A Mommy Story

On Tuesday, I had the whirlwind trip of a lifetime: fly to New York, meet with the Slim-Fast team and five amazing experts in nutrition, food, fashion, beauty and photography, and then fly back to Columbus, all in the same day. Sounds crazy, right? It was. But it was a fantastic kind of crazy.

I was a little nervous when leaving that morning. Not because of the event, but because the weather was stormy and windy. Once we were above the clouds, though? Gorgeous.

When I reached NYC, I was taken from the airport to the heart of Manhattan to the Slim-Fast Studio Wow! penthouse. This place was beautiful, decorated with lots of white and red, and stations for each of the team of experts to work and talk.

Who are these “experts” you may wonder? Well, I’m glad you asked. Meet the superheroes I like to call Team Studio Wow!:

I was the first blogger to arrive, so I relaxed on a couch and chatted with the Slim-Fast team until the others arrived. There are ten Women of Wow bloggers, but only five could make it to the event. Once we were all assembled, we were taken to lunch at Bryant Park Grill.

Once we returned to Studio Wow!, it was time for the magic to begin. One-by-one we met with each of the experts to ask questions and get advice to make 2012 our year of wow. I first met with Ali, the Registered Dietitian for Slim-Fast. We discussed proper nutrition and how Slim-Fast can make it easy to get the nutrients you need each day, even when you’re on-the-go.

Next I met with Robin, who introduced me to some of her incredible 500-calorie or less meals. She discussed how to use simple spices and flavorings to make low-calorie meals anything but boring. Even though we had just come back from lunch, I didn’t hesitate to sample every item she had! I plan to share at least a few of the recipes here in the following weeks – yum!

After Robin I met with Jacqui to discuss fashion. When she started the conversation asking me what questions I might have for her regarding fashion, I immediately joked that I wouldn’t even know where to start because I’m really a jeans-and-t-shirt kind of women. We then started discussing accessories – a foreign topic to me – and how to use them to accent any outfit. Other than my wedding ring, I’m generally accessory free, so I didn’t know where to begin.

Jacqui demonstrated different ways to wear a scarf, which felt completely silly to me but she assured me looked fantastic. I guess it takes some getting used to? I vowed to her that I would make an effort to include more accessories into my wardrobe in the months ahead.(And Jacqui gave me a lovely scarf to get me started!)

Joey was up next, and before my butt even hit the seat he was already running his hands through my hair and making decisions on how to make my hair look glamorous. I confess that I barely remember this part because it was a frenzy of activity – he danced around my chair with a large barrel curling iron while a lovely woman (name I can’t remember – sorry!) ducked his hot iron to touch up my makeup and create a smoky eye look that I’ve never been able to master. I have to admit – I looked really good.

Before the mascara was even dry, I was then escorted to my final stop: a photo session with Nigel Barker. Suddenly I was nervous: I have a lot of trouble looking natural when the camera, and the focus, is on me. Nigel is a famous photographer, and I didn’t want to be the one utter failure in his portfolio! We chatted at first about my blog, how much weight I’ve already lost, and my experience in raising a daughter with autism. He has a niece with autism, and we quickly fell into a discussion about the amazing talents of the two autistic girls we know.

His team put on some music (Pink, of course), and I tried to loosen up. Nigel was very patient in directing me on how to look good for the camera, even though I was stressing myself out about doing it correctly. It was a lot of fun, but I still worry that my photos will have the forced smile I get when I’m worried about looking good. We’ll see, right? (And another goal for this year – learn to relax when I’m in front of the camera.)

As if that wasn’t enough, they encouraged me to take all of the Slim-Fast bars I could get on the plane! Considering how much I love the bars, I wish I would have brought a bigger bag!

By 4:30pm, I was back in a car on my way to the airport again. The day went by so quickly! Everyone was exceptionally nice, and aside from the pampering I left with a renewed confidence in myself and a commitment to my goals. The Slim-Fast Studio Wow! event showed me that reaching those goals is not only possible, but can be a lot of fun, too.

The Women of Wow tab is now live on the Slim-Fast Facebook page – I’d love it if you’d visit my profile there and give me a little support. Be sure to check out the other Women of Wow, too!

Full disclosure: This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in the Slim-Fast Women of WOW! Program. Visit www.facebook.com/slimfast to join the conversation.