My mom is the proof.

I can only hope that my co-worker has the same type of people in his life. Of course I’m going to be thinking about him everyday and sending positive thoughts his way, but I know that the more people who do it the more power it has. This particular co-worker doesn’t really use the internet so I don’t really have a way to connect with him while he’s getting treatment. But I’m still going to send him positive energy even if he doesn’t know about it.

And what I’m asking of all of you is one simple thing. If you are sending positive thoughts, healing energy, or prayers to my mom; can you just add my co-worker to your thoughts? I know that you all don’t know him, but I know that he would appreciate it.

Thanks everyone.

Comments Off on It’s Always Unexpected (or Sending Positive Energy To A Co-Worker)

Posted in Family, Health, Tough Stuff, Work

Tagged breast cancer, cancer, family, job, positivity

The Big Event! (or The Reason I’m In Maui)

Posted on September 13, 2013 | 3 comments

On Tuesday the 10th, it was finally the wedding day! (BTW, this is a very photo heavy post, but I think you will all love the photos.)

Since the wedding didn’t start until 4:30, my brother and the rest of my family spent the morning relaxing at our rental house.

My parents and I got ready at the house, but my brother got ready at the hotel he had reserved for that night. We all went to the hotel together and just before we left for the wedding, we got this picture of all of us.

Yes, I wore that dress to Marie and Chris’s wedding last year, but Krystle wanted me to wear it. Her mom, my mom, and I all wore lace dresses so I think she wanted us to match a bit.

We then drove 5 minutes down the road for the wedding. It looked just as beautiful as it did for the rehearsal the day before.

While we waited in the air-conditioned bar, guests started to show up. Ross had a couple of friends from elementary school and college there.

And the guys got him this gift for his wedding.

Finally, it was time for the wedding to start. I walked with my parents down the aisle and took our seats in the first row. Then Ross was there waiting for his bride.

Because the sun was in our eyes, it was tough for me to get photos of the wedding (I’m sure the professional photos will look awesome though). I did get one that turned out nicely.

It was a pretty quick ceremony (they did write their own vows though). And before you knew it, the officiant was announcing the new Dr. and Mrs. Levin!

We all headed back up the aisle to celebrate the wedding.

I got a picture with my new sister.

And of course a picture of the bling.

Then the family headed over to the side for the official pictures. I tried to snap a couple of my own between shots. This one is of me, my brother, and our cousin Adam.

Then Ross and Krystle went off to take their photos alone and the rest of us went to enjoy cocktail hour with an amazing sunset.

Just as cocktail hour was coming to a close, Ross and Krystle joined us again.

And we headed inside for dinner.

I was seated at the head table with the rest of the immediate family. It was nice that we all got some time to chat because I know how tough it can be at some weddings.

Dinner was 4 courses (when you counted cake). And it was seriously delicious!

There wasn’t really a cake cutting (just a photo-op), so I didn’t get any pictures of that.

After the food, it was time for dancing.

There was the traditional first dance.

And then even though I think technically we weren’t supposed to have music out on the deck where the dance floor was, the wedding coordinator plugged her iPhone into a speaker so we could have some good dance music!

I spent a lot of the dancing time just catching up with family. We don’t get to see each other all too often, so I take advantage of any time I get.

I also got this picture with two of Ross’s oldest friends (they’ve all known each other since kindergarten). My dad may or may not have said a pretty dirty word to try to get us to smile (which explains the surprise face on one of Ross’s friends).

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty great wedding. It was very small, but that made it easy to talk to people. And I think Ross and Krystle were beyond happy with how everything turned out.

I still have a few more Hawaii posts ahead with the rest of my activities, so those will be coming next week!

3 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged brother, family, Hawaii, Maui, wedding

Hello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!)

Posted on August 20, 2013 | Comments Off

As I mentioned before, I spent this past weekend hanging out with my parents (and dog) in Lake Tahoe. I’ve been going to Tahoe since I was a baby to go skiing in the winter and do some hiking in the summer. Several years ago, my parents got a place in Tahoe (we rented a cabin before then), so now there are more chances in a year for me to get up there.

Somehow, with all the craziness of work and life, I hadn’t been to Tahoe in a couple of years. So I was more than excited to make it up there and get some nice outdoors time in.

As soon as I go there on Friday, my parents and I had to do some errands. We had some things to figure out on our family cell phone plan, and since I was listed as the primary account holder, I had to be with my parents when they changed things. So most of the afternoon was spent at the Verizon store doing not so fun stuff.

That evening, we went out for dinner. Since we were technically celebrating my 30th birthday, I got to pick the restaurant. For me, there has only been one place that has been my go-to restaurant in Truckee (the town in Tahoe where we stay): Cottonwood. Honestly, I cannot remember a time when we didn’t go to Cottonwood when we were in Tahoe.

We had to sit inside because there were about a million bees out on their deck, but we sat near the windows so we still got to enjoy the view of historic downtown Truckee (and of course, I forgot to take a picture of the view).

The menu had some great specials, so I decided to get the chicken dish (it sounded relatively healthy).

For a starter, my parents and I split something that we always get every time we go to Cottonwood. The whole leaf Cesar salad.

This is seriously the best thing in the world! It used to say on the menu that it is traditionally eaten with your fingers, so that’s how we eat it (except my mom who goes against tradition by using a knife and fork). This salad is so wonderfully garlicky. I love it! You do smell like garlic for a few days after, but to me, that’s totally worth it!

After we got through most of the salad (it was pretty huge for 3 people), our entrees arrived.

The chicken was delicious and the mashed potatoes were great (although they didn’t seem too garlicky after having the salad).

We didn’t have dessert since we were so full on salad and our entrees, so we headed back to the condo my parents’ own to take Dante (the dog) for a walk.

