Since I am going to Miami this week to see my sister, and have some fun down South, I thought I would do ask a handful of gratitude-a-thoners to guest blog. And guess what, they said yes! I thought it might be interesting (especially while I’m sitting at the beach).

I’ve known Brenda since Jake was two. We met at an agency downtown, where we were paired on a project. She’s a super talented art director, and we were a team and great friends for a lot of years. I don’t see her nearly enough, but I love her madly, and think about her all the time. She’s the mom of two awesome kids, she’s good at everything she does, and she is wickedly funny. And here she is.

Name: Brenda Dziadzio

Occupation: Art Director

Me in a sentence: Big-boned Southern girl struggling through spring in Boston for 22 years.

Hi my name is Brenda Dziadzio and I’m addicted to carbs.

I recently gave up eating carbs for Lent. Which might lead you to believe I am a really devout Catholic or as one friend said “insane”.  My friend was right and apparently I’m not as self-aware as I thought. I honestly thought it would be an easy one and maybe I’d lose a few pounds in the process. I rarely have bread for dinner, I said.  I don’t even really like potatoes, I said. How hard could it be? I said.

Well, I will tell you how hard. SO VERY.

By 11am on the first day I actually felt panicky.

Background. I never eat breakfast (just black coffee, and lots of it). Yes, I know how important it is to have breakfast. I know it jump starts my metabolism. I know how much better I would perform in school. But I don’t like breakfast food. Hate cereal and milk. Hate muffins. Hate eggs and toast. HATE pancakes and waffles. Can you see why I thought giving up carbs would be a breeze?

I went to my kitchen for a snack that first morning and realized I couldn’t eat my usual cheese and crackers (CARB!) or a bagel with hummus (CARB!) which always tides me over until I have my turkey, tomato and avocado sandwich (CARB!) with chips (CARB!).  Hmmm, so bread is gonna be harder than I thought. What else would I like to have? In another section of the pantry, I pined for the ramen noodles (CARB!) the Oreos, the Doritos and the rice (CARB! CARB! CARB!)  OMG I cant even have sushi(CARB!) for 40 days?

I don’t remember what I ended up with, but on that day I realized just how carb-dependent I had become. Carbs are fast, easy and filling. And SO good! I for one, think it is depressing to have a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs with no spaghetti. Or a burger with no bun. Pizza with no crust?

 Try taking a 7-day trip to Mexico without eating chips, I dare you. Sit at that table day in and day out with that basket in front of you while 7 other people ooh and ah over their quesadillas, huevos rancheros and lime soup “Si Señora, it has tortillas in it”.

(Side note: I do NOT recommend having several margaritas on a spectacular beach at sunset on your last day in Mexico when you have not had a carb in 10 days.)

 Go ahead, meet old friends for dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant and pass on the breadsticks, crusty bread, the fresh gnocchi, ravioli and even the meatballs THAT WERE MADE WITH BREADCRUMBS! Ain’t easy, I tell you.

What could I do? I turned to bacon. Bacon is not a carb so I put it on practically everything I ate.

So yeah. I’m back on the carb wagon.  While that first yeast roll at Easter dinner felt criminal, I have savored every sandwich, tortellini and onion ring ever since. And the Catholic guilt has set in.