Spring break state of mind

Sun Bum sunscreen / Butter london nail polish / Vintage cateye sunglasses / Stella Dot beige leather handbag / Gap loafer shoes

The past few weeks have been busy, busy. I have lots of exciting things in the works that I can't wait to share, but for the time being I'm going to keep my lips sealed and simply blab about my upcoming vacation plans.

When I was in college, I never went on *spring break.* My family paid to fly me across the country to go to college, so they couldn't rationalize spending $1,000 to put me up in an all-inclusive resort when I was 19. Fair enough. Nearly ten years later, I finally have the opportunity to travel to Mexico for the first time this April. After all the traveling I did last year, I've been getting a little stir crazy the past couple of months. Plus, I need an excuse to shop for shorts when it's still nearly freezing outside. Needless to say, I'm stoked.

Because of the whole skin cancer thing, traveling to exotic, sun-filled locations continues to present some challenges. I'm obviously not going to have a tan when I arrive in Cabo, and I'm probably going to be paranoid about getting a sunburn while I'm there. But that doesn't mean I don't like visiting tropical islands or drinking piña coladas on the beach. I love going on vacation. I wish I could travel more frequently than I already do. In fact, at some point during the next year or so, my heart is set on visiting a good friend of mine who is currently living in Australia. What this means is that I usually end up spending a fair amount of time under the beach umbrella and I pay extra to check luggage because I have too many bottles of SPF to fit in a quart-sized plastic baggie. Sometimes I wish I could be more "normal," but what does normal really mean, anyway?

"Drink bottled water and don't burn"

The Hard Rock, Punta Cana.

Hola! I made it back from the Dominican Republic in one piece. The whole trip was surreal. We'd be planning it for almost a year, so when we finally got there, I think we were all a little like, "Is this really happening?"

Boat and swimming excursion - so fun!

Punta Cana is truly unlike any place I've ever been. Granted, I'd never been to the Caribbean, nor had I visited a Spanish-speaking country before, but STILL. The Hard Rock resort was insane, and the beach was truly the perfect backdrop to my friend Jessica's wedding ceremony.

Gorgeous location for a wedding!

I am also very proud to share that I made it through the whole week without frying myself! On our shuttle from the Punta Cana airport to the resort, our driver warned us: "Drink bottled water and don't burn." I'd already heard that the Dominican sun can be incredibly intense, so as I mentioned in my last post before I left for vacation, I was a little worried about getting a sunburn. Some helpful hints that kept me from burning:

1. Don't skimp on the sunscreen. It takes about a shot glass or 1 oz. of sunscreen to adequately protect your whole body. When I packed for the trip, I calculated how much sunscreen to bring by assuming I'd need 1 oz. for every two hours I spent in the sun.
2. Reapply, reapply, reapply. Since we spent a lot of our time in the pool, I often reapplied my sunscreen more frequently than every two hours. For example, one afternoon we swam from about noon to 4 p.m. During those four hours, I reapplied SPF 30 to my face, neck, ears, and shoulders about five or six times. Some of my friends who didn't reapply as frequently ended up with severe sunburns and blisters.
3. Seek the shade. When possible, I hung out under the shade of a beach umbrella.
4. Create your own shade. I'm notorious for burning my scalp, so I made sure to bring a hat on the trip. It ended up being a huge lifesaver! The hat not only saved me from burning, but it also kept my crazy beach hair in check.

Proof that it's possible to go on vacation without burning.

Now it's back to the real world. I'm usually such a slave to my iPhone that I didn't think I was going to be able to unplug for the whole week. But I did! Aside from a few quick Facebook posts to check in with friends and family from home, work and email were the furthest things from my mind. A much needed mental vacation. Congratulations Dustin & Jessica! Thank you for planning such an amazing destination wedding.

Have you gone on any fun trips this spring? Or do you have any vacations planned for this summer? Anyone else been to the Dominican Republic?

P.S. One more day to enter my Fitbit giveaway! Please enter and share with your friends.

My relationship status with the sun: It's complicated

Enjoying the nice weather with my mom on Easter Sunday.

