This past weekend I was in Chicago with 10 other food bloggers for a retreat. It was beyond fantastic, the free flowing discussions, learning, delicious food and getting to know fellow food bloggers made it a truly meaningful weekend, so today I’m going to share an overview of the ChiTown Retreat.
If you follow me on social media (specifically instagram and twitter) you may have noticed a flutter of photos and posts all containing the hashtag #ChiTownRetreat . Whenever there’s a get together of people who love social media, you can be sure that they will create a hashtag, I always love following different hashtags, so I hope if you follow along you enjoyed a little sneak peak into the weekend.
In the food blogging world there are hundreds of conferences, events, retreats, press events, trips, all happening throughout the year. Each event is unique in its own way, and what makes them each unique is the mix of attendees. It just so happened that the stars aligned and I was able to help plan the retreat and attend with the following ladies (the picture was taken during lunch in Greektown at the Parthenon restaurant) from left to right: Jocelyn from Inside BruCru Life, Meagan from A Zesty Bite, Liz from The Lemon Bowl, Sheila from Eat2Gather, Lynn from Order In The Kitchen, Rachel from Rachel Cooks, Aimee from Shugary Sweets, Kirsten from Comfortably Domestic, Monique from Ambitious Kitchen, Me, and Jocelyn from Grandbabby Cakes.
The weekend was filled with brainstorming sessions focusing on a whole array of topics from discovering your niche to hands on tips and tricks for programs and apps used for blogging, and of course since it was a food blogger retreat there was lots of food. SO much food. Food that was prepared by fellow food bloggers and food that was eaten out. Best Food Facts sponsored our groceries (and sent us surprise mini bunt cakes!), and I made my Mimosa Bar (the champagne was from ALDI (picture here of our #ALDIhaul) and Overnight Vanilla Oats (made with Bob’s Red Mill Oats and Stonyfield Organic Yogurt) with along with bacon made from Pig of The Month (remember when I posted a Pig of the Month review?) for breakfast one morning, and then made my Secret Ingredient Sangria (with citrus from Sunkist) during the evening and a caramel apple crisp made with Fat Toad Farm caramel (same caramel I use for my favorite salted bourbon caramel chocolate chip cookies and Mexican hot chocolate caramel cookies.
During the retreat we had a Yoga class from Yoga Six (it was only my third yoga class ever, so I’m beyond excited I didn’t fall down) and I was so impressed and enjoyed it so much I’m thinking of signing up for a yoga class next month. We had a tour of Eataly Chicago. It was incredible, all the delicious fresh food and wine were calling my name. Their cheese selection alone made my heart flutter. I cannot wait to go back soon! We also had dinner at Qartinos, I had forgotten I had been there multiple times, but the second I walked inside and saw the beautiful decor and saw the food I knew it was going to be good.
And of course I was thrilled to be able to spend time with one of my besties, Lynn (she did a write up of the retreat here). The weekend started with me bringing her a macaron, then she gave me a birthday present which was a macaron shaped jewlry box (how perfect, right?) and then we finished the weekend by getting a macaron at a little french bakery after the retreat! AND, since we were together and she’s one of my friends, we did a little photo shoot for my upcoming cookbook Five Ingredient Fridays with Friends and Family that will be coming out later this year (bottom right picture.)
I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect weekend and was so grateful to spend time with such inspiring women and was so appreciative of all the amazing sponsors.
Rita says
Phi, Love reading all about your Blog together in Chicago—just fantastic and amazing
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Rita, it was so nice to get together with some other bloggers 🙂
Ashley says
What an awesome sounding retreat! It looks like you all had a wonderful time! And lots of good eats! 🙂 Love that you did a yoga class too!
Sweetphi says
Good eats are the cornerstone of any good get together aren’t they? And that yoga class, oh man, so amazing and inspiring!
Monique @ Ambitious Kitchen says
This is wonderful, Phi! I had such a great time and you were the best host. Can’t wait to see you again!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much girl, I can’t wait to see you again too 🙂
Melissa @ Bless this Mess says
Seriously a fabulous group!!! It looked so much fun!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much, it was such a great group and was definitely super fun 🙂
Lynn @ Order in the Kitchen says
girllll omg this recap is everything!!! This SO sums up the weekend perfectly and I had the most spectacular time with you…and I love how much we bond over macarons it’s almost a problem but in the best way possible…in the way that makes our husbands be like ummm y’all are way too obsessed with each other LOL! miss you so much ALREADY and can’t wait to give you a hugeeee hug in like 11 days OMG love you love you and I’m SO pumped about your cookbook I could not be MORE proud of you if I tried…no but seriously, I’m so proud…ok but really really proud…ok like I can’t believe I even know you let alone that you talk to me on a regular basis lol… love you so much girl xooxox
Sweetphi says
GIRL! OMG! This comment made my day! Thank you thank you! I love you and love our love of macarons lol! I also love that you got to meet Nick and that he was able to see us in action, now he knows I’m not just making it up how much we love each other (as if all the conference calls we make him take part in aren’t enough lol). I am so excited and grateful to you that we had time to do a little photoshoot for the cookbook. It simply wouldn’t be the same without your gorgeous face in it! 10 more days…10 more days until I not only get to see you, but I get to see you get married. I’ve already made sure to pack plenty of tissues, because you know i’ll be crying up a storm. We also share a love of loving love! Love you so much back girl xoxoxoxox
andrea rentea says
Looks like it was a great weekend. So great to get a ‘glimpse’ of you, it made my week. Food looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing about the experience.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your kind words! I always hope that my lifestyle posts on what’s going on in my life are worthy enough to share on the blog, so it just makes my day when I hear feedback like this. Thank you!!
cheri says
Hi Phi, sounds like a great time, can’t wait till your cookbook comes out!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Cheri, your kind words mean a lot to me! I’m planning on having the cookbook out mid-late summer, I’m working away behind the scenes 🙂
rachelcooksblog says
What a fun recap! You got so many great pictures!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Rachel, it was so great to meet you in person, the whole weekend was such a blast 🙂
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
This retreat was so incredible – thank you so much for all of your hard work and amazing talent helping plan and host the retreat!!! I can’t wait to do it again!
Sweetphi says
Thank YOU so much Liz, it was such an incredible weekend and I’m so glad I got to spend it with you 🙂
wearenotmartha says
This looks like so much fun!! Great people and wonderful learning experience. Also, those macarons look fab!!
Sues
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for your comment Sues! Those macarons were amazing, macarons in general are the best, aren’t they?
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough says
How fun! Those kind of retreats are the best, aren’t they? And what an inspiring group of ladies. I’m jealous you got to go to Eataly — it’s on my bucket list!
Sweetphi says
I’d totally recommend Eataly, it was the coolest coolest place, the selection and fresh ingredients, the beautiful design of everything, omg, I want to go back there right now!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan says
How fun!! I’m glad you guys got to eat at Quartino, that place is amazing and always a restaurant we eat at when we are downtown : ) Also, go you on the yoga class! It’s intimidating until you get the hang of it!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much girl, Quartinos is so amazing, and I’ll totally let you know how the yoga class goes 🙂