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Fitbloggin 2011 Here I Come!

August 16, 2010 by

Hello All! It has only been one day since the Healthy Living Summit and I am already having signs of withdrawal! Why can’t people at work take pictures of their food too?

So what does a blogger do when she has the post-blogging conference blues? She signs up for another conference! And that’s exactly what I did! I am officially attending FitBloggin 2011 in Baltimore in May and can’t wait!

I’m so excited that FitBloggin 2011 will be in May next year! Last year it was in March, but luckily, Baltimore was experiencing freakishly warm weather – 75-80 degrees the whole weekend! I’m so hoping for a weather repeat next year. I am especially looking forward to staying at the hotel – it’s in an awesome location right by the harbor. Plus, the location is a prime spot for running and site-seeing at the same time.

As you may remember from FitBloggin 2010, Scott and I had a little too much fun taking in the sites and exploring all of the food options Baltimore has to offer. As you can see from the Fitbloggin 2010 photo above, I was not shy about having my mango smoothie and drinking it too! See my previous post about the FitBloggin conference for a recap. And remember to follow @Fitbloggin on Twitter for more deets.

So, anyone else going to Fitbloggin 2011 and want to meet up?

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“Taste of HLS” and Swag Bag Giveaway

August 15, 2010 by

As you all know, I’ve been at the Healthy Living Summit in downtown Chicago for the last 2 ½ days. As many of you know, Chicago hosts the “Taste of Chicago” every year in June/July. It’s essentially a HUGE taste festival of the many restaurants in the Chicago area. Seeing as I’m from Chicago, I thought I would offer you a “Taste of HLS” – a short recap of all of the things I experience and “tasted” at the conference. In just 2 1/2 days, I managed to:

1) Take a tour of Frito Lay in Beloit, WI, with about 25 HLS attendees, including Pickley Pear. Frito Lay products are awesome and healthy!
2) Hug Chester Cheetah – I know you’re jealous!;

3) Attend a swanky cocktail reception hosted by OpenSky where I took some crazy pics in the photo booth with Fervent Foodie and Training To Live;

4) Take an early AM walk with some wonderful women around Chicago’s “Bean” and even caught a glimpse of morning tai chi! Thank you to A Girl and Her Mutt for arranging! Sadly, I am the one taking the picture so I’m not in it 🙁

5) Enjoy a wonderful breakfast by Quaker Oats and Stoneyfield yogurt. 6) Listen to some amazing sessions about nutrition for athletes, food photography, and time management;

7) Have a fantastic lunch provided by Arnold and Oroweat breads;

8) Actively participate in a kick-ass flow yoga session (my head is still spinning from trying to keep up!);

9) Munch on some super yummy Athenos products – OMG, everything is betta with feta – seriously, it is!;

10) Get a little too friendly with some salad that ended up on my head. Thanks Chiaseedme!;

11) Go on a very cool 3-hour tour by Tastebud Tours sponsored by Arnold and Oroweat – Lynn, you rock! The tour included stops at the Bergoff and the Billy Goat Tavern (Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger, no fries, Cheezborger);

12) Run a fairly decent 10K on Sunday AM along the lake shore; 13) enjoy an outstanding farewell brunch by Thomas’ bagel thins where we were encouraged to make a new cream cheese creation. I made a walnut, pineapple, and raspberry mix – fantastic!

14) And, last but not least, say goodbye to some fabulous bloggers – I hope I will all of you again next year!

Thank you to all the sponsors and especially to the HLS planning committee for all of your hard work in making this a conference of epic proportion.

Now, for all of you non-attendees…The Healthy Living Summit Swag Bag Giveaway!

Before, during, and even immediately after the event I read about so many of you who wanted to come but could not due to work, school, finances, etc. I hope that you can all attend next year because this conference was truly worth the money.

And for all of you who could not make it to the Healthy Living Summit this year, you have a chance to experience a little piece of HLS via Running With Cake! As you probably heard, HLS attendees received some very hefty swag bags thanks to the many sponsors and the HLS planning committee. There’s no way I’m going to use all of my swag so I’m giving some of my goodies away to you!

