Friday, August 20, 2010

I Should Have Been Born a City Girl

My mom and I finally made it home to Minnesota safe and sound! We both agreed this was the best trip we’ve taken together, just the two of us—it was some much needed girl time!

Saturday Re-cap

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Saturday morning rolled around fast and it was finally time for the highly anticipated Healthy Living Summit 2010! Everyone filed down early to the banquet rooms in the Congress Plaza Hotel and picked up the swag bags (watch for all the goodies in upcoming posts) , checked out the booths from the companies, and found seats to listen to the speakers. There was so many different topics to choose from..we chose the Ethical Eating presented by Evan from Food Makes Fun Fuel. Here’s the notes I took:

  • Look for eggs that are from veg-fed chickens.
  • Store bought dairy is comparable to brand name. Just look for hormone-free.
  • For poultry, buy it free of hormones and antibiotics.
  • Swap tuna with salmon occasionally.
  • Avoid the “choice” cuts.
  • Ethical eating is happy eating!

Then Quaker put on a morning snack break.

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Mom liked their new Chocolate Swirl bars.

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Check out these swag bags—filled with everything from assorted healthy bars to laundry detergent!

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The second conference we attended was Healthy Entertaining put on by RhodeyGirl Tests…you can get the full recap here.

Lunch was sponsored by Arnold and Orowheat—it was amazingly good..check out the menu!

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My plate…so fresh & delicious!

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The Sandwich Thins are delish—I can’t wait to buy some with my coupons I got!

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We didn’t stick around for all of the afternoon sessions because it was my mom’s birthday and we figured Chicago was the perfect place to celebrate! Shopping and more food anyone?

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We ate at the popular pizza place called Pizano’s Pizza and Pasta in downtown Chicago. I was a little skeptical of the half hour seating time and the 45 minute wait for the pizza..I had my fingers crossed that it’d be worth the wait…and boy, was it!

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I loved the Italian decor—right up my alley :-)

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We ordered the vegetarian pizza with the addition of pineapple, spinach, and fresh tomatoes. The sauce was outrageously good, the veggies were fresh, and there was a perfect amount of blended cheeses to top it off.

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And more walking just added to my appetite..

Thank God for Park Cafe in Millennium park having the only place around open past six that has frozen yogurt!

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Stay tuned for the last of my Healthy Living Summit trip recap!

What is the best pizza you’ve ever eaten?

11 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Great tips! :) Sounds like a great trip too.

Shannon, Tropical Eats said...

yay i love your recaps!! your pizza looks a whole heck of a lot better than mine did!

i love papa johns pizza with garlic butter to dip the crust in. mmm

Krista said...

What a great weekend with your Mom! I can't wait for Sarah to be old enough for trips like that!!

Julie said...

I hope me and my mom is that close too.. and having a trip outside our city. Your journal really inspires me in having a trip with my mom. Hoping to eat pizza with her too and having food trips. I love pizzas especially pepperoni and cheese..hmmmm yum yum!

Nicci said...

Awww, that pizzaq looks delicious. I was happy I got to try some before leaving.

Erica said...

What a great trip! You and your mom have such a fabulous relationship. I really want to go to the next HLS- looks like so much fun. And I'm totally drooling over your pizza. Best pizza I've ever had was from a local place we used to go to when we lived near San Francisco. Super thin crust- amazing

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

I love that you got to spend that trip with your mom! So much fun! I just found a little pizza place named La Pizzeria that is amazing. It felt like I was actually eating in Italy..then I walked outside and was reminded that I was still in Charleston.

sophia said...

Dang, so envious of your amazing trip! The best pizza I ever ate was at Morels, and I had this fig/prosciutto/brie pizza. It was amazing. Another really good pizza I had was at Mr Pizza: a seafood pizza with-- get this, a sweet potato mousse crust. Mmm....

Becky said...

Wow, I can't wait for Sarah to be old enough for trips like that, thanx for sharing.

Sadie said...

Well, I've ever had was from a local place we used to go to when we lived near San Francisco. Super thin crust- amazing

Allison Clark said...

I am envious. Hope to spend one weekend with my mom too. And get all the treats. Really had fun reading your post.