Seasons 52 - Food Diary of a Fat Girl

For the past five months, I’ve been trying to be conscious of the food I’m eating. It’s not long from now that Desmond with turn one and I’m still lugging around 13 pounds of fat from my pregnancy. (Not to mention the additional fat that was there before getting pregnant.) It’s hard to be good when I love food so much. I use food when I’m bored, when I celebrate and when I’m depressed or sad. But one thing that will make going out a little easier on my waistline is a new restaurant in Schaumburg that just opened up, it’s called Seasons 52.

I went to Seasons 52 last night with nine co-workers to celebrate office birthdays. The menu changes each season and each week are new specials, so the menu always has the freshest in-season foods possible. We picked the place because we read that all items on the menu are guaranteed to have 475 calories or less. What a great concept! Our society today is getting so fat I don’t know why there aren’t more restaurants doing this. On their website you can find all their menu items with full nutritional information. So I knew last night exactly how many calories, fat and fiber I had, which was perfect for somebody like me who is doing Weight Watchers.

Now for the best part, the food review. I was knocked out! Not only did everyone’s dishes look delicious but it WAS delicious. I had the soup special, Steak & Onion. The steak was so tender, melt in your mouth good. My friend and I shared the Garlic Chicken Flatbread which was another awesome choice. This dish is originally an appetizer but it was large enough to share as an entrée when paired with the soup. I was definitely satisfied with these two dishes. Other dishes that were ordered were; Shrimp & Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Spicy Tuna Roll, and Shrimp Penne Pasta. I didn’t hear one complaint from my fellow co-workers.

And the best part of the food…dessert. They have this dessert presentation where they bring fresh dessert right to your table and you get to see what each one looked like. My mouth was watering. Each dessert is in a small glass appropriately the size of two large shot glasses. I chose the Caramel Mocha Macchiato, which reminded me of a tiramisu; I would definitely get again. I tried my co-workers Chocolate & Peanut Butter Mousse and it was amazing. (My only complaint was the brownie bottom was bland but the actual mousse part was awesome.) I didn’t get to try my other co-workers desserts but they had the Rocky Road, Baklava, Mango Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie and Pecan Pie desserts. They seriously all looked fabulous. Can you tell I’m a sucker for sweets?

I had a total of 688.5 calories, 26.5g fat and 3g of fiber or in Weight Watcher world better known as 15 points. Not bad for soup, pizza and dessert!!!

So check out Seasons 52. Even if you’re not watching what you eat, I can tell you that if nobody told me the food was 475 calories or less I wouldn’t have been able to tell because it still tastes sinful.

Seasons 52
1770 East Higgins Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
www.seasons52.com

American Idol - And the Winner is...

…LEE DEWYZE!!! But unfortunately, I’m not 100% sure. Last week I single handily predicted Lee to be the winner. He had no competition last week. He would easily have been called the champion BUT Crystal seriously pulled out the big guns and Lee went down in burning flames last night. So why do I still think he’ll win? First, I’m loyal to the core. I believe most people are loyal to the things they love. Lots of people love Lee and I’m thinking they still love him after his major smack down last night. Secondly, Lee is more lovable. He’s nervous, he seems overwhelmed and amazed at what is happening in his life and he’s really making the process of making something out of nothing relatable to the everyday person like myself.

It’s not that I don’t like Crystal. She became my favorite after Didi got the boot. But I didn’t see any growth, I didn’t see anything new from her and I just grew bored. As that happened, Lee started to come out of the dark corner he was hidden in and I was suddenly on the Lee Dewyze bandwagon. (I’m still a Didi fan. She got it dirty on the show.) I will give it to Crystal, last night she was amazing and I think she has great things ahead of her. She did exactly what she needed to do to be in the top spot and it could go either way really but she just lacks something to me and what she lacks, Lee has.

So I’m sticking with my original pick. Lee for the win!

What was your favorite moment this year on Idol? Mine was the Lee and Crystal duet. I hope we get a repeat performance on tonight’s results show.

LOST Series Finale - Goodbye Brotha!

Well it’s over…and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I didn’t dislike the finale but I didn’t love it either. For me, this last season still left me with a lot of questions. (Big surprise right?) I imagined the finale having more details. The creators/writers gave you the most basic explanations or they HEAVILY skimped you on the details. But at the same time I can see why they did. How do you explain the physics of an island that has a bright light center that can turn people into smoke monsters, time travels and relocate itself? And it’s hard for me to accept that the Losties have a special place where they all meet in the afterlife befor proceeding on to heaven or whatever is next for them. I crave more information. This is where Locke would tell me I’m a woman of science not of faith. Seriously, I’m deranged to even think I’d get more answers.