Last week, we had a sunny Easter in Portland for the first time since I can remember. I was thrilled to get a break from the rain, to dust off my sunglasses, and to sit outside without a jacket for the first time in months. But with the nicer weather comes questions from my family and friends: Shouldn't you be sitting in the shade? Did you remember to put on your sunscreen?

Melanoma survivors (myself included) often describe having a love/hate relationship with the sun. I love BBQ-ing and eating outside on the patio, but I also worry about burning and putting myself at risk for more skin cancer.

Al at Black is the New Pink recently wrote a blog post that asks: Is anti-tan the same as anti-sun? I always enjoy reading Al's posts, but this one really resonated with me. After all, here I am testifying in support of a teen tanning ban in Oregon, and yet I'm tempted to tweet about the nice spring weather. Does this make me a hypocrite? Al's blog post helps reassure me that the answer is no. Here's a short except from his post:

"Those who have been adversely affected by the sun (whether it be from melanoma or aged skin) have every right to fear the sun. But for many, they’ve learned to respect it rather than fear it. They have learned that it’s important to wear sunscreen when enjoying the sun’s warmth. They know it’s best to seek shade between 10AM and 4PM when the sun’s rays are at their strongest. They know that wearing a hat provides additional protection. Believe it or not, they enjoy the sun very much. They embrace the sun. They also know the limits in which to enjoy and learned to respect it."

Later this week, I'll be flying to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for my friend Jessica's wedding. I'm excited--obviously--but to be honest, I'm also a little nervous. What if my pale skin makes me stand out like a sore thumb on the beach? What if I miss a spot with my sunscreen and end up with a nasty burn? I've finally come to terms with being "pretty in pale" in my rainy hometown, but what happens when I travel to the Carribean?

Interestingly, a study published earlier today found that 1 in 4 skin cancer survivors does not use sunscreen, and that a small percentage of melanoma survivors continue to use tanning beds. I can't explain this, but there's definitely a part of me that understands. Despite the fact that I've stocked up on sunscreen and bought a new hat to protect my skin on this trip, almost every person I've told about my vacation has said to me, "Oh my gosh! I'm so jealous! You're going to come back so tan!"

It would be so much easier to just lay out in the sand and not worry about what the sun was doing to my skin, but knowing everything I know now, knowing everything I've been through, and knowing young women who have died from the same type of cancer I had--it changes things. I won't ever not be able to worry about it. I'm sure I'll have plenty to share when I get back. Including reviews on about five different brands of sunscreen!

Don't forget to enter my Fitbit giveaway while I'm gone :)

I think I burnt my eyeballs

Oversized sunglasses aren't always
just for looks.

Last week, I complained to a handful of my friends: "It's August and I've worn my swimsuit only once this summer!" I know I don't purposefully lay out in the sun anymore, but a summer without swimming? It just doesn't feel like summer.

The weatherman forecasted it was going to be in the 90s on Sunday, so a small group of us decided to take a day trip to the Clackamas River. If you're from the Portland area, you probably know the Clackamas River. On hot summer days, it attracts a huge crowd of rowdy young adults (think frat party with water).You park one car at the top, float down the river on a tube, and drive back up to the top with your second car once you reach the bottom.

Even though I was swarmed by lots of tan bodies, I carefully applied my sunscreen to all exposed areas. I even spritzed my scalp and reapplied several times throughout the course of the float. By the time we were about three quarters of the way done, I started to feel an intense burning sensation in my eyes. At first I assumed it was just a little sunscreen that had run into my eye, but even after splashing clean water on my face, the burning persisted. I found myself needing to face away from the sun and shield my eyes from the glare with my hands--even though I had sunglasses on. By the time we reached the spot where our second car was parking, I was squinting like a pirate and could barely see a thing.

On Monday morning, it just so happened that I had a doctor's appointment scheduled, so while I was there, I politely asked her to inspect my eye.

"There are no scratches or anything," she said, "But it sure does look inflamed."

That was an understatement. My right eye was so puffy it looked like I'd been up half the night crying over a movie on Lifetime.

