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BLEND Retreat 2015: Part 2

If you missed Part 1

SATURDAY

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early for a Boot Camp sponsored by Gnarly Nutrition and led by Kindal Boyle of Lifting Revolution. The elevation makes things much harder (I’m used to sea level!), but regardless of that, this workout was TOUGH. We did a partner workout (I partnered with Lindsay the badass) that involved sprints, push-ups, traveling burpees UPHILL, walking lunges UPHILL, one-legged runs, plank jacks, shoulder taps, squats and squat jumps. It was a KILLER workout and I was definitely feeling my workout from Friday throughout the whole thing.

gnarlybootcampPhoto Credit: Lindsay’s List

Upon finishing the boot camp, I chugged a protein shake with Gnarly Nutrition’s Chocolate Protein Powder. I only had water to mix it with and, as always, was nervous it was going to taste like crap. Surprisingly it was delicious! It tasted like a chocolate shake and the ingredient list was an A+ as well! I’ll definitely be trying more of their products in the future!

gnarly nutritionLoved it so much, I had to take a picture 🙂

Next up was BREAKFAST. Breakfast was so, so good. The spread included FlapJacked pancakes, scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, Love Grown cereal and granola, along with bread and a spread of Justin’s nut butter flavors. I put together a little bit of everything, and ate it ALL. That boot camp made me HANGRY. FlapJacked had their new flavor of pancakes: Carrot Spice on hand. They were SO delicious. Definitely buying this flavor when it comes out.

flapjackedWhile we were eating, we had a surprise visitor pop in…it was THE Justin of Justin’s Nut Butter!! He was such a down to earth guy and told us about how he started the company. It was so interesting! Definitely wasn’t expecting that, so it was super cool!

JustinsHe rode his bike to breakfast, which I thought was super cool.

As if I hadn’t had enough exercise, Detour Bar had planned a hike for us in the gorgeous flat irons! I had only known Detour Bars from their old formula, but get this: they’ve started coming out with a new line called Detour Simple bars that are filled with GOOD ingredients, and they’ve cut out most of the junk! I love companies that aren’t afraid to change. I think it shows that they are listening to their customers. Kudos to you Detour!!!

Back to the hike: This was one of the most gorgeous hikes I’ve ever been on! The views were breathtaking, the weather was PERFECT, and I had some good conversations with the folks from Quest (our main sponsor for the weekend), Arctic Zero, and one of my cabin roomies.

chautauqua park

chautauqua hike

After the hike, I was BEAT and promptly took a 2 hour nap. I felt like I had been hit by a bus after all of the workouts I’d done in the past 24 hours! We didn’t have anything planned for the group Saturday evening, so Tedi and one of our other roommates headed to Pearl Street in Boulder and grabbed some dinner. We went home early and again, I crashed out.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning was our last morning. We were up bright and early for some yoga on the grass, sponsored by Bhakti Chai. I was so sore and didn’t really push myself. Instead, I used it as a means to stretching my body out and it felt glorious. That’s what yoga is all about anyways right? We couldn’t have had better weather and it was nice to just sit under the sun and stretch out with my BLENDS.

yoga in boulder

We headed to the dining hall once more for some breakfast. This spread included GoodBelly probiotic drinks, Barbara’s Puffins cereal, egg frittatas, bacon, muffins made with baobest, and chia seed greek yogurt made by The Epic Seed. I didn’t eat quite as much as Saturday and ended up with an egg frittata, chia seed greek yogurt, bacon, and some fruit.

By the time we finished, it was time for us to pack up to go home. Tedi and I had an earlier flight, so we had to miss the closing ceremonies (boo!). Denver airport is no joke, so we didn’t want to risk missing our flight.

Overall, this was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. I met SO many cool people, new blogger friends, amazing companies, and enjoyed a weekend in the mountains with great weather, views, and a breath of fresh air.

I’ll definitely be back next year, I just wish it was sooner!

