HLS Archives

Feel the Love

My Philly adventure came to a close with a morning 5K with Together Counts.

It was my first chance to really “see” Philly and all the iconic spots. {Minus the Liberty Bell.}

A huge group of us gathered in the lobby, then hit the streets of Philadelphia. It ended up being a walking 5K, which was ok by me- except for the fact that I spent the whole time looking at my watch freaking out about making it back in time to get to the airport…

With Beth, one of my roomies, and Freya, who came all the way from the UK!

Nothing like a giant mob of people crossing the city streets.

The Rocky steps!! {Of course I’ve never seen Rocky…}

And that tour of the city by foot ended HLS and my trip to Philly… Followed by a mad dash to the train station to wait 30 minutes for the next train. Followed by a mad dash to security only to get harassed for 40 minutes. Followed by a mad dash down the longest terminal in existence to hop on my already boarding plane. Followed by an extended wait on the runway. Phew.

The Bachelorette

HLS

As soon as lunch was finished, it was time for the official kick off of the conference. First up, what everybody’s really after, the swag.

The bags were chock full of goodies and food samples: cereal, granola, chips, bars, protein powders and more. FYI, applesauce is not an approved carry on item. In case you were wondering…

I blame applesauce for my mad, chaotic airport dash on the way home. I certainly had nothing to do with it at all… Winking smile

After officially signing in to the event and comparing swag samples I got to catch up with two of my favorite bloggers: Allie & Sarah.

Sarah and I entertained Allie with all of our pregnancy talk. {Yay, Sarah’s pregnant too!} I’m sure she was thrilled. Winking smile

Before we knew it, it was time to for the HLS kickoff: the cocktail party!

We headed over to the Reading Terminal Market, for an evening of socializing and chia seed cocktails. Minus the cocktail part for me, of course.

My old HLS buddy Theodora.

And Jen and Perri. Jen and I did our dietetic internships together!

Some more of my favorites, Tina & Anne:

{Remember Tina from Fitbloggin and Anne from the awesome-tastic mud run?}

The evening flew by, but there was still one more thing to take care of: fro yo!

After the cocktail party we headed down the street to Sweet Endings, for none other than a sweet ending to the evening.

As I was getting my cup-o-fro-yo {kahlua latte & cream cheese fro yo with graham cracker crumbs, rainbow sprinkles, and granola}, mad chaos erupted behind me.

There were shouts. Screams. Squeals. Screeches.

I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was going on. I though cockroaches were spewing out of the frozen yogurt machines or something equally as dramatic. I was clueless.

Apparently there’s some famous recently engaged bachelorette? Winking smile

It was momentary insanity to say the least.

{I’ve quite obviously never seen the show.}

And that, a celebrity sighting, was the way the evening ended.

Catching up on HLS posts? Check out:

Farmicia and

the Pumpkin Market

And check out tiny sneakers later today for my first weekly update!

Am I the only one who doesn’t watch The Bachelorette?

Here’s Your Sign: 5 Clues You’re at a Healthy Living Conference

HLS

1. The food not only rocks, it’s healthy too. Plus vegetarian & vegan options galore.

The Arnold/Orowheat lunch was stocked with veggie options like marinated tofu, grilled veggies, and quinoa edamame salad. Proving yet again there’s more to veggies than salad. (That lemon bar was divine as well.;))

The Athenos snack break offered more than just feta- veggies, pita chips, and hummus too. (I didn’t even know they made hummus- it was fantastic, especially the roasted red pepper. Shocker I know since that’s my favorite hummus flavor of all time.)

2. Breakfast includes making your own cream cheese recipe.

You picked fresh ingredients & chefs mixed them into your choice of regular or reduced fat cream cheese at the Thomas’ breakfast.

I’m not even a cream cheese fan, but this was such a cool idea I had to go for it.

My mix included shredded carrots, sundried tomatoes, jalapenos, walnuts, green apples, & capers. Don’t knock it til you try it. It rocked.

3. Nobody blinks when you take a picture of a “Chicago Works Out” stamp on the sidewalk

Cool, no? 😉

4. Healthy samples get snatched up faster than you can say probiotics.

Attune bars & granola, an alternative to eating yogurt for those ever-important probiotics. I even won a bag of apple cinnamon granola- score!

