Grant Me Just One More

Posted: May 24, 2011 at 8:10 am

I know many of you might be a bit over the Fitbloggin recaps. And I know I have already shared the following posts over my insights from the conference:

  • Blog Tips Part One – Being Yourself, SEO, Building Relationships
  • Blog Tips Part Two – Value of Readers, Goals of Blogging, Invest in Your Passion

But I sincerely hope you grant me just one more post to allow me to relive my fun and have a chance to capture it in this post as a virtual keepsake of sorts. I promise cute baby pictures at the end! 😉

In my first recap, I left off after our first morning with the many fitness activities. It seems so long ago and doesn’t even begin to cover the main conference events! Friday afternoon consisted of two panels: one discussed blog and brand relationships while the other touched on blogging as a hobby versus as a profession. After those, we all got prepped and ready for the Sears Social at 6 before heading out to dinner.

The social was fairly low-key. We all grabbed our complimentary drinks and hung around for awhile chatting while deciding on where to head for dinner. No matter what though, when you stick a bunch of bloggers in a room it will be a good time.

IMGP1234 IMGP1238 IMGP1235 IMGP1237
from top left: with Jenn, with Tina, with Gabriela & Courtney, social shot

After the social, a group of 12 of us headed to Mo’s Seafood for dinner.

IMGP1240

Somewhere we had heard a recommendation for the restaurant and it sounded like a great fit…until we got there. The service was far from stellar and the food was far from delicious. It tasted okay, but my crab cake had a ton of shell in it (ew!) and the shrimp/scallops were in a very bland sauce. At least they were cooked alright though!

IMGP1247

Veggies and bread rounded out the meal.

IMGP1243 IMGP1249

Along with great company!

IMGP1245
Courtney, Amanda, Julie, Theodora, Heather, Gracie, Gabriela, Nicole, Anne, Tina, Jac

At least when service is slow we have plenty to talk about! I had a great time with these ladies and I miss them all already.

Saturday consisted of conference sessions all day long. They had so many great ones to choose from! I fueled myself up with a banana and a bowl of oats topped with berries, granola, and maple syrup to get through the first half of the day.

IMGP1250

Then, I got my live blogging fingers ready to capture the blogging from hobby to career session. I don’t think I have typed so fast in my life. I was glad to have my duty out of the way in the first session so I could relax, enjoy, and note-take at my own pace in the other sessions I attended:

  • Building an Online Community:Balancing, Monetizing and Inspiring!
  • Ditch The Diet: Eat Intuitively
  • SEO For Fitness Bloggers: Increasing Visits & Monetizing Search Traffic
  • Know Your Stats (although I quickly learned I wished I had attended the Blogger Responsibility talk instead as the stats info was more basic than I expected)

We powered through those sessions with the only real break coming for lunch.

IMGP1253

I want that lunch in my life again. It consisted of roasted vegetable mix, potatoes with red peppers, an apple and cabbage slaw/salad with blue cheese, and a roll. So good! It even held me over fairly well until heading to dinner with the roomies that night.

IMGP1260

Luckily dinner on Saturday had much better food! I craved something rather different than my norm, but I went with it. Even though everyone around me ordered spinach salads that sounded amazing, I couldn’t deny the sudden hankering for fish and chips after seeing them on the menu.

IMGP1266

They delivered. I devoured them. And still had room for a little fudge pit stop later. Always room for dessert, you know? We even booked it to the fudge shop to make sure we got our fudge fix before they closed! On the way back to the hotel we stopped off to say good-bye to some of our other blog friends before everyone began heading home in the morning.

My shuttle picked me up at around 10 am, which gave me plenty of time in the airport. What better way to kill time than with some food? I was hangry after only having a larabar earlier that morning. Enter Starbucks perfect oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit.

IMGP1272

It was my first time having it and I was fairly impressed. It did a nice job of filling me up for my flight home. After leaving everyone I could not wait to get going home. I missed my little family so much!!!

