You must be waiting on the edge of your seat for me to post again.  You must be wondering where the hell I’ve been all week.  You must be assuming that I had some partying extravaganza while in Vegas and therefore was unable to post.

That could not be further from the truth.  But you have to know it was something extreme for me not to be able to post for four whole days.

After the glorious day at the pool that I shared with you at the beginning of the week, the conference took a turn for the worst.  Well for my team at least.  What seemed to be a 24 hour flu ran rapid through our team one by one.  More time was spent in bed than in meetings or sessions.

All day Tuesday, hour by hour, people kept going down.  Three of my team members even went to the hospital.  It was 48 hours of the weirdest zombie movie ever.  I just kept waiting to be next while I alternated between going to my meetings and caring for my roommate.

My poor roommate was probably one of the most sick.  Everyone kept telling me it was a miracle I didn’t go down too.  My roommate told me “it’s probably all the weird vegetables you eat” hahaha.

We’d like to thank our sickness sponsors:

• bottled water
• Gatorade
• chicken broth
• saltines
• Pedialyte (which I had never heard of before this week)

FYI – if you’re in Vegas this weekend, we have cleared the whole city out of saltines and Pedialyte.

Somehow by Thursday night, about 95% of our team was able to leave their rooms to join the rest of the conference at the closing night bowling competition.

I happened to stink at bowling.  My score was 50 something.

So I fought off the sickness until Friday morning.  Where I woke up a little ill.  Luckily for me it was the most mild and didn’t last too long.  I was just very grateful to be able to get on the plane to come home.

I was also very grateful for this bowl of plain pasta last night.

We are all very grateful to have left the flu in Vegas.

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” has a whole new meaning after this week.

Have you ever been sick while on a business trip or on vacation?

Hello everyone!  I am insanely busy at my conference.  You have no idea how intense it is.  On a really cool note – Kate Walsh from Private Practice attended one of our sessions today.  I pretty much think meeting any celebrity is awesome mcpossum. 

So because I knew I was going to be so busy I got some  substitute teachers, I mean guest bloggers to write some good stuff for you. 

Here you go:

I’m Lindsey and I blog over at Sound Eats, where I’m always coming up with new recipes, sharing randomness, and practicing the art of being in tune with my health. I’m also the founder of Healthy Living Blogs. To me, community is everything. Community is the family and friends you envelop yourself with. Community is the people you find yourself surrounded by in the middle of a dark yoga studio or an early race morning. Community is the intricate network of connections you bridge, whether online or in your local community. To me, community plays a role in what defines us and makes us happy. Community is support and love, and more often than not, community is what inspires me to be a better person daily.

I’m Heather, and I ramble on at Then Heather Said, often waxing poetic about healthy living being MORE THAN nutrition and fitness, and focusing on making one healthy decision at a time. You can also find me on Team HLB.

To me, community covers a range of definitions. Community is support. Community is another way to celebrate life.  Community is encouragement.

Community does more than just lift me up and sing my praises, though. Community helps to challenge me; by teaching me things I don’t yet know, by opening my eyes to areas in which I am ignorant, and by inspiring me to constantly reach for better.  Community, and especially the healthy living blog community, makes me a better person.  Not only by helping me to become the best me possible, but by accepting all the parts of me- the past, the in-progress, and the future me. Community aids me to define my heart, my mind and my soul. Community creates, celebrates, and supports all of me.

I’m Julie, the blogger behind Savvy Eats, where I blog about eating locally and seasonally, cycling, and gardening. I am also a member of the Healthy Living Blogs team. To me, being part of a community is sharing ideas and supporting others with similar interests. Community is being able to tweet “I am hitting a wall and still have 20 miles to bike,” and getting 12 encouraging tweets back. Community is posting your most vulnerable feelings and receiving tons of supportive comments. Community is meeting someone for the first time in real life, and feeling like you’ve known them for ages. At HLB, we bring the healthy living community together by helping bloggers find others in the area, and by promoting all kinds of healthy living blogs.

Please share with us, what does community mean to you?

Also, if you haven’t heard yet:

On August 26 at 8pm ET/7pm CT, @ThermosBrand will be hosting a Cold Matters Twitter party to celebrate hydration and introduce you to our new Cold Matters Coaches.  The Coaches are a group of renowned fitness, lifestyle and nutrition experts that will share their tips and advice on how to stay healthy and hydrated, as well as more information on all of the benefits of cold hydration.  The Thermos Cold Matters Coaches include celebrity fitness trainer, Ashley Borden (@ashleyborden), fitness blogger and author Caitlin Boyle (@CaitlinHTP) and registered dietitian, Joanne Larson (@askthedietitian). All that participate are entered to win Thermos hydration bottles!

I won’t be able to attend since I’ll still be away.  Have a great tweet up if you do.

Only once you say.  Well maybe I shouldn’t have wasted it on this post because I most certainly did not run amok on my first day in Vegas.

What I did do yesterday was relax a lot.  First at the amazing pool.

I know I’m looking a little bit pink in that one.  Do not fear, I am a sunscreen maven.  I use SPF 30 for the body and SPF 40 for the face.  There is no sun burn for this sister.

Next my whole Canadian team met for dinner.  It was a delicious spread.  We had fajitas, enchiladas, and salad.  I loaded up on the greens first.  That’s a good tip when you’re doing buffet – put your salad on first.  You are likely to fill half your plate with salad and then you only have half left for all the other food (which is more likely the indulgent part.)

Speaking of indulgent.  Hello there  mister mojito.

I finished my night with a lovely relaxing bath.

Plus watching tv . . . in the bath.  Ummmmm awesome!

That’s it for me this morning.  I have to run off to breakfast and meetings.  Today is when the real work really starts.  It’s going to be an intense week.

TERRA Chips giveaway WINNNER:  Jennifer from Running With Cake.  Email me your address

Do you ever get to travel for work?

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