I deemed this conference should be called Blogfeast because of all the amazing food I have been eating! :)
The Healthy Living Summit conference today was a great time. Major props to all of the organizers, speakers, and attendees. Everything was so well organized and well done. I left inspired by so many amazing women! Also a big thank you to Amazing Grass who sponsored a portion of my trip to the conference. Keep your eyes peeled for a special promo code on Amazing Grass and Glo Bars coming up soon!
Morning group shot:
Sabrina, is basically a domestic goddess.
I love Anne P’s t-shirt!
The line-up for lunch was HUGE, so we passed the time by finding out if our forearm was really equal to the size of our foot.
I looked at my long forearm and said no way. I was wrong! ;)
Getting closer…mmmmmm. So close yet so far away.
I piled my plate as high as humanly possible. Just when I thought I couldn’t fit anymore food on it, I added another scoop of the chickpea salad. lol.
Dear me.
I had roasted veggies, quinoa salad, chickpea salad, fruit salad, salad-salad (lol)…all mixed together and truly an epic lunch.
I ate every bite and then went back and got more chickpeas.
After lunch I met up with Eric and we went out for lunch (for him!) and then we explored the city. He got a wrap at Freshii and he loved it.
I had an apple for dessert!
Fun fact when I travel: You will rarely ever see me without food in my purse! I always have a Glo Bar and apple as emergency stash.
The sessions at the conference were so well done. I hear that they will be posting the videos of all the sessions online and PowerPoint, so I will link to it when I see it on their website. I took a ton of notes to share with you and I just read some over and they make NO SENSE at all. Note fail. ;)
My favourite line of the entire conference said by Rebecca in the sports nutrition session (LOVED her!!!!!)
I love that quote. I should add it to my quotes page because it really means a lot to me. She works with a lot of athletes suffering from eating disorders and her talk was just so moving.
Canadian Bloggers!! All from Toronto. :)
Miranda, Callie, Sarah, Susan. So fun.
I also promised to show you the lovely foodie goodies I bought yesterday!
First up, Trader Joe’s! My first time setting foot in the store and it did not disappoint. :)
I was told I must buy this sunflower seed butter! I was hesitant because I tried making it before and it was so bitter, but this one has a bit of sugar in it. ;) I knew I forgot something!
This chocolate rocks my world.
Oh dear me. Seriously. I can’t.
I was told these mangos were the best because not only are they dried mangos, but they are chewy and not too tough. They were quite possibly the best dried fruit I have ever had in my life. I hid the bags.
Carrot ginger bran muffins.
Eric didn’t care for this muffin, but I thought it was good. He thought it was too dense.
I loved the muffin ‘lip’ here!
I also was given vegan macaroons from Gina and Val! I am saving them for a special moment. ;)
And finally, the chocolate I purchased at Vosges!
Tonight I organized a meet-up at Karyn’s on Green. We have the upstairs lounge booked off. I can’t wait for more delicious food (I think this is all I have been saying since in Chicago!!!) and new friends. My goal tonight is to get to bed at a reasonable hour and stop acting like I am 19 again. ;) Have a great night!
TAKE ME TO TRADER JOE’S NOWWWW!!
I adore adore adore and almost always have to have their dried mangoes, sunflower seed butter and dark chocolate stocked :) Plus, those everything crackers are my faaave!
I just checked the forearm-to-foot thing… GASP!!! My forearm looks WAY bigger, but surprisingly, it’s the same size as my foot. P.S. LOVE the scarf!!
Oh, come on! I love that you are acting like you are 19.
Great pictures.
Fun fact about me…I almost always have food in my purse! Hope you have a great dinner tonight!
I have had all those Trader Joes eats at one time! So glad you get to experience what I think is the best grocery store =)
I had a funny vision of everyone at all the tables taking a picture of their plates before eating!!
I love the Trader Joes high fiber muffins – they usually have 2 varieties – blueberry and apple cranberry – so good and only 80 cals each :)
I love Chicago! Looks like a BLAST! My band played their a few years back. I wish we had Trader Joe’s in Canada. I live in Vancouver…no such luck:( At least we have a Whole Foods now:)
Trust me, as a Texan, my mind was BLOWN the moment I stepped into TJ’s. The Blueberry Bran muffins are really good too. I REALLY want to try their new spiced apples. Oh! You should snag their mango chutney! It’s awwwwesome.
Hello Angela, its awesome you are having fun and eating delicious meals in that beautiful city of Chicago! you look so beautiful and always glowing. i made the pumpkin oatmeal pie cookies tonight and they taste so delicious! Im enjoying cooking some of your recipes posted in your blog! Have a safe and memorable time in Chicago.
Seriously – TJ’s is just the most amazing place – evahhh. I wish mine were bigger…it’s about the size of a shoe box but I’m grateful for all the goodies they cram in there!! (No 2 buck chuck though!) I LOVE that quote though. LOVE it!!
OMG lol what am I doing in the last picture of us Toronto bloggers?! I look like I’m puffing out my chest lol.
Vegan macaroons sound really good. You will have to let us know how they were. I do the same thing about carrying emergency snacks, it’s a must.
I LOVE TJ’s. I’m a devot Trader Joe-er haha. The sunflower seed butter is really great on a tortilla rolled up with a banana. Its a very easy breakfast.
Haha I’m the crazy place setting girl who is in the pic with Sabrina. I’m glad I got to meet you briefly at the cocktail party on Friday! I finally tried a glow bar today and it’s amazzzing!!!! I am addicted and want more!
Aren’t the mango slices amazing?!!?? AND the SSB??
Silly, Eric! The best part about those muffins are that they are dense :).
I love that quote too. It’s taken me many (many) years to come to that same conclusion. Skinny is NOT my goal. Living a long, healthy life is.
Don’t you LOVE TJ’s?! The sunlfower seed butter is one of my staples ;)
That forearm-foot-thing is creepy….. ;-)
You’re not the only one having emergency snacks with you on a trip. I always – no matter where I go – have at least an apple with me. When I go on vacation I even take 2 or 3 boxes of cereal bars with me. I mean, you never know if you can get cereal bars in a foreign country – I don’t wanna take any risks in that department :-D
Those are the best mangoes for sure. I wish TJ’s carried unsweetened and unsulfered dried papaya too. Both are like candy to me!
Looks like you girls (and Eric!) are really having a lot of fun, I wish I was there! Don’t you wish you could take Trader Joes back with you…I LOVE that place so much. Interestingly though I am not a fan of their mango, it has some weird taste to me- I always buy mine at Whole Foods but I want to love it because OF COURSE it’s cheaper haha. Boo.
I’m not really a fan of sunflower seed butter with sweet things,but it tastes amazing if you mix it with soy sauce and lime juice and use that as a stir fry sauce! And I’m sure you’ll come up with some other great uses for it. ;)