Grits & Gossip

What are you watching?

This "TV" year has been one of the best I can remember in a long time! These shows round out my current favorites.

Best All Around: Downton AbbeyPBS, Sundays

It's just THE BEST! I got all 3 seasons on DVD for my birthday (Thanks, Mom!) and will watch it over and over.

The Dark Horse: Walking DeadAMC, Sundays 9pm

So Zombies aren't my usual genre. But hear me out. I was in the Halloween spirit and decided to try something new. We watched a few episodes of the first season on Netflix and soon we were hooked! We proceeded to "excessively binge watch" the first two seasons and caught up on the third and current season. And (nerd alert) we might have even bought the compilation of the comic books on which the show is based. And I might be considering buying and framing this.

Retro: Mad Men
AMC, Sundays 9 pm

It's a juicy, retro drama starting the 6th season on April 6th. Netflix has the first 5 seasons!

Funnest/Friendliest: New Girl and The Mindy ProjectFox, Tuesdays 9pm and 9:30pm

Both are fantastic, fun, and fresh sitcoms! No explanation needed on this one! Also, check out Zooey Deschanel's band, She and Him, and Mindy Kaling's book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?.

I Spy: The Americans
FX, Wednesdays 10 pm

This new show is a "FX original drama stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys as undercover Soviet spies in US near end of Cold War in 1981." Check it out and tell me what you think!

Political Fix: House of CardsNetflix

House of Cards stars Kevin Spacey and is a Netflix original series about a SC politician. I was on the Scandal bandwagon until I saw House of Cards!

Must See TV: Parks and RecreationNBC, Thursdays 8:30 pm

Great cast. Amy Poehler is fantastic. Aziz Ansari is from SC. Also, watch Aziz Ansari's stand up comedy specials.

On the Outs:

The Office- I hate to say it, but it's "time."
Revolution- Started strong, but losing it's luster.
Glee- Definitely hasn't made the jump post graduation for the majority of the case.

On My Summer Catch-Up List:

Nashville-I caught one episode and really liked it. I want to start from the beginning and catch up.
Modern Family- I like this show when I see it, but haven't consistently watched it.
Parenthood- same as above.
Girls- I'm just plain curious.

What about you? Find anything good to watch this year?

The South Has Made Me Fat

It's that dreaded time. Time to get real about the 30-something pounds I've gained since moving back to SC. I could blame a lot of things, but that won't erase the way-too-many-nights-on-the-couch or way-too-much-Mexican-food-for-lunch. There have been a few failed attempts to "do better" but I never follow through. So I'm giving in to the cliché of a New Year's diet and doing the Weight Watchers thing. It's worked for me before. Although, I admit that I haven't tried many other things. I'm not a fad or crash diet kind of girl. So Weight Watchers Online is a doable balance for me. Our meals are looking more like this....

(Stuffed Peppers with quinoa and vegetables)

And this..

I'm not going to lie....the first few days were h.a.r.d. More than anything I was frustrated with myself for developing such bad eating habits. The convenience of eating out has become the norm. Thank goodness the boyfriend is doing it with me and was a HUGE encouragement over the last week. The Weight Watchers food tracker app makes keeping up with points incredibly easy. Friday was a turning point and I felt like I hit an eating groove. It helped to step on the scale and see an 8 lb loss! And I haven't even had sweet tea withdrawal yet! We're adding exercise into our week 2 plan, so wish us luck.

A few of my favorite healthier meals and snacks during week 1 were:

sautéed shrimp and salmon

-a salad with veggies and tabbouleh (so much flavor!)

-clementines

-edamame

-steamed broccoli, zucchini, and squash with olive oil and fresh lemon juice

-stuffed peppers with quinoa and vegetables

-egg white omelets with onions, red peppers, and tomatoes

-skinny cow ice cream sandwiches

-Moe's Jr. Joey Burrito on whole wheat tortilla with meat, beans, and veggies

Is anyone else trying to shed pounds in the new year?

New Year, Updated Blog

Happy belated 2013! I'd say we had a..... ummmmm...

fun start to the New Year.....

