Looking Good (for a mom)

As you know from my post Of Martha, Blogging, and NYC, I traveled up to New York City earlier this week to be in the studio audience for the taping of The Martha Stewart Show along with a number of other bloggers (many of them from right here in the Philly area). The show’s theme was blogging, and we were all supposed to be blogging live from the audience.  I actually decided against bringing my laptop, as I’m simply too verbose to write the kind of post I’d like to write from my iPhone in just an hour (along with many mandatory clapping breaks), so I hope you don’t mind that it’s taken me a day to regroup and get this post up. I really want to share my experiences going to New York, seeing Martha live, and spending a day away from my home and normal routine.  Of course, I’ll share tidbits of how I tried to stay healthy along the way! (And even for me, this post is pretty lengthy…epic even!)

Although I had originally planned to travel up Thursday morning, the train schedules were not cooperating, so I left Wednesday night instead.  Since I was leaving right from work, I didn’t have the opportunity to have a home-cooked dinner. Instead, walked to Starbucks from the train station and picked up a hot Chicken Sante Fe Panini.  I reviewed the nuritional stats at the time, and although not ideal, they seemed decent. The sandwich was under 400 calories and didn’t seem to have as many additives as many similar items might have.  Plus, I wanted something hot, so the fruit, cheese, and hard-boiled egg snack they offer just wasn’t going to do it for me!

Back at the train station, I spotted a woman looking at the vending machine, and handed her a package of dried apples instead. (As part of fortifying myself against snack cravings on the trip, I brought a huge bag of almonds and three packages of Brothers All Natural Fruit Crisps.) As it turned out, she loved them and asked me where to get them!

When my train arrived in New York, I met up with friends and went to a bar to hang out together.  I wanted to enjoy myself, but not overdo it, so I had a glass of Pinot Noir – just one, and then just drank water and socialized with my fellow bloggers and a friend from college who lives in New York.  A few of us stayed out pretty late, considering how early we had to be up in the morning, and so it was around midnight when I got back to the hotel. My roommates were still awake, so it didn’t bother them when I did a quick bodyweight circuit before bed:

• 10 bodyweight squats
• 10 lunges per side
• 10 regular push-ups
• 30 second plank
• 10 1-leg romanian deadlifts per side
• 10 1-leg deadlifts per side
• 10 close-grip push-ups

It wasn’t much, but it helped me stay on track at least mentally, and also helped me keep my reputation as “that fitness blogger with the amazing transformation.”

In the morning, I dressed in my hot Hudson jeans that I talked about in my post How to Get a Jeans-Worthy Butt, a bright green sweater (per the instructions, we were to wear bright colors), and some awesome necklaces I received as birthday gifts.  Then I headed downstairs to get something to eat at the hotel’s free continental breakfast. I knew we would be at the show until at least noon, and wouldn’t get any food or drink while we were there, so I wanted to make sure I fueled up.  There were a lot of pastries and cereal and other sugary foods, but also plenty of healthier choices.  I ended up eating a bowl of plain oatmeal with a little milk in it and an english muffin with egg and cheese. I also made a cup of hot tea and grabbed a banana to put in my bag in case I started to crash later.

After a short walk to the studio, we were waiting outside in the cold for about 20 minutes, as those of us in the studio audience were let in and screened in small groups.  I was nervous that my name wouldn’t be on the list with the other Philly Mom Bloggers, since I sent in my RSVP 20 minutes late (when in my life HAVEN’T I been 20 minutes late?), but all was well. My glam necklaces set off the metal detector, but the nice lady watching us walk through waved me on anyway.

Sitting in the audience for the Blog Show with Centsiblelife

Once in the “holding area,” we wasted no time chatting with our fellow bloggers and snapping pictures. We also were able to see some of Martha’s merchandise on display. I didn’t look through any of her books at the time, but am now regretting it – more on that later.  Finally we were brought up to the studio and assembled into our seats. I’m not sure how the staff decided who got to sit where, but I was not one of the chosen few in the front – I ended up in the middle section in the back half. Since I had an iPhone, I was placed between two people with a laptop: one of them a new friend, who has a blog called Primetime Parenting, and the other my local friend Kelly, from The Centsible Life.  We logged onto the internet, and then proceeded to learn clapping techniques from the energetic Joey, the warm-up guy for Martha’s audience members.  I was glad I left my laptop at home. I may be coordinated enough to swing a kettlebell, but clapping with a laptop perched on my knees just sounds scary to me.

