NYC Thrive: Recharge.

I was going to bail on the lunch.

I was starving, and didn't feel particularly like pushing myself to be "on" for a lunch. Even though it promised to be a good lunch. But it was next door to the theater where the conference was at...

"There's no reason not to go," I said.

So I sucked it up and walked over a few hundred feet outside. As I was checking in at the entrance, I noticed a woman in front of me who looked familiar.

"Name, please?" asked the woman with the iPad, checking people in for lunch.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THIS IS?" I wanted to scream at her. But I refrained.

"Candace," said the woman. "Bushnell."

I silently "SQUEED" from excitement.

"Name, please?" the woman then asked me. I gave it to her,and she informed me to sit "at any of the reserved tables."

I wasn't sure what that meant. But I figured that the RESERVED tables would be for the important people. Not me.

Know what? I was wrong. Half wrong...

Yep... That's me, sitting at a RESERVED table, attempting to discreetly take photos of Candace Bushnell eating lunch. While I didn't talk much with her, I did have a conversation with her friend about White Noise apps you can download on your phone. Her friend had never heard of such a thing!

On my right at the table sat the COO of Barney's, Daniella Vitale. She was lovely. We talked briefly about my travels, because then lunch was put in front of us, and we were all starving. Also at the table - across from me - was Brad Meltzer. He is an author, and was scheduled to close the conference with a presentation. He was kind of quiet... I guessed maybe getting into his "zone" for later.

Or it could have been that he was just not feeling being at a table of women at lunch.

I spent a good chunk of my time talking to the woman on my right, named Shelly Lee Williams. She is from Salt Lake City, and had a wonderful personal story. She does social media and writes for The Arts  Organization's TAO Metaversity.

I left lunch early, because it looked as though it was about to run over the allotted hour. I tucked into my seat just in time for the afternoon session to start. And it began with a quick yoga session...

I hate to say I can't recall her name... But she is Arianna's personal yoga teacher. And I was in love with her leggings, which tied around her ankles. It was a wonderful five minutes of stretching and breathing.

Then came Arianna's sister Agapi Stassinopoulos...

She was a bubbly creature that radiated positive energy. You could feel the kindness and compassion flying off of her, and into the air. She was there to lead us through a guided meditation. We closed our eyes, and drifted off for about 10 minutes, listening to her.

"She should record that and make an app of it," I said to myself. I'm sure many would have agreed with me.

We were ready to dive into the next pillar... Wonder.