Real Talk HLS ’12

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Julia

I’m a quiet, awkward individual. There really is no point in denying it. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with my shyness and to not get upset when people question my personality or tell me I can’t do something because I’m “too quiet”. I am who I am and my shyness does not make me any less of a person, designer or blogger.

photo courtesy of Meghann

Needless to say, I was just short of terrified for the Healthy Living Summit last weekend. Knowing no one there, I knew I was setting myself up for probably the most social outing of my life. It’s not that I don’t like being social or that I’m afraid to be social, I guess I’m just more comfortable being a wallflower. I like silence; it gives me space to be me and have time to think. There was no chance for silence this weekend (how can there be when you gather 100+ women together? haha) but I sure had plenty of thoughts going through my head all weekend.

I was scared of feeling lost, I was nervous about meeting people — and even though I was far from being the most vocal person there, the fact that I made it there was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I was in a city I’d never been with people I never met for three days! And if I’m to be perfectly honest, I had a tough time this weekend. The experience I had wasn’t what I expected and while it may not have been entirely full of laughter and rainbows, it was an experience that I will never forget or regret. There were a lot of lessons and things that I was able to take away from HLS, especially since I’ve given myself time to process my thoughts and feelings.

left photo courtesy of Kristin @ Food Fash

I thought about throwing up collages of photos and briefly saying something along the lines of, ‘I had lots of fun’, but that’s what every other recap of HLS is already saying. Something that I think is missing from these recaps was the pressure we put on each other. I can’t speak for anyone else but I personally felt pressured. I mean, we’re in a room full of healthy living bloggers, some of whom we’ve been reading about their lives for so long and we all have these similar interests and lifestyles. Yes, it’s exciting but at the same time, there is also this nagging feeling that you don’t measure up to them. This almost unconscious comparison is made and suddenly, the pressure is there. Could these feelings been creations in my own mind? Yes, but I also feel that I may not have been alone in this.

I felt pressured to be more outgoing, more thin, to eat more healthy and to exercise more. We can’t always stop that nagging voice in the back of our minds that makes us think or feel like this. This is how I felt the first half of the weekend at HLS. I don’t know all of these women’s stories or their lives, so I can’t judge or assume things about them. But there were some things that I saw and heard throughout the weekend that were far from healthy and that too made me uncomfortable.

photo courtesy of Tessa

Pushing past this, though, I really had a great time at HLS. I learned so much about blogging and I definitely left Sunday morning incredibly inspired. I was lucky to have roomed with Katie, Tessa and Rachel; they were all amazing and inspiring ladies. The cocktail party we attended on Friday night was full of fun, yummy snacks and a photobooth.

Saturday morning, we all woke up for an early start to the day. The day was jam packed with different sessions and a Reebok CrossFit workout. Let’s talk about this workout for a second…it was only five minutes long. Two days later and my quads are still burning! No other workout or run has ever left my legs hurting like this before. I think I need to try crossfit again. After our quick workout, the sessions for the day started. All the ones that I attended were so informative and I definitely learned a lot from then all. I particularly enjoyed the Blogging with Brands session and the Wild Harvest Keynote.

Katie, Rachel and I after CrossFit (photo courtesy of Katie)

After our sessions for the day, a bunch of us ladies went out for sushi and fro-yo. I haven’t had sushi since I found out I may have a possible seafood allergy. Even though I only had veggie rolls, the sushi was amazing! The fro-yo was even better. It was this super cute, small place called Berryline and they had the best original fro-yo I’ve ever had.

The last morning, there was a 5k around Boston that was so much fun. The run seriously flew by running with a huge group of people and admiring all the lovely sights. Boston really is a gorgeous city and I cannot wait to go back! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to attend HLS. I met some wonderful people and even though I struggle with a lot of my own insecurities, I feel a lot stronger and more confident because of it.

 

Posted in The Side Dish | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

HLS ’12 {a small recap}

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Julia

This past weekend I went to Boston for the Healthy Living Summit, my very first blog conference. I honestly don’t even know where to start in my little recap here; it was a different experience than I expected and the weekend itself had its’ highs and lows. I left bright and early on Friday morning, tearing myself away from these puppy eyes…

…to head to NYC to meet Jamie and get on our bus to Boston. The entire bus ride I was a bundle of nerves and excitement. As soon as the bus entered Boston, I already knew that I was in love with the city. It might seem weird, but I think being near that city was one of my favorite parts of this weekend. Especially since I’ve never been to Boston, I really appreciated the beautiful scenery and the architecture (!!). I can’t wait to go back and have time to explore the city more.

Upon checking in, I was given a huge swag bag and some awesome Reebok sneakers. I was lucky to be sharing a room with three really awesome ladies; Tessa, Katie and Rachel. On Friday night, we decided to take a little walk around the hotel before heading to the cocktail party – we ended up on the MIT campus, which was pretty cool. The cocktail party was fun; there were so many people and I only recognized a few from blogs that I’ve actually read. It made me feel better when I heard that a lot of us attending this year were first time conference attendees. It’s so crazy to see how big the world of blogging really is because HLS was such a small representation of them all!

photo taken from Meghann @ Meals and Miles

I feel like so many of the bloggers attending HLS this year are going to be writing day by day recaps of this weekend, listing all the sessions and things that they’ve did. I’m not sure if I feel like doing that – feeling kind of lazy at the moment. Also, I totally copped out on my photography. I think I took out my DSLR maybe once. I was obviously into the convenience of the iphone camera :)

bottom left image taken from Katie @ Peace Love and Oats

And that’s all the energy I have for right now. This weekend flew by and I am completely exhausted. Time to face Monday…stay tuned for more of a recap with more photos and thoughts!

