Since I had a rather wordy post earlier – feel free to add to the discussion on the “health persona” of blogging – I shall share the weekend update links now. In case you missed it:

• I Didn’t Like It – my first negative review of a product
• What Are You Doing To Me?! – 8 mile run to jump back into workouts
• Body Love Song – the duet my body and mind created to an Adam Lambert song
• FFF Features of the Week – included a Baby B laughing video!
• Self-Love Reflection: People CAN Change – overcoming binging through pregnancy and fitness

Now back to regularly scheduled blogging…

Bloggers, quite frankly, rock. Whenever I meet up with a great group of blog friends, it never fails to transform into the highlight of my day. I had the pleasure of dining with an amazing group of twelve Atlanta bloggers this past weekend. Our group just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Which only means it gets better and better as well. Yep. Bloggers rock!

 
From left to right front row: Carol, Katy, Laura, me, Katy. From left to right back row: Lauren, Alayna, Lee, Lindsay, Laura, Kristy, and Brooke.

When making lunch plans, they don’t suggest the general standbys of Chilis or Taco Mac. They seek out little gems such as R Thomas Grill – a kitschy restaurant serving a wide variety of healthy (and amazingly delicious!) options.

Their eyes don’t bug out when you say you spent your morning running 8 miles. In fact, they have their own race stories or workout adventures to share.

 
taken from Lindsay @ The Atlanta Running Mom

They have no problems opening up and chatting away too. It feels so natural!

They are right there with you when whipping out cameras for food…

…and relate all too well to the trying dilemma of figuring out what to order.

It took me 47 years, but I finally landed on the portabella melt sandwich with lots of grilled veggies and a side of cinnamon sweet potatoes. It delighted me!

And for the record – you know a restaurant has a lot of good sounding options if a blogger crew shows up and nearly everyone orders something different because there are that many eye-catching items on the menu.

Bloggers also rock because they get just as excited as you do over things like Love Grown Foods granola.

Thanks to the Love Grown team for providing me with some samples so I could spread the love with my friends. I hope you all like them! 🙂

And finally, they have husbands who totally understand the need for a plethora of pictures and happily oblige with a mid-summer-day-way-too-hot-out photo shoot. Thank you Brooke’s husband!

And don’t blink an eye when the photo shoot includes us holding up bags of granola.

Yep. Bloggers rock. I can’t wait for our next get together!! Perhaps it will be bigger and better again. The Atlanta blogging scene just keeps expanding. My last count had us at almost 25 and it wouldn’t surprise me if others lurk in the shadows. Let me know if you’re in the area and want to get in on future meet-up action!

• Complete the sentence: Bloggers rock because ____________ .
• Have your friends, family, significant others gotten used to the picture taking, blog talk, and everything else that goes along with blogging?

A couple weeks ago, Becca from Love Grown Foods granola contacted me about visiting over coffee while the Love Grown crew visits and does some business in Atlanta. I loved the idea and couldn’t wait to meet some of the faces behind a company I believe in and wholeheartedly support. I suggested we visit one of the three Land of 1000 Hills coffee house locations in the metro area.

Land of 1000 Hills serves fabulous coffee that is also fair-trade and focuses on helping build and invest in communities around the world with their coffee business. I couldn’t pick a better place to have coffee with two other individuals who represent a business that cares so much about providing quality to its consumers as well.

I spent a little over an hour yesterday sipping an iced coffee and chatting with Becca and Jason about a wide variety of things – their travels in the Love Grown Foods bus this year, the background of the company, how I got into blogging, my vacation, things to do in and around Atlanta, Makenzie’s antics, and more. I like to think any outsider could see us as a passionate crew as we shared all about our different ventures and interests. Without a doubt, our conversations had me sparked with a good energy and vibe.

For example, the way Love Grown Foods has developed and grown in just around a year amazes me. They went from being offered in one store, to just under 100 stores, to now over 1000 stores across the nation and they’re still spreading like wildfire! Stories like that inspire me that if you put out a good product, the opportunities and rewards will come.

I think that is all any of us can hope to do with any of our goals, hopes, and dreams. We simply must put in the effort to give our best, open ourselves to opportunities, and then trust the process to work out. For me, I strive to share genuinely and honestly here in order to hopefully provide realness and quality to FFF. For my future ventures in personal training and consulting, I will focus on working hard to provide quality training programs/support/etc and I have to trust that will bring positive results for my goal. Even with my fitness endeavors, I can only take each day one at a time and recognize that my choices add up to how I progress. Yesterday emphasized to me that it all boils down to believing in goals, putting in the effort, remaining true to your values, and keeping a kind heart.

Yes, my simple coffee date left me with such detailed thoughts. It also left me with a lot of granola love!

Becca and Jason fed my addiction. So what else was there to do than immediately bust some out for yesterday’s pre-workout green smoothie?

A green smoothie topped with the Simple Oats granola makes perfect pre-workout fuel. And for the record, it’s quite the challenge capturing a photo like above before all the granola sinks. Nevertheless, it got me going for a great strength training workout followed up with sweating it out in a spinning class.

Ahhhh. It felt so good to be back. Now time to make today as good as yesterday. Have a good one, friends!

• Is there a certain company you love for what they stand for?
• Do simple things ever lead to in-depth tangents in your mind?