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May 31, 2007
All's Well at the Alconquin Hotel
"Are you meeting Dorothy Parker?" said my college roomate when I told her that I was meeting a writer at the Alconquin Hotel.
"Close enough," said I, "I'm meeting the greatest writer of her generation. Except this one is happily married."
I met Allswellinhell in person yesterday. Her husband won an award so he got to go to a writers' conference in New York, and I met up with her there. Wow. You know how you always wonder, when you know someone online, if you'll hit it off in person? Well, we really, really did.
First, I'd have to say that the chick is freakin' gorgeous. I was there a few mins earlier than they were, so I went around looking for a thin beautiful woman with reddish blondish hair. In most towns in the US, that would really narrow down the pool of possibilities, but in NYC, there are a lot of supermodels hanging out at bars. So I went up to various women asking, "Are you...?" and they'd say "NO!" very sharply, leading you to believe they were frequently approached by people pretending to know them.
Finally A. and her husband walk in. I somehow knew her immediately from the back of her hair. She looks a lot more like what folks think a CR chick would look like than I am: she is tiny, very thin. Skinnier even than she looks in the pictures I've sent, which makes sense as the camera adds ten pounds. Tiny, beautiful, and with a healthy glow that shows she's been using COM to monitor her nutrition! A CR person can be very thin while still looking extremely healthy... probably because we are extremely healthy. Totally different from gaunt supermodels or the starving ballerinas I went to high school with: even at very low weights, CR folks I've seen don't seem to get the sunken in look that starving people have. Nutrition really, really matters. I suspect that A will look like she's in her early twenties for a long, long time. Actually, she could easily pass for someone in college, but she's still at the age where it's annoying to look younger than you are.
I won't relay our entire three or so hours of conversation... it's after all, our business, and there's just so much CR geekiness. But here are a few favorite points:
I wanted to give her some of a supplement I had on me to try, a powdered B vitamin that you mix into liquid. It's a white powder. We're trying to figure out how to measure an appropriate dose, and neither of us have a tablespoon (I later discovered my trusty teaspoon in a secret compartment of my Hello Kitty backpack.) So I whip out mini-scale, accurate to the tenth of a gram. There we are, in NYC, weighing white powder on a tiny scale. And no one bats an eye. Gotta love New York. Then we figured out that we didn't know the gram dosage, only that it needed to be a tablespoon, so we measured in my baby measuring cup.
Neither of us ate a bite... she had just eaten a megamuffin, and I ate a late second lunch (having eaten my first, quotidian lunch of salad with yogurt, salsa, olive oil and olives right before walking out the door to a meeting) of a salad with grilled chicken just before boarding my train. Neither of us thought there was anything weird about not eating. Then I had FourthMeal, not quite Taco Bell style, when I met my college roommate at 9:30... endive, artichoke heart, tomato and fresh mozzarella salad.
I gave her a packet of my choco-banana whey protein powder. She was happy. I can imagine her mixing it in a glass of skim milk with some almonds on the side.
We discussed the diffilculty of finding the right calorie level. It's so hard when you're modifying your exercise, work schedule, macronutrient ratio, etc. We recognize that most people are not interested in this, so we very much enjoyed the opportunity to talk amongst ourselves.
I am so, so glad I went. It was a bit crazy to hop out of work, grab a train, show up, hang out with Allswell, and then crash with my college roommate who lives in NYC, then leave at 6 am to get a train home so I could get back to work. I was still in my business suit from work, as I ran out the door to the train. But it was so worth the effort to meet my CR girl soulmate.
Today it was back to the regular work kerfuffle. Is there a crisis every twenty minutes or what? At least I managed to eat well. Had my choco banana whey shake on the train this am with skim milk that I purchased in the station, then my co-workers wanted to eat out for lunch, but I just had a green salad. Tonight I had my regular salad with yogurt, flax oil, and some olives. Glass of delicious French red. Jumped back on the phone for work right after dinner. It was a lower calorie day than usual because a) I had eaten four meals instead of three the day before b) it was too hot to eat here! 90 degrees! c) Everytime I tried to eat more, another kerfuffle erupted, making it impossible for me to get home to grab my food.
Tomorrow I'm headed up to Scranton again. I must take care to pack something or other to eat. At least tonight I'll get to sleep with MR and the cat, take Pilates in the morning, and pack some good food. And the Allentown Farmers' Market is open now... crazy heirloom cauliflower is no doubt for sale!
Posted by april at May 31, 2007 6:25 PM
Comments
Sounds like you ladies had a lot of fun. I have to say, though, I'm not sure I would have had the nerve to weigh an unidentified white powder on a mini-scale in public. Here in Boston, that would probably be enough to put the whole city into a panic.
Posted by: Robin at May 31, 2007 9:43 PM
Ha! I've been so busy I've just now had a chance to check in on your page. You forgot to mention our crusade against that carby salty no-doubt-toxicly-plastic-oily kitty mix they tried to feed us!
And flattery will get you everywhere!
Posted by: Ashley at June 4, 2007 5:39 PM