"You probably just got too much sun. Were you wearing sunglasses?"

Of course I was wearing sunglasses. My eyes have always been über sensitive. But maybe my sunglasses didn't provide full-spectrum UV protection. Or maybe a mysterious river-borne pathogen had somehow creeped its way into my eye. I didn't know, so I Googled.

Have you ever you've wondered: Can eyes get sunburned? Surprisingly, the answer (according to my doc and WebMD) is yes. In fact, symptoms include:

• Burning pain.
• A feeling that something is in your eye (foreign body sensation).
• Decreased vision.
• Excessive tearing.
• Hypersensitivity to light.

These symptoms, which can last for up to a few days, were sounding eerily familiar. Maybe I did burn my eyeballs. Scary, because excessive damage to your retina can cause vision problems later in life. So it remains a mystery whether I sunburned my eyes this weekend or not, but my love/hate relationship with the sun continues...

I want a big, floppy hat

May is Melanoma Awareness Month. Please help spread the word by sharing this post with your friends and family. 

Image: Jcrewing.tumblr.com via Pinterest

I have been pinning over large, floppy hats as of late. And it's not just because of the Kentucky Derby last weekend.

When it comes to sun protection, my scalp has always been my Achilles' heel. No matter how many SPF creams, gels, or sprays I try, I always end up with at least one or two nasty sunburns every year along my part. This is bad because: 1) a flaky scalp is never sexy, and 2) because sunburns mean skin cancer! I loathe the idea of ruining a cute summer outfit with an ugly hat (I'm really not a hat person to begin with), but oh, how glamorous ladies some look in a wide-brimmed straw hat! I've tried a few so far, and unfortunately, they all looked awful. Too big, too small, too pink. My boyfriend caught me trying some on the other day, and he laughed at me. BUT, I will not rest until I find the perfect summer hat. I know it has to be out there somewhere.

I would also love to know if anyone has found a non-greasy spray sunscreen that they've used to protect their hairline. Sometimes a girl just needs to go for a swim... so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. Let me know if you find one first!

Forgive me, I have sinned

Several years ago, I was staffing a booth at a corporate health and wellness fair. Throughout the morning, I heard rumors from the other volunteers that there was a "real live melanoma patient" in one of the booths on the other side of the tent. They encouraged me to swing by and check it out.

A cancer patient? I just had to sneak over there and ogle like she was an animal at the zoo. I can't remember how old she was, but she was deliberately covered by a hat, sitting in the shade, flanked by posters with up-close shots of clearly malignant moles.

If I ever got skin cancer like her, I remember thinking to myself, I would never go outside in the sun again.

After my melanoma diagnosis, of course I've been more diligent with the sunscreen. I haven't touched a tanning bed in years. But I still make mistakes. This weekend, we had sun in Portland for the first time in months (I'm not exaggerating). My girlfriends and I had planned a tour of Oregon wine country back in March, so we were elated with the 75 degree weather. When I was ready to head out of my apartment, I purposely tossed a bottle of designer SPF in my bag. I even contemplated sending out an obnoxious "Don't forget your sunscreen" tweet.

Somehow, over the course of the afternoon, I ended up forgetting to actually put on my sunscreen. Maybe it was the fact that we were inside and out, we sat mostly in the shade, the pinot went to my head.... or maybe I was just having fun with my friends and didn't want to be "that girl" who always lectures everyone on sun safety.

Whatever the reason, when we stumbled into my friend's house at around 6 p.m., my arms were bright pink. So there it was: the girl who spends hours writing about the dangers of UV radiation had given herself a good old fashioned sunburn. Immediately, I felt guilty. Stolen moments outside sans the SPF really are sort of a guilty pleasure. I'm like a recovering alcoholic relishing a sip of ice-cold vodka, but then regretting it when I wake up with a hangover in the morning.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that melanoma patients and survivors--we're humans, too. We screw up sometimes and we want to go to the beach just as much as you do. I understand why you want to be tan, so please understand why I have to be a total nerd with my SPF 50. And just remember: we all used to think, that would never happen to me.