No, not that kind of coming out! If there is anything to be gleaned from watching Josh Duhamel movies, it is that I am completely heterosexual. Okay, that’s probably the only thing to be gleaned from watching Josh Duhamel movies. I digress.

Almost a year ago, I had some routine blood-work done that showed my “bad” cholesterol was in the 260′s. For all of you 20-something readers, that’s high. Also, it’s been nice having you read my blog.

Truth be told, I was eating horribly; lots of fried, high-fat food and hardly any fruits or vegetables. I thought I could bring the numbers down by changing my diet. When my doctor asked, “What are we going to do about this cholesterol?”

I said, “I’m going to lose some weight!”

I don’t know if you know this, but you can’t just say, “I’m going to lose some weight” and have the weight come off. I’m sorry to break that to you. As a matter of fact, if you take a full-time job that has you sitting at your desk for long hours and working a lot of overtime, you will actually gain weight. Yep. It’s true.

Starting last September I really did try to change my diet, and in January I started working out about six times per week. I was making real changes, because the cancer in my family lit a fire under my patootie. I’m 40 now. I use words like “cholesterol” in blog posts. It was time.

When I went back to my doctor for a blood test in early February, I was sure these changes would be reflected in my numbers. Were they ever! My cholesterol went UP to nearly 290. It was awesome to hear that; almost as awesome as jumping off a two-story building and landing on your kneecaps.

My doctor said, “You’re building plaque as we sit here” and gave me two options; either take a statin drug every day, for the rest of my life, or drastically (and without moderation) alter my diet. When I asked him what that meant he said, “You’d have to go vegan.”

As in, no more butter. Ever.

It took me exactly two seconds to agree to try it. I have long said that I could easily be a vegetarian and when I pictured what was happening inside my body, the change was easy. Have I craved a nice, cheesy pizza? Yes. Is the cheesy pizza worth heart disease? No. I also know it isn’t good to drink alcohol while taking statins and if you ask me whether I’d rather give up animal products or beer, well…it’s not really a question at all.

I’m 11 weeks in to this lifestyle change and if my numbers are low enough after my next blood test, I can go off the prescription. Also, if that happens you’ll see me walking around with my arms in the air, like Rocky, for about a week. I’ll be the one yelling, “I WIN!”

Of course, not everyone has to take such drastic measures; I’m just lucky like that. I made my family cheeseburgers last night. Tonight, they’re having pork roast; tomorrow, barbecued chicken. You get the idea.

I, however, eat a lot of this:

So there, I’ve come out with it. Unless I’m miraculously approved to once again become a carnivore, you can refer to me as a vegan. Or, Rocky. Either one.

My daughter was born premature on December 29, 1998.  She weighed just 2.5 pounds and because she was so fragile, I wasn’t able to hold her in my arms until she was off her respirator two days later.  It was New Year’s Eve.  When I held her that afternoon, I knew the holiday would forever be linked with an amazing memory of cradling my baby for the first time.

Later that night, as the clock approached midnight in the pediatric intensive care unit, my husband and I stood next to our tiny daughter.  We were the only parents on the floor.  As the nurses quietly rang in the New Year at the nurse’s station, my husband and I each reached in and put one hand on our newborn child.  In the other hand, each of us held a glass of sparkling grape juice.  When the countdown to 1999 was complete, we toasted to our little girl.

Every year since then, New Year’s Eve has been a very special celebration for our family.  We make dinner together, then sit down at a candlelit table.  There are usually a couple of lobsters, some steak, veggies, homemade rolls…and there is always a bottle of Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice. 

In 2002, we had a son who was also premature.  So now, on New Year’s Eve, while the adults are sipping champagne, the two kids have fun drinking bubbly juice from Welch’s in fancy glasses.  We toast to both of them, always remembering the first time we shared this holiday as a family.


That’s my preemie.  She’s not so little any more!

They love the taste!  And, the bubbles!  I love the memories.

Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice has been helping us celebrate our good fortune for a long time and now BlogHer wants to help you celebrate the holidays by giving one lucky commenter a $100 Visa giftcard!

For a chance to win, simply check out the following drink recipes, leave a comment on this post and tell me which one you would like your family to try (if you don’t sign in with an account, please make sure to leave me a valid e-mail address).

Personally, I like the Sparkling Cranberry Spritzer, because bubbles and cherries!  Oh my! 

Holiday Toasting Cup

Spiced Grape Punch

Sparkling Cranberry Spritzer

After you leave your comment, be sure to check out the eleven other bloggers’ holiday stories for more chances to win!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) Click this link and provide your email address and your response to the sweepstakes prompt

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.  Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.  You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

For Official Rules click here.  Sweepstakes ends 5 PM PST on December 31, 2010.

Good luck and happy holidays from BlogHer, Welch’s and me!

I make ugly cakes. No, really. I once made my husband a camouflage cake and it wasn’t even on purpose. My cakes are notoriously hideous. I am including proof.

This is a cake I made for my husband. Note that after I wrote his name, I wanted to use up the rest of the icing so I made little flowers around the edges. That is my M.O., as are the flecks of cake which you can see through the icing around the candles. The mismatched candles.

This is another birthday cake I made for my husband. I crossed out his name to save him from embarrassment. As you can see, I didn’t even attempt to hide the cake I ripped up with icing (on the left side). See how I put three candles on the left and six candles on the right because it was his 36th birthday? I. Am. Brilliant.

This is quite possibly the worst cake ever created. I made this masterpiece for my son’s second birthday. See the “2″ in each corner? My poor boy took one look at this cake and burst into tears. I can’t say I blame him.

Now, look at the cake.

Isn’t that awesome? I was way impressed with the colors and the design. Here’s the cake with Brutus on top.

Even cooler, right? My husband loved the look, we all loved the taste and those candy Buckeyes didn’t last much longer than a minute.

This is all that was left when we were through.

The good news? I will never make another hideous cake. The better news? You have a chance to win a Krazy Kake!

Krazy Kakes is offering one lucky winner a free cake! It can be circle, square, hexagon, or oval, can feed about 8-10 people and can be any flavor of cake and frosting. Your cake can also be covered in fondant if you want something fancy.

Just leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address, please, so I can contact you if you’re the winner) before Friday, May 7, 2010 at noon EST and you will be entered to win. The winner must redeem this offer before May 7, 2011. You must live within 20 miles of Columbus, Ohio to be eligible to win.

People, if your cakes look anything remotely like mine, you should enter this drawing. Your family will thank you.

Update: Congratulations to Christina (comment #1)! You are the lucky winner! Enjoy your cake!

I have never tried to hide the fact that I am not the best cook. Mostly it’s because my life is busy. Really busy. Dinner usually consists of something I’ve thrown together at the last minute. I may have once fed my children Beef-a-Roni and buttered hot dog buns for dinner.

For the last several years we have had Thanksgiving at our house and you can’t slack off in the preparations for that meal. Unless, of course, your husband stuffs the turkey and your mom brings the bread, corn, green beans and pie. However, I am quite skilled at opening the wine.

This year will be different though! This year, Thanksgiving dinner is my responsibility. Why? Because I went to Thanksgiving Boot Camp! My instructor was the lovely Robin Davis, food editor of The Columbus Dispatch. The location was the fabulous North Market.

The first thing I learned is that your ingredients should be fresh. That means you use real celery, onions and bread in your stuffing! Real bread! Okay, the pumpkin for the pie was canned, but everything else? Totally fresh! Almost all of our ingredients came straight from North Market vendors.

When we were finished, we sat down to some lovely conversation, a delightful Pinot Noir and the most delicious turkey I have ever had.

I will be taking over the entire refrigerator for this recipe, but it will be worth it. Robin knows her stuff.

Well, except for how to save my pie.