New hair, new me!

Happy weekend! I woke up this morning to the tune of Yakety Sax. You know what that must mean- my brother Jon is in town! I'm not exactly sure how this started, but a few years ago, Jon and I invented a game where we chased each other around our respective homes, but only to the tune of that song. I won't try and explain it, it's just what we do.

Anyways, it's been a really nice off week from chemo. In anticipation of losing it all, I decided to chop off my hair! It's definitely different and unlike anything I've had before (kind of like my life right now) but my lovely hairdresser, Goldie, did a wonderful job:

A huge MERCI and shoutout to my darling cousine Agatha, who insisted on paying for my haircut. YET little did she (or I) know that my salon, the Birdhouse in Brooklyn, offers FREE haircuts to cancer patients. Who knew having cancer would come with such perks?! In all seriousness, it is an incredibly kind gesture. And thanks to Agatha for paying for the handsome tip that I left for Goldie! 

In other news from my French people this week, my dear sista from another mista Audrey sent me the sweetest care package: 

Audrey and I met in our master's program at Sciences Po in Paris, and became forever friends. She is also half-French, half-American, but reps France more, while I rep the US more. With that vibe in mind, she sent me the Frenchiest care package possible- the BEST skin care products, Haribo candy, crepes, a Sciences Po sweatshirt that I adore... c'est ouf meuf, MERCI! Je t'adore! I already put the sweatshirt to good use at my Park Slope Food Co-op shift on Wednesday. Here's a photo of my dear co-op friend Hannah and I hard at work cleaning the co-op's bathrooms*: 

Hannah is such a sunny, fun person, and her dad, who's a prof at Columbia, recently went through cancer treatment at MSKCC and is now doing swell. We always grab a meal or drink together with our third co-op musketeer, Noah, after our shift. Noah was at his daughter's tuba recital, so Hannah and I decided to grab din with my mom. We housed a burger and steak and laughed a lot, and just had a nice night. 

In other news this week, on Thursday, I went to the opening for an exhibit at the Center for Architecture, for which I served as the assistant curator. I've been working on this thing, which demystifies the public investment capital process in NYC, since October. Despite having to slow down in its final weeks because of this whole cancer thing, I put LOTS and LOTS of hours into helping conceptualize the many components of this exhibit, alongside an architect who was whip smart and a total force of nature. I was really proud to celebrate it being up on the CFA's walls, and it will stay there through August if you want to check it out. Here's a shot of folks mingling at the opening: 

In the righthand corner, you can spot my Grisha** talking to my wonderful urbanist friends, Mary and Christina. Mary, Christina, Emily and I always go to events like this together. OR we all go independently and bump into each other, and then frighten men by asking them what their AIM screennames were (as we did a few months back on an EPIC NYC night at the Brooklyn Navy Yard). Along with their good vibes, Mary and Christina brought me the most beautiful of flowers:

Thanks Mary and Christina! And thanks to all my other people who came out to support me that night- I was so happy to see your darling faces. Martina, who works in the art world, gave me the best compliment ever by saying that the exhibit made her want to attend a Community Board meeting! My job is done. 

Last but not least, to end out the week, my dear friend from VA, Anna Laura, came through BK via DC for 24 hours on her way to Europe. ALG, I hope you never book as complicated a flight as you did for this trip, but I'm SO glad we got to spend a wonderful day together: 

Though I don't have any photos, yesterday was a good NOVA day indeed, as my friend Elana came over for dinner with my mom and Dad and I. It was just like a Shabbat in VA, except in Brooklyn! To return to how I started this post, this coming week, Jon is in town, which is awesome! It is also on 'on' week for chemo, which is not so awesome, but it'll be great to have him around making me laugh like the clown that he is. Also, I found out yesterday that my future chemo schedule isn't really contingent on my progress, but simply how I react to the drugs, so it's likely that I'm sticking only to 8 sessions over 16 weeks, every other week, for the entire course of treatment. SO happy about that!

*When I say hard at work, I mean posing for photos that Hannah's boyfriend Seb took of us. And when I say Hannah and I, I mean Hannah, who insisted on not letting me touch anything and just sort of float alongside her the entire shift.

**balding. So sweetly balding.