Healthy Living Summit Pt. 1

Good evening and greetings from the Healthy Living Summit in Boston! It’s been quite a long day, but it’s been interesting. I’ve met some great people, eaten some tasty food, and can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

This morning I got up bright and early to get some household chores done.  I had a great breakfast mess of yogurt, a plum, 1/2 banana, grapes, and chocolate PB2.

After I packed and took out the trash (without incident, thankfully) I had time to go for a quick run.  I don’t know if I was excited for the weekend, or was enjoying a good jam, but the run was great! I didn’t stop and ran my two miles readily and happily.

Total time: 21:14 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 194 (97%)

Average heart rate: 165 (83%)

Calories burned: 225

I showered quickly, strapped myself with baggage (I always over-pack) and met my mom for lunch at the Lafayette Grill.

I ordered a niçoise salad with grilled scallops, egg-whites (I threw out the yolks), lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.

Pretty good for a lunch on the fly! We loaded back up and headed into Chinatown to catch the Fung Wah bus. Lucky for me, this meant passing by a special produce stand…

… and picking up a young coconut! I love New York.

Despite some horror stories, the bus ride was fine.  Over the five-hour ride, I had a Peanut Butter Cookie Luna bar:

I also had an apple while trying to figure out how to navigate my way to the hotel from Boston’s South Station.

I checked into my room and was very happy to discover this king-size bed. Ari was planning on coming with me but had to leave for bigger and better things, soooo… I love you, sugarpie, but I am going to s p r e a d OUT tonight!

At seven, I left the hotel and headed next door to Rustic Kitchen, where the first Healthy Living Summit event was taking place.  We had a separate room all to ourselves (bounced by Mark); it was beautifully laid out with lots of light and unique decorations.

The menu was interesting; food was served buffet-style on the bar.

The highlight of my night was finally meeting Anna, who writes Blue Plate Special, one of my favorite blogs. This is a pretty atrocious photo of me, but she looked fabulous!

Lucky for me, Anna came with her hilarious sister Meg.  Tomorrow gonna be a good day

I started the night with a vodka soda, and dragged it out for as long as possible.

I loaded my first plate with mixed greens, wild mushroom & goat cheese bruschetta, arancini, and margharita pizza.

My second and final drink was a glass of Pinot Grigio.

The next plate was loaded with ratatouille (I didn’t finish this), portobello & goat cheese pizza (my favorite), and fig preserve pizza (sans proscuitto).

I may have had another “cheese ball” or two… these babies were good!  I was, however, insatiable. Why? Alcohol + salt = one serious chocolate craving. Luckily, I’d brought a 1.2 oz bar of Green & Black’s Mayan Gold (dark chocolate with orange & spices) with me.  Thank heavens!

We have a very early day tomorrow (registration starts at so I’m going to go enjoy my giant bed.  Have a great night!