HLS, Travel
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.
Restaurants, Travel
Before the earthquake so rudely interrupted us, I was busy recapping my Philly weekend at HLS.
So far we’ve eaten at Farmicia and the Pumpkin Market, and now it’s time for the actual conference day…
From early morning to afternoon we hopped from session to session about writing better {and legal!} recipes, dealing with negativity, monetization, and more. In between, of course, was lots of food.
{I miss you Jen!!}
Lunch was the highlight of the meals: greens, vegan sandwiches loaded on rich Great Harvest bread, and the most delicious quinoa chickpea salad.
The food tables were arranged with sandwiches on both ends and salad in the middle- I picked up my sandwiches and turned around and realized the salad line was only going one direction, and it was a loooong line.
I was starving so I took my plate to the table and mentioned I was too hungry to wait, I’d just get my salad later. Then I walked away to grab a drink. When I came back, salad had magically appeared on my plate. One of the servers overheard me and brought me salad- so sweet!
We had a late dinner reservation, so we took some time after the conference to do a little Philly exploring. I finally got to see the Reading Terminal Market in the day time. {It’s where the cocktail party was.}
It was full of every vendor you could imagine- ice cream, flowers, fish, bread, etc.
We played tourists for a little longer, then started off on our walk towards Kanella, a local Greek restaurant.
It was cute and cozy and we were seated immediately.
While the food was delicious, it was an interesting dining experience. See, with the exception of hummus and feta, I really don’t like Greek food. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives top my most-hated-foods list. But I wanted to branch out and try something new; plus I loved the company.
When it came time to order, I asked for a delicious veggie and apricot topped flatbread without the tapenade {read olives!}. Not an atypical request by most standards. The answer? No, I could not have the flatbread without the olives.
I forget what I asked for next, but it was a similar response. I was immediately flustered and overwhelmed and had no idea what to order. We finally found a solution- the lamb and arugula topped hummus without the lamb.
So I essentially had bread, hummus, and pita for dinner. But it was above average hummus- rich with lemon and tahini, and I loved arugula added to the mix. The dip for the bread was unique and satisfying as well- a thin tahini-type dip.
{Photo courtesy of Allie after some battery-camera-lens-swapping; her battery died and I didn’t have the right lens with me.}
Interestingly enough, we were told the chef doesn’t allow photographs of his food. Of course by then we’d already finished with the picture-taking. 
Do you like Greek food? You can add grape leaves to the list of things I don’t like, although I don’t encounter those in my day to day life.
Find out how my first midwife appointment went on tiny sneakers. Hint: it’s not what you think.
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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… 
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.
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?
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?
Restaurants
{Told you I had a thing for all things pumpkin and fall.}
Rise and shine! Breakfast of champions: Starbucks oatmeal with dried fruit and mixed nuts, and soy chai latte.
And bloggers hard at work, borrowing wifi from the hotel Starbucks.
After fueling up with our fill of both coffee and internet, we hit the streets of Philly.
I had no idea Philadelphia was full of such beautiful architecture, but I shouldn’t have been surprised, it is the Old City after all.
Our walk coincided with the arrival of several flights, and soon there was a HUGE group of us trekking down the street. We soon realized our original destination of Govinda’s vegetarian restaurant wasn’t going to be able to serve or hold us all. A bunch of us split off and kept walking a few blocks until we stumbled upon the Pumpkin Market. It ended up being a great choice.
Local coffee and seasonal produce, sandwiches, ice cream and fresh squeezed juice? What more could you want?
It was still pretty crowded, but they did a great job handling the sudden influx of hungry foodies.
We grabbed our salads and sandwiches to go, and parked ourselves outside on the sidewalk, enjoying the great Philly weather.
With only one cook on site, it took a little while to whip up all those sandwiches, but there was plenty of seating outside while we waited.
Everybody:
{Photo courtesy of Kath}
My buddies Sarah & Allie. <3 them.
Brittany & Lauren.
Would you believe this is the first time I’ve had seltzer water? I think it was the lime flavor that made it. 😉 Cold, fizzy, and refreshing.
And then lunch arrived: a housemade bean burger with avocado, chickpea salad, and a fresh pickle.
The burger was great- a mix of different beans, some smashed, some not. It went great with the sliced avocado. It was a little squishy, making it hard to eat as a sandwich, but with a little help from a fork and all was good. Perhaps I should have gone with the burger-over-salad option.
The chickpea salad was my surprise favorite: tangy balsamic vinegar {I’m guessing?}, and red bell pepper and onion slices made it the perfect complement to the mild bean burger.
I’d say it was a pretty good meal for a spur of the moment choice!
Are you a sandwich or a salad person?
Restaurants
Upon arriving in Philly, there was one goal in mind: food. {Surprise, surprise.}
A group of us that were in town early for the Summit headed down to Farmicia, a restaurant that emphasizes local food choices.
The menu, though not large, included a diverse selection of meals, from roast lamb to vegan tamales, crab cakes to capellini.
After laboriously pouring over the menu and agonizing over selections, we quenched our appetites with a basket of sourdough bread and herbed butter. More please!
The first thing that caught my eye on the menu was a roasted peach salad with walnuts, goat cheese, fennel and greens, but the waiter had to go and mention his favorite dish: the French lentil salad.
After going back and forth 800 times, I decided to step outside the box and go with an educated recommendation.
The salad was a bed of greens covered with French lentils and peppers topped with goat cheese cakes. { No worries: pasteurized!}
While I enjoyed the salad, it wasn’t my favorite. The flavors were good, but the texture was a little off for a salad. The goat cheese cakes didn’t disappoint though, and neither did the company:
Jen, Lisa, Julie, Courtney, Tina, me, Diana, Alicia, and Lisa.
The evening ended with a well-timed thunderstorm: exactly coordinated with our .8 mile back to the hotel. Needless to say we ended the night a little soggy.
What’s the most unique salad you’ve had? This one was pretty off-beat, but my favorite is any kind of salad with grilled lettuce.
And PS, go check out tiny sneakers to find out how we felt about hearing our baby’s first heartbeat.
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