It’s official: I totally heart Chicago!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The city is beautiful (and not TOO cold!) and the people are amazing! I am having the best time! 🙂
My day has been craaaazy and I am so tired right now but I wanted to share with everyone my travels thus far. I miss you guys when I take a break from the blog (I think it’s been like 14 hours?! Haha). First of all, I almost missed my connection from Atlanta to Chicago because my flight was an hour later….so no TCBY for me. I snacked on a peanut butter cookie larabar and then once I was safe and sound in Chi-town, I grabbed a quick nonfat decaf peppermint mocha:
Once I landed, Kath and I found each other easily as we had earlier planned and we rode the “L” together (!!!) into the city. I felt so cool taking public transportation! It was easy and cost $2 versus $50 for a cab.
When we got into the hotel, we found a HUGE bag of goodies for each of us from Quaker!!! I got a new camcorder!!!! whoopie!! Kath and I are in the process of making a movie of our weekend as we speak! 🙂
Let’s just say they are MORE than generous!
At 6:30, we headed downstairs to the bar where a special VIP table was awaiting us:
We had drinks and tapas, which served as my dinner because they were pretty heavy and we had to skip out on dinner anyways because of our super cool blog reader wine bar event! I had a glass of organic pinot noir (which I sipped veryyyy slowly to make it last) and here are some of my eats:
Hummus! I had about three pita wedges with hummus and carrot sticks
Contrary to how it might appear, this pizza slice was actually quite small. It was an appetizer portion and was SOOOO amazing! Those are buffalo chicken bites next to it.
Chicken bites plucked from an asian lettuce wrap.
Another slice of the amazingggg pizza!
And here are some pictures!!!!
Kath and I headed out to walk to Bin 36 around 8:15, where we were meeting about 19 of our fabulous readers!! Love you guys! It was a gorgeous walk and wasn’t too cold. At the bar, I had a 2 1/2 oz pour of a california zinfandel and then just chugged three glasses of ice water. Traveling makes me feel incredibly dehydrated and the bloaty foods I ate for dinner didn’t really help!
We had a BLAST though and it was so wonderful to finally put some faces to names of girls that read the blog! Here are some picture highlights:
Love you girls! And thank you so much Anne for baking these amazing looking chocolate chip pumpkin bars!!!!!! I can’t wait to try one!!!!!!! 🙂
Tomorrow is jam packed. I have to be downstairs at 8:30 and we are going over to the Quaker Headquarters for a day of conferences, interviews and oatmeal competitions! I will be on my laptop all day and checking back with the blog periodically to update on what I learn, so definitely tune in!
This tired girl is headed to BED!!!!!!!!
seelivelee (for the love of peanut butter)
November 7, 2008 at 11:50 pmSOOOO JEALOUSSSSS :o) have a great night’s sleep
Stephanie
November 8, 2008 at 12:10 amSo great to meet you tonight Jenna! I followed your blog for a while but don’t think I’ve ever commented, now I’ll def start dropping a hello since we met 🙂 I remember when you were a carnivore, then went veggie, then back to the good side! Enjoy the rest of your stay in the city I love calling home.
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food)
November 8, 2008 at 12:14 amFabulous goodies!
The food looks delish!
Glad you’re having fun!
Anne L
November 8, 2008 at 12:27 amJenna–you are so welcome for the pumpkin bars–thanks for coming out tonight!
Angie
November 8, 2008 at 12:29 amHad a blast at Bin. It was so great to meet you and Kath and all of your readers. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to make it happen.
I just want to let your readers know that you are just as cool in person as you are on your blog.
Have a great day tomorrow, I can’t wait to hear all about it. And we are looking forward to seeing you ladies again on Sunday. Fun!
PS. FYI, readers, I’m the one in the green shirt. Wish everyone could do a meet up like this.
Sharon
November 8, 2008 at 12:42 amWow, definitely looks like fun!
Moran
November 8, 2008 at 1:06 amWow Jenna, that’s SO cool!!! I am glad ya’ll are having such a blast!
Megan
November 8, 2008 at 6:24 amWhat an amazing time! I can’t wait to hear what happens next!
VeggieGirl
November 8, 2008 at 6:33 amHOORAY!!! I too love Chicago – it’s my SECOND-favorite city in the world 🙂
The photos of the food, Quaker goodies, and of you and everyone (especially Kath!!) look fabulous!!
polly
November 8, 2008 at 6:43 amKeep on having fun, Jenna and takin’ pictures! Love it!!! xoxo
Oh She Glows
November 8, 2008 at 7:17 amSounds like you had so much fun!! Everyone looks so beautiful 🙂
I nominate the next meet up to be in Toronto…..hehehe…it’s a great city and los of fun! 😉
Shelby
November 8, 2008 at 7:18 amSounds like so much fun!!!
Runjen
November 8, 2008 at 7:40 amHow fun!!! I love Chicago! Love that you got to meet up with readers! I think I missed the update on why you are there? Can someone fill me in?
Can’t wait to hear/see updates from the rest of the weekend!
ashley (sweet & natural)
November 8, 2008 at 8:28 amWhat a great start to your Quaker filled weekend! I’m excited to hear about your oatmeal conferences. They sound so official.
Fancy
November 8, 2008 at 8:52 amThis post’s title is the best one yet. I loooooove living here! I’m so glad you love it, too. I’ll see you tomorrow!
sarah
November 8, 2008 at 9:04 amlooks FABULOUS!
i have to ask one thing and you totally don’t have to answer, but: your hair is absolutely gorgeous. is it really that color?
have a wonderful time! can’t wait for the video 🙂
Megan
November 8, 2008 at 9:05 amIt sounds like you are having the best time, yay! I am jealous though haha. Well enjoy your Saturday! Oh, and your tapas looked way yummy last night, i LOVE tapas 🙂
Mariposa
November 8, 2008 at 9:20 amlooks like you are having SO much fun! enjoy the rest of the weekend!
jenna
November 8, 2008 at 9:21 amSarah,
Well I DO have blond hair but I also get highlights every 3 months or so! Hehe!
Biz
November 8, 2008 at 9:33 amGlad it wasn’t too cold for you! Have fun today – can’t wait to hear all about it!
Karen
November 8, 2008 at 9:35 amHi Jenna, it was so great to meet you last night! I had a great time and I hope you enjoy your conference and your time in Chicago!
ModelBehavior
November 8, 2008 at 9:41 amYour very leany in pictures Jenna 😀 Have a blasty!!!
http://www.modbehav.com
Mara
November 8, 2008 at 10:08 amWelcome to the best city in the world!!! Enjoy it!
MOM
November 8, 2008 at 10:15 amHave an amazing time honey! You deserve every minute of it! Wish I were there with you, but love following it on your blog. XXOX
BeeElle
November 8, 2008 at 2:45 pmi’m glad you love chicago – wish i could have made it last night!