*OK, this one is for you, Mom.  I know how much you love this song, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” , and you know how much I love you!

Boy, the Summit was like the grass sample that was in our swag bags, AMAZING!  After two days of socializing and ‘getting-to-know-you’s’, we finally arrived at the day I was looking forward to the most – conference day.  I think I’ll always be a student at heart because the thought of being in a room with all of our knowledgeable sponsors and keynote speakers was making me giddy with joy.  I could hardly sleep Friday night in anticipation of the big day.  I think I fell asleep with a smile on my face and woke up with one.

OK, that's me after I got ready, not as soon as I woke up

Because Patrick was so very kind to give me, Lauren and Shannon a ride (the first of many), we were able to make it to the hotel bright and early.  Thank you!!!  When we arrived, we were greeted by the Big 6 and were presented our SWAG BAGS (cue the bugles and applause)!  They were absolutely stuffed with coupons, tons of food samples, informational brochures, a re-useable bag (along with the re-useable bag the swag came in), pens, magnets, a shake container, a t-shirt, a shoe wallet, a baked good and magazines.  It was the ultimate goody bag!

The sign of the time

Heather, Megan and Caitlin

"Say my name, say my name..."

My Blue Heaven

"Swagger like us!"

After checking in, getting our name tags and bags, we were ready for breakfast.  Breakfast included an array of fresh fruit, Oikos yogurt, various blends of  MixMyGranola, fresh bagels, danish, muffins, Kashi TLC bars and the obvi fresh coffee and tea.  I chose an Oikos yogurt with honey along with a few scoops of lowfat MixMyGranola and some chunks of cantaloupe and pineapple.  I love me some fresh fruit for breakfast (or anytime), especially when it’s already been cut-up for me .

Hmmm, this yogurt is DEE-LEE-SHUSS!

Tina, Shannon, Lauren and Jesse

We had a good hour to relax, eat and do some more meeting and chatting before we headed off to the conference room.  As I mentioned before, I can be somewhat of a dork.  So when I walked into the conference room, I wanted to be sitting front and center.  However, that was being occupied by some of our sponsors, so I opted for front-ish and left of center.  What can I say?  I like to pay attention!

My table mates - Casey and Ania

Casey and Ms. Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed

After finding our seats, the Big 6 introduced themselves and welcomed us all to the Summit.  You could tell they were just as excited as the attendees and were glowing with anticipation of the day ahead.

Drum roll please!

The Big 6

Our first speaker was Janel Ovrut, a local registered dietitian, who talked to us about the importance of having a ‘healthy’ diet and how we can manage to eat well in our busy day-to-day life.  She was quite friendly and informative and gave us some useful and easy to remember tips.  She was able to provide insight without sounding ‘preachy’.

The next speaker was my favorite speaker, Cory, aka ZestyCook.  Zesty gave a wonderful presentation on Blogging 101.  He gave us pointers on how to best monetize our blogs, design our blogs and how we could best make them as successful as his (almost!).  I brought my giant legal notepad from home specifically for Zesty’s presentation.  I wanted to be a sponge and soak up as much zest as I could.  I think I did a pretty good job because while I hung onto his every word, my little hands managed to scribble out pages and pages of notes.  Thank you, Zesty!

We then broke for lunch (and the bathrooms).  I actually was hoping that this was not the line for the bathrooms and luckily, it was the lunch line.

The waiting game

But, the bathroom line wasn’t too much shorter.  Hence, by the time I got to the head of the lunch line, it was rather slim pickin’s.  Although I did manage to get a yummy turkey sandwich and fresh fruit that helped to squelch my hunger.  I was just hoping for some vegetables and since the lettuce shreds that were left looked a tad lack luster, I opted out.  But now that I have seen some of the other food bloggers’ pictures, I seemed to have missed a whole display of roasted veggies and salad greens.  Eh, that’s what I get for not going to the restroom when I first had to go and for being a Chatty Cathy .

We Are Not Martha - Sues, me and Chels

My Lunch: turkey with swiss & mustard on whole wheat bread w/ a side of fruit and caprese salad

Lunch mates

Meghan checking her phone...

