Blend 2012 – Meeting New Blogger Friends

I was lucky enough to get the chance to go with fitmixer® to the very first Blend Retreat. A few blogger ladies put on a retreat for fellow bloggers and friends (combining those two words = BLEND ) to get together, exercise, talk, get to know each other, and just have a great time! It was held in Boulder, Colorado. Have you ever been there? If not, I highly recommend it – Steve and I loved it so much, we considered never going home! Beyond being surrounded by gorgeous scenery, there are the friendliest people there! I swear, everyone we met was so nice and easy going. There were more dogs and bikes than I had ever seen in my life. An active, outdoor, adventurous lifestyle is right there at your fingertips in Boulder.

Our humble abode.

We started Saturday morning bright and early with a 7 AM boot camp! Whew! Something you should know about me…mornings and I don’t go well together. I think the two biggest challenges I face on a daily basis are getting out of bed in the mornings and deciding what to eat for dinner. BUT it felt so great to get up and get moving! The view was amazing and I couldn’t help but be excited and inspired.

Candice, Robin, and I drinking our fitmixer® before morning boot camp!

Killing it! Boot camp was lead by Lindsay Wright (lindsayslist.co) and Tina Reale (tinareale.com)

These bands are amazing! Feelin' the burn!!! I want to incorporate them into our next boot camp!

As you can imagine, I was famished after our morning workout. To my pleasant surprise, there was the most amazing breakfast display set up. I almost didn’t want to eat anything because it was all so cute. Then I came back to reality and gulfed down everything in sight.

Chobani sponsored the Blend Retreat so we had yummy breakfast from them and Xagave each morning. Fun fact: Chobani is the official sponsor of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. Pretty cool!

After breakfast there was a group hike scheduled. Now, I’m not sure where the confusion started but Robin, Steve, and I were late for the hike. I could have sworn it started at 10:30! But nope, 10 AM sharp. So…Robin had this idea that if we ran we could catch up to the rest of the group. Brilliant…if only I were a trail runner. This was my view for most of the hike…

Then, when Steve and I would finally catch up to Robin, we’d see her doing this:

Leave it to Robin to find the extra challenge! I could barely breathe and she’s up there doing declined push-ups.

So, we ran this gigantic loop, didn’t find our group, and ended up at the beginning. We called Candice to see where they were and they were 20 minutes from the top. You know what this means? Yes, we had to start over and RUN IT AGAIN! WHAT?! Steve and I finally convinced Robin that we weren’t going to catch up to the group and we should just walk and enjoy the hike.

The pain and exhaustion was well worth it. It was by far one of the prettiest hikes I’ve ever been on and the view from the top was priceless.

We sat and chatted for a while and then headed back down to get some lunch. I was starting to become starving again.

Downtown Boulder is so fun. It’s like a big city with TONS of unique boutiques and restaurants and bars but it’s all surrounded by mountains and trails and bikes. My perfect place. Walking down Peal Street we found countless gems.

The Man in the Mirror, being followed by Jack Sparrow

This guy was awesome!!! Loved his style.

I bought a yoga mat tie from the Farmers Market going on. The guy who was selling them released them that day!! Pure awesomeness.

Sunday morning started with a workout lead by the Chobani team. Another killer! The good news: along with that came another delicious breakfast!

After our workout and breakfast, we had a raffle where they gave away so much stuff!!! I won a month’s worth of healthy snacks from Nature Box. Candice won a DVD 6-pack and a workout ball from Physique57, and Robin won a box of Larabars! Thanks, BLEND!!!

Before heading to the airport I had to get one last shopping trip in. I couldn’t help it. We came across a pet store called Farfel’s and I immediately fell in love. They had a few dogs there they rescued and now the store is their home! Such sweeties!

Also, I couldn’t leave without getting a souvenir for my babies, CC and Stella:

Last but certainly not least, Robin and I went crazy at Umba. Like cray-cray crazy. Umba is a homegrown boutique just off Peal Street (check them out on Facebook!). Everything there is made by local artists or the owners of the store.

Yes, these are fake gauges. I’m not yet as daring as my mealsandmovesblog.com friend, Janetha, but I love the look of gauges! I’m just non-committal like that

I also got this amazing Ganesh shirt and Buddha necklace. Could not pass them up!

Ganesh is best known as the remover and creator of obstacles. Happy Fat Buddha ensures harmony and happiness in tense and stressful situations.

I should have worn this outfit home because on top of our luggage not making it ’til the next flight, we were also locked out of the house. Ganesh! I needed you!!

No worries, Steve’s got this!

All in all I had an amazing time at the Blend Retreat. I met so many awesome people and I can’t wait to dig into the blogging world further. Hopefully one day I can be as great as they are! Thanks so much Janetha, Lindsay, and Katie. See you guys next year!