This weekend was entirely too short. Fitbloggin‘ is already over, and I’m on the train heading back to NYC for a few days before my next adventure. MAJOR thanks to Roni for organizing and executing this amazing conference–just weeks after giving birth!!! (P.S.: If you’re new here, you might want to check out my top posts page or my 2010 recap.)
I should mention that I received a free ticket to attend Fitbloggin’ in exchange for liveblogging one session. Since I used to be a reporter, I was pretty sure I could do this in my sleep. (Although, I do think I got the hardest session to liveblog. Digital photography tips? Eek.)
While I wish I had met more people who were brand-new to me, I love meeting the people who I’ve been tweeting with and whose blogs I’ve been reading–and getting closer with the blog friends who I don’t get to see often.
Cheese alert: I feel so lucky to have met so many amazing, talented women (because, let’s be real, there’s not too many dudes at these things) who teach me so much about blogging, nutrition healthy living–and myself. Last year when I attended the Healthy Living Summit, I knew a small handful of people but I wasn’t all that nervous because 99% of health bloggers are so easy to talk to–we all have so much in common. Growing up, I was lucky to generally get along with most people, aside from a few rough teenage-girls-will-be-nasty-teenage-girls experiences. I was always a part of some crowd, but I often felt I didn’t have a ton in common with a lot of my friends, and I was on the outside looking in. With these women, not only do I feel accepted, but really an equal. And for that, I love you all.
And I love food, too:
I last left you after breakfast. In the morning, I went to Katy’s awesome session on social media branding and a session on digital photography, which I liveblogged. After my six-mile run, I was dying for lunch. I had a Luna bar around 10am, but it didn’t even put a dent in my hunger. As you might imagine, the food at health blog conferences is…healthy. And amazing. We had two different salads for lunch.
I went for: the two salads, some grilled vegetables, quinoa, a chicken breast and a roll.
And ran into Sarah just before she left.
In the afternoon, I attended a session on SEO (which I plan on posting more on later this week) and a session on blogger responsibility (which I also plan on posting more on later this week.)
The session was with Carla, Tina and Lisa Johnson. Tina was really nervous, so a bunch of us went to go support her.
After that session, we all definitely needed fresh air, so we went for a walk and continued the discussion of blogger responsibility.
L-R: Sana, Tina, Jac, Anne, Nicole, Brittany, Courtney and Gabriela.
After a full day of running and sessions, it was finally time for some sangria! We went to Talara, a tapas bar around the corner from our hotel.
Yeah.
A few of us split some black bean hummus. It was way tastier than it looks.
And we did pitchers of sangria.
For my second drink, I had a CAIPIROSKA FRESA.
Me and Beth
We were all discussing tips to make you look better in photos, and Tina decided to try them all out at once.
After a few rounds of drinks, we moved on to Pizzaz on the waterfront.
It was a healthy, organic restaurant with plenty of vegan and gluten-free options for those who needed/wanted them.
Pretty.
The service was really slow, so they brought us out some garlic bread.
I continued with sangria.
What? You didn’t see a pirate party boat come through when you were at dinner last night? Weird.
We also got mini slices of pizza brought out to us to ease the long wait. To her credit, the owner of the restaurant did apologize to us and say that a bunch of her waiters called out drunk because of Preakness, and she was understaffed.
Beth and I split a pizza and a Mediterranean platter.
And, oh yeah, we took a mid-dinner break for tequila shots. Obviously. (photo via Gabriela)
After dinner, we walked over to Power Plant. I’d been there once, a long time ago. It is a massive bar–it has 10 different areas. It reminds me of Seacrets in Ocean City, Md.
[photo via Gabriela]
Courtney and me
After I tweeted “Healthy living is running 6 miles in the morning and shots at night,” Katy was intrigued and came out to meet us. I’m glad she did, because she’s just as fun in person as she is on her blog.
Everything in moderation. Including moderation. We danced until after 1 in the morning, and it was fabulous. I miss everyone already.
Did you go to Fitbloggin or have you been to another blogger conference?
Or…did you dance last night?
