FitBloggin 2014 – My Day 1 Recap

Hi friends! I’m back from FitBloggin and feeling great! I finally downloaded my photos yesterday and can you believe I took over 300 photos just on my DSLR? I have more on my iPhone, too. I was going to try to narrow down all the photos to give you one big FitBloggin recap post, but most of you know that I really like to try to share my experiences through my photos. So, I don’t want to trim them down too much. I’ll follow my normal recap style and do a day-by-day breakdown.

201407030741.jpg

{Photo by Carrie D Photography}

So, without further adieu, here’s FitBloggin 2014 – my day 1 recap…

***

I’ve been wanting to attend FitBloggin since the very first one debuted five years ago, but it never quite worked out schedule-wise. So, I was really pumped when I heard that the 2014 conference would be a pretty short road trip away in Savannah, GA. Also, I pitched a couple ideas for speaker presentations, and Roni picked one of them for me to do! Not only was I going to hit up a conference I’ve wanted to attend for (literally) years now, but I was going to be reaching one of my big goals I’ve set in recent years – speak at a conference.

On Thursday, I took a couple work phone conferences from my house before hitting the road. Things started out so smoothly and my timing was perfect. Everything was great until I managed to make it one and a half hours away to a Starbucks in Columbia, SC for a quick pit stop. As I stood in line to order, I reached into my purse to grab my wallet only to realize it wasn’t there. Major fail! I called my husband in a panic, and he ended up saving the day in a big way. He called the hotel and managed to convince them to let me check in without an ID or credit card. And he overnighted my wallet to the hotel. My other saving grace? The fact that I’d listened to the advice I’ve always heard over the years – if you’re traveling take out cash just in case. I was also lucky I had my cash in a separate wallet. I didn’t have enough to make it through the weekend, but I did have enough to get gas to get to Savannah and buy some food. Phew!

FitBloggin at the Hyatt Savannah, GA

I very carefully finished my drive to Savannah and was so relieved when I checked in smoothly and swiftly. The Hyatt Regency Savannah had their stuff together and greeted me with smiles, fully prepared to check me in with everything ready. Thank you, Hyatt! I headed upstairs to my room and put my bags down, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I was so happy to just be in the room and able to enjoy a beautiful view of the river.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

I tried to put my wallet situation out of my head and headed downstairs for registration and to meet the fabulous Roni for the first time. I also saw Martinus who was trying out the one-size-fits-all tanks from our swag bags. It was time to put the wallet mess behind me and get into conference mode.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

Some of the conference vendors, like California Avocado, were out and chatting up the attendees.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

I met Kimba who was also a FitBloggin newbie.

Alan of Sweating Until Happy

I also finally got to meet Alan, a longtime twitter friend, in person.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

We had some yummy snacks – warm tortilla chips with California avocado red, white, and blueberry salsa and balsamic almonds.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

And Alan led us in some fun ice breakers. I haven’t been to a conference before that did ice breakers, but especially appreciated them as a first timer to FitBloggin. Going into the conference, I only knew one person pretty well who would be attending. I won’t lie – I’m an introvert at heart and kind of shy. I was worried no one would want to talk to me and I’d spend the weekend alone. But, thanks to Thursday night I met some great people at the ice breaker that I ended up chatting with all weekend. Success!

One of the even cooler moments for me was post-conference editing these photos. When I took the photos from the ice breaker, I didn’t know anyone in the shot. I was just trying to capture the moment. Later, as I edited them, I realized that I had met and had great conversations, or enjoyed meals, with most of the people in the photos.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

After the ice breakers, much of the group headed off for some ghost tours. I wanted to participate, but the tickets for this sold out super fast.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

So, I headed back to my room to check out our swag bags.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

My friend Katy came by to hang out and catch up for a bit. I hadn’t seen Katy in person in years, so it was great to catch up with her. Also, I got some of the Live Chic tank tops and t-shirts printed to give out at the conference and Katy got one of the first ones.

FitBloggin 2014 - Day 1 Recap by thechiclife.com

I decided to reserve my cash (just in case) and ordered room service for dinner. After the drama with the wallet, I needed some time to rest and re-charge. I had the crab cake with arugula, feta, and fresh fruit. I tried to tell myself to stop worrying about the wallet. At this point, it was out of my control and hopefully on the way. I went to bed thinking positive thoughts for FitBloggin day 2 and feeling grateful for all of hubby’s help and support.

Next time – FitBloggin 2014 – My Day 2 Recap!

4 thoughts on “FitBloggin 2014 – My Day 1 Recap”

  1. So glad we finally got to meet in person! Let me know if you decide to come to Denver too – maybe I can convince you to lead a song in Fitbloggin Zumba! And in the meantime if you ever find yourself in Wilson I sure hope you’ll let me know!

    Reply
    • I’m so glad we finally met in person, too! Can’t believe I’ll be seeing you already again in just a couple weeks. Woop woop! We’re gonna have a blast! And I’d LOVE to lead a song in Denver. Let me know! I’m already planning to go in 2015, too! 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Comment