How bad can that be?

I got some seriously good news this weekend while enjoying my Saturday Morning Loungefest (R). I cannot tell you how much I enjoy lazy Saturday mornings wherein I wake up somewhat early, turn on SoapNet and watch several hours of One Tree Hill and Beverly Hills 90210 (the original) reruns. It is so decadent. SoapNet calls it "Breakfast in Bed" and you're supposed to watch from 6 until 11 a.m. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how often I've actually done just that. (Except that I rarely get up at 6!)

I try to be somewhat productive during this time - paying bills or cleaning my bedroom or living room (i.e. rooms with TVs in them), but I also just enjoy lounging in my pajamas, eating a leisurely breakfast. This weekend's breakfast was PopTarts! Strawberry. No frosting. I heart them. I ate one PopTart Saturday morning and one Sunday morning. Rationing them out. They made me so happy...

Anywho... I was enjoying the PopTartiness and the lounginess and the SoapNetiness and channel surfing a bit when I landed on Food Network. And all of a sudden... a little "bug" (TV-talk) appeared in the corner of the screen advertising... {wait for it} ... the new season of Barefoot Contessa - debuting Oct. 18!

Holy happiness! And here I thought the Food Network was shoving Ina Garten off to the side to make room for lame new shows I don't care about. But no... she's back! In all her Barefoot Contessa-ing goodness. I can't even tell you.

But I'll try.

In case you're not familiar with the Barefoot Contessa, she used to work at the White House, then left and kind of randomly decided to buy a specialty food store in the Hamptons. It was called the Barefoot Contessa. She ran that store for quite a few years, then someone else ran it and now it's closed (a pity).

But she has this cooking show in which she makes seemingly fabulous food in the setting of her truly fabulous life. Don't understand what makes her life so fabulous? Allow me to explain:

• She has a beautiful home in the Hamptons - she's always making meals and packaging them up so she and her friends can eat them on the beach. Come on...
  
• She makes lots of chocolate things and always looks at the huge bowl of chocolate, gives a flirty look to the camera and says, "Now how bad can that be?" - at once celebrating how bad it is and yet giving you permission to treat yourself.
• She drives her little BMW convertible around the Hamptons picking up specialty food items at what appears to be her new favorite store, Fishes and Loaves, which I'm sure charges outrageous prices, but looks heavenly.
• Her husband works in the city and is therefore gone all week (that's my favorite part - I always wanted a boyfriend/husband who lived about an hour or two away. Close enough to see him if you really wanted to, but far enough away that it wouldn't be practical to see him every day. What that says about me, I'm not sure.)

At any rate, she's back! Or, at least, she will be. Oct. 18. And while it will require me to channel surf off my usual Saturday morning routine, I think I can handle it for Ina and all her Hamptons glory.

Who knows... it might even convince me to cook something. And, say it with me now... "How bad can that be?"