Fitness Blogger Meet and Tweet

I don't know why the pic was flipped in Instagram but I think it is funny.

The time as finally come! I considered doing 5 mini recaps over a week, but I figured I would just hit you all at once. So get yourself a cup of coffee, glass of wine or shot of tequila (depending on what time it is) because you are about to settle in for a story. Don't worry, its a good one. 

It is long over due, however, in my (very lame) defense.....this is my all time busy season (wedding season may or may not kill me this year), I have 6 weddings this month. Oh, yeah and a ton of commercial work + 2 trips to NYC in 1 week. What doesn't kill you, right, Kelly Clarkson?

The day before the event, I set out by train (my first time on Amtrak) from D. C. to NYC. How exciting! My life is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I am officially loving train travel. When I get off the subway, it is raining, good thing I didn't fuss too much with my hair that morning because I certainly don't have an umbrella. I was lucky enough to be put up for the night by some fabulous old friends of mine who live in the city (we didn't take a photo, which I am still mad about). 


No worries, since we didn't take an updated photo, I just pulled up an oldie from 2007. Yes, I am the hot blonde. We were road tripping from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe! FLASHBACK!

Yes, that is my famous "hands on fire" dance. Clearly I was not snowboarding, since I am the one in baby pink beach sunglasses and no googles. Whatever. 

We caught up, had a lovely dinner full of laughs and trips down memory lane. I love these ladies. 
Truthfully, I was on such a high after this event that I could not stop smiling (still haven't) for days. There were no words (very important to this blog) for how amazing the event was. I must have tweeted, like 7 million times, how grateful I was for this experience. Thanks again to Fitness Magazine, Samantha Pepi (New Media Stategies), all of the amazing sponsors for this incredible opportunity. Allow me to share...

Thanks to these amazing sponsors!

I awake the next morning so excited for the event. I don't what to expect but I am excited. The weather isn't beautiful but I lucky that I only had a 2 block walk to get to the Metropolitan Pavilion where the event was being held. 

First things first, we come in and get registered. I met the fabulous Samantha Pepi, who I had been coordinating to get registered for the event. She explains to me that I get a little bag to walk around with and it has a card, sort of like a passport, that I will need to take to each of the sponsor tables. The sponsors will place a star on the card and we turn in our card of stars at the end of the day for the worlds best swag bag. Oh, yeah, worlds best. Deal, it was like a very organized scavenger hunt, with gold stars and awesome prizes. I was totally ready to take on this challenge!

First up was the Reebok booth. We tried on shoes and I got these in my swag bag! I ran 4 miles in them on Saturday morning before work and I can say that I love them.

I got my gold star and shimmy-ed on down to the next booth, where we got to sample some yummy V-8 Fusion juice drinks. I tasted the mango flavor and it is delicious!

Next, the Schick Hyrdro Silk sponsors tell us all about their new 5 blade razor. We get to take on home in our awesome swag bags!

The Oakley booth had 2 pairs of glasses for us to try out and pick our favorites. These polarized shades are amazing and so great to run in. I usually run in my big ridiculous diva shades and they don't have great sun protection, they fog up and slip off my sweaty nose. Not the glamorous look I am going for. I ran in these last week, with my sweet Sweaty Band headband and life was GREAT. Oakley also put some great twistband hair ties in our swag bag!

The next booth was crazy packed! When I get thru the crowd, I see why. The Birkenstock sponsor table is fitting everyone for their swag shoes! Love that and worth the wait. It was also in this wait time that I met MizFit, who is a rockstar FYI.  Her panel discussion on monetizing your blog is basically what I came for. I BS with her for 20 minutes, not realizing who she is and let me tell you, she is the funniest chick out there. Finally, we got our turn. These are my new Birkenstocks, good thing I got a pedicure before I went, right!

Ooh, I was really excited to see the Vichy booth there. (of course, the makeup artist says this!) Vichy is an incredible European skin care line that is just fantastic. We got a product in the swag back that I can not wait to review for you! If it works, I may become a super model!

