{lately}

it's been pretty quiet over here.  

here are some photos of whats been going on in our little neck of the woods!

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i am 10 days away from my marathon.  i am getting excited but a little nervous as well.  there has been lots of runs over the last several weeks.  i have stuck to my training plan pretty well, so here's hoping it goes well!

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we have been taking advantage of the warmer weather, trying to spend lots of time outside!

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we took a camping trip to the lake.  and enjoyed some sunny {but super windy} days on the lake.  went on lots of bike rides, and just enjoyed some family time together, away from home.  

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we also finally got around to painting our master bedroom.  this has been in the plans for months.  i am so glad to have it finished.  it is nice to have a fresh blank slate, and i'm looking forward to doing some decorating! I've been working on a bedroom makeover board pinterest... we'll see what ideas i end up using.  decorating is not something i am very good at!

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what have you been up to lately?!

{wild harvest test kitchen}

friday morning, as a part of the healthy living summit, i had the opportunity to visit the wild harvest organics test kitchen in eden prairie, minnesota.  wild harvest is a branch of supervalu grocers, and their products are featured right here in st. louis at shop n save stores.  wild harvest strives to provide "organic food that's priced for families: real families with real budgets".  i really like that this is part of their mission, as i personally know how difficult it is to want to provide organic or natural foods for my family while trying to stick to a budget.  

we were divided into three groups for the tour.  the first stop was a session discussing the difference between natural and organic products, along with some more information about the company. 

we were able to taste test a variety of chips and salsa.  the mango salsa was the clear winner!

next, we moved to the recipe design station.  we met with genie, who demonstrated a recipe for turkey burgers with cucumber dill sauce.  holy yum.  this will be making its way into our meal planning soon!

our final step was a stop in the sensory lab.  this is where product testing and comparison are completed.  we participated in a mini survey of their new cherry vanilla granola. 

after completing the test kitchen tour, they had a very nice spread of wild harvest foods for us to sample, along with some yummy mock mojitos from our talented 'bartender' brian.  

lunch was really good and we had a great time learning about wild harvest and their products.  we received lots of samples from the actual conference, so i am looking forward to trying more new products and to start picking up some more new items at my local shop in save.  

have you tried wild harvest before?  what things do you love that i should try?

the rest of {#hls13}

i decided i was going to tackle the rest of my hls13 experience in one review.  see day #1 here.  so sit down, grab a cup of coffee, because this is going to be a long one! 

don't say i didn't warn you.

i started friday morning with a cup of hot tea, and a view.  

first up on friday's agenda was a tour of the test kitchen at wild harvest organics. 

{a post to come on this excursion later this week}  

 after arriving back at the hotel, i went to the registration table for the conference.  here i finally got to meet heather who was one of the two organizers of this years event.  you and julie did an amazing job.

i headed back to my room where i promptly dug through all my goodies.  

the photo above is only about 1/4 of the stuff we received.  

oh yeah, i also took a nap and walked to target (which is two stories, btw) during this bit of downtime.

next up was my roundtable discussion with kelly, from livingthebefore.com.

we co-hosted the discussion about making your health a priority.  we had a great group, and were able to share lots of great tips involving ways to fit in fitness, suggestions for meal planning, clean eating, keeping a positive attitude, etc.   

here are a the awesome group of girls that attended our session!

it was great {albeit, i was a little nervous} to be a part of the sessions and i am already looking forward to contributing more the hls organization in the future.  thanks to everyone that participated.

after the session was a quick change of clothes, then off to a fit mingle at a local park with the trendy trainer, caroline. 

 caroline, that was an awesome workout! i am still sore lady :)

after our workout it was time for dinner.

kristen and i hit up barrio for dinner.  it was a casual little mexcian place.  we sat outside, shared some guacamole and queso fundido and talked for what seemed like forever. 

soon, it was time to get ready for the hls cocktail party.  

 the cocktail party was at the beautiful guthrie theater in downtown minneapolis.  we had a great night socializing and enjoying the views.  the cocktail party was a nice way for everyone to interact and get to know each other a little bit before starting the sessions saturday morning.

one of the hls bucket list items was to take a photo with your roommate during the cocktail party.  

don't you love kristens dress? i had dress envy all weekend. 

