For Woman Crush Wednesday today I have to feature my partners-in-crime from our trip to Indianapolis for Fitbloggin: Jamie and Nicci!
After the previous week in LA for BlogFest, to say we were tired is to state the obvious…
But we unpacked, laundered, and repacked our bags, chugged some coffee, and headed for PDX. Only to arrive when Southwest’s computer system went down nationally and we stood in line for an hour and a half to check in. Though it tuned into quite a long travel day, we made all of our flights and all of our bags arrived in Indianapolis. Which is better than a lot of Southwest travelers last week can say.
THURSDAY
After sleeping in for a bit, we set out for a run along the White River Park and Canal where we were amazed by the cleanliness of the city and all the art around town. And the heat! Holy sweatiness!
For coffee, lunch, and an afternoon work session, we walked through town (again, so clean, and some pretty cool architecture!) and set up at the City Market. We got to put some of our food photography tips from Brooke to use with some amazing cold brew and “the best sandwich in Indianapolis” from Circle City Soups.
After a productive work sesh, we put our party shoes on, and headed out.
We met up with a bunch of the other attendees of Fitbloggin for happy hour at Scotty’s Brewhouse. It was so great seeing Erin, Beth, and Jill again, and meeting a few new people too! We then migrated out of downtown for dinner. Sitting down to delicious wine and smorgasbord spread at Tinker Street (that burrata though!). We ended the evening with a glass of wine at Tastings. The wine list was incredible: Orin Swift’s ‘Abstract’ and ‘Machete,’ If You See Kay, The Prisoner, Stag’s Leap ‘Artemis’ Cabernet, Silver Oak… I was in heaven!
FRIDAY
We kicked the day off with a workout with Valerie Waters and her Valslide gliders. After nearly two weeks of travel and routine interruption it felt good to be getting some HIIT in again!
We got in an midday yoga nooner at invoke (thanks for the sweat (holy sweat!), Jillian!) and found all sorts of cool street are on our way back to the conference.
Jessica Woodbury led an awesome session on SEO tricks in the afternoon. Did you know that little green light doesn’t really mean anything?? Yeah, my I’m-getting-the-hang-of-SEO bubble got burst real quick. Key takeaway points:
- Increase word count – Write at length on something that you really know about / are interested in. Don’t fight the quick Google answer.
- Use natural language.
- LINKS – Ask for links, use internal linking smartly, “no follow” compensated posts, link similar posts
- UX = User experience – Aesthetic and content
- CONTENT IS KING!
After hanging out in the expo and reception for a while, the Sweat Pink gang went to Public Greens. Not only was the meal delicious and the company super fun, but we got to eat food that was largely sourced from their on-site microfarm and help support The Patachou Foundation.
When the evening ends with dance parties in the garden and slumber parties while binging on Broad City, you know it’s been a damn good day.
SATURDAY
The coffee tour (that we’re always on, let’s be honest!) continued first thing with Bee Coffee Roasters which led to a delicious breakfast at Cafe Patachou.
Fueled up, we totally got our groove on at Zumba.
Already sweaty, we took ourselves to the park for some sunshine and yoga.
We had our last sessions at the conference in the afternoon. Due to travel issues, the speaker for the session on taking video on your phone turned into a discussion on Snapchat. We got to share all of our newfound tips and tricks from Katie Dunlop‘s Snapchat session at BlogFest and from our recent obsession with it. (Add me at lizwilson0406!)
We got to end Fitbloggin on a high note, with Jamie presenting on pitching brands and how to price your services as a blogger. It’s such a great topic that always generates tons of questions and conversation. What it mostly comes down to is to know your value when it comes to what you can offer a brand and what your time is worth. Be truly genuine with your interactions with a brand. Tell them anecdotes for your experiences with their product and why you’d be a good voice to represent them.
At this point in the day after being in the tundra that is a conference room (seriously, why do they jack the AC in those rooms so much?!), we needed to thaw out and get our sweat on. We set out for a run in the infamous Mass Ave area, where we found an abundance of really cool street art.
The sweat was real. We got so hot and drenched in sweat, we stripped down to our shorts and sports bras and immediately dove into the hotel pool to cool off. Heaven!
For our last evening in Indianapolis we decided to take a little tour back up in the Broad Ripple neighborhood. It started with champagne, roasted carrots, and grits and mushrooms at Petite Chou. Then it was off for roasted veggie chips (they legit tasted like warmer and thicker Terra chips!) and sauv blanc at Broad Ripple Brewpub. And ended with ice cream at Brics.
SUNDAY
For a 12 hour travel day, I’d say we had a lot of fun. Which may be attributed to how silly (aka exhausted) we were at this point.
I’d say we made the most out of our days in Indianapolis! All the workouts, blog learning, sweaty runs, #stopdropandyoga sessions, food explorations… And I’m so grateful to have experienced it with my ladies! During one of our evenings out there we were chatting about how amazing it was to be there and experiencing it for the first time together. I love being able to step back and recognize how special a moment is, even as it’s happening.
These ladies keep me so motivated! Motivated to stay positive, to push myself while also taking care of myself, to branch out with my creativity, to keep trying new things, to have fun and go with the flow. Who, what, and where do you get your inspiration from? Join the conversation on Instagram, and tag #sweatpink #IdealFitSummer @FitApproach @idealfit (IG) @beidealfit (T)! Check here for more details on this challenge!
I can’t wait to see what shenanigans I get into with these ladies next! Love you guys!
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Ideal Fit. All opinions are my own. I truly appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.