One question though that derived directly from the finale episode is…why didn’t Ben go into the Church?

Bang Bang I Shot You Down

Way to go Grey’s Anatomy…that was one hell of a season finale!!!

Overall this season was weak. The only reason I was still watching Grey’s was for Christina and Owen. Then the writers started making it look like their relationship was crumbling and I considered flouncing.

But between last weeks show and yesterday’s season finale, I know I’ll be returning to watch next season. (There will be another season right?) Just to briefly touch on last week, I was bawling when Dr. Sloan handed over his grandson to the adoptive parents. It was so hard to watch him do that when you know how much he loved his grandson and wanted to raise him but not having it be his choice. Then his little one on one chat with his daughter afterwards officially pegged him The Man of the show. What happened to Dr. Shepherd anyways? Seriously, when did he lose his sex appeal? Cause it’s disappeared and I’m not even interested in looking for it. I would be negligent if I didn’t mention quickly that Dr. Avery is another steamy dish on the show, just saying.

****Spoilers Alert below for those who haven’t watched yet****

Ok, now for last night…were you not tense the entire two hours??? I couldn’t believe how many main characters got shot. I hate when you see a promo making it look like its going to be a crazy dramatic night and then nothing really happens. Well lots of shit happened last night. BANG! Reid is shot in the forehead. BANG! Alex is shot in the chest. BANG, BANG, BANG as random hospital employees are shot down. The shooter seriously resembles Michael Myers as he slowly roams the hallways killing people, and the scariest thing of all, this shit could happen!

One of my “favorite” tense moments was the scene with Mandy Moore’s character, Dr. Bailey and that other guy. (I’m so sorry other guy, your death did make me cry but I don’t remember your name.) As you hear the shooter ask the other guy “Are you a surgeon?” I’m thinking say no fool, say no! But the other guy says yes and BANG he’s shot in the stomach. And of course, like a good show does, he falls down and is looking at Dr. Bailey hiding under the bed safely while he bleeds out. But all is not safe, Dr. Bailey is dragged out from under the bed like any good scary movie does and is asked “Are you a surgeon?” Right there, the conflict in her eyes should win her an award. The smart lady lies and says “no” and lives and this whole time Mandy Moore is pretending to be dead in the hospital bed. Totally cliché but totally fraking brilliant.

Another “favorite” scene is when Meredith watches the shooter pointing a gun at her husband. The moment the trigger is pulled and the camera shows Christina holding Meredith back as she starts screaming is so well done. Ellen Pompeo’s acting is so believable. Your heart is breaking just by the look on her face and then you start thinking “Not her baby daddy! Not him!” Bravo writers, Brav-o!

Now off to my last “favorite” scene. (Or the last I’ll mention cause there are a TON more.) Owen walks into the O.R. and there sits Meredith waiting patiently as her best friend operates on her husband behind her. Right away you can tell something is up just by looking at Owen’s face. And I’m thinking Derek is dead or dying but as the camera follows Owen into the next room you see the shooter with a gun to Christina’s head, demanding she stop operating on Derek. Say what!?! I guess I should have expected something this crazy to happen but I really didn’t expect to find the shooter there. Again, he was definitely as sneaky as Michael Myers.

It appears that all is going to be well for Derek and Alex. Meredith will eventually have to tell Derek about their miscarriage. I have a feeling that the old Meredith will be back. You know, the doom and gloomy Meredith that made past seasons very hard for me to watch. I also predict that while Derek recovers the old chief will be reinstated; I can just see the power struggle later for Derek to get his old position back.

I guess my main favorite thing about the show was how well the actors/actresses showed emotions on their faces. Words weren’t needed. So as an audience member I was able to feel their fright. On top of that, rouge shooters is unfortunately something society now deals with and I think everyone can imagine the horror if they were ever caught in this situation. Regardless of this show’s dark theme, it was well done, well acted and definitely made me glad to have stayed on the Grey’s Anatomy bandwagon.

Idol’s Lame Duck

Casey, Casey, Casey…last night couldn’t have been easy for you. You were up against two VERY strong competitors and you didn’t pack any punch. I almost feel it’s a waste of time to even review your performances last night but here I go anyways…though I think Casey has skills with a guitar and has a pleasant singing voice, his performances are dull and snooze-worthy. Casey’s first song choice, which I can’t even remember the name of, proves it’s forgettable. He needed a song that the audience knows and can connect with and in return will bring him higher votes. As he sang John Mayer’s “Daughters” it was refreshing to see him do something so out of his comfort zone but that didn’t overrule the fact that his vocals were lazy and he just couldn’t dazzle me last night or ever really.

