Where to even begin? I guess with breakfast, huh? This morning after waking up and chilling in the room for a little while, I headed down to the lobby Starbucks to get my morning post published and have breakfast. This is what a blogging conference looks like when there is no internet in the hotel rooms…

No surprise that I went with the perfect oatmeal with dried fruit, nuts, banana, and a touch of brown sugar. I also finally got my hands on a Mocha Coconut iced coffee. Suh-weet!!!

Once I filled my belly with energy and caffeine I wanted to get a move on. Lisa and Diana felt the same way, so we headed out to tour some of Philly for the morning.

Besides chilling with some 200 year old friends, we made a visit into the Christ Church where apparently many of the signees of the Declaration of Independence worship and are buried. It was pretty cool to see…

Although the tour guide apparently had picture taking issues as this is the only group shot I got while there. Nice, huh?

We walked around a bit more before finally stopping in to see the Liberty Bell.

I didn’t get the chance to see it last year when in Philly so I was really happy to have the time today to walk around and see more of the city and iconic pieces like this. And I needed to soak up as much time as possible with Lisa since we have waited THREE YEARS to meet in person. She is one of my closest friends, even outside of blogging.

When we got back to the lobby we thought we would have a few minutes to go to the room and relax…but not quite. A giant crew of fellow bloggers awaited in the lobby for our lunch date plans. Relaxation would have to wait so I could spend some time with even more friends!!!

It ended up being such a large group that we had to split into two groups. I went with the original planned stop of Govindas – a vegetarian and vegan sandwich shop. I ordered the Chimichanga (anyone else think that is so fun to say?!) – a wrap with jasmine rice, black beans, cheese, and salsa.

And of course we had to follow it up with some frozen yogurt. Bloggers are like moths to a flame when it comes to fro-yo!

I dished up some peanut butter and coffee flavors topped with white chocolate and chocolate chips and peanut butter cups. A great little reprieve before the never-ending day continued with check-in, picking up the swag, and meeting with my fellow panel gals to discuss our presentation. I think we have it together. I hope you come check us out! 😉

Time to get all purty for the party tonight! I hope you all are having an awesome Friday!!!!

• Do you go for fruity/tart fro-yo or sweet/candy/chocolate fro-yo?
• Stealing this question from Courtney’s morning post: Would You Rather – stay in a hotel with no internet or  with no air conditioner?

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!