Meeting people from the internet... they weren't axe murderers

Posted by Kara

  ...or at least as far as I'm aware.

This weekend I had the fortune to try something completely different! A friend I used to work with has a food/life/everything in between blog called Real Fit Mama: Diary of a Wanna-Be Health Nut (which you should check out, by the way).  She had really wanted to attend the healthy-living blog convention, but was unable to, so she set up one of her own! While I wasn't sure my blog at first applied (I figured I needed to be a food blog  or a marathon runner), Maria convinced me that indeed, my blog IS about healthy living! While I don't hike for health reasons (I walk at my own pace, whether it be fast or slow that day, and take far too many pictures, scenic breaks), it is one of the primary reasons I think my health took a turn for the better over the last couple years. Hiking and eating better helped me lose nearly 40 pounds over the last four years. Not only do I have more energy, I am more independent than I've ever been and have more self-confidence.

   We met on Sunday at Pi Pizzeria in the University City Loop area. Quite a few people had said they were going, but in the end it was just three: Maria, myself, and Hannah, from the blog HannahViolin (which is amazing, by the way). I admit at first I was a little nervous, as I figured I should have done some research and found out who was going and checked out their blogs first, it wasn't awkward at all. I hadn't had much of a chance to hang out with Maria in ages, and meeting Hannah was brilliant.

We ate plenty of pizza (deep dish Berkeley) and I had a small caprese salad, both of which were amazing (I also drank lots of diet coke; soda is a weakness of mine I have not been able to give up).  We talked about our lives, our blogs, and everything in between! It was a really nice experience, one I'd be glad to repeat.