Crystal’s performances were solid as always. Her better performance was her second song, “Maybe I’m Amazed”, which happens to be one of my favorite songs. I agree with the judges that this song was different for her and I like her showcasing some new range in her vocal ability and I thought that might be hard to top but then…

…Lee takes the stage. First he performs “Simple Man” and it fits him perfectly; he sounds amazing and he’s connecting with the audience. He just rules! But it’s his rendition of “Hallelujah” that knocks my socks off. I loved how he started off just him and the guitar…then the orchestra slowly joins in and by the time the backstage opens up and the choir begins to sing, I have chills. Amazing! Not only did I think it would be hard to top Crystal’s performance but he did more than that. He was better than Crystal and he was just as good if not better than Jason Castro who was the last contestant that did an awesome job on “Hallelujah.”

This week felt like an all out brawl between Crystal and Lee. Sorry Casey but you are obviously the lame duck. In my humble opinion, I think Lee knocked Crystal out for the count but my dear husband would argue with me till he’s blue in the face that Crystal was last nights champ. (What the heck are you smoking? Or do we need to get your ears checked?) Well honey, I love to be right and I’m willing to bet that next week Lee is the winner of this season’s American Idol. I’m not even conflicted like I’ve been in past seasons. So name your price dear husband and I’ll take that bet.

Let’s hope and pray these two can bring this much heat for next weeks finale.

My Inner Geekdom

I feel like I should warn you before you start reading any of my blogs because I’m sure you’ll notice a reoccurring theme…I harbor an inner geek. I say inner because I don’t think my outward appearance shouts “I’m a geek” but at the same time I’m not ashamed of having geeky tendencies. I also can’t say I’m full-on geek. I’m not completely awkward, I’m not completely tech savvy and I do enjoy a lot of mainstream stuff. And I like to think that I’m pretty well rounded individual. I will give any show a shot, see any genre of movie and read any book that comes highly recommended from friends. But when left to my own devices I tend to gravitate towards science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal.

My love for Harry Potter and Twilight is quite bizarre. I have a Harry Potter quote tattooed on my left shoulder and its lead me to listen to Wizard Rock. Yes, that exists and I have gone to plenty of Harry and the Potter concerts, they rock! I own countless Harry Potter shirts, blankets and other random memorabilia. I squealed when I learned there is a HP themed section at Islands of Adventure in Florida which I’m still planning my trip to visit it soon. I go to each movies midnight release and I will forever be loyal to Dumbledore cause he’s the man.

As for Twilight, each movie my girlfriends at I go to the midnight release and I usually see the movie several times opening weekend. Yes, I realize these movies are horribly acted but I’m so head over heals for the love story that I can’t help but want to see it played out on the big screen. (And kudos to Summit for giving Catherine Hardwicke the boot. New Moon was much better and I think that can be credited to Chris Weitz.) When the DVD is released I have a movie release party at my home and most embarrassingly is…I read Twilight fan fiction. It started off innocent with wanting to read the “missing” honeymoon loving and turned into a full on addition for this lonely housewife. Don’t be too concerned…my addiction is much more manageable now.

Now you might have just decided that I have bad taste. I can’t argue with that with what I have revealed. (Regarding Twilight that is, I’ll fight to the death defending HP.) But I think I can redeem myself among my fellow nerds with the following sentence: Battlestar Galactica is fraking awesome. Seriously, Number Six gave me a female crush and made me want to live in a world where humans are near extinction running for survival and cylons live among us. BSG is hands down my favorite sci-fi series. Firefly would have been a close competitor but its one little season didn’t quite stack up enough against BSG full series.

I’m also a fan of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Lost, Batman, and X-Men (heck any movie based on a comic book or graphic novel really.) Some of my favorite cult classics are: Rocky Horror Picture Show, Wily Wonka, Dazed & Confused, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Dawn of the Dead, Clerks, They Live, and Heathers. I’m married to a video game designer who loves geeky stuff, who works with truck loads of geeks and is constantly broadening my geekdom horizon. I look forward to the Renaissance Faire each year and I’m truly fond of Zombies and Vampires.

Does all these things make me a little geeky? Nerdy? I think so and I base it on the fact that I can’t talk to everyone about these select interests of mine. It’s easier to talk American Idol with my co-workers or heck almost any stranger off the street can have a full blown conversation on that show but ask about any of the above I get one of two answers. “I’ve never heard of it” or “That’s not my thing.” So I guess I’m somewhere in-between geeky and average, and that’s ok with me because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it people still like me anyways!

Note: Picture is from my wedding in 2008. The tattoo says “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good” and “Mischief Managed.”