Near Tahoe there is a fire, and that made the sunset pretty gorgeous.

Although the smell of smoke in the air was pretty strong.

So that was day one of my Tahoe trip. More to come in the next few days including our off-roading adventure and going out on Donner Lake in our inflatable boat!

Comments Off on Hello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!)

Posted in Family, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged California, dinner, family, Lake Tahoe

7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Posted on July 8, 2013 | Comments Off

Yesterday marked an anniversary for me. It had been 7 years since my hip surgery. I can’t believe it’s been that long!

The hip surgery had marked the end of a pretty long ordeal for me. Things started in September of 2005. I had collapsed in the Portland airport and had trouble walking. After that, I was misdiagnosed for several months. Finally, I got my proper diagnosis and had my surgery.

I can remember that day like it was yesterday. The nurse in pre-op hated me because I wanted my mom to be in pre-op with me with they put the IV in (I knew I had a high probability of fainting). I also remember having to sign my leg in pre-op to show that they had the correct leg to operate on. And I remember joking to a friend afterwards how I thought it was funny that I had to take a pre-surgery pregnancy test (it was negative, of course).

This had been my first surgery as an adult, so I was worried how I would react to the anesthesia. Turns out, I wake up very quickly and very lucid after surgery. In my surgery, they put my right foot in a boot to keep things stable. When I woke up, my foot was still in the boot and I asked my surgeon if they had screwed up my pedicure in the surgery (they didn’t).

Recovery was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I had been in so much pain before that I was so happy with the minimal pain I felt after. I’ve since discovered that I have a new type of pain, but again, it is significantly less than what I felt before.

I remember in one of my post-op appointments (after my surgeon discovered that I have the same defect in my left hip), that it was expected that my other hip would have to be corrected within 5 years. I’m pretty damn proud of myself that I’ve made it this long without needing surgery.

Even though my surgery wasn’t necessarily fun, I look back at it with happy memories. Both my mom and dad came to LA to take care of me (my dad took some of the only sick days he ever used in his 30+ years at his job to help me). While I was recovering, my mom and I went to Warner Bros. to take a tour (I used to be a tour guide there). And we took some fun pictures that I still love to look at.

I still am in shock how many years ago the surgery was. It really feels like it was only maybe a year ago. And hopefully it will still be many more years before I have my other hip done.

Comments Off on 7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Posted in Family, Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged anniversary, family, hip issues, recovery

Family Time (or A Culver City Type of Day)

Posted on February 12, 2013 | 1 comment

My mom and Aunt Cindy got here yesterday in the afternoon, so I spent the morning doing errands and cleaning up and the afternoon with them.

My mom and dad normally come to visit me together (my dad’s first solo visit was for the Pat Metheny show), but my mom has been here a few times alone. My aunt has never visited me while I’ve lived at my current house, but now that I think about it, I don’t know if she’s ever visited me in LA before.

The first stop when after they both had gotten in (my mom was driving from the Bay Area and my aunt was coming in from Sacramento), was my house. It was nice and clean (I hope), and my aunt finally got to see my cute little house. I gave her the grand tour, which took all of 2 minutes, and then we were off for an adventure.

My aunt grew up in Culver City (my mom and her siblings grew up in the LA area too, but in the valley), and had not been back in years. I was always telling her about different areas, but she couldn’t quite picture it. So we did a little driving tour of Culver City.

We went to check out my aunt’s old house. My aunt wasn’t sure she wanted to go inside, but my mom has an awesome track record of getting to see the inside of houses she grew up in, so she tried. And we did get to go inside and see my aunt’s old house.

I had never seen it before, but according to my aunt, a lot of the place was exactly the same as how it was when she lived there with her parents. Even the tiles in the kitchen were the exact same! She’s going to find some old photos so I could see what it looked like when she lived there.

After that, we drove around to see her old school, which is one of the schools that I used to substitute teach at!

Finally we had a nice early dinner at Ugo.

We ended the night early since both my mom and aunt had long drives earlier today. We have more adventures planned for today, and I’ll be writing about those tomorrow!

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Fun Stuff

Tagged adventure, Culver City, family, home, tour

Merry Christmas! (or Happy Movies and Chinese Food Day!)

Posted on December 25, 2012 | Comments Off

Just a quick post to say that I hope you are spending today with those you love and doing whatever happens to be your tradition.

I’m not spending time with my family today, but that’s the norm for me. My brother is with his fiancé, my parents are driving home from Tahoe, and I’ll be hanging out with friends.

I’m planning on having a day filled with going to movies (including a free screening of “Lincoln”) and ordering Chinese food from my favorite place. That’s exactly how I want to spend my day!

Comments Off on Merry Christmas! (or Happy Movies and Chinese Food Day!)

Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged christmas, family, food, movies

Tag Archives: family

24 Hour Visit Home (or Another Cancer Patient In The Family)

Like this:

Time For Another Dad Visit (or How Much Can We Get Done In One Day)

Like this:

The Sorority Nobody Wants To Belong To (or Getting Support From Strangers)

Like this:

It’s Always Unexpected (or Sending Positive Energy To A Co-Worker)

Like this:

The Big Event! (or The Reason I’m In Maui)

Like this:

Hello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!)

Like this:

7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Like this:

Family Time (or A Culver City Type of Day)

Like this:

Merry Christmas! (or Happy Movies and Chinese Food Day!)

Like this:

Follow me on Twitter

Like Me On Facebook

Follow Me On Instagram

thejenlevin

Recent Posts

Archives

Tag Archives: family

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Share this:

Like this:

You Might Also Like

Connect With Me!

Subscribe To Finding My Inner Bombshell!

Follow me on Twitter

Follow Me On Instagram

thejenlevin

Recent Posts

Archives