I probably do owe you guys a day by day, second by second, recap of BLEND. It’s all I ever talk about lately.
But I’m lazy.
And I’m still on vacation, darn it!
Besides, there are 70 blogs right now, berating you with BLEND this and BLEND that (sounds like a recipe). Even as the “momma” to this Retreat, I feel like too much talk is overkill and people will get bored and jealous that they weren’t there. I do know that Janetha will do a day by day post and she always does a fantastic job with making those seem not boring.
I’m going to try to recap in the best way I know how…..list-style.
BLEND 2012 – Lindsay’s LIST-style
Some descriptive words:
Amazing. (yes, an overused word – gah! <-another one.)
Inspiring.
Exhausting.
Uplifting.
Epic.
SPLENDID!!
Some AMAZING (<-see!) Sponsors!:
Chobani. Fitmixer. Xagave. The Simply Bar. Bob’s Red Mill. Larabar. Green Mountain Coffee. Pure Bliss Eats. Core Power. Cheribundi. Probar. mix1. Love Grown Foods. Cascadian Farms. Pangea Organics. Attune Foods. Nuts About Granola. NuNaturals. Lush Nuts. Optimum Nutrition. Twin Cakes Bakery. Colorado Fudge Maker. PopChips. Beanitos. Dry Soda. Bobo’s Oat Bars. Hanna’s Herb Shop. Healthy Bites. KIND Bar. NatureBox.
Say all that in one breath. Betcha can’t.
I have swag for MONTHS! Thank you to our sponsors! Without you, we couldn’t have done this…period.
Some highlights:
Meeting Janetha and Katie for the first time. Best friends forever. No joke.
Spending ALL of Friday morning, assembling 75 swag bags. I’m pretty sure they each weighed 50 pounds.
Meeting all these bloggers, whom I had email-bombed over the past 6 months. Best blends forever. No joke.
Drinking my first alcoholic beverage in over 7 years!!
The bartender asked me if I trusted him and proceeded to create “Summer is Here” – a mix of vodka, cranberry, grapefruit and orange juice.
Chatting with Steve from Xagave about how cool Carolina is!
I must’ve impressed him with my cupcake eating skills, as he gave me the only copy of the Xagave cookbook he had.
Eating 4 5 mini cupcakes. Delicious!!
Getting Cookie Dough Nutty Butter from Sarah. EPIC. Thanks, girl!
Leading a 70 person bootcamp with Tina. EPIC. (post coming soon entirely devoted to that experience!)
Thanks to fitmixer for providing pre-workout aminos!
The Xagave Breakfast. The Green Mountain Coffee (+ donation of FOUR Keurigs for us!).
Leading a hike up to Royal Arch (fueled by The Simply Bar). Yes, again I led. I’m uber competitive.
The Boulder Farmer’s Market and Pearl Street Mall.
(photo – Ashley)
Being the most adventurous I have ever been in my life. (teaser alert – promise I’ll divulge later!)
Dinner and drinks gallons of tequila at Rio Grande.
(it was hilarious. promise. Picture stolen from Alyssa)
Late night custard.
Taking a bootcamp from one of the best trainers in the field! Thanks for kicking my butt, Tiffany!
Chobani breakfast, complete with Love Grown granola and 3 more GMC k-cups. Travis, Henry & Clara joined us!
Raffling off some amazing prizes.
Saying farewell. Although I wouldn’t call that a highlight.
Some Takeaways:
1. Reading about these people is fun. Meeting them in person, life changing.
2. Women are BEAUTIFUL! With the sweat, the dirt from the hike, the laughter, the drunken stupor. We are a beautiful sex.
3. Working out is fun. Eating is fun. Drinking is fun, but not the next day.
4. Company interaction and participation is crucial to successful blogging and event planning. I’m thankful for how many companies stepped up and made BLEND a success!
5. BLEND Retreat is here to stay. This year’s retreat was ABOVE and BEYOND what we had ever hoped for!
BLEND 2013 is already being planned. Stay tuned!
Thanks to everyone who made this past weekend a success!
I’m still on cloud 9.
And I don’t plan to come down anytime soon.
