Song of the month: La La La Zoom Zoom Zoom

La La La Zoom Zoom Zoom by Incubus

Awareness

It's with a heavy heart that I write this post... After an excruciating long 6-day wait, which really has felt like a year, a urologist surgeon has confirmed that my mother has indeed Kidney Cancer. She went into the ER last week for what she thought was food poisoning. The specialist, who I must add was great in lifting our spirits, told us that this cancer was known as the "silent cancer". He explained how fortunate she had been to have fallen ill and discovered this by mere chance. Most people he explained further, do not find out until its way too late making this one of those worst cancers out there. Although this is the worst thing we can be going through as a family, I KNOW we will get through this. I have been very fortunate to have been raised by very strong-willed women in my family. There is no doubt in my mind that although this may be hard for my mom to take in she has already put on her combat boots!

These are some guidelines I have found over on WEB MD on this particular cancer. Please take your time out and view it. I am also including a link to the Action to Cure Kidney Cancer, a NYC based organization working to raise awareness of kidney cancer.

Understanding Kidney Cancer

Doctors don't know the causes of kidney cancer. But certain factors appear to increase the risk of getting kidney cancer. For example, kidney cancer occurs most often in people older than age 40. These are some other risk factors for kidney cancer:

• Smoking. If you smoke cigarettes, your risk for kidney cancer is twice that of nonsmokers. Cigars may also increase your risk.
• Being male. Men are about twice as likely as women to get kidney cancer.
• Being obese. Extra weight may cause changes to hormones that increase your risk.
• Using certain pain medications for a long time. This includes over-the-counter medications.
• Having advanced kidney disease or being on long-term dialysis, a treatment for people with kidneys that have stopped working
• Having certain genetic conditions, such as von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease or inherited papillary renal cell carcinoma
• Having a family history of kidney cancer. The risk is especially high in siblings.
• Being exposed to certain chemicals, such as asbestos, cadmium, benzene, organic solvents, or certain herbicides
• Having high blood pressure. Doctors don' know whether the condition or medication used to treat it is the source of the increased risk.
• Being black. The risk in blacks is slightly higher than in whites. No one knows why.

Having these risk factors does not mean you will get kidney cancer. And it's also true that you can have none of them and still get the disease.

Action to Cure Kidney Cancer (ACKC): http://www.ackc.org/

Happy Fourth of July!

Olliegraphic

Custom printable stationery from Chicago that are just so darn adorable... They custom make graphics to resemble your little one! Check out their Etsy shop for all custom jobs available.

Wedding Invitation

I came across this wedding invitation while browsing through {dv} and ooooh how I love this!

Last Day!

Today is the last day to take advantage of the introductory price over at Indie Design Studio so don’t delay! =)

Oscar De La Renta - Girls

Oscar De La Renta and Carolina Herrera have always been two of my favorite top designers. Their styles exude elegance with the right amount of feminism. So I was pretty excited to come across Oscar's new limited girls collection for the little princesses in your life. To view the entire limited collection which I should add is in collaboration with the Children's Defense Fund click here. My favorite: I'm broken between the POLKA DOT PRINT (second from top) and the POPPY MATTELASSE in blue(as pictured). By the way, this little girl is sooo adorable, totally selling the line!

Eco-friendly Electric Guitars

There are several instruments my hubs and I own. A couple of guitars, an upright piano, etc... Wondering if the music industry had in some way turned eco-friendly I researched for eco-friendly electric guitars. Here are some I found... It should go without saying but I'm super stoked! These are all great and some even have video demonstrations for you to check out the sound!

If you are curious to see some of my instruments you may do so here, but don't forget to check out these awesome eco-friendly electric guitars first!

Bambusa Electric Guitar by First Act
(made of Bamboo)

Bamboo Electric guitar by Taber Licea for Licea Guitars
(made of Bamboo)

mada caimes
(made of hemp fibers)

The Eco Axe by Zero Impact Guitars
(made of SmartWood)

Webster by Cyclotron Guitars
(made of recycled plastics)