5. This many people get up before 8am to run or walk.

That’s more than just a handful of people ready to get their fitness on. Pretty great if I don’t say.

My knee injury had me bummed out yet again when I realized I’d be with a group of fitness enthusiasts and automatic running buddies and wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it.

But look how many people wanted to walk!

Nothing like an hour long pre-breakfast stroll through a gorgeous city to get your blood pumping. 🙂 The only thing missing was an iced coffee.

Perhaps adding a morning walk to my non-running recovery routine wouldn’t be such a bad thing?!

For more Healthy Living Summit posts:

How to avoid baggage fees

Beer tasting at Goose Island

My 1st taste of RAW food!

The good, bad, & ugly of a chip company

Post-cocktail midnight sushi

Folding in half at the spa (aka yoga)

Best dinner EVER

Chicago by foot…and picture

Do you exercise or eat healthy on vacation, or do you say the heck with it, it’s vacation?

Quartino: Italian Tapas in the Windy City

HLS

After an evening of Core Fusion Yoga, it was way past time to try some Chicago grub.

Theodora, Kate, Sarah, and I headed to Quartino, an Italian restaurant specializing in small plate style dining. Tapas are small portions that make for great sharing (aka you get to taste a lot!). We had pizza, peppers, zucchini, and more- it ended up being one of the best dining experiences I’ve had.

We had a little time to kill before our reservation, so we opted to walk to the restaurant. This was actually my first chance to really see the city!

Chicago by night:

I spy a restaurant….

Starving is not even the word to describe how I felt when we finally arrived. Luckily we were seated quickly and devoured the bread & ordered wine. (Priorities, priorities.)

Italian bread with olive oil, Himalayan salt, and black pepper.

For drinks, we split a bottle of Soave- a crisp white wine that I really enjoyed.

Then the food started spilling out of the kitchen. Quartino brings out food whenever it’s ready, which is great because you get time to try each dish as it comes.

First up, roasted peppers.

Then came chilled grilled zucchini wrapped sundried tomatoes.

Polenta fries with roasted red pepper sauce. Tasted like fried polenta- nothing special. But the sauce? Fantastic.

Last but not least, the pizza!

We ordered the Quattro Stagioni with artichokes, roasted peppers, grilled zucchini, portabella mushrooms, & grana.

So full, so good, so delicious. If you’re lucky enough to be in Chicago, go visit Quartino. It’s delicious and so inexpensive!

Yoga to the Core

HLS

I’ve heard so much about Core Fusion- I was excited to get a chance to try the yoga out myself on Saturday after the Healthy Living Summit sessions.

Exhale Spa in Chicago

The setting of the studio alone was enough to induce relaxation- a serene spa with wood floors, and warm, low lighting.

Our instructor John was full of energy & jumped right in. Downward dogs, lots of movement, and interested Pilates-like contractions.

I’m used to “gym style” yoga, so I don’t really know what to compare it too, but I think I liked it. At the beginning I was wondering what I got myself into, but the hour passed quickly and I was enjoying myself when it came to an end.

Perhaps the best part? Hanging on the wall racks. (You’re supposed to do that, I promise.)

But ouch. I need to get back into yoga & Pilates. I’ve been using my knee as an excuse to not really do anything. (Hey, it happens to the best of us.) My hamstrings will thank me when I start running again if I do some stretching now!

Thanks Subway for the chance to try Core Fusion Yoga & the snazzy squishy yellow yoga mat!

Note: If you want to draw attention to yourself, carry a bright yellow yoga mat through the airport.

Have you ever tried Core Fusion or Core Fusion yoga? What did you think?

Ain’t No Party Like An OpenSky Cocktail Party!

HLS

After the mad L dash back to the hotel, a frantic change of clothes, and spritz of everything in sight that smelled good [to hide the smell of a day of sweat], it was finally cocktail party time!

Guess who I found just in time?! Only the best roommates ever in blog history.

Sarah, me, Theodora, & Kate.

And off to the party we went! OpenSky generously hosted the party at the LaSalle Power Plant in downtown Chicago.

From then on, it was all about seeing old blogging friends, meeting new ones, and putting names to faces. There was also beer drinking, eating, and photo boothing.

This is what 200 partying bloggers looks like.