Monday, February 1, 2010

Birthday Weekend and The Grammy's.

Well, dammit, I'm not exceedingly happy right now.

Weight = 171
Measurements = Bloated
Face = Broken out as usual

This was Dan's birthday weekend, as I've mentioned.  It started out pretty well.  I went down to Chicago with my friend Jesse and we ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse called Brazzaz.  It was amazing!  Most of it was on plan with my low carb eating, except for a few tastes of garlic mashed potatoes and one and a half popovers.

The only picture I got was of the salad bar plate:


Then, a few glasses of wine and the night was good and I felt okay.  The next morning, eggs and sausage at the hotel for breakfast, then some coffee.

Then... I came back to Milwaukee and Dan and I went to dinner at Mimmas.  Now, if you like Italian food, and you're in Milwaukee, you NEED TO GO there.  The food is amazing:

Antipasti Misto:



I got the special... which apparently translates to $38 in chicken.  But it was amazing chicken.  Breaded, and stuffed with a breadcrumb mixture including spinach, cheese and sun dried tomatoes.  Cut into medallions and served with a Gorgonzola cheese sauce.  YUM!


Dan got a seafood ravioli:


But yeah, apparently a "special" is more like... special (unusual/interesting) and less special (blue light).  :(  Seriously, this has been the most expensive weekend!




There was another birthday celebration at the bar, and they had a bunch of cupcakes... they brought one over and lit a candle in it for Dan!  SO thoughtful. :)




So, last night, we went to Dan's sister's house for his family birthday celebration.  And of course, she made pasta.  DAMMIT!  She pulled me into the kitchen and asked me before she put in the fat free half and half and cheese and Alfredo sauce out of sweet concern for my eating habits.  Unfortunately, the fat and meat is great and good on my eating plan.  The pasta is not.  They got Dreamfield pasta which is healthier, and it shows on the box something like 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving.  In reality, if you look at the side/back of the box on the nutritional information, the net carbs (carbohydrates - dietary fiber) is 36 grams of carbs.  I try to keep my daily intake around 20 or less.

So, even though there was a huge salad to start the meal... I had the pasta.  Why?  Because of GUILT.  I felt guilty because:

1.  It was Dan's birthday weekend, so I should not make it about me.
2.  Dan's sister made this meal and asked me about the healthiness about it, assuming I was still doing low calorie.
3.  Given that, I should have made everyone aware that I was doing low carb now.  (How can I expect someone to adapt to my eating plan, or provide for it, or understand if I only eat salad, if I don't tell people what's going on before they make dinner?
4.  I felt it would be selfish to NOT eat it.


So, I ate it.  And then... it was my job to make cake, of course.  I decided to do cupcakes because it'd be easier and cuter and when I brought cake over, and it'd be cleaner than forks and knives and serving plates, etc.



And of course, I got tons of rave reviews, and I really wanted one.  But instead of eating one like a normal person with everyone there eating one too... I didn't.  I upheld the facade of "Jenn the healthy eater girl."  (Despite accepting a glass of Sangria that had about 40 grams of carbs, about 36 of which were sugar, I found out.)

So... Dan and I got home and while he was in the bathroom, I cut one cupcake in half and ate half.  Like I wasn't going to eat the other half?  I ate that too.  Then I threw away the evidence.  Apparently, I've got a little bit of food issues if I'm secretly eating a cupcake that I MADE on Dan's birthday in the kitchen, in the dark, and shoving the evidence into the garbage.

/sigh.


Okay, quick notes on the Grammy's:



Best Performances:  Lady Gaga/Elton John, Pink, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige/Andrea Bocelli, Zac Brown Band
Worst Performances:  Jaime Foxx, Taylor Swift/Stevie Nicks
Good, Not Crap Performances:  Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Michael Jackson Tribute, Maxwell, Jeff Beck/Imelda May

Drake/Eminem/Lil' Wayne:  I wanted to review your performance, but I couldn't hear half of it because of muting out what couldn't be aired on television.  Maybe change things up a little bit, or sing different songs.  Though, what I did hear was pretty damn good.  Oh, and pull up your pants.  Seriously.  It's got to be time for a new Hip Hop pants trend by now, right?
Beyonce:  You were great until you butchered "You Oughta Know."  Don't ever do that again.  Or, do it, but learn the damn words to the songs you're singing before you sing them.
Bon Jovi:  I like you, and you're classic and all, but why are you getting so twangy?  I swear you haven't always been so twangy.  But you all did a good job.
Zac Brown Band:  How did I not know you existed?  I think I'll pick up your album.