QUESTION: Have you ever attended a blogging conference? Which one? Did you enjoy it? (if not, come to BLEND next year!)
splendid…lindsay
Our clash of clans hack is a hundred% working and might be all the time for free so begin utilizing this oppurtunity and conflict on!
Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into Blend, Lindsay! I truly enjoyed it. It was wonderful meeting so many woman from such different backgrounds with similar passions. Also, it was a treat meeting you!
Ditto! Loved putting a face with a name!
i guess i never commented on this post.. i am a jerk…
I love the look of blend and how awesomely everyone gets on. I’m coming in 2013….even if it means strapping myself to the wings of a plane or hiding in someone’s suitcase!
Yep. I’m talked into it. Gotta come next year.
Congratulations!! BLEND sounded AMAZING and you all should be so super proud of yourselves. Such a great idea. I totally want to come for BLEND 2013!!
Okay who is that creeper behind you?!?!
Yes, that is what I’m taking away right now – ha!
Sounds absolutely AMAZING (overused, but sometimes it’s the perfect word!). I’m super jealous and totally wish I could have been there! I’m marking it on my calendar for next year though :) Hopefully you know how incredible you are for putting this together! Katie and Janetha too!!
No I have not ever been to any blogger retreat and I’m already excited for Blend 2013 so I can come and meet all my favorite bloggers and fitness enthusiasts!
Love it! I’m sooo coming next year!
“Drinking is fun, but not the next day” LOL. Best line in the post! :-) So glad you guys had a blast. You all worked so hard and deserved to have it go off as perfectly as it did! Sorry to have missed out on the fun, but I can’t split my body in two and be in two places! :-)
Cloud nine, ineed. I love you the most.
I’ve only heard fantastic things about the retreat! And I’m so happy already being planned for next year because I’d really love to be there!!
yay blend!!! you guys did such a great job organizing that whole weekend…i had a great time meeting all the lovely ladies and definitely look forward to next year. thank you again for all ur hard work! oh and for kickin my ass in bootcamp :)
Thank you again, times a million! It was amazing to meet you and find out you are just as fabulous in person as I had hoped you’d be. :) Next year, I’ll be a sponsor and provide nut butter for everyone! [Well, maybe…my food processor might break on me if I attempt that…]
Loved your list style recap. :) So mcuh to say- Cute Lulu shirt. :)Nice swag. Beautiful hike. Awesome boot camp. I’m so jealous of it all. I so wish I could’ve come. I’m there next year no matter what!!!!! Is it weird that I feel like I need a hug right now? :) Enjoy the rest of your vacation!!!! :)
I can NOT WAIT for next year!!! :)
YAY BLEND 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t wait :) And counting down the days…except I don’t know the date… so I’m making one up until it’s decided :)
The only help I can provide is naming things ;) YOU are amazing my friend, I am in serious awe of your ability to get things done. You are way more beautiful in person both inside and out, and just downright SPLENDID to be around.
Also, I can attest to the fact that hangovers are actually worse than chemotherapy. So, yeah, you’re off the hook on that one.
xoxo
So glad to see this list!
I’ve never been to a blogging conference before, but will be going to Fitness and Health Bloggers in Denver next month. And of course, Blend 2 next year…
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
That’s all I have to say.
So sad I wasn’t there, but here’s to next year! (And P.S. I heard about your tattoo :)
Looks so amazing! I am seriously contemplating coming next year (depending on where we live of course) Do husbands come or how does that work? It all looks so AMAZING! haha. ;-)
I’m in for next year! I’ve enjoyed reading every single recap. The only disappointment is that I missed this year! Congrats on a job well done! Enjoy the rest of your stay in CO.
Wow wow and more wow! Looks like you had an amazing time! This looks way more up my alley than some blogger retreat where you’re stuck indoors looking at slide shows.