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 saturday morning, i went back to caribou coffee.  omg. that pumpkin chai latte.  

(this pic is from friday morning.  didn't take a saturday photo #bloggerfail)

i am embarrassed to admit i was here friday morning, saturday morning and sunday morning.  

sad we don't have caribou in stl!

next, we started all of the blog sessions.  i was too busy furiously writing down notes to take any pics.  

{this one is courtesy of our hls photographer, megan}

saturday afternoon we finished our sessions with some yoga sculpt.  

i was looking forward to a nice, relaxing stretching session, but yoga sculpt was not it.  katie kicked my butt.  this was an awesome workout!

for saturdays dinner, we visited Masa.  

another really yummy mexican restaurant with a really cool vibe.  unfortunately, is started raining during dinner and we had to run back in the pouring down rain.  the food was fantastic though.  

wish i could remember what i ate.  some type of enchilada. 

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after dinner, kristen had to head back home, so i headed up to hang out with caroline, melanie, becky and katie.  these girls were so much fun to hang out with. 

we didn't take any pics saturday night, but here is one from sunday morning.

sunday morning started with the hls 5K.  we headed out from the hotel, to the minneapolis sculpture garden and then back. 

all the hls-er's before the 5k

 some cheesy pictures were taken, because we are tourists after all.

with another stop at caribou coffee before heading back for breakfast. 

  what?! don't judge.  

the conference finished up with breakfast, some raffle prizes, chair massages and the announcement of next years dates and locations.  september 11-14.  madison, wisconsin.  

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i had lots of time to kill before my flight, so of course i filled myself up with plans.  

first things first... packing. how am i going to get all this home?! plus my clothes? agghh.

ok, well i had to check a bag, but i did it!

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after the conference, i met a sorority sister from college that i haven't seen in almost 10 years for lunch   

at spoon river.  the owner was our keynote speaker on saturday at the conference.  the restaurant specilaizes in local, organic, foods.  it was ah-mah-zing. 

after lunch, allison and i headed over to the mall of america.  when in rome, right? 

i didn't do any shopping (becuase i didn't have room in my suitcase to shove anything else in) but i took a few pictures before jumping on the light rail for a ride to the airport.

i spent a few hours camped out at the little lounge area reading all my new friends blogs.  

this little area was pretty cool, with an ipad to order food from, keep you updated on your flight status, and a charging station for your electronics.  my hubby has talked for years about how this would be such a cool concept for a restaurant.  he was less than thrilled to find out that someone beat him to his idea... hahahaha.

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overall, i had the greatest weekend at my first hls.  i am so thankful to have met so many amazing people, and to come home with a few new friends.  i hope to apply many of the new information and tips i learned during the summit to my blog, and am eagerly awaiting any opportunities that may have come from the networking i did this weekend. 

thank you hls13!

{healthy living summit}

back when i posted my 33 things to do before I turn 33, i included travel to a new city, meet new friends, revamp my blog/post more constantly, and attend a blog conference. 

well, this week I am crossing those things off my list! 

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via

you guys, yesterday was awesome. i was terribly nervous about meeting tons of new people (hard to believe, right?!) but then i got here and realized everyone here has so many similar interests as me. we easily found things to talk about, and I can tell there are going to be many new friendships made. 

i started my day off with my first pumpkin spice latte from starbucks, and a flight into minneapolis. i enjoyed a lovely flight with some quiet resting & some time to map out what I want to talk about in my roundtable discussion for friday "making your health/fitness a priority".  after getting to the hotel, i dropped off my bags and headed out for a twins game at target field. 

there, i met becki and diana. After a few hours of socializing (and not much baseball watching) I met up with kristen and we went out to lunch and did some sightseeing and shopping.

dinner was tapas style at Solera Cocina de Espana.   the food was so good, and i was excited to try some unusual to me foods. (except the beef heart. yuck.) we dined with katie, allie, kristen and ashley. each one of these girls have their own amazing way of living a healthy lifestyle and I looking so forward to all the new people I am going to meet and everything that I am going to learn throughout the rest of the weekend!