Today was my last day in Chicago!  The morning started off with a Fun Run Walk along the lakefront.  Many of the attendees set out on 10K or 5K runs, but there were many of us in the walking group. 

After the walk, we headed to breakfast, which was sponsored by Thomas’ bagel thins.  Part of the breakfast was a create-your-own cream cheese contest.  We had our very own chefs on hand to do all the grunt work:

Here’s what went in to my combo:

• Reduced fat cream cheese
• Fresh tomatoes
• Onions!
• Jalapenos
• Carrots
• Cucumber
• Pinch ‘o salt

The goods:

I was really graving protein at breakfast, so I thought I’d make a little breakfast sandwich out of my bagel thin and veggie cream cheese.  I loaded my bagel with the veggie cream cheese:

Then I sliced my two turkey sausage links in half length-wise, and piled them on the bagel:

All I needed was a little hot sauce 😉

After breakfast, I headed back to the hotel room to get my pack on.  We got SO many freebies this weekend, I can’t believe I was able to cram it all back in the suitcase! 

My roommate, Haya, and I headed to Trader Joe’s where I picked up a new Luna Bar flavor and some Quinoa.  Cannot wait to experiment with the Quinoa (which I had for the first time at Saturday’s lunch).

After the TJ’s excursion, a group of us gathered together to head to Giordano’s for some Chicago pizza (FINALLY!).

First up, I had a jumbo side salad (my body is literally in vegetable withdrawal) and some garlic bread:

Stuffed pizza:

YUM.  Any time I go to a new city, I like to try out the foods the area is known for.  While Pittsburgh’s Primanti sandwiches, South Carolina Shrimp & Grits, or Chicago style pizza may not be my #1 choice they are definitely tasty and REQUIRED food stops! 

Besides, pizza definitely makes for happy bloggers:

(Erin @ a Girl and Her Mutt)

Overall, the HLS was a really interesting experience.  I went into the weekend expecting to get the most value out of the Saturday Seminars, but it turns out my favorite parts of the weekend were hanging with bloggers and getting to know each of their stories behind the blog.  I met a few bloggers whose sites I’ve been following for some time, made many new friends, and had my first first-person exposure to this crazy food blogging community that I’m a part of! 

What surprised me most about this weekend was the mental list I began gathering of things I don’t want to be and things I want to work on or change in my life  Odd, right?  Over the course of the weekend, I told dozens and dozens of women my story:  who I am, what I do on a daily basis, why I blog, etc.  I think that sort of self reflection is a good challenge for us all.  It forces us to internally take a step back and determine whether or not we’re happy with our own story.

In the time-management session, Sarah asked us to write down our list of priorities in life.  I stumbled on this task.  At first I wrote nothing on my list.  Then, whether for fear of admitting the truth to myself or for fear of someone else seeing my true list, I wrote what I thought my list should be.  I internally compared my “ideal” list of priorities to my true list, and I was bothered by the blatant discrepancies between the two.  Time is a finite resource (thank you, Sarah!), and I want to work on using mine in ways that match my ideal priorities in life!

All-in-all a terrific weekend, full of terrific women, and terrific food!

(thank you Sarha @ theSHUbox for the photo!)

(thank you Jennifer @ RunningWithCake for the photo!)

First thing on the agenda for Day#2 in Chicago was a walk to see the Big Ole Shiny Bean (that’s the proper name) to take some pics.

Big ole bean:

Me in the bean:

I kind of love the bean, not gonna lie:

After the giant bean, we went and saw a giant creepy face:

Then it was time to head to breakfast.  These Adora calcium supplements have been on my blog “want to try” list forever!  Now I have a whole bag to try out 🙂  

The breakfast spread was stellar!!  I wanted one three of EVERYTHING

Bagel thins, peanut butter, yogurt, granola, fruit, muffins, croissants, oatmeal…  Are you kidding??

I ended up with yogurt(x2) and some fruit

I also scarfed down an Empower Glo Bar (check out Oh She Glows):

After breakfast, we had several breakout presentations, one of which focused on photography:

Another discussed potential obstacles to eating healthy:

Misconceptions for sure:

Some things I need to work on:

Midway through the day, we had the hands-down best lunch I ever had at a conference.  I went with a side salad with balsamic dressing, roasted veggies, quinoa salad, garbanzo bean salad, giant pickle spear, and a turkey and ham sandwich on a deli flat:

Here are some of my favorite takeaways from the seminars:

• Only 1 in 3 women ages 18-33 years old cook their own meals 5+ days a week.
• Balance, variety, moderation… 
• Take the first step, then the next. Repeat.
• Time is a finite, non-renewable resource.
• You are beautiful 🙂
• It’s ok to be different.  It makes you a more interesting person.
• Quinoa is AMAZING.  Must cook this myself in the very near future!
• Windows Live Writer.  Changed. My. Life.

After the conference, we went for a walk along the water:

The water in Chicago seems so much bluer than Lake Erie in Cleveland!

After the walk, we headed to Core Fusion Yoga sponsored by Subway.  Luckily, I didn’t snap any photos.  Yoga kicked my butt.  I just hope I’ll be able to walk tomorrow.  Only one thing can help a girl come back from such a beating:

I

Epic. Burger.   EPIC:

When I have hand-cut fries, I LOVE to top them with Malt vinegar….   buuuuut when I asked the waiter for Malt vinegar, she gave me the wonky eye like I was crazy. 

Tweeting ensued:

That’s ok – I got to try out the Organic Heinz ketchup on the fries:

This tasted just like normal ketchup to me!  It didn’t have the super sugary taste that the Reduced-sugar ketchup has.  It just tasted like my normal everyday ketchup.  Just a little dollop of heaven 🙂

And I’m exhausted!  Time for bed!

I made it to the HLS! 

I am exhausted, so this post is gonna be a quick one.  Need to catch those zzz’s.  Here’s a rundown of my first day in Chi-town:

Woke up extra early this morning (hello 4:45am) to give myself plenty of time to get to the airport.  Subsequently missed the exit for the airport on the turnpike, which added 20 minutes to the drive.  Woops!  Then I parked in thee farthest spot in the parking lot, only to tote my two over packed bags to the furthest terminal (Cleveland Hopkins seriously needs a shuttle!). 

1 luna bar, 1 subway egg-white English muffin, and 3 cups of coffee later I arrived in Chicago! 

I met up with my roommate Haya (check her out at TrainingtoLive, and Sarah from TheShuBox, and Meg of BeFitBeFull for lunch at Luna.

After some help from the waiter, I went with the shitake mushroom quesadilla:

 It was DELICIOUS.  Definitely check this place out next time you’re in Chicago!  I also want to mention how cool it was to be sitting at a table of awesome ladies and ALL of us were snapping photos of the food!  Usually it’s just me being the “weird” one.  Kind of liberating 🙂

After lunch, we took an Architect Boat tour.  I’m not super in to architecture, but I DO love boats, sunshine, and taking pictures 🙂

Here’s a few of the pics for your viewing pleasure 😀

 After the boat tour & some much-needed showering, we headed to the LaSalle Power co for a cocktail party:

The grub:

Check out our swag bag goodies:

On that happy note, goodnight friends!