Fierce in Seattle: Stuffed

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a blogumn by Kelli Bielema

They aren't sissies at the Brown Bag...but I am.

I’m entering my fourth winter in Seattle. I’m surprised I don’t want to kill myself after living in Los Angeles for nearly 10 years. But really, I’m one of those people who is not a big fan of the heat. I also get really bad headaches from too much sunlight. Seattle has been a great fit for my climate preferences but my diet and lifestyle have come up against my preferred level of comfort.

Growing up in the Midwest was clearly a good primer for the cold malaise that is the Pacific Northwest. The advantage LA has over Seattle’s weather is the ability to go outside for exercise, run errands or simply take out the trash. Hibernation is in full effect. With three years experience, I feel the need to tackle it head on with a strategy that will keep me active, social and away from the refrigerator.

Thanksgiving usually presents a major fail in this plan. Every time I sit down to give thanks, I actually give way to too many carbs, too much wine and just too much. I promised myself that this winter would be different. But so far, I’m off to a rotten start. This kick-off to the holiday season started with brie en croute, pinot gris, chocolate chip cookies (yes, before dinner) followed up by stuffing, prosecco, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, brussel sprouts (green stuff! Yay!), pinot noir, and covered in sweetness–yams, brussel sprouts and the grand finale – a chocolate martini. I just about threw up reading all of that.

The morning after the big feast I was hungover from the booze for sure, but mostly puffy from the salt. Coffee, toast, and reheated stuffing surely are the cure-all, no? A mid-day nap and leftover brie washed down by a Diet Coke was further insult to injury so I figured why not polish off the debauchery with pizza for dinner? And then on Saturday, meeting friends for brunch at Kirkland’s famous Brown Bag Café for an embarrassingly huge plate of hashbrowns, poached eggs and Texas toast put a fork in the weekend…and me. I think I am done and need to get back on track. But I can’t help but daydream about the DeLonghi deep fryer I recently ordered from Amazon.com that should be to my doorstep any day now. No, I am not kidding. This is going to be a long, hard winter…mostly for my arteries.