Y'all, I do NOT get the Taylor Swift thing.  At.  All.  This is a place I'll disagree with my boyfriend (John Mayer,) when he says she's something special and will be around for a long, long time.  I don't get it, don't hear or see the talent.  DO NOT.  I mean, come on.  Her performances were less than mediocre.  I mean, out of key and boring and crap.  FLAT.  She was SO FLAT!  /ugh.  She's a pretty girl, I guess.  But John, if you love her so much, why can I only hear her sing 2 bars on Heartbreak Warfare?  Admit that it's because everything else she tried to sing, you were tempted to stick sharp objects into your ears.  And don't lie to me and say you didn't hear it, because when you sing live, you tend to be sharp all the time.  That, plus her flatness... you had to have though she couldn't hear at ALL.

I'm sorry, she did NOT deserve the Album of the Year award.  Though Dave Matthews Band is one of the greatest and one of my favorite bands ever... Lady Gaga clearly deserved the award.  Yes she's weird, but dammit, that album was awesome, and there were so many singles... she got screwed on that deal, people.

I also don't understand why each artist who performs... ends up doing a full blown Superbowl Halftime performance.  Why can't each artist sing ... one song?  Wouldn't that, like, make room for more artists to perform?  ... ... ...

/end rant.

~J

12 comments:

Emily said...

what about PINK?? her performance was AMAZING!!! singing, real singing, while twirling around in the air, while dripping wet, while almost naked??? i think that deserves an honorable mention!

Christy said...

Yeah ... I feel you on the carbs. Crazy weekend for me ... hubby was working from home and by the time we went out for dinner we were STARVING! THREE healthy restaurants we went to had a wait time of over an hour.

Screw it! We had Mexican.

I'm still bloated from it ... but GOD, was it good!

Fat Fox said...

The Zac Brown Band is the nectar of the Gods. I LOVE THEM! Try and find their version of Snoop's Gin and Juice. It is utterly AMAZING!

StepherB said...

I am glad to know that I am not the only one who cheated through the weekend! I am also a junk food closet eater and ate several heart shaped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups over the weekend...ate french toast, hashbrowns, a McDonald's hamburger and fries...and I am also following a low Carb, low sugar diet. So I weighed myself this morning and low and behold I lost 2 lbs! Crazy! :)

MadScientist said...

It was one day. Get over it, move on. One cupcake isn't going to kill you. What will is feeling crap about it hours/days/weeks after it.

I love Lady..she is just who she is all the time.

Ellie said...

Taylor Swift: hates it.

Kendra said...

Yeah, don't understand the Taylor Swift thing either...and as an avid karaoke singer, I realize how EASY her songs are and how boring they are!!!

My boyfriend is uber in love with her and thinks she's amazing..but really, don't get it...

Loser Girl Jess said...

You know you shouldn't be doing something if you hide it from family/friends/boyfriends...like eating a cupcake:) I am an emotional eater, and it has taken blogging and being more upfront about what I am going through to get me to the point where I am now(which is thinking that>..):

I should never be ashamed of what I am eating. I eat fantastically healthy 80% of the time. And the other 20% is just a part of me living my life, enjoying in moderation, and not denying.

I know you're only talking about a cupcake here, but that story reminded me of a lot I have been going through and still have to learn.

Also, it's really hard to say no to family food, especially when they are trying to conform to whatever eating plan you are on.

So keep trucking, remember why you are doing what you are doing (write it down on a note card and put it in your wallet), know that you are the fabulous person we know you are, and have a fantastic week!

Claire Dawn said...

How did you NOT know about Zac Brown? I love so many of their songs! I think you'd like Toes! My other faves are WHatever it is and Chicken-Fried! Chicken Fried is like my theme song.
Missing all the awards shows is one of the worst things about being in Japan :(

http://aclairedawn.blogspot.com

Name Nazi said...

Taylor Swift is a fabulous song writer and a very talented girl ... her talents are just not live performances. That's my two cents.

I like her and still hate hearing her sing live. She was on SNL once and I wanted to put the covers over my head and hmmmmmm until it was over.

Anonymous said...

I didn't watch the grammy, so I have no idea what happened there.
Don't worry too much about that cupcake. As long as hiding in the kitchen to eat sweets does not become a habit you'll be ok. About your face, do you mean you have acne break outs? If it's the case I suggest you try proactive. Yeah, I know, it sounds all fake on TV but I'm on it and my skin looks so much better now. It's worth giving it a try ;)

Dan Brindley said...

Dan looks good, and so do you - but that goes without saying.