chandelier workout, part two!

Awaiting instructions, your truly on the far left.

So, the Plaza is pretty cool. Eloise lives there, there's the food hall of my dreams in the basement, and you can even get scrubbed down with cabernet grapes at the vino-centric spa. And, as some of you may remember, now I even get to work out in the Grand Ballroom.

Last night was the second annual meeting of the Congress of Plaza Hotel Brides and Special People (I coined this myself. Catchy, no?). The CPHBSP is a rawther (Eloise!) select group guided by our leader, Amanda Russell. We sweat, we grunt, we tone our butts. It's almost worth trading in my bridal gown for a skin-tight white Herve Leger, just to show off these sweet curves. [Let me interject to say that at this point, Mike has palm to forehead and is shaking his head, muttering, "Sweet curves? Where does she get these terms?!"]

Like our inaugural session, it was glorious working out under the chandeliers. And, maybe not so weirdly, I love getting to spend time in the room where I'll have my first dance (and drink and cake) as a married lady. It feels right, somehow, to commune with the space during the months before we throw our big party inside. If they would let me throw a sleepover party one night (hint hint), I'm pretty sure the Plaza and I would stay up talking until way past our bedtime and become great friends. I wouldn't even stick its hand in hot water to try to make it pee.

And I'm happy to say I'm finally learning my way around the labyrinthine layout: I found the Ballroom on the first try! On a more Freudian note, I finally got to see the bathrooms off the Ballroom and you guys: they are AWESOME. I will probably spend the majority of the night of my wedding making sure everyone checks them out before they leave.  They're the fancy kind where everybody gets their own tiny toilet room. Any chance I had of the Plaza posting this in the newsletter just went out the window right ... now.

Chef Robb was nice enough to take a picture with me, even post-workout.

The best part of the night though, was getting to meet Chef Robb! After we finished our workout, everyone was treated to healthy snacks like kale chips and little soup shooters while Chef Robb stood by to answer all reception dinner emergency questions. These included queries such as: "Do I have to invite people with gluten allergies to my wedding?"; "Is it possible to make red velvet cake into a soup and inject it intravenously?"; and "So, white truffles for 300 people isn't going to add that much onto the cost, right?" 

Chef Robb was also kind enough to ask me what my and Mike's favorite foods are, since each menu is created with the likes of the couple-to-be in mind. I told him that ABC Kitchen is one of the only restaurants in the city that I don't mind going to again and again. The other is 'Smac, so I thought the former was maaaybe more appropriate for a black-tie dinner. But look, if my guests are fine with a four course macaroni and cheese tasting, please don't let me be the barrier between you and carbo-loading bliss. 

We'll have our official tasting in February (I have a countdown, obviously), and you can be assured I'll post the play-by-play here afterwards. But in the meantime, I'm happy to have met the awesome team that will be cooking our food and I do hope I didn't overwhelm poor Chef with my enthusiasm. I mean, whatever, I probably did.