FITNESS & HEALTH BLOGGERS...

are AWESOME!

I had an idea of the awesomeness I may encounter at the 2011 Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference, but that idea paled in comparison to the reality...

I have never been in a room full of more open, honest, and giving people in my life. People all working towards a common goal of helping get the fitness & health word out there to the masses. People so passionate about helping others lead a healthy life that there was no room for pride (the bad kind of course) or vanity.

I admit, going into the conference I felt low on the totem pole as a fairly new blogger wanting to learn how to be better. However, when I got there, I realized there was no totem pole, only people just like me who wanted to help me on my journey and also looking for help themselves. The phrase “Everyone had to start somewhere” rang very true and I realized that no one in that room was looking down on me, but rather standing next to me, ready to hold my hand if I needed.

People who I consider “Blogilebrities” like Stephanie Quilao AKA @Skinnyjeans, Ryan Sullivan AKA @nomorebacon and Toni Carey AKA @BlackGirlsRun were following me on Twitter, responding to things I had to say, sitting next me at dinner and calling me their friend. I almost died when Leah Segedie AKA @bookieboo told me she liked my top. Of course like a nerd I said, “Thanks! I like your blog.” I said the last part kinda quiet so maybe she didn’t hear it… (she heard it).

There are a few women, however, who I would like to give a special shout out to… my tribe* if you will.

From left to right:

Kris AKA @Krazy_Kris, who is easily one of the funniest, most open, infectious and caring people I have EVER met. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel to have weaseled my way into her circle. He he.

Suzanne AKA @WorkoutNirvana, who is not only totally hot and BUFF, but probably as down to earth and honest as it gets. On the road to becoming a Fitness Pro herself, she and I enjoyed so many conversations about fitness, blogging and life in general. I mean I’m not that surprised because she is a CO girl!

Emily AKA @EmilyinProgress who is sweetness personified. Like me she was there to learn and I found her to be incredibly open, honest and easy going... not an ounce of pretension. Plus she is a smarty pants attorney and that is awesome!

Casey AKA @HippieHealthNut, who is so sweet it’s almost unbelievable, but can get snarky when the opportunity arises, which is my kind of gal! We found each other in a sea of people as we stood trying not to look awkward & bonded over our first conference experience and Kangoo!

We are a motley crew for sure , but these women became my buddies. We sat together, ate together, played together, LAUGHED together, and brought out the best in each other if you ask me. I absolutely look forward to cultivating much deeper friendships with them beyond this weekend. You should all be reading their Blogs, following them on Twitter and liking them on Facebook. I’m just sayin…

Rest assured there will be many #FHBC11 inspired posts to come, but this one had to come first. Because what it’s really all about is connections and I feel like I hit the jackpot!

Thanks to Zephyr Adventures, Boulder CO and the 2011 Fitness & Health Bloggers conference for introducing me to this fabulous community!

*I can not take credit for coining "tribe"... That was Kris!

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH...

COLORADO!

The Fitness & Health Bloggers conference is days away and I arrived in Colorado last night. I have to say there is something to amazing and comforting about flying into Denver the the Mountains in the background... It's a view I never get tired of.


The sun was about to set behind them, but I promise you they are there!

I have been moving at a million miles an hour these days... I even gave up my day off for a few weeks- NOT A GOOD IDEA! Needless to say I need some down time. Thankfully I took an extra couple of days here to hang with my family and relax in the Mountain air. It's only been 18 hours and I am already so chilled out and refreshed. There are days when I wonder how I could have left Colorado for New York, but whenever I seriously have thoughts about leaving the Big Apple, my chest gets tight. So, for now I will relish in the fact that I have family and roots in the most beautiful state in the country- in my humble opinion anyway- and can visit any time I want!

After i arrived my folks and I enjoyed an amazing dinner at "new" restaurant in the Denver Tech Center called Chinook Tavern.


The restaurant has actually been around for a while but closed and has now reopened in a new location & new menu. As you may recall... my dad is a bit of a rock star, so the minute we walked in we were greeted by one of the owners & general manager Clemens, professing his gratitude for all the help my dad gave them in getting the restaurant open (which was just the day before). It was pretty cool!

Chinook Tavern is a family run establishment- which I am always a sucker for- run by two brothers, Clemens Georg & Markus Georg (who is the Executive Chef) and designed by their architect father Manfred. Originally from Germany, the family has called Colorado home for many years. They are very in tune with Colorado cuisine and esthetic, but keep to their European roots.
If you live or are are visiting Denver you MUST go to this restaurant! I never had the pleasure of dining at the old Cherry Creek location, but I feel super lucky to have gotten in to this one before the major buzz hits and it's impossible to get a table. It's the perfect combo of atmosphere and amazing food. Obviously we should talk food first:

The menu had me at Mache Salad...


As you can see I was so excited to dig in to it that I forgot to snap a pic until I had devoured almost all of it. It had watermelon radishes, pickled red onions, pomegranate seeds and goat cheese fritters. Have you ever had a watermelon radish?? They are awesome. Not sure where one finds them, but when I do I will let you know.

For my entree I had Colorado Rack of Lamb. Just like if you are in Maine you get the lobster or Maryland you get the crab, when you are in Colorado you get the meat- lamb, beef, bison. This particular dish did my homeland proud!


The lamb was marinated in mint and then topped with grilled cipollini onions and a rosemary merlot sauce.

On the side were grit cakes and tomato gremalade. Perfection!

My mom enjoyed the beef tenderloin.


And Dad had the house signature dish Jaeger Schnitzel.


Both were fantastic!

For dessert we all shared a Creme Brulee. No pic of that... between my mom and I that sugar was cracked in 2.5 seconds. :)

Now on to atmosphere:

The restaurant is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!



A fondu room!