That’s right – I’m giving away two HLS goodie packs to two fortunate readers. Here are some of the items that will be divided between the bags:

  1. A reusable grocery/gym bag by Frito Lay or Oroweat
  2. Oroweat travel coffee mug
  3. $4 and $1 coupons for Arnold/Oroweat products
  4. $10 giftcard to subway (only one of these, sorry!)
  5. Free Stoneyfield yogurt coupon
  6. Frioto Lay Chips
  7. Quaker Granola Bar
  8. Free Attune food coupon
  9. Oh Nuts! cashews or peanuts
  10. Arnold and Oroweat recipe cards and measuring spoon
  11. A surprise gift from me!

How to enter:

  • Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite product/brand is from the ones I mentioned above. OR…
  • Tweet/Retweet this post over Twitter

Do either of those things by 9 PM Eastern on Thursday, August 19, and you will be automatically entered. I will then randomly select the two winners and let you all know who won!

Sound fun? OK, let’s go!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

HLS: Aim for Being Healthy, Not Skinny

August 14, 2010 by

Hey all!

I’m live blogging from the Healthy Living Summit ! Only have time for a quick update because my computer battery is quickly wasting away.

This morning, I met a bunch of HLS women for a walk before breakfast. We headed across the street to Buckingham Fountain then onto the Bean!

Breakfast was a small bowl of Quaker Oats – gotta have my oats! I’m then attended an awesome session about nutrition for athletes, which also reinforced the need to aim for being healthy rather than skinny!

See you all later (or tomorrow, depending on Internet connection) for a full recap!

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Me and Chester Cheetah

August 13, 2010 by

I’m officially at the Healthy Living Summit! I arrived in downtown Chicago around 8:30am yesterday and made the huge mistake of walking to the hotel in sweltering heat while rolling my 50 pound bag. I was a complete sweaty mess by the time I arrived.

Because the room wasn’t ready, I had to change out of my sweaty shirt in the lobby bathroom! I then headed off to the Frito Lay tour in Beloit, WI.

After a 2.5 hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Beloit. We listened to a short and very interesting presentation about the history and practices of the plant followed by a can and healthy lunch of wraps, salads, and fruit. This left me wondering, what about the chips? How can we be served lunch at Frito Lay and not have chips? Well, no sooner did I wonder than the chips were pulled out from under a surprise curtain! Plus, a variety of dips arrived just moments later.

Then, it was on to the tour. In small groups, we learned all about the process of turning potatoes into chips and corn into corn chips. What amazed me most about Frito Lay Was how much attention they put on health and quality. Seriously, many of there chip products only have 3 ingredients- corn or potatoes, salt, and oil – that’s it! So simple (which, by the way, is their goal, to make their products with the simplest ingredients) and yet solo good.

My favorite part of the tour was sampling the hot doritos fresh off the line! Of course, hugging Chester Cheetah wasn’t bad either. Plus, check out the swag bags!

Stay tuned for more conference deets!

Filed Under: Health

A Visit From The UPS Man…

August 11, 2010 by

Only one more day of work until the Healthy Living Summit! Yeah! I took the afternoon off from work to run some errands and to get some last minute sun by the pool – he he! It was so relaxing laying by the pool and following everyone’s HLS comments on Twitter – HLS bloggers are awesome!

While laying by the pool, I heard a familiar noise at the front of the house – the screeching/halting of large tires and the grrrr of a large engine. Who could it be but the UPS man! I’ve never been so happy to see Brown! And what did my Santa in brown shorts bring me? My Anthropologie top for Saturday’s dinner at Mercadito (can’t wait to meet Rhodeygirltests and Fervent Foodie!) and my RWC t-shirt.

I was so excited to receive the packages that I ripped them open like a child on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, my RWC tee did not turn out exactly how I had ordered. Thankfully, Cafe Press addressed the issue and is sending me another one – directly to my hotel on Friday – free of charge! Now that’s service! As of now, this (or a similar one) is the shirt I will be wearing to the sessions on Saturday – hopefully, you can pick me out from the crowd!

And on the subject of clothes, here’s what I will be wearing…

  • Friday Frito Lay Tour – yoga pants and t-shirt
  • Friday night OpenSky reception – cocktail dress
  • Saturday sessions – capri yoga pants and RWC t-shirt
  • Saturday Arnold Tour, Mercadito Dinner, Drinks/Dancing – Capris and a fun Anthropologie top
  • Sunday run and breakfast – Lucy running skirt and fitted running shirt

All outfits are subject to change based on weather, mood, and if I spill the odd drink on myself! Ok ladies, must get packing, then it’s off to bed to rest up for my 6-mile run in the AM. Safe travels Dawn, Pickley Pear and everyone else attending HLS!

