Happy Holidays 2024 + Some Good News!

Hi Everyone,

If you celebrate the December holidays, I hope yours have been beautiful and warm.

My son Cale is here, (but leaving soon) He’s not super into the December holidays, so this visit was prompted mostly by my kidney biopsy last Monday at Mass (Massive) General Hospital.

This hospital is so huge that I sent Cale directions. Alas, they weren’t necessary, as I’ll explain in a sec.

 

For some reason, I fantasized about walking to the hospital for my procedure.

 

The Yawkey entrance is a flat walk, exactly one mile away from my Back Bay condo. However, I quickly realized that my hunger and thirst would be an issue. Still, the biggest problem was the windchill, in the single digits.

Therefore, I called an Uber and arrived 10 minutes early. Everything from then on was ahead of schedule.

I changed into a gown big enough for at least two of me and was escorted to the staging/recovery area, where I met the team. They did bloodwork and EKG just to ensure that all systems were a go for “project kidney poke.” Then, they wheeled me to the interventional radiation procedure room.

Whoa! However scary it looks here, it was worse in person. They had me sit for a minute in that chair on the far left, and that’s when I took a close-up of the equipment below.

There’s my IV with my sedative drugs.

Everything went as smoothly as possible, and everyone was incredibly kind. I didn’t have general anesthesia, but I might as well have as I don’t remember a thing, only that I was lying on my stomach, and the next thing I knew, a woman lightly put her hand on my shoulder and said, “All done.”

This didn’t compute for my mind was telling me that I had just gotten on the table. And so, I was waiting to hear something like, “okay, just a short sting and now, a bit of pressure…” Something like that. But, there was none of that. So, I kept repeating, Are you really all done? Really? You’re really all done? Really? ALL done?

hahaha

Fortunately, the nurse lied in her report. Instead of saying “disoriented old woman,” she wrote, “the patient was alert.”

Like I said, the entire team was incredibly kind.

Still, I was awake enough to take a pic of my vitals.

 

No, unfortunately, my BP is not always this low, but it can be, and the sedation also brought it down. It can also run way too high at times. And yes, that lower number is a bit too low, but it came up later on.

 

Afterward, I was very sleepy. That is until the nurse asked me if I wanted something to eat or drink.

 

Oh, yes! Hungry as a bear and very thirsty. I’ve concluded that hospitals are in business because people are sick, and they know that feeding their patients crap is a surefire way to keep themselves in business. Therefore, I was offered a choice of cracker. I went for the hydrogenated peanut butter crackers and the cranberry high fructose drink made with real juice. Oh well…

I had no pain whatsoever. Well, not until later, but it was more of a general achiness. A few friends texted me and my friend Cheryl toffered for the umpteenth time to pick me up, and to make us some food– so kind. I had stocked up the day before, so told her the food wasn’t necessary. However, since Cale’s plane had just landed, and he was exhausted having traveled from Texas, I took her up on her offer for a ride home.

 

I took it easy that day, but after that, Cale and I walked quite a bit.

 

Yesterday, Christmas Day, we went for a giant loop around the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common.

In the Boston Public Garden, where I took the videos last week, we saw a fat hawk high up in a tree.

Today, we went on an even longer walk up to the Massachusetts State House, then cut over to the north end, Boston harbor, then back through downtown, through the Common and garden, and home—4.5 miles! We stopped for a coffee, but I felt terrific, and the weather was crisp yet sunny.

My darling son, Cale.

 

The Boston Custom House, completed in 1849, is now the Marriott Vacation Club. The majestic tower is a highlight of the downtown Boston skyline.

The long walks I’ve been taking the last several weeks have helped me get in shape, and not giving in to my fatigue has helped me recover more quickly, too. Make no mistake: When I’m not walking, I’m mostly resting, except for a bit of cooking.

 

However, yesterday, Cale and his friend did all of the cooking while I took a nap.

 

 

Above is a textbook fire Cale made on Christmas Day, and the first day of Hanukkah. I wish my photos conveyed how beautiful the living room looks at night, especially with the fire.

As this year is nearing its end, I have so much to be grateful for and am greatly relieved to have that procedure behind me. I should get the results in a week or two.

I hope you, too, had a blessed holiday!

***Okay, a Gentle reminder…

 

Time is running out before the prices go up on my helpful interior design guides.

 

Until the end of the year, anyone purchasing Laurel’s Rolodex, The Paint and Palette Collection, or The Six Figure Income Blogger will receive the new Etsy Guide and the 333 Rules & Tips You Need to Know for FREE!

Below my signature is a brief synopsis of each guide with links to more information and buttons to purchase if you’re ready.

xo,

 

***The (11th) edition of Laurel’s Rolodex for 2025 was released on December 1, 2024. Below is more information about my Rockin interior design guides. Please know that these are digital PDF guides. You will receive them in your email. You can print one copy for personal use if you prefer to have it in that format.***

 

If ready to order, click this link or the button below to go to the purchase products page.

 

 

(Clicking on the links below will send you to the pages to learn more about each guide.)

 

 

Laurel’s Rolodex is a unique shopping guide that shares hundreds of my favorite sources and, especially for decorators and designers, tells you the best sources that sell directly to the design trade, especially for decorators and designers.

 

The Essential Paint Color and Palette Collection (two volumes)

This is a must-have guide for anyone struggling with paint colors. If you don’t believe me, there are dozens of testimonials on the Palette Collection page.

 

Six-Figure Income Blogger. (Newly Updated for 2023!) (This should be required reading for every website owner who wishes to get more business.) You do not need to be a heavy-duty blogger. But, consistently, once or twice a month will do wonders for your business. But, it would be best if you also learned some other things. Believe me when I say in the early years, I made every mistake and then some.

 

333 Decorating Rules & Tips You Need to Know – There is so much information,

and much I’ve never seen anywhere else. The window treatment glossary alone is several pages long.

 

 

The Etsy guide on its own. It’s 200+ seriously cool vendors.

Etsy is known for exceedingly helpful, personable vendors and great pricing. I always shop on Etsy and have numerous items for my renovation—everything from hardware to lighting and my cool Chinoiserie cabinet. We did remove a few shops that are gone or have virtually nil product lines. There are one or two shops that we left in, hoping that they’ll return.

 

Gifting is available for my guides. When you go to order,

just click on the gift icon on the first screen after

you click the buy now button.

 

If you are ready to order, you may click this link or the button below to go to the purchase products page.

 

 

***Please check out the recently updated HOT SALES!

There is now an Amazon link on my home page and below.

 

Please note that I have decided not to create a membership site. However, this website is very expensive to run. To provide this content, I rely on you, the kind readers of my blog, to use my affiliate links whenever possible for items you need and want. There is no extra charge to you. The vendor you’re purchasing from pays me a small commission.

Please click the link before items go into your shopping cart. Some people save their purchases in their “save for later folder.” Then, if you remember, please come back and click my Amazon link, and then you’re free to place your orders. While most vendor links have a cookie that lasts a while, Amazon’s cookies only last up to 24 hours.

Thank you so much!

I very much appreciate your help and support!