Perhaps my favorite thing is in addition to the actual bar, there is a giant community table in the center and other larger tables all around.


Clemens told me that he considers every table in the lounge a community table. He loves sitting at the bar because everyone coexists together, and often times you find yourself having interesting conversations with those around you. His idea is "Why only have that feeling sitting belly up to the bar? Why can't tables be the same?" I for one love the ideas of community tables, but then again I would always rather sit at the bar than a table. Maybe that comes from having worked behind one for 6 years. Jay and I love interacting with meeting new and interesting people while we are out.

Also, there is going to be a European style coffee bar open in the mornings just off of the bar. I am bummed I won't be able to sample that before I go... it opens the day after I leave.


It's no secret that I love restaurants, and living in NYC I get to eat at some of the best of the best. I would certainly put Chinook Tavern on that list!

Day 1 in Colorado was very special and I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip holds. Planning lots of family time, hiking, learning, networking, writing and basking in the mountain sun (wearing SPF of course!)

*In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that because my dad is such a rockstar we were treated to dinner on the house... which BTW was completely unexpected! For the record, that in no way influenced my opinions & I would have written the same blog post either way. The dinner was to say thank you to my dad, I just happened to be lucky enough to have been dining with him...

LEAN BODY LOVES...

BBQ!

If you follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook, you know that Jay & I attended the Big Apple BBQ Block Party in NYC last weekend, and I thought it would be a great way to bring back "LEAN BODY LOVES"- my favorite series!


What's the Big Apple BBQ Block Party you ask?? Only the greatest weekend ever, or to quote the official BBQ website:

"The weekend-long event occurs every June and brings together the country’s top pitmasters who cook up their award-winning food for over a 100,000 barbecue enthusiasts. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Madison Square Park, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party attracts people from near and far to sustain and celebrate America’s authentic culinary and musical traditions."

Like I said, the greatest weekend ever. We've been over the fact that I love food centered outings & this is the mother of them all!


**DISCLAIMER** If you are a vegetarian, you will not like this event. It is very meat centered and there aren't really any veggie options. One place served turkey (which I know is also technically meat), but to be honest it didn't hold a candle to the pulled pork.

Ok, now that THAT's been said. BRING ON THE MEAT!

This was our second year attending the block party. Last year I was given Fast Passes by my amazing friend Kira so we could skip all of the lines! You pay $125 and get $100 to spend any way you wish (meat- $8/plate, beer- $6, or dessert- $4). Each pass comes with a guest pass so 2 people can get into the special line on the backside of the tents & you can share the money. Let me tell you... it's worth it! I went 2 years ago without one and didn't end up getting ANY food, because the lines were crazy. Obviously we sprung for them again this year. Once you go FAST you never go back...


The best part was we bought them with a little money from this years tax return. BBQ on Uncle Sam!

It did rain on us this year, but a little rain never hurt anyone.


It separated the true BBQ lovers from the sissies (in other words, cleared out the crowds).


Here's a list of the places where we got plates:

The Salt Lick BBQ- Driftwood, TX: Really great sausage & briskit, and actually the only place I managed to snap a pic of our plate before we devoured it.


Rack & Soul- New York, NY: Finger-lickin' good baby back ribs & fantastic baked beans.


Black Jack BBQ- Charleston, SC: Pulled pork with a really interesting sweet BBQ sauce that almost had a licorice flavor.

Martin's BBQ Joint- Nashville, TN: Tennessee whole hog sandwich with the coleslaw inside with the pork... seemed a little crazy at first, but I really liked it.

Pappy's Ribs- St. Louis, MO: Hands down the BEST ribs of the day!


Ed Mitchell- Raleigh, NC: I absolutely LOVE North Carolina pulled pork with their vinegary sauce! Apparently so does everyone, because this place had the longest line all day. It was definitely worth the wait though. YU-UM!!


That's Ed Mitchell himself in the overalls behind all the smoke:


It should be said that we were there ALL day so we did not eat all of this food in one sitting and we shared one plate from each of the places we went. We ate at a couple places, took a beer break, then went back. After all, what's BBQ without beer??





It was a great day and I am already counting down the days until next year! If you are too, make sure to check the site around March/April to get your FAST PASSES, they do sell out!


Here are a few more pics just for fun!




These guys with their T-shirts killed me!


Clearly they haven't met the right girl...


I'm glad Jay was into keeping it co-ed!

SERACUSE PARK...

Yes, you read that correctly, but I'm not the particular Seracuse for which this park is named.


This particular park is named for my DAD! Today is his 78th Birthday (which by the way you would NEVER guess) and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to brag about him a little. I mean how many people do you know that have their own PARK? I only know one:

Jerome Mario Seracuse FAIA (those fancy letters stand for Fellow of the American Institute of Architects)

Because my dad is not only an amazing Architect with fancy letters after his name, but also an amazing man, he was given this little pocket park in the middle of the Denver Technological Center, a complex he helped create and continues to preserve as a member of the Architectural Control Committee.



Not by coincidence the park looks directly at one of his buildings!



We took a little trip to the park when Jay & I were home in CO for Christmas, which is why all the trees are a little bare. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks when I am there for the Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference, so I can take some pictures with everything in bloom!




Here is a close up of the placard:

This site is dedicated in recognition of
Jerome M. Seracuse's service to the Denver
Technological Center. As a member of the
DTC's Architectural Control Committee he was
instrumental in the planning and development of this
entire area, including the extensive network of parks
and landscaping throughout DTC.

Pretty cool huh? If you know my dad you know how special he is, and also how deserving he is of this recognition of his talents & efforts to preserve the beauty of nature in all of his projects. If you don't, then you'll just have to take this totally biased Daddy's GIrl's word for it. ;) I really could not be more proud! Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!