HLS Conference, Part II

I’m currently sitting in the Chicago airport, attempting to remedy my HLS withdrawal with a little bloggin’. This weekend has been an incredible experience for me on so many levels, and I’m sad to leave the Windy City!

The afternoon portion of yesterday’s Summit kicked off with a delicious lunch. There were veggie dishes galore- just check out the menu!

I filled my plate with house salad, chickpea salad, quinoa with edamame, mint fruit salad, tons of roasted veggies and a pickle spear.

When I went back for seconds on veggies, I spied a delectable-looking dessert display and made myself a sampler plate of different cheesecakes and fruit bars. Glad to know I’m not the only blogger who slivers away!

I also sampled a serving of Attune chocolate granola. It was super chocolatey- I loved the mini chocolate chips.

Look who I found- Allie of Live Laugh Eat! She was kind enough to give me one of her famous Alliebars J

The afternoon’s sessions included a panel on the pros and cons of blogging, a session on strength training and a discussion on comparing yourself to other bloggers. Recaps to come on all of these- there’s too much interesting stuff to recap in one post!

Athenos sponsored an afternoon snack break. My favorite was the cucumber stuffed with curry hummus. This plate was only the beginning- if you’ve ever tried their pita chips, you know how delicious they are.

After the conference, I joined a group of bloggers for a Tastebud Tour of Chicago, sponsored by Arnold. We hit up several foodie spots and tried some of the dishes Chicago is famous for.

First up: bratwursts at The Berghoff. While the omnivores sampled sausages, the vegetarians got pierogies with sweet potatoes. Delish!

Julie, me and Gracie

Caitlin and Gracie workin' it

Next was a stop at the Palmer House Hotel for the original brownies. Did you know they were invented in Chicago? These were positively foodgasmic. SO rich and buttery!

Gracie and I being goofy :)

The third location on our tour was Get Poppin’, where we tried Chicago-style popcorn: a mixture of cheese and caramel covered kernels. It sounds weird, but it was strangely tasty. They even gave us doggie bags to take home:

The final place I visited was the Halsted Street Deli for a hotdog. Obviously I passed on the meat, and had a “Walk in the Park” instead: a bun filled with onions, relish, tomatoes, peppers and pickle. My kind of dog ;)

Megan and me

The whole gang!

Though there was one more stop on the tour, I headed back to the hotel early to get ready for dinner at Mercadito. Sabrina arranged this meal, and definitely lived up to her hostessing fame- it was incredible!

I was still full from the tour, but that didn’t stop me from inhaling my fair share of chips and guac! There were three varieties- cocoa mole, mango and original. The cocoa mole was an instant favorite.

We also enjoyed salad with jicama, corn and salsa, as well as fried plantains.

I’d never had a plantain before, and was pleasantly surprised. The heat really brought out the sweetness of the fruit.

As my entrée, I had mini-tacos filled with beer-battered zucchini. I’ve never had anything like them, but they were fantastic! I loved that the restaurant accommodated my vegan request.

Jaclyn and I

Dessert, however, wasn’t so vegan. We were presented with two types of flan- passionfruit and dulce de leche. I had a few bites of each, of course!

Heather and her sister

After dinner, Jaclyn, Gracie and a few other girls headed to a local bar for some drinks and dancing. It was a great time- we all get along so well, and there’s always something to talk about! Love these girls. I think I’ve found my people.

Gotta run- I wanna grab some grub before my flight!