Want in on some Love Grown granola action? Stay tuned for the end of this post!

The fun has officially begun!!!! Healthy Living Summit adventures have commenced. And this trip has been rocking from moment one!

My flight got delayed a bit, so I arrived later than I had hoped. My late arrival meant dropping my stuff off at the hotel and then getting my booty down Market Street to meet up with some of the greatest blogging friends.

Because what else would a group of food and healthy lifestyle bloggers do in a new city? EAT!

The crew of us that had arrived Thursday for the conference gathered for a quality meal together at Farmicia – a restaurant with local fare and a variety of options.

Plus, you have to be game for a restaurant that lets you BYOB. Six of us split a bottle of red wine and I loved every last drop. Wine after a day of travel = soothing.

I also still felt pretty full from lunch earlier that afternoon, so I went with a salad for dinner. You know a salad with goat cheese will catch my eye. I didn’t even look at the rest of the menu when I saw a salad with a roasted peach, goat cheese, walnuts, fennel, balsamic dressing, and garden lettuce.

Look at all that goat cheese!!!!

Not too much relaxing went on for our meal. Get eight bloggers together and we will close the place down talking.

Such a great way to start off my Healthy Living Summit fun with Diana, Lisa, Alicia, Heather, Lisa, Courtney, Julie, and Jess!

After dinner, we took a walk in the rain to get back to our hotel…then broke into some suuuppppeeerrrr delicious sugar cookies Courtney brought us. We also stayed up past midnight talking about anything and everything. I have a feeling I will be getting very little sleep this weekend! 😉

Before signing off, I must give a special shout out to Love Grown Foods.

I have the fabulous opportunity to represent such a giving, inspiring company here at the Healthy Living Summit. My relationship with Love Grown was love at first bite and I have only grown to adore the company and its granola more and more as time goes on. I stand behind this group that puts out quality food with such honest, giving, fun-loving, and caring hearts. They truly want to help consumers make a change for the better. Love Grown is all about spreading the love, so that is what I shall do for them while here.

If you’re attending the Healthy Living Summit keep an eye out for a few things:

• search me out to pick up some coupons and sample granola packs
• follow me on Twitter for multiple mini-giveaways!

Not attending? No worries!!! We will have some love in the form of a giveaway here on the blog for you too. Coming within the next week! Stay tuned. 😉

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting a new city? I love walking around and I have to try a new local place to eat!

Morning, friends! My favorite day of the week has arrived. I just love Saturdays and they always start out on the good side with a long run. Even when not my strongest run, I always feel so accomplished after finishing up my long run of the week. It’s a fabulous feeling and today was no different.

I had 8 miles on the half marathon training plan and I decided to take on the slower pace approach to see how it would work for me, especially considering I have only run one other eight miler before. I ended the eight miles with an average 9:46 pace and felt like I could have gone more. My legs weren’t screaming at me at all.

This morning also happened to be my first run in the rain. You can’t really tell in the photo but running six of my eight miles in steady rain left me soaked through! And refreshed! I actually really liked running in the rain.

After getting home, I immediately changed and got to work on breakfast.

Handfuls of Love Grown Granola while waiting for a smoothie to blend anyone??

I ended up with another peanut butter, banana (the victorious fruit!), and Power GY vanilla protein powder smoothie thickened up with the xan (my new nickname for xanthan gum). All topped off with the Simply Oats granola from Love Grown. 

Favorite fruit? Check! Favorite thing to add to every breakfast (aka peanut butter)? Check! Favorite protein powder? Check! Favorite granola? Check! And now Love Grown and I get to share an even more special, loving bond.

I have been bursting at the seams to announce that I will work to represent Love Grown as they sponsor me for the Healthy Living Summit this year!!!

I have shared on more than one occasion how much I love Love Grown – for the quality of their products, for what the company stands for, and for the inspiration they provide as driven and caring ambassadors to healthy living and eating. I have supported Love Grown ever since originally tasting their products and we decided my spreading the love at the conference would make a natural fit.

While all of this certainly excites me, it should hopefully excite you too. This bond means I get to share all sorts of special updates, promotions, giveaways, etc with YOU! After all, I hope to share the love daily and Love Grown lives and breathes spreading love. I wouldn’t want to connect with a company that did any less.

In fact, I already have some cool news to give you:

• Florida Residents: You should now be able to find Love Grown Granola in your local Fresh Market stores!!
• Check out the Love Grown You Tube Channel:  Find fun videos like a ping pong battle over their Cocoa Goodness granola or watch the story of Love Grown Foods. It’s pretty amazing.

Well, now that my belly is full of love (cheesy pun, I know), I must get a start on my day. First up = picking up those healthy grocery staples, of course. Catch ya later!

• How do you like to start your Saturday mornings?
• What’s a company you simply adore?