Welcome to the first episode of Jet Meets. Very simple, I visit people I like. I look in their fridge, kitchen cabinets, pantry, and also really in their wardrobe. We mainly talk about food and exercising because I can talk about that for hours. Today I kick off with Annemerel, she writes for her own blog annemerel.com. Five years ago it was mainly about clothing, but now it’s more about running and healthy eating. Look, then I’m at the right address. She posts on Instagram every day, runs incredibly fast half marathons, has swapped her daily pack of Oreos for a healthy omelet on a spelt sandwich this year and also writes weekly in the Metro about sports and health.
“Shall I make my favorite lunch for you when you come here?” Well, yes please, and I got in the car to her apartment in The Hague.
At Annemerel's home
“I was born in The Hague. When I moved out and stepped into this studio, saw those high walls and the gigantic windows, I thought immediately: perfect for my Instagram photos and snapshots on my blog, so I moved in right away.”
So we immediately try to take a ussie by the window.
“Those neighbors of mine, they only see me fiddling with my phone and camera.”
The bed is neatly made, the sleeping area is separated by a white Ikea cabinet, I see stacks of Vogues serving as a nightstand, here and there hang some frames with the texts ‘Fabulous’ and ‘You are beautiful’ and on the floor are sneakers. Annemerel opens her wardrobe and points to dozens of piles: “Look, all running clothes. And yet I run every day in my favorite Lululemon pants.”
It all looks super clean and tidy, but apparently she did that especially for me. “You came at the right time, because it was time for a spring cleaning, so thanks for that.”
Nothing is fake
“My blog is very personal; if I have a bad day, people will read that too. That a year ago I had breakfast every day with a bag of chips and thought that a healthy meal was a plate of pasta, everyone knows that. Then I suddenly became incredibly unhappy with my reflection and turned my life around. No more cookies and sweets, but you can bet that I order an extra large schnitzel on a winter sports trip. I try not to look too much at others. All those fit girls and stuff. No way I’m going to sacrifice so much for that and stand in the gym every day to get a toned body. I calmly eat a piece of cake four times a week, but preferably from a really good pastry chef.”
“Of course I sometimes paint my nails first to take a better photo. And look, I really only bought these colored straws for Instagram because they look so cute. You can’t actually drink from them, they are made of paper and go limp in no time. But I also easily post a photo without makeup. The people who know me know how I really look and that’s what I find most important.
I Instagram when I feel like it, but no more than four times a day otherwise they’ll go crazy from me, I think. I really hope to inspire girls with my photos and blogs. I just tell how I exercise, what I eat, and what I wear and it would be nice if people get something out of that.”
When we try to take a selfie in the kitchen, both our hair gets thrown loose. Well, come on.
Running
“While running I get ideas and inspiration for my blog. I really need movement to stay creative. I always want to be the fastest everywhere, so I train for that. I challenge myself every day to run just a little bit harder, but it shouldn’t be an obligation. As soon as I have to do something, I don’t enjoy it anymore. I run when I feel like it and that happens to be very often.”
I ask about her running songs since I quickly get tired of my playlist.
“Brandon Flowers with ‘Can’t deny my love’ and ‘Pray to God’ by Calvin Harris. Those are nice songs.”
Lunch
“Okay, do you want rice cakes or fresh French baguette?” I safely choose my rice cakes, but well, I would go to Paris the next day so I’ll get that bread again. Annemerel pulls out some funny kind of tea bags with which she can easily poach eggs. Crack an egg into such a bag, let it hang in boiling water for a bit and after 3 minutes you have a perfectly poached egg. The first one fails by the way. “Can you flush an egg down the toilet?” I think so.
I get rice cakes with avocado, salmon, and an egg. After we first captured everything in a photo and shared it on Instagram, we dig in. Delicious.
“Well, I seriously eat this every day. Sometimes with and sometimes without egg.” says Annemerel.
In five years
“I used to plan everything. I had to become the editor-in-chief of Vogue. I no longer have that dream and my wishes really change every year. Stopping planning has made me very relaxed. I would really love to write a book. About running and healthy eating. Being happy? Can that too?”
“By the way Jet, you really can’t go home without having eaten a cake with me. I’m seriously an ambassador for the pastry chef around the corner and you just have to taste this, it’s way too delicious.”
You won’t believe it, but the plate was cleaned. Annemerel ran 10 kilometers through the dunes that evening and I had boxing lessons with Robby Nelson, that much is true.