Martha shows off her awesome YSL stilletos

Finally, Martha entered the studio with her guests.  She gave us a friendly wave, and strode to her desk in amazing 6-inch YSL platform stiletto heels (she told us later that she got them on sale). Now I know that Martha is closing in on 70, and on that basis, she looked great, but it’s clear that she’s struggling to hold onto her shape as she grows older.  She was wearing a puce cardigan that was buttoned at the top, and it did a good job of skimming over her waist to hit her hips, but it was still evident that she has added quite a bit of belly fat over the past few years.  It’s hard to imagine that someone with Martha’s vast resources can have trouble maintaining her figure as she ages, but I suppose the fact that she’s had trouble on this front helps make her seem more human and real to me. Martha, if you’re reading this, I’d love to help you regain the shape of your younger self!

Originally, Brian Williams from NBC’s nightly news was supposed to be the featured guest, but he ended up traveling to Haiti to cover the devastation there.  We were all excited to see who would stand in.  As best I can tell, Martha’s staff filled the time by arranging for Alexis Stewart (Martha’s daughter) and her friend and co-host Jennifer Kuppleman Hutt to stop by and talk about their blog, Whatever, with Alexis and Jennifer. (This was never confirmed, but Jennifer made a statement at one point that led me to believe she was called the previous day to be invited to the show.)  I have to say that, having never heard Alexis and Jennifer’s “Whatever Show” on Sirius/XM radio, I didn’t know what to expect. Alexis was absolutely unintimidated by her mother, and seemed to have a very dry sense of humor.  Honestly, there were times where she seemed downright rude.  At the very least, there seemed to be a passive-aggressive mother-daughter dynamic there, and Alexis seems less willing than Martha to put on a good face for the public.  Points for candor? Absolutely. Points for good manners? Not so much.  But Jennifer Hutt lightened the mood with her bubbly personality whenever things seemed a little tense (even at one point suggesting Alexis uses the internet to download porn – and then insisting she was just kidding), and I could see why the pair combines to make a popular radio show and blog.

The other guests on the show included Pim Techamuanvivit of ChezPim.  Pim is a food blogger, and she coached Martha in making a Shrimp and Tofu Pad Thai.  For some odd reason the tofu appeared to be deep fried??? Other than that, this meal looked AMAZING, and apart from having to run to the asian market to find some of the ingredients, it looked absolutely easy to make. In fact, Pim assures us that this is so on her blog, where she’s posted Pad Thai for beginners - not a recipe, mind you, but true cooking instruction that will make you a divine Pad Thai chef.  I’m looking forward to making it myself, because although the smell filled the audience and made our tummies growl, we were not offered a taste.  Oh well!  And in case I wasn’t clear on this point – if I include tofu, it will absolutely NOT be deep fried.  Now when you attend a taping of a show like this, there’s always an opportunity for “swag.” (Free gifts.) As our swag, we each received a copy of Pim’s book, The Foodie Handbook: The (Almost) Definitive Guide to Gastronomy. I can’t wait to read it and make some of the wonderful authentic recipes inside.

The next cooking guest was a blogger who, in the spirit of Julie & Julia, has been cooking his way through the book (textbook is probably a better description), Martha Stewart’s Cooking School.  Jeff Blumenkrantz writes the blog, Jeff and Martha: My Year of Cooking Fabulously! So far, he’s cooked nearly 300 recipes, and has wonderful things to say about how it’s improved his cooking skills.  I really thought the book sounded great, and was disappointed I’d been too busy socializing to peek at it downstairs when I’d had the chance. (Now it’s on my Amazon wishlist!) Jeff had explained to Martha that he’s not cook at frosting cakes, so she gave him an excellent lesson. Using five cakes in various stages of preparation, they worked in tandem to put a “crumb layer” on a first set of cakes, then put a top layer on the second set of cakes, and finally, slice and taste the final (fully-prepared) cake.  I tell you, if I had Martha’s prep kitchen in my home, OH the things I could prepare!  Some great tips I learned:

• chill the cake after applying the crumb layer, to avoid lifting the icing while applying the final layer
• clean your spatula or use a fresh one for each layer of frosting
• if you don’t have a cake plate (with a spinning top), GET ONE (Martha gave Jeff one as a gift)
• place four half sheets of wax paper on the cake plate, and place the cake on top. Pull these away after frosting to reveal a perfectly clean plate!
• when slicing a cake or pie, remove the SECOND piece you cut, not the first one, to get perfect slices

I have to admit – cake eater I’m not, but those cakes looked good, and with five of them up there, I was amazed that the staff didn’t slice them up and give the audience some.  Strangely enough, the prep cooks actually took the cake with the two slices out of it back into the prep kitchen, frosted it some more, and then brought it back into Martha’s kitchen and put it on the counter. Not sure what that was all about, but it certainly LOOKED gorgeous! During the commercial break, Joey ran around handing out gifts. He handed out a number of CDs and DVDs from a bag, and then gave the bag to me when he was done. The bag was a nice reusable Toys for Tots bag, and inside was a great travel mug! Also, my seat mate was handed a yoga DVD, which she said she wouldn’t use, so she gave it to me. I’ll be passing on the gesture and giving it to a lucky reader next week!