Thanks again to the wonderful sponsors and a SPECIAL thank you to Janetha, Lauren, and Lindsay for putting together such an amazing retreat. You guys are amazing! I’m so glad I met all of you and I’ll see you next year!

BLEND Retreat 2015: Part 1

gnarly nutrition

xenical orlistatHey friends (new and old)!

I just got back from BLEND Retreat and OMG, it was such a blast! Can we do it again next weekend?

2015_attend_01

If you’re not familiar, here is what BLEND Retreat is (from their website):

The BLEND Retreat (named so because we wanted to combine “blogger” with “friend”) is a relaxed, laid-back retreat for healthy living, food and fitness bloggers from across the world. Instead of focusing on seminars and speakers, the focus will be on friendship and having a weekend away to get to know one another in real life.

That description sums it up perfectly! I made tons of new friends, did some fun workouts, was introduced to some new companies, was RE-introduced to some companies that have morphed over the years into healthier products, and had an overall amazing time in the mountains.

I have TONS of pictures, so get ready for it….

Friday morning, my friend Tedi & I got up at the crack of dawn (3:45am to be exact) to catch a 5:50am flight to Denver. I spent 15 hours moving on Thursday, so I pretty much felt like a wet noodle. Oh well!

blend retreat

We arrived in Denver around 9:30am and we were STARVING. Since check-in wasn’t until about 2:30pm, we decided to go to Downtown Denver for some breakfast. We ate at Snooze and it was SO good.

snooze breakfastIt was also awesome to NOT pay LA prices for food. Our breakfast was $18 for both of us! Score!(In LA, it would have been $30).

downtown denver

After we ate, we walked around a bit and then decided to head up to Boulder. We hopped in the Uber and had an interesting conversation with our driver. He was from Nepal and was telling us all about the devastation there, about his family that still lives there, and the stuff the media doesn’t tell you. It was very interesting hearing a different perspective of everything.

We arrived in Chautauqua Park (where the retreat was being held) around 12:30pm and it was raining. In Boulder, apparently it rains on and off a lot but as quickly as it’s pouring, it can be sunny and blue skies just moments later. Pretty cool!

We ended up just hanging out on the camp grounds for a bit before it was time to check in. If you ever have the chance to go to Chautauqua, I highly recommend it! It was such a gorgeous spot with hiking trails within walking distance, a general store (with cute little xenical orlistat, food, coffee, and toiletries), a dining hall that was open all day, and lots of cute little cabins!

Around 2:30pm, it was time to check in. We walked through the expo a bit and got to try free samples and meet the ambassadors from the various companies.

blend retreat

General Mills was there (the lovely Tina of Carrots n Cake was representing) and had a full on make-your-own trail mix bar! So cool! I am pretty sure I put a little of everything in mine. I couldn’t resist!

general millsgeneral mills

After walking through the expo, talking to the various companies, and meeting other bloggers, I decided I needed to get a workout in. I was tired from moving and traveling and new a workout would give me a much-needed energy boost.

I ended up grabbing the yoga mat that we were given upon check-in and finding a spot on the grass to do a quick workout. I pulled a workout from Rockstar Fitness™ Tour Edition and it totally kicked my butt! I wanted to quit about 3/4 of the way in but decided that if I’m telling other people to do these workouts, I better finish them myself ha!

rockstar fitness Post-Workout Death Face

I showered up and then it was time for cocktail hour, dinner and dessert! The spread was AMAZING! Appetizers with Sizzlefish salmon and 34 Degrees crackers, WaNu cocktails, Arctic Zero dessert and more!

sizzlefishPhoto Credit: Lindsay’s List

WANUPhoto Credit: Lindsay’s List

arcticzeroPhoto Credit: Lindsay’s List

After dessert, we headed back to our cabin and just crashed. It was such a fun first day, but I think Saturday may have even been better….

Stay tuned for Part 2!