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HLS13 Saturday and Sunday

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Okay, I think it’s time to continue on with my HLS 2013 recap! If you didn’t catch my recap of Friday, you can find it here.

After a not-so-great night of sleep on Friday, Katie and I were up before the sun (literally) to embark on an 8-mile run. I led her around my old running paths and it felt great to be back running along the Mississippi!

HLS Run Collage

Following the run and some a gallon of coffee, I joined the HLS bloggers for breakfast at the hotel. We had a great buffet full of eggs and potatoes, cheddar-pepper biscuits that were to die for, fruit, yogurt and pastries. Everything was delicious!

hls breakfast

Throughout the day, I attended 4 conference discussions – Blogs in Transition: Embracing Your Blog, From Blog to Job: Utilizing Your Personal Blog to Elevate Your Career, The Organized Blogger and Blogger and the Brand: Building Relationships – and visited our amazing sponsors’ booths.

I didn’t take a single note during any of the conference sessions (oops) plus I’m not great at educational recaps… HOWEVER, if you’re interested in reading about what we learned, both Caroline and Amanda have great recaps of these sessions!

Driscoll Collage

I mentioned that I visited and talked with our sponsors, right? Well, I am just going to get it out there and say that our sponsors were freakin’ AMAZING! We snacked and snacked and snacked some more throughout the day on delicious things like Driscoll Berries and Blue Diamond Almonds and homemade Nutella via a Ninja Blender and Wild Harvest popcorn and Sargento cheese sticks. In addition to some serious snackage, we also had some fun opportunities for photo shoots (had I known this, I would have actually done my hair and worn makeup…) and giveaways – we seriously could not have had better sponsors :)

Photo Op Collage

Oh and my recap wouldn’t be complete without mentioning lunch! We had a tasty fajita salad buffet along with a Diablo Chocolate Cake – I was tempted to eat 5 pieces but then decided that I shouldn’t do that at a healthy living conference ;)

HLS lunch Collage

After a full day of sessions, the roomies and I had plans to go out for dinner and drinks. The idea of showering, putting on makeup and real clothes along with the rain storm outside had us thinking that staying in the hotel room for a girls’ night was a much better option. We trekked out into the storm to grab some wine (obviously) and Chipotle (of course!) and headed back to our room for some girl time. It was great to spend a Saturday night without make up and bras (oh wait, that’s just me that hates wearing ‘em, hehe!) and talking with my ladies :)

HLS dinner Collage

On Saturday night, I found out that I won the contest for a Ninja Ultima Blender!! I was so freakin’ excited, I couldn’t believe it! My old blender (that was probably $15) died just before I made the move to Chicago and I haven’t had the chance to make smoothies since. I can’t wait to receive a ($200-ish) blender and make soup and smoothies and pestos and other deliciousness that I can share with you all!

As a little side note – and to keep you awake for the rest of the post, I will be hosting a Ninja GIVEAWAY in the near future! Get excited!

sunday morning Collage

Sunday morning was welcomed after a much better night of sleep with a cup of Starbucks (my beloved downtown Dunn Bros doesn’t open until 9am on Sundays – whaaa??! People need their coffee, Dunn!) and a walk to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with the whole HLS group. I had a great time chatting with Hannah, Casey, Sam, Chelsea, Gina and Kim along the way!

Next came a sleepy breakfast followed by more giveaways. Us bloggers love things to review on our blogs ;) I didn’t win anything but Katie did and she gave me her HUGE bag of EnergyBits (another giveaway that I’ll be having soon!).  Thanks Katie!

Energy Bits Collage

Before packing up to head to the airport, I said my goodbyes to SO many amazing women including Amanda and Katie (who were at our dinner on Friday but I didn’t get to talk with them that much since they were on the other end of the table – bummer!), Kelsey, Tara, Katie and Katie (who lives in Chicago!).

P.S. If you ever forget a blogger’s name, just go ahead a shoot for Katie – you have a 72% chance of getting it right ;)

phillip lim

Once I was all packed, I hit up Target for some Phillip Lim action with Jen and then she was kind enough to drive me to the airport. I stopped at my favorite MSP hangout (go here the next time you’re at MSP!) – Surdyk’s Flights – and ordered a flight of reds along with the Minneapple panini – turkey, brie and apples.

HLS Surdyks Collage

I have yet to sort through all of my swag although Kyle is quite excited about some of the Wild Harvest snacks I brought home ;)

Phew! It was a whirlwind of a weekend and I’m so excited and happy that I was able to meet and spend time with so many wonderful and inspirational women!

What was your favorite session if you attended HLS? How many Katie’s do you know? I think I’m up to at least 150 ;)

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