My First Blogger Meetup!

My social circle expanded quite a bit today when Ashley of A Healthy, Happier Bear hosted a blogger brunch at her (fabulous) apartment.

I had so much fun getting to know all of these wonderful women, many of whom I felt like I knew already because I read their blogs.

The brunch wasn’t just hosted by Ashley—it was also sponsored by Eggland’s Best, and the theme was “Pink Blogger Brunch.” The company is working with the Susan G. Komen foundation to raise Breast Cancer Awareness. Definitely a worthy cause, and one I support wholeheartedly.

The menu was fantastic: homemade quiche (pretty sure I ate the majority of it—I went back for seconds, and then thirds), a fruit platter, a yogurt bar with all kinds of yummy toppings, pumpkin bread and, of course, mimosas. Yum!

The conversation was great, too. It was awesome being surrounded by so many like-minded young women. All runners, all bloggers, all healthy living inspirations. I was excited to meet Megan, who blogs at The Runner’s Kitchen, and enjoyed chatting with Robyn, who blogs at Ramblings of a Wannabe Writer and Runner and is a fairly new runner and is running the Princess 1/2 Marathon in Disney World in 2011. Very cool.

It was crazy that I had never met Ashley, too! She welcomed us all into her apartment with lots of food, good drinks and goody bags!

When we all got to Ashley’s, we went around the room introducing ourselves and sharing why we got started blogging in the first place. In addition to wanting an outlet to write whatever I want to write, I explained that I’ve always been a team girl—competition team in high school through my dance studio, then the kickline team in college—and since graduating and moving to NYC I’ve missed that team atmosphere. The blogging community is kind of like it’s own little like-minded team, and I love that feeling.

So thank you to Ashley for hosting us all. I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to many more meetups in the near future!

After brunch, I hit up lower 5th Avenue and did some shopping damage. Oops.

In my defense, I really do need winter work clothes.

And that justifies the sundress I bought on sale at Anthropologie, right?

I have no self control. I should really stop bringing my wallet out with me.

But the dress is adorable. So it’s allowed.

I ended up in Union Square, where I am happy to report that they have set up the holiday markets! The holiday markets in NYC are some of my favorite things. I especially love the ones in Bryant Park at night when everything is lit up.

This T-shirt made me giggle…

My parents live next to a llama farm in New Hampshire. It’s awesome.

And of course, I watched the crepe guys in action. I didn’t get one, but I will. Soon.

I love Nutella.

Next stop: Sara Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side for ABS’s soccer game. It was the finals and they had lost their first game, which I missed because I was at brunch.

Sadly, they also lost the second game, so they missed out on that glorious third place trophy. But the guys were in good spirits.

ABS is the goalie, which is especially stressful as his #1 fan when the game is tied and they go into a shootout. That happened today. I hated it. But I was still proud! Great season.

Last stop of the day: THE CONTAINER STORE!

Seriously, that place is my drug. It makes me so happy. I bought a few great containers and, day by day, this apartment is becoming a home.

After a scrappy dinner (grilled cheese for me, store-bought chicken for ABS), it’s almost bedtime. Such a great weekend, and I’m happy to report that I’m feeling much better than I was on Friday.

Almost time to tackle this short week. Ready, go!