Well hello again from Denver. Yup, I’m still in Denver. My flight was delayed… three times. I’m seriously praying I get back to NYC tonight. Colorado has been cool and all, but this girl has a full time job and a boyfriend she’d like to get back to.
Luckily, there is free wifi in Denver Airport, so I’m already better off than I was at the hotel. I can at least get some work done and get this post scheduled while I’m here. Ok, traveling woes aside. Let’s get on to the Blend Retreat Recap Day 2! (catch up with Day 1 here)
Jayne, Erika and I woke up bright and early to get to a bootcamp workout sponsored by Gnarly Nutrition. Kindal Boyle led us through an awesome partner workout filled with plank jacks, push ups, traveling burpees (yea… traveling…), lunges, single leg races (ouch!), squats, ab work and more. I definitely worked up a sweat and was ready for some breakfast, but not before some post workout pics with the roomies and the amazing Kanoelani.
And a big group shot, of course!
Breakfast was sponsored by Flapjacked, Love Grown Foods, and Justin’s. I was especially excited to try out some cereals and granolas from Love Grown Foods because they have options that are free of everything I’m allergic to! That is SOO hard to find, you guys! Well, they did not disappoint. Yum to everything! Giselle also came around to share some goodies from her personal sponsor, AboutTime. I’d seen this brand floating around the blogosphere and got really excited for some samples because their protein is also free of everything I’m allergic to! What a great morning for food allergies!
And thennnn Justin, the mastermind behind Justin’s nut butters, showed up! You would have though Brad Pitt had just walked in the room the way we all go excited and were snapping pics. I guess healthy living/fitness bloggers just love guys that make nut butter…
After breakfast, it was time for a hike! The Flatirons are SO beautiful! We started out on a paved trail that quickly became a dirt trail. It was a fairly easy (slow and steady incline) but gorgeous hike. We passed a few trail runners (or should I say they passed us), and I have to say – I am very impressed by them. There were moments on that trail where I was going pretty slow to avoid wiping out in the mud and these runners were just plowing through and dodging rocks and sticks, not to mention the elevation! Rock stars. Anyway, we trekked up for about 45 minutes or so and then turned around and made our way back. Thankfully, we didn’t get lost like last year! I really enjoyed being out in nature and chatting with some of my fellow bloggers as well as some of the great sponsors from Quest.
After the hike, we enjoyed a snack break hosted by Earth Balance and checked out all the sponsors in the expo room. Quest made us some delicious smoothies, I tried some more chunky pints from Arctic Zero, sipped on iced chai tea from Bhakti Chai, munched on some paleo goodies from WB Kitchen and got the most amazing coffee of all time from Marley Coffee (for real – best coffee ever).
After that, we had some free time to explore Boulder. The roomies and I decided to head to downtown Boulder to check out a local farmers market. We met up with Mollie and Kait, and had a blast perusing through all the local vendors. A bunch of us bought the most delicious walnut butter in the world from Life of Riley Foods. It’s so light and fluffy. Almost like frosting! I can’t wait to see what I can make with it.
After that, we went back to the cottages, showered up, and headed back to Pearl St for some more exploring and then a big group dinner at a Latin American restaurant called Aji. The Brazilian seafood stew I ordered was super yummy, but it was even more tasty because I enjoyed it over some great conversations with all my blends!
With full bellies and tired feet (we’d walked about 12 miles total that day!), we headed back to our little cottage and drifted off to dream about day 3. Stay tuned!
Interested in attending @BlendRetreat? Get a feel for what it’s like w/this recap series!…
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Let’s Chat:
Have you ever done a traveling burpee?
Ever had walnut butter?
Longest you’ve ever been stuck in an airport – and go!
Bloggers mentioned in this post:
Jayne – The Busy Barista
Erika – For the Love of Peanut Butter
Kindal – Lifting Revolution
Giselle – My Healthy Happy Home
Mollie – Mollie’s Sprinkles of Life
Kait – Chickadee Says