Night all 🙂

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Healthy Living Summit Countdown!

August 9, 2010 by

Well ladies, we are just three days away from the Healthy Living Summit! By the looks of all the tweets, I can see you are all just as excited as I am! HLS is going to be a jam-packed weekend of learning, networking, and fun – plus loads of girl chatter (sorry Learn Fitness!)

HLS Swag (aka Presents!)

It’s also going to be a weekend full of swag – oooh, and who doesn’t love swag! I’m also bringing a few presents of my own – he he! I’ll be giving away 50 little goodies to my fellow HLS bloggies. Wait until you see what’s inside! Please stop and see me for one while you’re there. Don’t be shy either – I love talking to new people and I honestly want to talk to everyone! I think conferences are more fun that way, don’t you?

HLS To-Do’s

For the rest of the week, I am on a mission to:

  • Buy a cute HLS dress
  • Do laundry for HLS
  • Pack for HLS
  • Get my hair cut for HLS
  • Buy wine for HLS (BTW, anyone interested in a Friday night preparty before the OpenSky event?)
  • Get some sleep before HLS, because Lord knows I won’t be sleeping much with all of fun we are having!

So as you can see, the conference hasn’t even started yet I’m devoting most of my time to a blogging conference – oh how times have changed since I was in college!

In order to check off one thing from my HLS to-do list, I headed out to the local sporting goods store to pick up a pair of Merrell Mary Jane slides – so cute and just what I need for the Frito Lay tour! As I was paying, who did I run into? My BOSS!!! He’s on vacation all week and just happened to be in the exact same store at the exact same time. How ironic and awkward at the same time. Luckily, I had Scott and the kids there as a buffer.

Time to head to bed…so much to do, so little time – but now, I must sleep..zzz…zz…z

Filed Under: Leisure Tagged With:

Healthy Living Summit Goodies!

August 8, 2010 by

Morning everyone! I just came back from my awesome 5.5 mile run! We’ve finally had a reprieve from the heat so it’s been much cooler in the mornings, which makes for much easier running.

This cooler weather reminds me that summer is quickly coming to an end, sniff…But that also means that Autumn will be here very soon. For those of you who have been following me all the while, you know that Fall is my favorite time of year. Aside from the cooler weather, I love all of the Fall activities – apple picking, pumpkin picking, hay rides, corn mazes, etc. I’m trying not to wish for Fall too hard, because it also means that my BIG business meeting will be here soon, and I’m so NOT ready for that.

Healthy Living Summit Update

  • Business Cards – I mentioned last week that I had ordered business cards for the Healthy Living Summit – well, they arrived yesterday, 4 days early! I am extremely happy with the service and the results – they turned out perfect! If you haven’t already ordered business cards for your blog, I highly recommend ordering them from Moo Cards. They are a British company (which I love!) that specializes in design-your-own paper products, like business cards, holiday cards, etc. The Moo Card system is very easy to use and you can either choose from one of their many designs or you can upload your own images to put on the cards. I decided to go with one of the premade designs and add my own graphic on one side. I can’t wait to show them off at HLS!
  • HLS Giveaway – Also, for all of you bloggers going to HLS, I will be bringing a few goodies to give away! I will only have about 50, so find me early and you may be one of the lucky ones who gets a giveaway! I’m going to try posting a picture of it later so stay tuned!
  • Cocktail Dress Search – I’ve been out shopping twice this weekend to find a cute cocktail dress and I’ve had NO luck! I waited too long as usual so all of the cute summer dresses are picked over or gone completely. Blah! I hate when I procrastinate buying clothes that I need. It puts me in a desperate situation where I’ll end up buying things I don’t really like for too much money.
  • Frito Lay Tour – I’m also a little unsure about what I’m going to wear on the Frito Lay Tour. We are not permitted to wear shorts, jeans, or open-toed shoes. However, long capris are fine. I’m just not sure how capris look with close-toed shoes??? Some of you have mentioned wearing yoga pants, which I may decide to do – thank goodness Lucy always has cute yoga pants in stock!

Gotta run, my in-laws are coming over and I’ve got to get crackin’ on the cleaning 🙂

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And The Winner Is…

August 4, 2010 by

(Photo source)

And the winner of 27 Things to Know About Yoga is….Carrie from Simply Fitting Into My Life And My Old Jeans! And, what’s even better is that Carrie is a Mamavation mom, just like me! I swear it was not fixed. But seriously, all moms deserve something free and I think this yoga book will be great for her. Congratulations Carrie! I’ll be emailing you for your address so I can send you the book!

