Intro to OrchardDay11

Remember that time I mentioned I was in Gettysburg?

I’ve been meaning to share more of my experience with you for quite a few days.  I keep sitting down to write a post about my trip, and feel completely overwhelmed.  I have so much to tell you – so much I want to share about my trip to Gettysburg and all I learned about Musselman’s. 

disclaimer: Musselman’s graciously paid my travel and accommodations for this trip.  As always, I promise to give you my 100% honest opinion.  I’m all about the truth, yo!

I finally decided that because I had so much to say about my time in Gettysburg, it would be best to split the stories into parts, rather than try to fit all the great details into one rambly, way-too-wordy, post. 

So, onto the beginning, eh?

 

A few notes about my air travel from Albany to BWI to meet the Musselman’s group:

• I am so happy that the Albany airport is my home airport.  It’s small, but not annoyingly so.  I enjoy looking at the decor.  And Free-Wi-Fi all throughout the building. 
• I love that this flight was super short, but the plane was not tiny.  The flight lasted less than an hour, but the rows were three-chairs-wide on each side of the aisle. 
• A man bought me a drink on the plane. It was a bloody mary. It was tasty. And I took it as a good omen for the trip for it to start out this way.

 

After meeting up with the remainder of the group inside the airport, we hopped into a limo SUV which was taking us the 90+ minute drive to Gettysburg.  I hadn’t met any of the other bloggers prior to this trip, and was extremely excited for the opportunity to make some new friends and make some connections with bloggers who wouldn’t consider themselves in the “healthy living” genre.

The ride to Gettysburg was filled with laughter, snacking, and the standard getting-to-know-you-s you would expect when nine women get together for the first time.  I had a blast getting to know all the ladies in the limo ride over.  The closer and closer we got to the hotel, the more I realized I would soon be falling in love with Gettysburg. 

We pulled up to the hotel, and each got our room keys.  When I made myself up to the top floor of the building, I was more than excited to see this view after opening the window:

So quaint! Totally adorable! 

We had a few hours of time to ourselves before we were scheduled to meet up for cocktail hour in one of the banquet rooms of the hotel.  I took a around Gettysburg, reading many historical fun facts and putting my camera to use.  You can check out some of the photos of my site seeing adventure in the Orchard Day 11 Facebook album on the THS fan page. ]

After spending some alone time in my awesome hotel room [spacious, a fireplace and a view like above? yes, please!] and testing some new fun make up products, I made my way to the cocktail party.

Musselman’s really went above and beyond in order to make myself and the other bloggers visiting feel welcome.  Every moment of the trip we were completely taken care of and Kelly, our Musselman’s contact, did such a great job in making sure we were constantly without need.  She arranged special meals for dietary restrictions, added the smallest details to make our days the most extra of special, made sure we were always enjoying ourselves and that any questions we had along the way received answers.  And can we just discuss the adorableness that takes place in an apple-shaped sugar cookie?

At the end of the evening, I was super excited to wake up and spend the day learning all there was to know about Musselman’s with my new friends; Renee from What Mommies Need, Jennifer from Thrifty Girl, Amie of The Healthy Apple, Amanda of The Nutritionist Reviews, Kelly from Star Impulse, Sammie from Sammie’s Blog of Life, Haley of Love, Life, Family and then Some, and Cecilia from Cool Baby Kid.