I hope everyone's January is off to a great start. (Even if it's almost halfway over!) I was sad to see the holiday season come to a close and was slow to find a routine this month. Such is the life of a hopeless procrastinator! (I'm just going to embrace it!)

I finally exported all of my blog content from the Blogger platform to WordPress, so please excuse some spacing and formatting differences from the older posts. I've wanted to switch to WordPress for a while (I created an account and reserved the blog domain a few years ago) and am finally taking the plunge.

I sure hope my grandparents can find the new site! I feel like I've let them down since they got a computer and the internet to read my blog. Thank goodness my sister had a baby and my mom created a Facebook account to distract them! I get a lot less "You haven't posted in a loooong time" comments from my mom and grandparents since Scarlett was born! Anyway...I'm still learning, but like the feel of WordPress so far. I've been busy with lots of projects to show you courtesy of new Young House Love book and of course, Pinterest!

Meet Scarlett!

I just realized that I never published this post from several months ago. My niece, Scarlett, was born in May!

First....check out her adorable nursery. Argyle wall....round crib....and a canopy! (Sorry for the blurry iPhone pics!)

Scarlett Mae was born on May 18th at 7:12 pm and weighed in at 9 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long.

I told you our family beach picture would look different this year!

My brother-in-law is doing the "Circle of Life" presentation! And yes, our color choice was chosen to match Scarlett's outfit. And no, I have no idea what the older niece and nephew are doing....tweens! But here they are in a sweeter state....

It seems way too late to write a long post on the beach. But we went to Edisto Island and had a great time! The sunsets were breathtaking....

And my mom's cooking was delicious as usual!

I'm already looking forward to next year!

Upside Down

{From Pinterest and Curly Girl Greeting Cards}

I have no idea who to give credit for this quote (besides Pinterest), but it's so true! Last week was the end of a 3 month stretch of craziness for me. Ten of the last twelve weekends have been consumed with several work trips, a going away party, a bachelorette party, two weddings, and a baptism. Since Fall Saturdays in the South are sacred, I was at football games on the two weekends that I had free.

I'm so happy to share in so many special occasions and am so happy for my friends and family! My best friend from home moved her family to Abu Dhabi for the next two years! She's documenting their adventure on her new blog "Abu Dhabi Escapade." It's turning out to be such a great experience for her.

The happiness continued at my freshman roommate's wedding! Look at the awesome tent in the background!

Last weekend I went home for an incredibly sweet baptism for my niece! They're so pretty...

The traveling hasn't been all fun and games though. I've started to resent the weekends I have to travel for work. The packing and repacking and early mornings and long meetings are definitely for the birds! The next (and hopefully last) work trip is next week in Charleston. I'm thankful that it's not over the weekend though!

I've been feeling very "upside down" with my routine, finances, and health. The good side is that my priorities are getting back in place. My reaction to being busy and stressed is to take control of whatever I can. I'm beginning to feel right-side up again.

What Good Cooking is All About

I'm loving the celebration of Julia Child today on what would be her 100th birthday! I've only tried one of her recipes- hollandaise sauce from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom cookbook. Let's just say I need to keep practicing! But I still love the cookbook.

PBS put together this awesome video....love it!

I may have to get a bottle of Rosé and watch Julie and Julia tonight. Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Way Overdue!

I can't believe I've only had two blog posts all year! When I moved back to SC a little over two years ago, I admittedly lost the connection to Grits and Gossip. Almost all of the "Blogging Basics" articles instruct you to have a blog theme or focus. You know the ones- home design, cooking through a famous chef's cookbook, loosing weight, and so on. The "focus" of Grits and Gossip was always about my life in DC and staying in touch with friends and family back home. Well....I'm back home. Now what??

I didn't give it a second thought and planned to post about transitioning life back in to the south. That's still the plan, but it has taken more time than I thought to find my motivation and fit blogging back into my life. So this is one of many reasons Grits and Gossip has been on the very back burner. Truth be told, I've missed it!

So if anyone is still reading...thanks! I'm excited to catch up! How do you like the new look of Grits and Gossip?