IT WAS AMAZING!! And if you drink more than once every 7 years (in moderation), it’s no big deal the next day. ;)
Love you and miss you and can’t wait until we can go hiking again!! Seriously, I’ve seen too often recently to go back to being only online friends again, right?! ;)
I would LOVE to come to Blend next year!!! It looks like such a fun and special time. Although I’ve never attending a blogging event, I have met a couple of ladies in person that I’ve become friends with through blogging. And a few of us are doing a blogger Bible study right now. :)
I’m so happy you all got to meet & hang out!!! It’s gnawing at me I couldn’t make this year. I would really love to meet amazing, active, beautiful women. Next year, it’s happening. Hopefully it can happen before or after finals week next time. Love you guys & am really so happy for BLENDS success. :)
AHHH I am so there next year…there is going to be one next year right?!? I have loved reading all of the recaps and it looks like you all had the best time ever. Bootcamp, delicious food, girl time, hiking and awesome swag…..does it get any better than that? Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Love this recap! congrats on such a great success!
i love reading these posts…i can’t wait for the in-depth ones to come :)
I was so jealous of y’all! I would love to come next year…. as soon as y’all have dates, make sure to post! Glad you had such a fun time, kudos to the planning trio. From everyone’s tweets, posts, etc- y’all seemed to make it a memorable weekend. Big ups!
Looks like I really missed out on some good times. I’m glad you ladies had such a wonderful weekend!
I spy a chalkboard I wrote on! Thanks so much for helping to plan all of this. It was seriously incredible, and you are freakin awesome. I loved your recap, and hope that lunch works out on Friday. If not, I’ll see you again at Blend 2013!
Loved your recap. While it was all in one post, I don’t think you missed a thing! Finally getting to meet you was spectacular! I hope you guys plan more family vacations out here. :) Also, can we give a HUGE-HUUUUGE thank you to your freaking amazing husband? Umm, yes…let’s do that! He was such a big help this weekend and I’m sure the weeks leading up to everything as well. It says a lot to help out with a 70+ girls blogging event. So, a big thanks to You, Katie, Janetha, AND Travis! You guys [girls + guy] rock!
Thank YOU for taking such amazing pictures and really being just a cool chick! Read T this comment and he’s smiling! ;)
I’m so glad you had such an amazing time at Blend, especially after all the work you put into it! Congrats!
Yup- Blend was life-changing (hence the title of my post about it). I can’t stop thinking about it or talking about it. I can’t focus at work and just want to read blogs all day and finally finish editing my photos and posts.
I can’t thank you enough for putting this together.
And whoa- I just realized that you and Janetha had never met in person either?! WOW!
I’m going to back to ‘pretending’ to work….
xoxo
so are you moving???? hope so – you seemed at home out here!
That’s the plan… as soon as we figure out what the heck to do with the two houses we own. :( Luckily, the job thing is the easy part. Greg’s company opened an office in Denver and I can work anywhere.
I hope it happens soon!!! (You should move your whole family out there, too!) :)
what a fun post! you better believe i’m going to try my best to be there next year! great job this year… i’ve heard nothing but GREAT things!
I’m still on cloud 9 too! thank you again for planning such an amazing weekend. I can’t believe how much I miss everyone already!
Cheers to Blend 2013!!!
Ha — You almost made me cry at work because I’m so excited to come again next year! I know planning is crazy and if you need another hand, I would LOVE to help. I’m a rockstar with vendors (mainly print and swag) and am an expert at coming up with creative ways to get things done. ;)
So so so so so glad that you guys did this. Best idea ever. If I could go back and change anything about the weekend, I would have drank some tequila with you ladies. I always skip out on drinking in favor of not feeling like crap the next day, but hey, you only live once.
And total random side note … we are doing this StrengthsFinder 2.0 thing at work and it would be really fun to get a group of bloggers together to work through that book or to at least share what they got. There’s a whole aspect of team-building based on what strengths you have.
Anyway … that was a really freaking long comment. I do this to Janetha all the time. Props to her if she reads my novellas every day. ;)
Calee – we will DEF. call on you for help next year! So glad to have met you!
i bet there is a word even more epic than epic to explain the weekend, yes?
you gals inspire me! what hearts!
I love the list version. And I’m with Tina, I’m more than happy to help plan for 2013 if you need somethin’! And I’m still lamenting all the missing swag from my suitcase. I love you. With or without tequila.
ditto!! i miss you too!
ahahah drinking is fun…but not the next day. LOVE IT :)
A. I’m so game for 2013 and happy to help you guys out if you need anything.
B. I never thought I wanted a Keurig. I now want one pretty badly.
C. I love you and your lists. Perfect recap!
I definitely want to come next year. Looks like you guys had so much fun!
Also, first cocktail in 7 years or first drink period in 7 years?