Once lunch wrapped up, we had another very informative presentation from organic dairy farmer, Regina Beidler.  Regina, along with her husband and daughter (who was also at the Summit), are cooperative farmer owners at Organic Valley and the milk from their farm goes to Organic Valley’s New England Pastures for fluid milk or to Stonyfield Farm for their yogurt products.  Regina really opened my eyes to the importance of supporting local farmers and eating organic dairy products.  She was a great speaker and really did a spectacular job speaking to her audience.

Next up were the ladies from Body + Soul magazine.  They scared informed us about some of the potential dangers/toxins hidden in our beauty products and what are some alternative products we could use.  Wow!  I really need to do a better job of reading the labels on my beauty products – yikes!

Caitlin, from whom I won my golden ticket to the Summit, then gave us a presentation about Operation Beautiful.  She talked about how it got its start and how far it has grown.  Caitlin, along with Operation Beautiful, are both so inspirational!  To say the least,  I was moved!

To pump up get the audience and get us involved, the Big 6 then did some product giveaways.  Sadly, I was not a winner but I had a heck of a time cheering on those that did!  There were some great prizes!  For instance, a $300 gift certificate to Athleta.  Um, hello?  Healthy Chow needs new yoga clothes!

Then, we broke for juice (sans cookies).  Andrea, from POM Wonderful, set-up a giant spread of ice cold pomegranate juice and even posed for a few photos.

I’ve actually never tried POM before.  The tartness of the juice was similar to cranberry juice but with a slightly sweeter twist.  Andrea told me that most people she knew cooked with the juice versus just drinking it straight-up.  I can definitely see it working in a citrus-y salad dressing or with a nice piece of fish.  Lucky for me, Andrea gave me a few extra bottles and coupons to take home.  Thank you, Andrea!

To wrap up, the Big 6 each did a brief presentation on the type of fitness they prefer and how they got started with it.  Caitlin and Tina spoke about running and how while they have some injuries, they continue to work through those injuries and take care of their bodies.  Kath talked about how she squeezes in exercise whenever she can, such as when doing household chores like washing the floor and mowing the lawn.  Jenna talked about one of my favorite things in the world, yoga.  She talked about how great of a workout yoga can be and how important it is for the body and the mind.  I couldn’t stop nodding my head in agreement with Jenna.  I so badly wanted to jump out of my seat and tell the group that if they hadn’t tried yoga, they could come with me and I would be more than happy to show them the light .  Finally, Heather and Meghann talked about running and how they have worked up to competing in races.  They even brought out their running gear and demonstrated what they like to use and how sweaty these things can get .

To conclude the conference, we appropriately took a group photo.  We all squeezed into the back of the room and once again, Hangry Mark was our photographer.  Thank you, Mark!  I think if you squint your eyes or get a magnifying glass you can find me (I wore high heels (again) just so you all could see me!).

I promise I'm in there!

I don’t want to sound like a broken record (but I will) , but I want to say that I’m so happy that I was able to attend the Healthy Living Summit.  I had the chance to meet such extraordinary people and learn some fascinating things.  All these women (and men) share the same passion – to live a healthy and happy life filled with fitness, eating well, and passion.  Out of all the people I met this weekend, the one common link is that they all love life and want that life to be a healthy one.  While they aim to be healthy and fit, they know life has to have balance.  For that reason, there was never a hesitation to enjoy themselves – whether that meant having a cocktail, savoring a scoop of their favorite ice cream or simply getting up a bit earlier to take in a morning run.

Just watching the Big 6 speak about their favorite kind of exercise or their favorite thing to eat or how they first started blogging, you could honestly see the enthusiasm and drive exuding from their souls.  I truly felt empowered to be around all of these like minded individuals (bloggers and readers) – people like myself who want the best life and the best me possible and just want to share that with the world.

Contents of the bag...I refrained from eating anything so I could get a complete picture for you to see...that was really tough!

What makes you feel empowered?  Or, what’s the best free sample you’ve ever received?

Namasté,
Nicole