IMGP1276 IMGP1278

I immediately teared up upon seeing those faces greeting me. Home really is where the heart is! And oh – go figure that Baby B learned to roll over while I was gone. I guess he wanted to have his own special surprise for me for when I got home.

  • Do you like seafood? I’m very picky about seafood and will typically only eat it when at a beach. Unless it’s sushi or Cheeky’s fish tacos of course.
  • What is a travel food pit stop you usually go with?

Tags: ,

 
35 Comments to “Grant Me Just One More”
  1. I love seafood. Love love love it – salmon is probably my favorite – I also like sushi, which I tend to categorize as seafood.

    When I travelling by car, I pit stop at the grocery store and skip the restaurants. i buy things like sardines and fruits and veggies. If I see a street market or a farmer’s stand, I stop.

    When I am flying, I look for a deli, or something vegetarian… I try to stay away from the eateries in airports. Nothing puts a hamper on travels like feeling sick!

  2. Shell in your crab cake has to be one of the grossest things out there–eew! So glad you had a super time.

  3. Aw, look at his cute little cheeks in the last picture! So precious.

    I like fish but not any other seafood.

    While traveling I like to keep a bunch of emergency snacks in my bag…granola bars, trail mix, etc. just in case I can’t find something to eat.

  4. Angela says:

    GREAT recap Tina! I have been totally away from the blog world this weekend so I still want to go back and read your top 10s but it looks like you had a fabulous time!

  5. You kids are so friggin adorable!!!

    I LOVE seafood! I used to hate it until I started working at a seafood restaurant right after college and was forced to try it. I couldn’t believe how really fresh seafood tasted so good 🙂

  6. Seafood is the ONLY think I don’t like. Bad seafood sounds terrible! I would have been all over that fudge stop though. I have a friend that claims there’s a whole other part of your stomach for dessert… totally agree. 🙂

    Glad you had such a good trip!

  7. Coco says:

    I am so glad to have read all the posts about MO’s, LOL. Little did they know what an impression they were leaving.

    Starbucks has become my go-to place for eating on the road. I love the Perfect Oatmeal and the Low Fat Turkey Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich (which I will get any time of day). The Vivano Smoothies are great too. And the sandwiches. Just stay away from the pastry case unless you are sharing something with a firend. 😉

  8. i’m pretty picky about seafood preparation…unless it’s fried. then i’ll pretty much eat is. pretty much 🙂 i’m also really picky about fruit sometimes, but since a lot of restaurants don’t really serve it it’s not a big deal!

    i love the dress you chose for the social time! such a pretty color on you and it fits perfectly 🙂

  9. I always hit up a grocery store of some sort! I have to have staples with me. I’m with you, I missed my guys so badly. It was so nice to see them again. Sounds like a great trip Tina!

  10. So glad you had such a wonderful time! I really hope I can make it the the Healthy Living Summit in August 🙂

    As always your little ones are simply adorable and I’m sure they missed you tons! 🙂

    I LOVE seafood, as a native marylander there is nothing better then crab! 🙂

  11. I actually missed all the recaps of the weekend conference, so I’m glad to hear you had a great time with everyone!

    I had starbucks perfect oatmeal for the first time over the wknd, too! Although I was a big snot about it and kept thinking, “for $4 (I’m assuming the casino prices are marked up?), I could have done better.”

  12. I love the pictures of you with the kids at the end! M looks so happy to see you!

    I do like seafood, but the last few times have not been that good — either too greasy or overcooked. Yuck.

  13. Errign says:

    I love seafood & growing up in New England, I’ve eaten a lot of it 🙂 So good. It has to be cooked the way I like it though, or it can be gross.

    M & B are SO adorbs, seriously. 🙂

  14. Colleen says:

    I really enjoyed reading your recaps of Fitbloggin’. It looks like so much fun. Love Baby B’s face in that last picture too 🙂

    I also like Starbucks when traveling–I go for their spinach feta egg white wrap or the turkey bacon egg white english muffin. Chipotle is another road trip fave!