 Next up, I was happy to see the Grain Food Foundation booth. They had some delicious snacks and my blood sugar was dipping, with all of the excitement! Breads and Spreads, yes please!

Making an guest appearance was the amazing, Mia Hamm! After I texted this photo and a pic of the soccer ball she signed for me to my husband he said, "cool, did she take a pic with everyone or just you?". Ugh, she may have taken a pic with other people but that doesnt make mine any less special. I think she liked me best (in my imagination) anyway.

After I came down from the Mia Hamm high, I went by the Kiwi Sweat (pop up fitness) booth. I was super excited about this, I had been following them on twitter. I knew that we were doing a a pop up work out at the end of the day and I couldn't wait! This is going to get its own blog post, because it deserve a special spot light. If you want to see a video, you can check that out here.  Of course, I was all up in the front row (star pupil that I am!). This video was done by Amber (Exsoycise), check out her recap. I discovered it when I was looking over Meredith's (Dare You To) recap.

The work out was so much fun and afterward i found you that I won this t-shirt! Of course, I am modeling it for you!

A HUGE thanks to New Media Strategies for everything that you did to orchestrate this event. And if that wasn't enough, they also gave us the great yoga mats with an awesome carrying case.

Thank you to Camelbak, for the hydration stations and great water bottles. And Sunmaid for the treats. Pure Protein filled us up with drinks, protein bars and protein shots. The cookies and cream was a big hit!

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (what am I saying, of course you do!) then I know that you are well aware of how much I love food, both eating it and photographing it.  So, you know that I LOVED lunch. Doesn't this look AMAZING! Because it was.

During lunch, Dr. Pamela Peeke spoke. I love her tell it like it is kind of ways. Her quotes of the day that flew around twitter were "Sitting is the new smoking" and "Eat Less, Move More is so last year!" I have requested a copy of her book that I am dying to read and review for you. I was lucky enough to be sitting next to Mr. Ron Robinson from Beauty Stat.

Alright, I know what you are thinking, it was not all products, swag, schmoozing, snacking, etc (although I adore all of those things), I can't not stress enough how valuable the speakers were.

After lunch, there was a fashion show with Fitness Fashion Director, featuring taking your gym wear to the street (which is my life!). This made me want to shop, shop, shop.....but then again, when do I not?

Then Easy Beauty Secrets Q &A with Fitness Beauty Director and Laura Geller, Makeup Artist. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of meeting her, she is super fabulous/hilarious/talented/etc, an all around genius really. There will be a full post dedicated to her alone. I picked up some great tips from her presentation that I want to share. I have been using the primer that we scored in the swag bags and I LOVE it.

The next panel I was really jazzed for. These incredible ladies had a panel discussion on how to monetize your blog. Um, yes, please! I am so thankful for this incredible information. Check out their blogs and twitter feeds. They are a wealth of knowledge. 

 Kelly Olexa, Tina Haupert, Carla Birnberg, and Julie Fagan. 

We wrapped up the day with the Kiwi Sweat Tabura work out. This will also get its own post. Man, oh man, this was a work out. I will add more video and photos to that post so you can get the full idea. In the meantime, check out the video I referenced earlier.

After that, I was a sweaty mess. But I did manage to haul all of the swag back to the apartment and shower before heading to the train. We were having so much full all day that we unfortunately waited until the end of the day to take the token Beauty Blogger Coalition photo. Check out Adriana's blog, featuring the 3 L's.

What is happening with my hair!

Heading Home!

Thank you again to Fitness Magazine and all of the sponsors for the opportunity to share this experience with amazing bloggers. THANK YOU! I got home and was so excited to play with my amazing gifts that you shared!

Who is Emily Hudspeth? Professional Stylist, Airbrush Makeup Artist, and Beauty Blogger....just to start. I am an all around girl's girl who is totally addicted to all things beauty related. It is my mission to find the best of the best and share it with you. You can hire me for events, commercial production, photo shoots and image consulting.

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