Posted in The Side Dish | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Healthy Living Summit!

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Julia

Tomorrow I leave for Healthy Living Summit. I am so excited, incredibly nervous and hardly packed. Having just got back from vacation, it is incredibly hard to unpack a HUGE suitcase and re-pack into one about 1/4 the size — because, naturally I just want to pack about 4 weeks of clothes for a two and a half day conference :)

The agenda for the summit looks awesome and there are so many bloggers there that I cannot wait to meet. This is my first blogger-meet-up situation and I don’t really know what to expect, but from reading about the past HLS’ I know that it’s going to be pretty spectacular.

Also, since the hotel is giving us HLSers complimentary wifi, I’ll be sure to update throughout the conference! Eek, I can’t believe it’s already time. It seems like months ago that I bought my ticket! Time to go finish packing…

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

It’s About Time.

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Julia

That I come back to this little blog. I’ve missed it dearly, and I can honestly say that not a day has gone by without me thinking about it. Yearning to post more. But, to be honest again, not much has been happening in my kitchen.

A lot has happened since May. I graduated college, started working full time and found myself having no time to prepare meals. I’ve been eating a lot of yogurt, oatmeal and sandwiches. Dinner is usually my only hot meal each day, and I’m usually starving by the time I get home — which means no photographing or playing around with recipes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scarfed something down only to be like, “oh, I forgot to take a picture.” More times than I can admit :)

That certainly does not mean that I’m no longer enjoying my food or having fun creating meals, because trust me, I totally am. I’ve been doing the how-fast-can-I-make-something-delicious-and-healthy-because-I’m-starving pretty much every day. I guess, what I’m trying to say here is that I want to continue with this blog;probably more than anything. And in order for me to do so, things are going to have to change a bit.

Since I’ve started working full-time, I’ve been really trying to clean up my diet a bit and really develop a healthier post-college lifestyle. I want this blog to reflect that and I’m hoping that I can keep up with posting at least three times per week with daily eats and whatever easy recipes I come up with.

Here’s to a new journey for me and my Must Come Hungry kitchen. Oh, and to end on an absurdly cute note…during this two and a half month hiatus or however long it was, I got a puppy. Her name is Luna.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Foodie Pen Pals!

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Julia

Well, hello there! It’s been quite awhile. I’m sure that many, many of you thought I completely abandoned this little food blog. That’s not the case. And I have whole other blog post to talk about the past twenty-seven days of silence on Must Come Hungry.

But first! I joined the Foodie Pen Pals for the first time this month!

First, here is a little bit about Foodie Pen Pals:
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

Now onto the good stuff! I was lucky to have Adair, from Food Stained Hands, as my foodie pen pal.  This was my first time participating in FPP and it was so much fun. I had a blast putting together a package for Beth (who wrote a guest post about what I sent her, that I’ll include in this post as well) and waiting for my own package to arrive.

I apologize for the crappy images. They are clearly taken with my cell phone camera; unfortunately my DSLR was still packed away and I was too lazy to go find it :) But Adair sent me a jar of one of my favorite peanut butters! Seriously, PB&Co is one of the best peanut butters out there and I don’t buy the dark chocolate dreams enough. Thanks, Adair! Oh, and those are really cute, mini cookie cutters! I’m hoping to make some homemade “animal” crackers with them.

I also received a jar of maple roasted almonds to use to make my own almond butter. I’m sorry, Adair, but those almonds did not make it to the nut butter form. They were just so good that I have eaten most of them already :) Thanks for the treats, I really enjoyed them!

______________________________

I’d like to introduce Beth, my lovely foodie pen pal that was nice enough to write up a short, little guest post about her food package!

Hi everyone!  My name is Beth and I was the lucky recipient of Julia’s package for May Foodie Pen Pals. While I do not have my own blog, I am a reader of many running and food blogs.  I first learned of the Foodie Pen Pals program from Tasha who blogs at healthydivacooking.blogspot.com.  This is my first month participating and it was so much fun.  I had as much fun shopping for my Foodie Pen Pal recipient as I had receiving my own package.    The recipient of my package was Josephine at runfromtheheart.com

Now on to the fun stuff…I received Julia’s package on a Wednesday after work.  I am always ravenous when I get home from work so I excitedly tore into the box right away.  It was packed with lots of goodies and a sweet note from Julia, too!  I was especially excited to see so many good things from Trader Joe’s.  The closest TJ’s is over an hour from my house so I don’t get there too often but I love their stuff!


My package included:  Luna bars, chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds, Lentil Chips, 2 kinds of granola, Cookie Butter, and chocolate strawberry tea.  Julia couldn’t have sent a more perfect array of treats for me!  I eat granola nearly every day–either in the morning sprinkled over my oatmeal to give it a little crunch or in the afternoon as a snack with yogurt. And I love anything combining chocolate and fruit!

The first item I devoured…I mean sampled…was the Lentil Chips.  So delicious–I may have eaten the entire bag that night with a little help from my husband.  And I must make special mention of the Cookie Butter.  I had never had this before but let me tell you, it is truly heavenly!  It tastes like a cross between gingerbread and graham crackers.  So far I have eaten it with pretzels and also on apple slices–a yummy sweet treat!


I look forward to enjoying the rest of the items I have yet to sample.  Many thanks to Julia!  Not only did she sent me a fabulous package of goodies, but I also have found another great blog to follow.

———

Thanks, Beth! And I’d like to thank Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean for coordinating all of this. Thanks again to Adair! :)

I’ll be back soon, I promise!

Posted in The Side Dish | Tagged | Leave a comment