Blend Retreat 2013 recap

Photo from Lindsay

Ohh, where to even begin?!? Like so many who already have recaps out there on their blogs have said, BLEND is hard to explain. It was a great experience, one that none of us will forget and I'm sure will now keep on experiencing every year to come. It was just incredible! A huge thank you to Katie, Lindsay, and Janetha, whom without this awesome event wouldn't happen. I know they spent hours and hours planning this thing and it was very much appreciated  Also, thanks to the sponsors. So many of you and soo generous. I'll get to more of those details below.

Ok, so my Friday morning started super early, about 4:00am, when Alex and Calee met me at my doorstep to pick me up for the airport. It was the first time actually meeting them both in person, but I really wasn't nervous at all. I knew they were both cool chicks and was excited to spend the weekend with them. I hopped in the car and it was like we'd been friends for years!

We did the usual airport/flying thing and then landed in SLC surrounded by the beautiful mountains. We met up with Laura at the rental car booth, got our car, and were quickly headed to Vertical Diner for a much needed breakfast. Vertical Diner with a pretty cool place offering all plant based options. All was so good and highly recommended  if you live in that area and haven't yet been.

After eating, we headed to Park City to get checked in at the resort, the Hyatt Escala. So.beautiful! Alex and I shared a bedroom in a four bedroom suite with 8 other girls. This place was so awesome! The room was so nice we didn't want to leave (although of course we did because too many other fun things were going on all weekend)!

After checking out our suite, Alex and I headed down to the registration area and to pick up our swag. OMG all the swag! I knew we would be headed home with lots of goodies but man oh man, it was alot! And it just kept coming allll weekend!

After hanging out for awhile and meeting all of my roommates, we headed downstairs for the first scheduled little event, a snack break sponsored by Attune Foods featuring Justin's Nut Butter. We got a chance to talk and meet a lot of the other attendees. We stayed down there for almost a couple hours before ducking out to get ready for the upcoming cocktail hour. When we stepped into our room I collapsed on the couch, needing a few to decompress, lol. We all said that was awesome but overwhelming! About 60 excited women in a small room at once, it got loud! ha!

Photo from Sarah

Next up was cocktail hour sponsored by Silk. Lots of yummy appetizers and a few special concoctions made up using Silk almond milk just for us! The White Russian cocktail- so yum! The spring rolls pictured below- so yum! After cocktail hour we moved into the ballroom for a buffet 4 course dinner featuring lots of yummy options for everyone's likes and needs. My being indecisive and always wanting to try a little of everything, I tried it all! :)

After dessert we headed to the lobby for some chatting and photo booth fun! You can never go wrong with a photo booth! We all jumped in out and taking our turn with the fun props!

Soon after, many headed for bed since most of us had a long morning waking up in the darkness and hours of traveling. Besides, we had a bootcamp at 7am we needed to rest up for!

I don't have any pics from bootcamp but it was led by GPP Fitness, a gym many of you have probably heard of if you follow Janetha's blog. Neil is the founder and who led our workout. He is awesome and so motivating! It was great to meet him and also Amy and Candice, who helped him lead the workout and also work out at GPP in Salt Lake. This workout kicked our booties! Well mine at least!

Breakfast was sponsored by The Laughing Cow and Muesli Fusion. Anytime there's fresh fruit and bagels with cream cheese involved, I'm a happy girl!

Photo from Lindsay

Photo from Lindsay

After breakfast we headed back up to our rooms and found MORE swag laid out for us from Zevia, Attune, NatureMade, Soy Joy, and Core Power. I'm tellin' ya, we were so spoiled all weekend long!

A little while later we headed back downstairs for the hike, sponsored by Pro Bar. Their little energy chews- so yum! I loved them! A healthier type gummy? Yay! It was debatable whether or not the hike would be held since we got lots of rain, but we went for it anyway! Really muddy, but worth it!

Photo from Lindsay

Me, Sarah, Alex, Sonia

Photo from Katie

Calee, Sarah, Me

After the muddy hike and the morning workout I desperately needed a shower. After we were all clean and pretty again we headed down the snack break sponsored by Onnit. Miss United States was also in attendance. Super sweet girl!

A few roommates decided we needed a quick break from the resort and a little shopping did the trick. We hit up the Tanger Outlets for some retail therapy. 

Photo from Julie

Photo from Julie

Dinner was at an award-winning wood fired pizza place, Vinto. Loved the atmosphere, the service, the food, and of course, the company! :)

We did what most girls (and especially bloggers) do and all swapped pieces so we could try the variety we ordered. All great! I ordered what was a first for me a Yukon potato pizza with garlic, a variety of cheeses, and topped with arugula- one of my favorite pizza toppings! And see that lemonade in the bottom left? OMG the best lemonade I have ever had! Homemade with crushed mint. Soo good! Definitely will be recreating again this summer!

Photo from Amanda
from front left- Maria, Amanda, Alex, Julie, Lauren, Lauren, Me, Sarah

After dinner and an ice cream stop, we headed back to the resort to try out some of Mamma B's (Janetha's mom) famous Utah Scones. An impromptu party had formed in Mamma B's room so we joined for a short time before heading back to our room to again rest up for the early morning wake-up call of a GPP bootcamp.

Photo from Christine

Photo from Alex

Photo from Julie

Breakfast on Sunday morning was sponsored by Chobani, also the main sponsor of the whole BLEND event. They put on an epic spread! Oatmeal, pancakes, smoothies, fresh fruit, an omelet bar, and of course the new flavors of yogurt, Chobani Flips and Bites. Perfect filling breakfast after another grueling GPP workout! I got a chance to talk to the Chobani girls and they are so sweet and nice to talk to!

As breakfast wrapped up it was time to head back to the room to deal with the piles of clothes and swag that I would have to stuff in my bag and call luggage. It wasn't an easy feat to get all that swag packed up, but I did it! :)

When all was packed and ready to go, we headed back downstairs for the final event of the weekend, the closing ceremony and raffle.

Me, Lauren, Amanda, Julie

Photo from Laura
All my roomies! From back left- Alex, Christine, Lauren, Laura, Sonia, Julie, Lauren, Me, Ali, Maddie

The closing ceremony was sponsored by Blue Diamond. Lindsay was there to represent Blue Diamond and tell us about their new flavors. I was especially excited about the Coconut flavor. It did not disappoint!

Now that we got all our items into our bags, it was time to see if we could fit it all in the car! It took some strategy but I think Lindsey got it all in there one way or another! Ha!

Photo from Lindsay

*Big Sigh* And that!... Is my weekend at BLEND Retreat! I hope to see you there next year! :)