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IDEA World and BlogFest 2014

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A quick recap of my recent trip to Anaheim for IDEA World 2014 and BlogFest. There are more recaps and posts to come, so stay tuned!

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I made it to IDEA and had an awesome conference! I will be doing several posts about IDEA and BlogFest on both of my blogs, so keep following for lots of recaps! I already did a post about the allergy-friendly food at the IDEA World Expo on my food blog.

IDEA World and BlogFest 2014 - FitBetty.com #IDEAWorld #Blogfest @SweatPink

I flew in Wednesday and I had a long day of travel: several short flights with several layovers and then a long shuttle ride from LAX to my hotel (1-1/2 hours), but I finally got there! It felt like forever and I was sooo glad to get off the plane! I don’t live terribly far away, so next time I will book non-stop flights so I can get there faster. Oh well, lessons learned!

Thursday morning we kicked things off with a yoga class with Stephanie Ringer – it was so good! I missed the 6 am fun run with some of the other bloggers due to the tendinitis in my heel {bummer}

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Yoga class with Stephanie Ringer

Then we heard Lorna Jane Clarkson talk about the Move Nourish Believe philosophy behind her lovely company, Lorna Jane. Their clothing is a bit expensive, but I love their company philosophy! If I had to choose a luxury fitness brand, I would choose Lorna Jane over Lululemon every time.

I don’t agree with some of the stuff that Lululemon has pulled over the past couple years, and I love the Lorna Jane philosophy, especially after hearing Lorna Jane talk about her vision for the company. I got photos with Lorna Jane! But I left my NOURISH cookbook at the hotel room so I missed getting that signed

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Lorna Jane Clarkson

All the BlogFest attendees got Lorna Jane motivational tanks! There were lots to choose from, but I chose the one befitting a chocoholic 😉

IDEA World and BlogFest 2014 - FitBetty.com #IDEAWorld #Blogfest @SweatPink

A great motivational card that came with the shirt – love this!

IDEA World and BlogFest 2014 - FitBetty.com #IDEAWorld #Blogfest @SweatPink

The opening ceremonies featured Filharmonic, industry awards, a tribute to Augie Nieto, and a keynote speech by Dyana Nyad. Great stuff!

IDEA World and BlogFest 2014 - FitBetty.com #IDEAWorld #Blogfest @SweatPink
Opening ceremonies

I loved the expo! I took several hours over a couple days to go through it! Lots of great things to see, try, and sample. More on that coming later!

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The beautiful courtyard outside the Anaheim convention center. The weather was amazing the entire time! I loved the convention center: it was beautiful, spacious, very well maintained, and clean! Nothing puts a damper on a good conference like overcrowding and gross bathrooms, so this was awesome.

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Sunday morning hike selfie!

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Sunday morning hike in Weir Canyon

On Sunday afternoon after the IDEA Convention officially finished up, I made a quick grocery store run for travel snacks for my trip home on Monday, then I went with my friend D to the beach, In-N-Out Burger, and a quick trip to the Downtown Disney. In-N-Out was awesome! I got the lettuce wrapped double burger – it was so good! The food is made fresh and you can taste the difference. It’s a once in a while treat, but it beats McD’s and BK any day!

IDEA World and BlogFest 2014 - FitBetty.com #IDEAWorld #Blogfest @SweatPink
Huntington Beach

Have I got a story to tell!! My trip home was a mess: Spirit airlines had my first layover in Dallas, then on to Denver, then finally on to Wyoming at night (Denver to Wyoming was with United airlines). My checked bag stopped in Dallas and I continued on to Denver. The airline apparently made the mistake of listing Dallas as my final destination, not Denver. Since I was switching airlines in Denver, I went to get my bag and it was gone. That was Monday, and my bag is finally scheduled to get to me today (Thursday) via UPS.

Ok, I’m going to rant a bit here: Spirit airlines is terrible!! I do NOT recommend flying with them, ever! They charge a la carte for their baggage, meaning I had to pay $31 for EACH LEG of my trip where my bag had to move from one plane to another. Since I made several stops, it added up: $120 to be exact. I over packed to begin with, then came home with loads of goodies so my bag was overweight on my way home, adding another $25 overweight bag fee.

Most airlines weight limit is 50 lbs, Spirit airlines is 40 lbs. If that wasn’t bad enough, Spirit airlines lost my bag, and refuses to refund the outrageous baggage fees for their stupidity. Once the bag arrived in Denver on Tuesday, they shipped it to me UPS instead of sending it up on a plane.

They said they could refund my baggage fees only if I picked up my bag from Denver, but since they were shipping it back they won’t refund the money. I am being punished for their mistake. That makes soooooo much sense and that is awesome customer service {snark}. Spirit Airlines = #Fail

As if that wasn’t enough, I got on the plane in Denver for my final leg home with United Airlines. I was so ready for this day of travel to be done, especially after losing my bag. We started out in our tiny plane a little bit late, but after about 15-20 minutes in the air they had to turn the plane around: the radar was out on the plane.

We had to go back to the Denver airport, de-board the plane and then board a different plane. Originally I was supposed to get home at 9:30, but I ended up getting home at midnight. This flight was with United, so I put in a request for a refund due to the flight delay. Fingers crossed!

Despite losing my bag and getting home very late, I loved the IDEA World Conference and BlogFest! I loved meeting people – that was my favorite part! In the coming days and weeks, I will post some recaps of my blogging and conference sessions, so stay tuned!

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