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Angela on
B. SMITH STYLE's new show!!! 10.18.04
Three years ago I did a corporate job with B. Smith--former model, turned home/cooking/style expert, and successful restaurant entrepreneur. Her syndicated TV show "B.Smith with Style" just got picked up by the Discovery Channel. In September '04, when Barbara (her real name) invited me to go to Lenox, Mass. and be part of her "Ahh…to the Spa!" episode, how could I say no? I knew Canyon Ranch was a beautiful, expensive "retreat", but when the producer said that "the only thing on the agenda was to have fun and relax", I started to get nervous… I'm not big on "pampering myself". I've let myself look so bad at times that once someone in my building asked me if I was "the Super". (I took that as a compliment. As if I could really fix somebody's leaky faucet.) For years when I was growing up my sister MaryAnn used to beg me to let her give me a "makeover". "Just give me an hour with you--you have such potential!" (This from the same sister who once said to me: "I can't believe you walk outside looking like that-you must have very high self esteem.") High self-esteem? Try low self-interest. Sure I'd like to look and feel better. But who has the time to meditate, exfoliate, hydrate, moisturize, exercise, do Pilates, get a message, and sit in the sauna? I'm lucky if I can apply my lipliner evenly while waiting for the light to turn green. Face it: unless you are a celebrity, or someone from the cast of Desperate Housewives, you just don't have the time (or the money) to pamper yourself. But maybe you should make that time (or borrow the money). Even easier: marry rich, at least temporarily--and visit the spa of your dreams--your mental and physical health could depend on it. Here's what I learned from two days at the Spa at Canyon Ranch
The amenities/grounds/activities at Canyon Ranch are amazing. Angela had a facial, a massage, took a world rhythms class, did Pilates and Gyrotonics, received lovely spa gifts, and plopped herself in a steam room (more water) before heading home. You can watch the one hour episode of Angela on "B. Smith with Style" on the Discovery Channel. The air date is scheduled for Dec/early Jan. '05. Check back with this site for actual airdate/time or visit: www.bsmithwithstyle.com and check out www.canyonranch.com |
The
terry cloth robe is your friend. Remember that mobster who
feigned senility by walking around the neighborhood in his bathrobe?
That's what it's like at a spa. The robe and the black plastic
spa sandals.That's the uniform--at breakfast, in the dining
room, on the sprawling grounds, in the lobby--NO ONE TAKES OFF
THE ROBE (unless of course you're getting a massage or swimming
in the pool-that would be taxing). f. In other words, don't
bother packing a suitcase. Since returning from spa land, I
now walk around the streets of Manhattan in my terry robe. I'm
no longer referred to as "the super"--now everyone
thinks I'm some loony character on The Sopranos.
not
that you can't have what you want--pizza, cake, cookies--it's
there for you, right next to the flaxseed and fresh fruit-but
it's hard to choose what you really want when each food item
has a little card next to it stating the number of calories
and grams of fat. "Gee, I could have the salad with shrimp
for 350 calories or I could make a pig of myself and have the
cheese pizza for a whopping 935 calories. I really want the
pizza, but I've got to start looking good in this bathrobe.
Everybody's watching as I reach for the pizza…so I'll show off
and choose the healthier salad." So basically, you are
guilted into a healthy choice. It's a very Catholic methodology:
the choice to sin is always yours. It does make you very aware
of everything you are eating, which is the point, I suppose.
[I may never drink orange juice again. Tomato juice is a better
choice, calorie-wise.]
Water,
water, everywhere. A spa can cost you $1,000 bucks a day
but the item that is consumed the most is something we have
at our disposal and for free: water. In spa land, you drink
water. Lots of it. Which explains why my suite had two bathrooms.
You really can't afford to be too far away from the bathroom
when you are drinking that much water (and herbal tea). The
rooms, by the way, are very nice, with a couch and writing desk,
tv, vcr, lovely cushy sheets (very high thread count, I stopped
counting) and plush mattresses. I slept like a baby (and felt
like a child too, walking to the front desk at midnite in my
terry robe, asking for a "snack"--"I'm hungry,
Mommy!" They have a choice of two "snack bags"
(I asked for both of course. They directed me to the bowl of
apples if I was "still hungry" after one snack bag
L).
she
penned the song "Woodstock", and that's what I kept
singing to myself in spa land (of course they were all stoned
out of their minds at Woodstock and wouldn't know a garden from
a parking lot back then, but you know what I mean…fresh air,
trees, flowers, a bench to sit quietly, a "maze" of
stones to walk through and meditate, a reconnecting with the
elements and you feel renewed. Why can't we do this at home?
Well, for one thing, not too many of us have 200-plus acres
and estate trees to entrance us. There is something to be said
for getting away from it all and enveloping yourself in an atmosphere
of beauty and tranquility (cell phone use is frowned upon at
the spa--. of course my cell phone went off in the lobby and
a gaggle of women clutching canvas tote bags and discussing
their next "treatment" and "lecture" looked
at me as though I had just disrobed). I didn't like them. After
the first day I got used to ignoring my cell phone. It was difficult
to get a signal in "the complex"--the facility and
layout is massive and a bit confusing. I asked for directions
to my room so many times, they finally supplied me with a vegan
seeing eye dog.