Today I had a hot lunch date with three lovely ladies at the Virgin Olive Market in downtown Orlando.
If you’re an avid blog reader, you may recognize Tina, Meghann and Kelly from their amazing blogs. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with Tina and Meghann before, but it was my first time meeting (the newly engaged!) Kelly. Such a fun and friendly group!
Tina is in Florida for her family’s annual trip to Daytona Beach, so we all got together for a long lunch since she was in our home state.
Once we were all seated, we looked at the menu and I found myself feeling indecisive as to what to order. When I heard Meghann and Kelly discuss a sandwich called The Big Cheese, I was immediately intrigued. Cheese? Big? Sign me up!
The sandwich was essentially a caprese salad on bread, with roasted red pepper and thick, creamy buffalo mozzarella cheese serving as the shining star. I ordered my sandwich on whole wheat bread and was pleasantly surprised when I bit into bread that had seeds and nuts in it. I love hearty whole wheat!
The food at the Virgin Olive Market was on point. It was fresh, flavorful and extremely delicious. No bite left behind!
We met up for lunch around noon and didn’t leave for a good two hours! As a blogger, I love getting together with other bloggers because it is so nice to talk about something I love so much with other people who feel the same way about blogging.
In a normal work environment you have coworkers to talk to about your job who can relate to things you’re saying, but when it comes to blogging, it can be a bit lonely when you have questions or need someone to lean on who understands the annoyances of website server issues or the sting of a hurtful comment. You don’t really have a boss you can turn to with questions (and I always have millions!) or a coworker you can depend on for support. It’s funky like that, and I love it oh-so-much. I jump at any chance to get together with other bloggers! (Also, if you’re a blogger and are looking to meet up with other bloggers in your area, definitely check out HealthyLivingBlogs.com for a list of healthy living blogs by location!)
When I arrived home from lunch, the top of my neck felt a little itchy and when I went to scratch it, look what I found:
Whoops. Looks like I forgot to remove the tag from my necklace! I guess I was in a hurry to get out the door and didn’t even realize it was still on. Thank goodness I wore my hair down! I wonder if the other bloggers thought I was some kind of a klepto?
Of Possible Interest:
- The Fashion page was updated today!
- 10 Toning Moves to Do at Your Desk (FitSugar.com)
- 5 Healthy Hummus Recipes (Shape.com)
Guest Post Round Up:
This week I had the pleasure of contributing guest posts to three different amazing blogs. Here are the links if you’d like to check them out:
- All-Time Favorite Playlists (BessBeFit.com)
- Top 5 Foods I Enjoyed in Europe (TheF00dieDiaries.wordpress.com)
- Treadmill Interval Workouts (SweetToothSweetLife.com)
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Yum that sandwich looks amazing…. I hate when I accidentally leave tags on stuff… Like those almost invisible size tags on shirts….
It’s so nice that you were all able to get together! We’re working on planning a Chicago blogger meet up for a couple weeks from now! 🙂
That sandwich looks cheesily delicious! 🙂
awww chicago!!! i love it there!
ooo YAY that looks delicious!!!!!! what a fun meetup! i recognize those gals!
um how cool is that lunch date?!! Looks like a delicious party 🙂
I’ve left tags on clothes before….and then I laugh at myself. hah
So jealous of your blogger lunch! I’d love to meet all of those ladies. There aren’t too many other bloggers in my neck of the woods, though I’ve met a couple.
What a fun meet-up! I agree, it’s SO nice to have other bloggers to talk to and discuss all things blog related (good things and annoying things!!) In the meet-ups I’ve been to, I love how we come together totally not knowing each other at all, but by the amount of chatting that goes on, you’d think we’d all known each other for years!
probably b/c we all stalk each others’ lives. 🙂
thanks for the website ill have to check for bloggers in my area!! sandwich looks delish I love caprese salads!
That sandwich looks off the hook good! Jealous if your little blogger meetup!
What a fun group! And that sandwich has me drooling…
I would eat that sandwich dangerously often if I lived nearby! Thanks for sharing the link to find other bloggers – I hadn’t heard of that site before!
I love seeing blogger meet-ups! Such a fun group – glad you were able to see all of them!
That sandwich looks so good!!! I am getting together for the 2nd time with a few Austin bloggers next week and I’m very excited too!
P.S. you may or may not have entered my dream at some point last night… my task that you gave me was to burn a dvd of a slideshow you wanted for a wedding. Hmmmm…. maybe it’s a glimpse into the future on blogger island 🙂
hahaha i love it!
Oh your meetup looks AWESOME! I would have loved to be there!!!! 🙂
wish YOU could’ve joined us! are you going to HLS?
No girl, I’m not. I am going on a couple other blog/photography-related trips and couldnt swing HLS, too. So many options, so little time (and oh yeah, budget…haha) I know you’ll have a blast.
LMK if you’re going to FBuzz in Nov.?
I always crack a little smile when I see someone else leave a tag on their clothes.
My favorite thing to do is to go up to my students and say, “is that new?” They’re like “how did you know?” And then I tell them they still have the tag on. Ha!
