I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since I was leaving Boulder last year. It’s one of those weekends that you can’t quite explain to people, you can try but unless they actually experience it, it’s hard to really put into words.
You’ll have to excuse me as it’s hard to really break down this ONE weekend into ONE post. Or at least one post that wouldn’t take you a whole weekend to read so instead, I’m going to try and break it down into a few more manageable posts. This also allows me to relive this weekend filled with friends and lots of fun.
It was an early morning. My flight didn’t left around 8 which meant an early morning wake-up call to get to the airport with plenty of time and barring any traffic. I arrived with plenty of time to grab a cup of coffee and sit down to enjoy my breakfast before boarding.
The flight wasn’t too bad. I met Michelle just a few minutes before we boarded the plane and knowing a new friend was just a few rows behind me, the excitement grew.
We landed, grabbed some coffee while waiting for a few more girls, got our rental car and made our way to the beautiful Hyatt Escala Resort in Park City. It was stunning!
We stopped by registration to check-in and pick up our swag bags (more on those later!), said hellos, gave hugs and made our way to our rooms to relax and freshen-up a bit before joining everyone for cocktail hour.
Clearly, we were excited!
My roommates for the weekend were Amanda and Calee. It was so fun to catch up and each other’s lives since our girls weekend earlier this year. And seriously, we clean up well! 
The cocktail party was fun and really allowed us to see the friend’s we made last year and start getting to know the other girls we’d get to spend the weekend with. After a little while we made our way over to dinner. (I’ll get to the food later.)
We were all fading quickly as everyone’s travel times were starting to catch up with us, so it was an earlier night.
Roomies in matching Blend 2012 t-shirts for bedtime
Saturday morning started bright and early with a bootcamp hosted by GPP Fitness. It was tough but awesome! I love their mentality of pushing yourself to knew heights while also knowing your limits so you don’t injure yourself. And that’s exactly what these workouts were!
We did sprints and a deck of cards workout. I made sure to stay tuned into my body to know if I needed to skip a burpee, push-up or two. But I also made sure I was pushing myself and giving it my all. And if you’ve ever wondered if you could do just.one.more.burpee then join a giant group of people and yell “we love burpees!” and see if you don’t have the energy to get out that last rep. I’m sure you’ll find it.
Next was breakfast followed by a hike. It was rainy and chilly but since there weren’t thunderstorms we trudged on! Some girls stayed behind and had an impromptu Zumba class and some chose to find a local yoga studio instead, but I figured I’d at least walk to the trail head and decide from there if I wanted to continue.
When I say we trudged through the mud, I don’t lie. I don’t even over exaggerate, we trudged! But once we got to the trail head, we were already muddy and were feeling good so most of the group continued on. The hike was amazing! It was another chance to meet new girls, talk with others I didn’t get to chat with much yet, and even have some “deep mountain” conversations about our lives. I kid you not, we got deep but thankfully there were no tears.
The views were beautiful and breathtaking! I swear there was a moment I stopped dead in my tracks and said “whoa! where did this view come from? Seriously gorgeous!”
We made it to a good stopping point, took a picture, and refueled before making our way back down the mountain.
To say we were muddy would be an understatement. But it was an amazing and I wouldn’t trade those muddy moments, shoes and pants for anything!
The rest of the day was ours for the taking and included some relaxing, some wandering around Main Street in Park City, dinner on the town and a semi late night chatting with everyone.
But we couldn’t make it too late, we had another opportunity for GPP Fitness to kick our butts bright-and-early Sunday morning awaiting us. And kick our butts they did! If we weren’t already sore from Saturday, it didn’t matter – we had more burpees, more squats and more sprints awaiting us! We had more pushing ourselves to knew heights while staying true to our bodies limits – we had cartwheels to do!
Neil from GPP Fitness talking to us about the workout
After breakfast and some last minute packing, we made our way downstairs for the closing raffle and final goodbyes. For more pictures, hugs, and exchanging information to stay in touch. For holding back tears and catching someone right before the leave.
We packed up the rental car, stopped for a quick lunch and continued on towards the airport. There were last minute coffee dates while waiting for flights to board and final goodbyes. And next thing I knew, I was back in Chicago with the weekend I had been waiting for the last year already behind me and next year’s already a year away.
It was a marvelous weekend, that can’t be denied. Katie, wish you and Baby G could have joined us this year.
How was your weekend?
To end out the night, I went for the dairy-free option of a mini apple tart. I’m not big on pie crusts so I was happy when the crust tasted more like a cookie – so good!
Sunday’s breakfast was provided by Chobani and while lacking vegan options, there was no shortage of Chobani. I grabbed a Chobani based oatmeal with toppings, fresh fruit and a Chobani bite.
Since we were leaving right around lunch time, we made a quick stop at the Whole Foods salad bar. I filled my salad with a variety of mixed greens and toppings. It was delicious and just what I needed before my flight home.
