After a bit of a flight delay (#deltadrama) I arrived back in NYC after what can only be described as the most phenomenally fantastical weekend of all time time time… I’m imagining that being said by an announcer in an arena so that everything echoes, but you got that, right? Cool.
Why was said weekend so phenomenally fantastical? Because I spend it at the Blend Retreat!
Blend Re-Wha? Let me explain. Actually, let me quote from Blend itself:
The BLEND Retreat (named so because we wanted to combine “blogger” with “friend”) is a relaxed, laid-back weekend retreat for healthy living, food and fitness bloggers from across the United States and Canada. Instead of focusing on seminars and formal speakers, our focus is on friendship and having a weekend away to get to know and connect with one another in real life.
I had such a blast at my first ever blogger retreat that trying to recap the weekend in one post will be impossible, so today is all about Blend Day One!
After landing in Salt Lake City, I headed off to the Hyatt Escala in Park City with a few other girls that landed around the same time as I did (big thanks to Lindsay for organizing our shuttle). On the way, I chatted with Nicole, Ari, and Katie about food, racing, and dogs (because what is a good conversation without some good puppy pics?) and met one of my awesome roommates, Erika. I also gazed out the window at all the beautiful mountains. We don’t get much of this in NYC:
Erika and I headed up to our room, where we met the lovely Jayne and were greeted by our first spill of swag from Organic Valley, Hail Merry, and Detour.
Erika, Jayne, and I had some rumbly tumblies, and lucky for us, a bunch of chicks with cars were heading into town for lunch. We hopped in a car with Kate, Mollie, and the other Nicole and ended up at Café Rio. Leave it to a group of healthy living bloggers to make a beeline for the salads!
Then, it was back to the hotel for a run around the resort. Janae led us to a beautiful stream and up some hills. I was dying about 5 minutes in. This was my thought pattern:
Why is this so hard? I know I haven’t been running much due to my injury but I… huff puff… can barely… huff puff… breathe…Huff. Puff.
Cue Janae…
How are ya’ll doing with the altitude?!
The altitude! That’s why I can’t breathe! Fitness, I still has you. Janae, you are my angel. Some scenes from the run:
When we got back to the hotel, our fourth roommate, Tori, had arrived! Yippee!
Then it was off to a snack break sponsored by Arctic Zero. Ice Cream? Smoothies? Cookie Sandwiches? Yes, please! We got to sample their Vanilla Maple flavor and three new ones: Sea Salt Caramel, Coconut, and Orange Cream. These definitely don’t taste like normal ice cream, but they aren’t a bad low-cal alternative. I still love me some homemade banana-based “ice cream” though.
After the cool refuel, the roomies and I headed up to our room to unpack the giant swag bag we received. This thing had to weigh AT LEAST 20 pounds. No. Joke. I mean, look at all this goodness!
(Erika on the left, Jayne on the right)
Is this heaven? I can’t wait to try all this stuff (and let you know all about it, of course!). Thanks to all the incredible swag bag sponsors!
After allowing the swag excitement to die down (who am I kidding, I’m still excited!) we got all dolled up for a cocktail party sponsored by Sizzlefish and Fluro Water. Fitness bloggers know how to clean up after a good sweat!
The spread of appetizers was delectable. I adored the little carrots, the black bean cakes, and the salmon from Sizzlefish!
I had a cocktail made with Fluro Water, but I made the mistake of getting rum in mine. Not sure why. Jack Sparrow can have my rum. I did, however, like the Fluro Water, especially the Kiwi Cucumber. So instead of my rum, we took healthy shots of Fluro!
I got to chatting with a bunch of great ladies at the cocktail party, including Julie and Brooke. Then it was off to a pizza party for dinner. Afterwards, we headed to the photo booth. Bad news: the photo booth was broken. Good news: there were props. The result? A blogger modeling sesh.
From left to right, back row: Amanda, Nicole, Me, Ari, Katie, Erika
From left to right, front row: Stephanie, Mollie
What could possibly make this day better? We discovered there was a fire pit! What makes a fire pit better? S’mores! The amazing people at the Hyatt Escala gave us a s’mores pack. We sat around the fire and chatted lightly-toasted-mallows vs. burnt-to-a-crisp-mallows. I like my mallows charred to perfection, but I think I’m the only one. Ah, well, more burnt mallows for me!
Orlando from Onnit (one of our bootcamp sponsors – more on that tomorrow) stopped by and confessed that he had never had a s’more! Say, whaa?? You’re killing me, Smalls! We toasted him up a nice mallow, served it up on some grahams with chocolate, and watched in anticipation as he took his first bit of bliss. Welcome to a whole new world, Orlando.
(photo courtesy of Mollie)
The warm glow of the fire made me realize that I’d be up for almost 24 hours. So off to bed I went!
Stay tuned for Blend Day 2!
Have you ever attended a blogger retreat/conference? Discuss!