  15. jobo says:

    Love the fitbloggin posts! And I love seafood. Almost anything. But I would have been annoyed at shell in my crabcake (eww!) and boring sauce with my shrimp too. I love the oatmeal from Starbucks as a good thing to tide me over when I have a long flight. I can’t believe it took me quite a few trips to cali and back before I thought to even get it! Silly me 😉

  16. Awwww those pictures of you with your babies are SOOOO cute!! I can see how happy you all look to be reunited!

    It was amazing meeting you this weekend. I hope to get to see you again soon!

  17. I’m anti seafood all the way. I would have been miserable at that restaurant except for absolutely fabulous company!

    Yay for Baby B rolling over =)

  18. Emily says:

    Starbucks oatmeal is AMAZING!

  19. The baby pictures were worth it 😉 Glad you had so much fun! I usually don’t like most seafoods, but I love crab!

  20. Lauren says:

    Awww, those last two pictures are honestly priceless! 🙂

  21. thanks for the links to your other posts; you’re so precious with your kids!

  22. I LOVE the recap posts of fit blogging!!! I am living through you. Fish and chips are AMAZING and now I am craving them. Girl, you have the most beautiful children!

  23. Great meeting you this weekend! Enjoying the recaps :).

  24. ah those pics of the kiddies are SO adorable! and Baby B looks so much like yoU!! i can see it so clearly in that pic, Tina! 🙂

    oh man that stinks about the crab cake! I have never actually had crab cakes, but I can imagine that must have not been the most pleasant!
    ah fish an chips bring me back to my childhood spending summers in cape cod! its just so comforting!

    when traveling, I always like to rely on Panera Bread’s or Starbucks or Fresh City (which may be an east coast chain) its wraps/salads

  25. I’m not a huge seafood fan. I like salmon and a few other mild fish, but that’s it. I always WANT to like it, though. 🙂

    I love M’s smile!

  26. Those two pictures of you and the kiddos is so adorable, I’m sure you were elated to see them!

  27. SheFit says:

    Never stop recapping. I was so sad that I couldn’t make it so it’s nice to read up on all the fun everyone had.

  28. Booo for crappy Mo’s, but YAY for such good company! How did I get so tan in that dinner photo…? I love it 😀 And once again, I loved MEETING YOU!

  29. […] 4. Reading recaps of this weekend by some of my old and new blog friends. […]

  30. I really wish that seafood dinner had been either tastier or cheaper. It wasn’t bad, just so expensive for what it was!! At least the company was AWESOME though 🙂 And I adore seafood. It’s my favorite meal!

  31. Jenn (GH) says:

    Okay so I got a Crab cake Friday night at a different place. And I’m glad you ordered the fish and chips!!! I would have ordered the same thing as they are one of my FAVORITE things to eat out. I also LOVED the lunch on Saturday. Hmmmm…maybe we have similar taste in food. 😀

    I guess this a “me too” comment b/c I also wish I would have gone to the blogger responsibility. The Google analytics were hard to follow since I had forgotten my glasses and couldn’t read the screen from the back of the room.

  32. Groff's Girl says:

    I have really enjoyed your fitbloggin posts!! They are great to read and very informative (plus, they are fun)! I am glad you had such a great experience!! It is always hard to be away from the kids! I was a little teary when I got home to them after our NY trip!! I love to eat fish and chips, they are a big favorite of mine even though I am left hurting afterwards! Whenever we go to the states (every 3 years) we always make sure to go to Olive Garden and Dairy Queen. I used to get Peanut Buster Parfaits while in college to ease the stress. Now I just get a small hot fudge sundae with spanish peanuts…the exact same thing, just downsized!!

  33. […] will reap me the most progress. I put that lesson into action this month and despite a trip to Fitbloggin, BBQs, and getting closer and closer to my happy weight, I still saw progress this […]

Leave a Reply

(required)

(required)


 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

88 CommentsRead more →

Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

24 CommentsRead more →

Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

14 CommentsRead more →
 

Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

21 CommentsRead more →

Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

79 CommentsRead more →

From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

55 CommentsRead more →