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On The Road Again!

Guess where I am right now?  Betcha can’t.  New York City, baby!

Me and my bright ideas, I thought I’d just drive in.  I mean, how bad can it be, driving in NYC?  I drive in Philly.  Of course, NYC is bigger, but still.  Cities are cities, unless it’s Boston, and then all bets are off because Boston drivers are notoriously insane.  Oh yeah, but I used to drive in Boston, so I can drive anywhere.  Or I could, when I was used to driving in Boston.  But that was almost 20 years ago, so I guess you could say I’m a little rusty.

But the good news is, I made it, and I’m alive, and I didn’t have an anxiety attack, which is always a successful trip.  Although next time I think I’ll take the train.

So I arrived at the hotel, which shall remain nameless until I’m home again safe and sound, and there to my wondering eyes was a MacBook lineup behind the front desk.  I knew I’d found my people.

Right now I’m in my room, waiting for the concierge to bring me an Ethernet cable or some such technological doohickie so that I can access the Internet and trying to ignore the Snickers bar that is calling my name from the minibar.

I have a love-hate relationship with the minibar.  When I get a hotel room without the minibar, I am disappointed that there are no snacks to peruse.  But when I do get a room with the minibar, I spend every waking moment that I’m in my room trying not to give in to my cravings.  I know, I’m high maintenance.  I’ve been told.

So before you ask why I’m in New York (I know how nosy you Internets are) I’ll go ahead and tell you.  I was invited to the Smart Choices Program launch event.  You know this blogging gig, it’s a tough life.  Snicker…  Seriously, though, I love traveling, and I plan to enjoy this trip to the fullest because it’s the last one for a while.

Oh, and can I just tell you?  When I checked in, the guy at the front desk gave me a swag bag from the Smart Choices peeps, and it had a Flip Ultra inside!?  How fun is that!???

So the Smart Choices Program is a new uniform front-of-pack nutrition labeling program designed to promote public health by helping shoppers make smarter food choices.  Frankly, I am wary of any nutrition labeling program, as I basically think that most processed foods are of the devil, but I’m going in with an open mind.  (Can’t you tell?  Ha.)  No, really, I know processed foods are here to stay, and I hope this will be a helpful program.  I’ll let you know more about it later in the week.

This is the first blogging event where I don’t know a single person who is coming.  I know OF some of the other bloggers, but I haven’t had much, if any communication with them before.  I meant to visit some of their blogs and leave comments this past week, to at least introduce myself, but I never got around to it, so I’m going in cold.  Wish me luck.  As outgoing as I can be at times, I tend to get shy when I don’t know anyone.

In less than an hour, we’re supposed to meet in the lobby to go to dinner.  In my experience with these trips, dinner on arrival night is usually the most fun part of the whole trip.  That’s when we get to hang out, mix and mingle, and usually the food is divine.  I really appreciate how the companies who host these blogger events go all out to show us a good time because let’s face it, most of us mommy bloggers don’t get out much.   I know I don’t.

I love eating out, but we don’t do it very often.  Either we have to take the kids with us, and I spend half the night in the bathroom waiting for my 3-year-old to choose a toilet that is clean enough for her royal hiney, or we leave the kids at home and we spent their college fund on babysitting.  As a result, eating out is a rare and decadent treat these days.  All that to say, I’m looking forward to dinner.

And on that note, I better start getting my act together here.  You can follow our event on Twitter, if you’re so inclined.  Our hashtag is #smartchoicespgm.  And with that, I’m signing off from the Big Apple!

Join The Conversation

15 Responses

  1. Hey there Jo-Lynne
    First time visiting your blog and I’m loving it.
    Have a fab time in NYC.
    Enjoy the launch, mingling, dining out on delicious food and doing the things you love to do.
    There’s probably even time for a pedicure!
    Have fun.

  2. OMG, you’re too funny! You’re a braver person than me. I never cared for driving around NYC. Sounds like you’re having fun. Enjoy and looking forward to the days activities ahead of you!

  3. Have a fun trip!

    I am with you on the driving thing. Having driven in bumper to bumper daily traffic in Denver I dismissed everyone who told me NOT to drive into DC for a job meeting. I thought middle of the day, no problem! Was I wrong, I had to call and say I was late due to traffic and the 45 minute drive home was 3 hours due to horrible downtown DC gridlock. I literally sat at the front of the same stoplight for 10 cycles. I will not be driving into NYC EVER! Luckily there are buses that are $20 or less roundtrip from Baltimore and everyone who has taken them says they are nice.

  4. You do the blogging community proud my friend. LOL. I wish I were there with you, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab that Snickers bar and eat it so you wouldn’t have to. It’s just the kind of gal I am. I’m very helpful like that!
    Have a great time.
    Kim

  5. I would NEVER drive in NYC… although in my younger foolish days I did drive in DC! These days I don’t like to drive outside of Maine!! Have fun.

  6. I am secretly jealous. I really do wish to be one of the better bloggers so that I can attend events like these some day. Keep us posted with all of the excitement.

  7. I’ve driven into NYC as well!!! I was so excited!
    it was the driving out that was a problem, hours upon hours to get through the tunnel and into New Jersey,,tons of construction in NJ…ugh!!! That was @ the end of June, hopefully it is not so bad anymore!!

  8. LOL, Lain. I am not entirely sure, frankly, how they choose bloggers for these trips. I guess it’s a combination of perceived influence (yoiks!), positive interaction in the blogosphere (did I ever mention that I hate that word?), and blog content (this was about nutrition, which I’ve been discussing a lot lately) and luck? I’m sure it helps to be active in the blogging and Twitter communities.

    I’ve actually asked that question of various PR folks, and I haven’t really gotten a straight answer yet.

  9. Good for you for making the drive through NYC. You’re right about Boston – scariest place to drive. Ever. And I’ve driven in L.A. Not NYC though, just taken the train…

    Oh, and processed food is the devil for sure. Check out Good Food, Great Medicine by Miles and Mia Hassell. Scientific evidence to support a whole foods Mediterranean diet and 30 minutes of activity per day for reducing the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more… Written by an MD out of Portland, OR. With recipes. Great book. And Dr. Hassell is great. I heard him talk last week and was really impressed.

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