Thanks so much everyone for leaving comments to enter the giveaway. Look for more giveaways in the coming weeks!

I’m off to watch Psych on Hulu!

Filed Under: Yoga Tagged With: ,

Eat, Pray, Love: My Culinary Journey

August 3, 2010 by

Happy Tuesday everyone! Over the last few days, I’ve really been getting into Eat, Pray, Love. Unfortunately, because I read before bed/in bed, I can only get through 5-6 pages at the most each night. But, I’ve finally made it through the “Eat” part. Of course, after reading this section, I now want to move to Italy and eat pasta and gelato all day long.

Inspired by the book, tonight I attempted to make an authentic Italian pasta dish. What that translates into is Jennifer going to Fresh Market and spending $17 on two blocks of fresh cheese in hopes that they will make her dish more “Italian”. Ok, I have never spent $17 on two (very small) blocks of cheese in my life! I can already tell that eating my way through Eat, Pray, Love (ie. eating the food from the countries mentioned in the book) will not be cheap. But then again, Indian food is basically rice and curry, so how expensive could that be?

Anyway, in the book, Liz talks about eating the traditional Italian pasta with cheese and pepper. The way she described it in the book sounded so simple but absolutely amazing! So, I combined pasta with a little olive oil and mixed in pecorino, parmesan, and asiago cheeses, along with roma tomatoes, peas, and tons of pepper. Oh yeah, and bacon. Sorry Italians, I did not have prosciutto in the house, so bacon it was. But we all know bacon makes everything taste better. It was probably not as close to traditional Italian pasta as I would have liked. It was more like a pomodoro sauce, light on the sauce and heavy on the tomatoes- but it tasted awesome!

Aside from wanting to eat pasta and gelato at every meal, I also want to go to Italy now more than ever. Actually, this is not really a good time to go considering every Eat, Pray, Love groupie will be traveling there in the next two years, similar to what happened with Under the Tuscan Sun. I wonder if India and Bali will see an influx of American visitors this year as well??

OK, must start my book travels to India. I am considering lighting a candle and reading it while sitting on a yoga mat. Is that too much?

Speaking of yoga….only one more day to enter my Yoga Giveaway! By leaving a comment on Sunday’s yoga post, you could win your very own copy of 27 Things to Know About Yoga. And quite honestly, who wouldn’t want to know that?

Have a great night everyone!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: , ,

My New Ride….

August 2, 2010 by

Hey all! Like my new bike? It’s a tricycle for adults – how cool is that!!! Well, it’s not really mine, it’s my mother-in-law’s and she bought it at a garage sale for $25 – what a steal! I was over her house for dinner yesterday and just had to take it for a test run. Although, I didn’t go very far because I was blocked in by the cars – he he! All I need is a little basket and a bell and I will be all set for my next ride! Maybe I should convince MIL to pull a big seat behind her and start her own rickshaw business in downtown Chicago 🙂

On another note….I just ordered my Moo Cards (business cards) for the Healthy Living Summit. They are so cool! Because I write for two blogs, RWC and Bistro Chic, I tried to combine the two. I guess we’ll see how they turn out next week!

Speaking of the Healthy Living Summit, I just received more details today about the Frito Lay tour in Beloit, WI. I’m so excited that there are 30 people going! It’s going to be so much fun! But, I am sooo not thrilled about wearing a hairnet. I don’t recall ever wearing a hairnet, so this will be my first time. They kind of freak me out a little, reminding me of the old lunch ladies at my elementary school. Anyone else have hairnet-a-phobia? Aside from that, the rest of the tour sounds very interesting. Although, they did tell us we are limited on taking photos – that is NOT something you want to tell picture happy health/fitness/food bloggers! But wait, they said there will be snacks on the bus – ok, you had me at snacks!

Before I sign off for tonight, I want to give a shout to to Leah at Bookieboo. She was featured on Yahoo today (via Woman’s Day) for her amazing weight loss story and all of her work on Bookieboo (which I am very proud to write a running column for!) and Mamavation. Congrats Leah!

Remember, only two more days to enter my Yoga Book Giveaway!!

Ok, peeps, have a great night!

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