Blend Retreat {Part Deux}

I really am having withdrawls from the Blend Retreat in wonderful Boulder, CO. I even slept in my Blend t-shirt last night {Like a childhood teddy bear}.

I am sure you’ve seen the many recaps of Blend, listened to the tweeting on Twitter, and seen it on Instagram. But there is a reason. It really was just a genuinely, cool, fun, uninhibited weekend with the girls. There was no expectations. Just you + friends + fun.

To continue from the last Blend Retreat recap…

Saturday

I skipped Saturday morning Bootcamp led by Lindsay and Tina. Sue me, but I heard there was a 4-mile strenuous hike later that day. And I was doing hot vinyasa flow yoga later in the day. I kind of thought those two activities would be enough for me (and was I right).

So while I slept… others were getting their butt kicked by Lindsay and Tina.

Post bootcamp was a wonderful Breakfast sponsored by Xagave.

Upper right: Steve (owner) & Amy (thanks for the awesome set up!)

Steve made this awesome strawberry jam with Xagave. I am hooked and need to see if that recipe is in my bag. And I’ve tried Agave Nectar before and thought it was too sweet. But when I tried Xagave – the stuff is a perfect blend to replace sugar or honey. No joke. The stuff is the bomb. And… its low on the glycemic index, doesn’t spike your blood sugar, is vegan and is lower in calories. Sweet. Totally a Xagave user now.

Click here for more information on Xagave.

Hiking

The beginning of a strenuous hike…

Taking 70+ girls up a trail… {sorry to the visitors of Chautauqau… we kind of dominated the trail. hee hee}

This is where it starts getting hard… Heather thinking, “this is a breeze” and Brittany.. well she is hiking.

Kelly from NoSugarSweetLife.com was my awesome hiking partner for much of the duration of the hike. We took it nice and easy up that mountain. It was tough (I’m blaming altitude). But was awesome to make it to the top to Royal Arch.

Cheese please

Pictures can not describe how breath taking this summit view really is (kind of nerve wracking looking down, too).

Thank you The Simply Bar for fueling the hike!

Yoga

I snacked on swag between hiking and yoga. No time to stop by the diner for lunch.

Yoga pic by Sarah of the Smart Kitchen Blog

Bobbi, Amanda, Brittany and I walked to core power yoga where we met up with some more fabulous gals (& one husband – you’re awesome Terry) for an hour long hot flow vinyasa yoga.

It was tough holding yoga poses after a 4-mile strenuous hike! Hey, I just noticed 3 So. Cal girls are gathered together in the top row (Julie, Me, and Bobbi).

Ravishing

Swag for food is good. But after all this exercise, I needed Real food!

(Picture by Amanda – can you name all the girl’s & perspective blogs?) Amanda, Elizabeth, Amanda, Julie (& Terry – husband is taking pic), Courtney, Tina, Alyssa, Jillian, Katie and me.

First stop was Avery’s – Beer and Bahn Mi for Me.

Then we headed to Cinco de Mayo Party town – Rio’s – to meet up with the rest of the ladies. I heard there was a nice little drunkin’ drama before we got there with an unknown local patron (not in our group).

I was smart. Lots of water between each and every margarita & tequila shot. I hear I’m not the only one that was shootin’ the tequila. hehe.

Then… Yup, there is a ‘then’. I headed to a local bar with Bobbi, Brittany, and Lindsay. These girls are a blast, too. I love Brittany’s accent. We were off to meet up with Lindsay’s hubby.

Two So. Cal gals: me and Bobbi

Hmmm… thought I had more pics. check out Bobbi’s link above for more pics of the bar scene with the girls. I forgot I opened a tab and left my credit card there. Such a dork. Haha. that’s okay. No shady charges. Just stopped and ordered another card from the bank.

Finally time to head back. It was only 11:30pm Colorado time (meaning it was early for me. LOL). But we had morning bootcamp with Chobani!

Was a super sweet weekend. And you all better make it this time next year! Because I would love to meet you too.

Will follow up on Sunday’s cap, but in the mean time…. head on over to Blend Recap (Day 1)