The last official guest was Andrew Ritchie, whose blog, Martha Moments is devoted to all things Martha. Alexis Stewart joked that Andrew was Martha’s stalker, but Martha brushed off her comment, saying that she considers him to be just “very well informed.” Anyway, Andrew spent some time in Martha’s crafting area, making yarn cards. The cards were beautiful, but considering that I barely have time to accumulate the Hallmark variety, I’ll leave this technique to people like Andrew and Martha who both really seem to appreciate it.  Andrew seemed absolutely star-struck during his entire time on the show, and it was a joy to see such a devoted fan live out his dream of appearing on the show.

Before the wrap-up, Martha did a short segment where she had planned to introduce some of the bloggers in the audience.  The chosen few were seated up front, but as it turned out, there was only time left to feature one member of her studio audience.  She introduced us to Briana Campbell, of Hire Me Martha, who has been blogging about her quest to get a job with Martha Stewart Omnimedia.  Briana has a fantastic knack for crafting, and she presented Martha with one of her handmade stuffed elephant toys from her etsy site Les Enfants Terrible. Absolutely lovely! As a surprise, Martha invited Briana to spend the day with her art department. Totally classy move!

We went to the last commercial break, and while we were grooving to the awesome music Martha’s staff plays during commercials, Joey yells up to me that there was a camera behind me, and I’m supposed to turn around and wave. So when he counted us back in, I turned around and smiled, but I didn’t manage to wave. I was too trained to clap (iPhone in hand) at that point in the show. But I got a close-up shot on TV right before the camera focused in on Martha for the wrap-up! Watching it back on the DVR, I think it would have looked better if I waved, but then I’m going to be super critical of anything I see myself do on TV, so I need to give myself a break!

After the show, a few of us grabbed lunch at a pub recommended to us by our hotel. I ordered hot roast beef au jus – one of my favorite things to eat. To keep things manageable from a calorie and health standpoint, I asked them to hold the fries and give me a side of veggies with no butter. My fellow bloggers teased me that I was making them feel guilty (since they were getting fries), but that wasn’t my intent! I just would rather splurge on the roast beef and roll than a bunch of french fries.

The friendly "guard" outside FAO Schwarz

I wanted to meet up with my friend Julie, of Just Precious. She brought her two younger children with her and we wanted to go see the big FAO Schwarz store.  However, we were on 29th street and FAO was on 59th street, 30 blocks away and 2 avenues over.  Julie headed up there ahead of me but was at a restaurant with her kids, so I had plenty of time to meet her there. I decided that instead of taking a cab or the subway I would walk. I enjoyed the scenery, hit a few stores, and walked a LONG way.  I checked out the distance and it turns out it was just under 2.5 miles! And I did it in heels. Wow, I can see how living in New York City helps people stay active!

So then I headed for the train, as it was time to finish up my NYC trip and return to reality.  My feet were tired – and so was I! On the train ride home (4:05 pm departure from NYC), I took advantage of my stash of snacks, eating some of the almonds and dried apples I had brought along for just such a situation.  I finally walked in the door around 7:00pm, too exhausted to make or eat dinner.

What did I learn on my trip? Quite a few things:

• Martha Stewart is either really cool and genuine, or really good at maintaining her charm even when she’s not on camera. Either way, I like her more now that I did before going to her show.
• Going away with fellow bloggers is a lot of fun!
• It’s possible to have fun in the big apple without going completely off-plan.
• Skipping a cab is great exercise, but if you do it, change into your comfy shoes first.
• Having enough extra healthy snacks to share is always a good idea.
• If you’re taking a late train home, make sure your spouse has dinner ready.

If you’ve made it through this entire post, you are a very devoted reader indeed.  Thanks for sharing in my experience!

Disclaimer: Products links generally go through Amazon, and if you buy after clicking, I will receive a commission of 6% of the purchase price (commissions received during January will be donated to the Red Cross for disaster relief). I have not been otherwise compensated for any of my comments, but as disclosed in the post, I did receive a free copy of The Foodie Handbook for being a guest on Martha’s show.

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