World Tour

Sorry, I haven't posted in the past few days.  I've been caught up on my own personal Carb Lover's World Tour.  I must confess that I've fallen off the Low-Carb/No-Carb Wagon.  Hard.

On Friday, my car veered into the McDonald's drive-thru.  I don't know quite how it happened -- force of habit, maybe.  Before I knew it the cashier handed me a Filet-O-Fish with extra cheese, an order of hot, crispy fries and three chocolate chip cookies.  I must have blacked out because I don't know what happened.

Then on Saturday evening, one of my girlfriends and I had dinner at The Olive Branch in Pikesville.  The Olive Branch is very much like The Olive Garden, but with a local twist.  The menu is chock full of delectable pasta and seafood entrees, and they serve tossed salad with this delicious house dressing and the most luscious bread sticks.

Now yesterday, on the 4th, I really went to town.  After church, my mom and I had breakfast at my most favorite restaurant, IHOP, where I indulged on my absolute favorite meal, Vive La French Toast slathered in butter with a side of red potatoes.  Atkins enthusiasts would shudder to think about the number of net carbs I ate in that one meal.  I lost count after that first bite of the french toast.

But the highlight of my weekend was my trip to the Cold Stone Creamery in Arundel Mills.  If you have never been to a Cold Stone Creamery, you are missing out!  This place puts all the other ice cream establishments -- Baskin Robbins, Haagen Dazs, and the rest -- to shame.  They have probably two dozen or so fresh-made flavors of ice cream, and countless toppings and confections that you can have mixed in.  You can choose anything from candies, nuts, brownies, cookies, cakes, graham crackers, fruits, syrups -- you name it.  After you choose all of your "mix-ins", your ice cream is mixed on a frozen granite stone, making it smooth and creamy.  I know the Atkins disciples are clutching the hearts now, but it was absolutely heavenly.

I think somewhere in there, over the course of the weekend, I had a salad.  Nothing remarkable, nothing memorable, but some lettuce with some other bland veggies mixed in with a raspberry vinaigrette.  That offset all of the wonderful, delectable, decadent carbs.

If I feel like it tomorrow, I may get back on the low-carb train, but I'm in no rush to get my ticket.