Blend Blogs Mentioned in this Post (check them out!):
Lindsay – Cotter Crunch
Nicole – The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie
Ari – Ari’s Menu
Katie – Peace Love & Oats
Erika – For The Love of Peanut Butter
Jayne – Busy Barrista
Mollie – Mollies Sprinkles of Life
Janae – Hungry Runner Girl
Tori – Life of the Landos
Julie – Julie Goes Healthy
Brooke – Wrecking Routine
Amanda – Diary of a Semi-Health Nut
Stephanie – Wholesome By Design
And don’t forget! Today is the LAST DAY to enter the Blogiversary Bonanza GIVEAWAY!! Hurry on up and get those entries in!
Wow, sounds like a great event! I just started hearing about this type of thing recently. I had no idea that there were blogger conferences out there. I look forward to hearing more about your weekend 🙂
Chaitali recently posted…Tasty Tuesday – baked eggs with potatoes and cheddar
This was my first one ever! And I’m going to another one in August 🙂 I’m hooked!
fitfulfocus@gmail.com recently posted…Blend Retreat: Part 1, Making Blends
My Instagram feed was full of pictures from Blend over the weekend, so jealous! It looks and sounds like so much fun! I went on and found out the dates for next year and also put in my calendar a reminder a few months ahead. Hoping to meet up with you and join in the fun next year!
Sarah recently posted…Crunchy Yam Noodles with Spicy PB Sauce
It was a blast! I hope you can come next year!!
fitfulfocus@gmail.com recently posted…Blend Retreat: Part 1, Making Blends
You actually got pictures of the salmon from Sizzlefish! I was so hungry by then that I ate like 3 servings before dinner!
Thanks for mentioning me! I’ll be sticking to banana-based ice cream too. 😉
Julie recently posted…MIMM: [Blend Retreat] Roommates and Soulmates
I was a bit of a photo whore this weekend haha. So glad I got to meet you and can’t wait to follow you 🙂
fitfulfocus@gmail.com recently posted…Blend Retreat: Part 1, Making Blends
Ok, this sounds like SO MUCH FUN!! I want to go! Btw, I love Arctic Zero. Not only delish, but 150 cals for a whole pint! Binge dessert night! :0)
It was amazing! You should come next year! It will be in Boulder, CO in May 🙂
Nicole!!! I knew from the second we met at the airport that you were awesome and I’m so glad we got to spend time together this weekend! Thanks for making the weekend extra special for me!! Xoxo
Ari @ Ari’s Menu recently posted…Vanilla Bean Honey Roasted Peanut Butter
Same to you! I can’t wait for your visit to NYC in November!
you can have those charred marshmallows; I’ll take the perfectly golden ones made by Arizona Nicole! 😉
So glad to have met you! Let’s stay in touch!! 🙂
PS- mind if I swipe your sponsor graphic (with credit to you, of course)?
Mollie @Sprinkles of Life recently posted…5 Things I Learned at #blend2014
Of course! Swipe away 🙂
It was fabulous to meet another Tough Mudder out there and trade horror stories…er I mean wonderful recaps. Here’s the blog post I wrote for mine: http://cleaneatsfastfeets.com/2013/08/02/vanilla-gorilla/ Please share yours so I can check it out.
So awesome meeting you! I still can’t believe you made it almost half way across the monkey bars! I fell after two haha. My recap: https://fitfulfocus.com/i-am-a-tough-mudder/
Love this recap! I’m working on posting one soon.
Yey! Can’t wait to read it 🙂
ooooh i love that sponsor collage you made! so cute. it was so great to hang out and i am so glad you came! and wtf orlando?!
Thanks! Feel free to snag it :). and for real! You haven’t lived if you’ve never had a s’more!
Wow. Even day 1 sounds like a great time. Looks like a great event. I love the idea of it too.
John @ run. geek. run(Disney) recently posted…This Summer I Will… – Friday Five
It was amazing! I’m hooked now!
Looks like you had a blast! I can’t wait to hear about the rest of your time there. I would love to go to one some day!
Michelle Hartgraves recently posted…Pro compression discount
You should come next year! It’ll be in Boulder in May 🙂
you are so awesome! love the design you put together and so glad we could meet!
Thanks, lady! Same here! I can’t wait to try some more healthy bites 🙂
I still can’t believe I missed the memo that smores were happening that night!! Guess I’ll just have to make sure I go again next year to get my fix in 🙂 I loved hanging out with you this weekend, Nicole!
Tori recently posted…Blend Recap #1
The people we meet are the BEST part of blogging events, followed closely by great swag! I wish I could have been there to meet you 🙂
jill conyers recently posted…Sweet Potato Black Bean Taco Casserole
It sounds like you had a lot of fun! I hope I can go some year! 🙂
Mint Clare Dew @ Fit Fed and Happy recently posted…Featured on Miss Vogue!
It was so great to meet you this weekend! Glad to hear you made it home in one piece with all your swag!
Brooke @ wreckingroutine recently posted…Tall Tales Tuesday: Temple Children
I did! Hope your trip home was a safe one 🙂