I’d love to meet Tina — she seems like such a genuine and kind person.
I’ve done that before — found tags and such on my clothes. Once I forgot to take the sticker thing off my jeans — you know that long strip that has your size number on it? Yeah that was on the back of my leg for a few hours. Oh well!
The worst is when you forget to take off the long size stickers on jeans! Whooops!
Love the necklace, though, BR has gorgeous jewelry 🙂
You girls are so dang pretty! That grilled cheese looks out of this world good. 🙂
Awww you guys look so cute! I’m so jealous that you got to meet up with Tina. If only I wasn’t in Dallas right now.
That sandwich looks fantastic! Is Virgin Olive Market new(ish)?
i was so good! i’m not sure if it’s new, but it was my first time ever going there. meghann recommended it!
I get so many hurtful comments on my blog as well 🙁 They really sting sometimes but you just have to move on.
You look gorgeous btw! I love being tan and wearing white dresses ha 🙂
I literally live two a block away from Virgin Olive…I LOVE rolling out of bed on Sundays for their breakfast or grabbing a yuengling draft on the way home from work!
Ahhhh I love all four of you 🙂
ahhh I want the big cheese now! It looks so good and simple. what is that little salad on the side? it looks refreshing!
That sammy looks like the jam! Thanks for linking to that site! Maybe I will be able to hook up with some bloggers in my area! 🙂
Oh wow, that sammy looks good!
I was at a bridal shower this weekend and left the tag on my new capri’s! Luckily my best friend noticed and told me! So embarrasing!
What a fun lunch Julie and I love that white dress. (obviously…when do I not love what you wear??)
I’d love to meet up with bloggers in Washington, DC. It’s great that the 4 of y’all were able to hang out and talk blog! Lunch looked amazing too.
That sandwich looks amazing!!!! 😀 Blogger meet ups sound like so much fun! 😀
love your dress! adorable.
That looks like so much fun! I would love to meet the girls behind the blogs I’ve read religiously for over a year now (PBfingers was the first blog I ever found :)) and who have inspired me to start one!
Looks like you had so much fun! I would love to meet you guys some day — I follow each of your blogs religiously haha
OMG that sandwich looks ABSOLUTELY delicious!!!!
i hear ya on the blogging… i learned real quick to not talk too much about it with my husband – he just doesnt get it.
This has nothing to do with blogging but your itchy neck comment made me chuckle. One time I went for my usual run on a busy road and I had on my favorite shorts. I couldn’t figure out why the back of my leg itched so bad. Turns out, I had a dryer sheet hanging from the edge of my shorts. Talk about embarrasing.
I do this all the time! I am always finding tags in my clothing! I”m going to have to check out the Banana outlet for some jewelry..super cute!
Your meet up looks like so much fun!! 🙂
I do that all the time with the tags…it’s such a bad habit!
Haha BIG CHEESE! Thats a great same for a sandwich!
*name! My bad!
I loved hanging out today! Just a little preview of the fun we’ll have rooming together in August. Can’t wait! 🙂
Hanging out with bloggers is the best, I agree. I always leave meetups feeling so motivated and excited about blogging!
I love readings about blogger meet ups! Plus it always gives me some new ones to follow!
visiting from bess be fit and SO happy that I found your site! It’s fabulous!! I have a healthy living site too and enjoy reading others’ to find new and exciting ways to make healthy living FUN!
Great wedding pics too..what a beautiful dress 🙂 I will totally be visiting often!
Tag aside, I love that necklace!
I love reading about blogger meetups! Tina and I actually went to HS together, so I hope to see her next time we’re both in Atlanta!
Yay how fun! I love meeting other bloggers! I met Tina at Fitbloggin, and i absolutely LOVE her 🙂
That sandwich looks amazing!
Your necklace tag reminds me of a funny story: My junior year of high school I wore a beautiful white and orange dress to prom and was in a big hurry getting ready in time. When I got home that night, I took off the dress and found the price tag still on it!!! I was so confused because no one ever saw it, even my mom who sewed my dress to my bra (didn’t know about fashion tape then). So weird, and to this day I still have no idea how I got through the whole night without realizing or someone telling me about it! 🙂
Thanks for the link to locate blogs by location. I think so many bloggers have SO many questions.. but no where to go with them. Maybe I’ll luck out and find some bloggies in my area!
It was so nice to finally meet you today!
So awesome that you got to have a nice lunch with some other bloggers.
It’s funny though that you mentioned forgetting the tag on your necklace. There were two times that I can really remember that I went out to eat and totally didn’t realize that I still had the tag on my clothes. Once on my shoes (mesh – completely noticeable!) and another time a HUGE tag on the back of my dress (thankfully inside of the dress!) and the only reason I noticed it is because Frank put his hand on my back and was like what the heck do you have in there…? haha woops! 🙂
Hi, Julie! I have been following your blog for awhile now, but never posted!
That sandwich looks amazing! I am confident you will make it exceptionally well without the job! Rooting for you!
Thanks for the tip on HealthyLivingBlogs, I’ve been wondering if there are any bloggers up here!