Race & Relax Recap – Part 2

Our first Get Moving! Race & Relax event took place this past Saturday and I’m thrilled to say it was a huge success! Eighteen lovely ladies joined forces to run in the Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K then celebrated in style at a scrumptious brunch. To keep things simple, I split my recap in half. You can read about Part 1 – Race – here.

Part 2 – Relax

Needless to say we had no problem slipping into “relax” mode after the race. Truthfully, the relax part of the event was what many of the participants were looking forward to! Once we all successfully crossed the finish line we headed over to Einstein’s in Mid-town where they were waiting to serve us a scrumptious brunch compliments of Walt Disney World Resort. The ladies had their choice of several entrees varying from Malted Banana Pancakes to the Ixtapa Scramble (scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage, tomato, red onion, jalapeno pepper, cheese, cilantro and salsa verde) to an Angus Burger. Everyone was also treated to one specialty drink to celebrate the occasion. Thumbs up to their Grilled Pineapple Sangria! I’m just sayin’.

During brunch we mixed, mingled and enjoyed the moment. We also enjoyed our fabulous swag bags sponsored by Wine Sisterhood. Each beauty received a beautiful canvas tote filled with goodies from Pampered By Adrienne, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, some other fabulous treats and of course the coveted spa gift certificates courtesy of Walt Disney World Resort.

The ladies were excited to walk in and receive their bags but they were also thrilled to receive these …

Surprise personalized trophies sponsored by The Cherry Marketing Institute

We thought it would be the perfect touch to acknowledge the ladies’ wonderful accomplishments – and we were thrilled that they were thrilled to get them.

Here are more pics from brunch:

The beauties surprised to find trophies – looking for their names

Digging in the bags to see what they’ve got

A good look at what was inside

The ladies showing off their goods

Again, I’d like to thank our wonderful sponsors - The Cherry Marketing Institute, Walt Disney World Resort, Wine Sisterhood and Pampered By Adrienne. A huge thank you to them, to Maria Bailey from BSM Media who was instrumental in helping to making this event happen, and to Corey from Econopix for documenting our special day with photos!

Looking forward to the next one …

Winks & Smiles,

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Race & Relax Recap – Part 1

Our first Get Moving! Race & Relax event took place this past Saturday and I’m thrilled to say it was a huge success! Eighteen lovely ladies joined forces to run in the Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K then celebrated in style at a scrumptious brunch. To keep things simple, I’m going to split my recap in half.

Part 1 – Race

We gathered at 7:15 a.m. to meet up before the 8 a.m. start time. Thankfully, the weather cooperated with us, we had threats of thunderstorms, but it was sunny and somewhat cool for Hotlanta so we couldn’t complain. It was fun to put faces with blog and twitter names as many of the ladies hadn’t met before. Some of us did gather the night before for an impromptu Tweet up to celebrate the race and welcome our contest winner, Fiona Bryan of Bantering Blonde and MomActive, who we flew in from Denver for the race. We had a blast at Buckhead Pizza Company where we mingled, had a drink and had the lovely Funkidivagirl and her husband @KeyInfluncer come through and do his Friday Night Mix live from our little soiree. Good stuff!

Back to the race, it was a beautiful course through the residential streets of historic Virginia Highlands in Atlanta. It was rather hilly, ahem, but the ladies did awesome – some of them even PR’d! We had runners, walkers and even “woggers” – a new term coined by the fabulous Broke Socialite. I ran with my sister, Nicole, who totally rocked it. This was her first time running since giving birth to my beautiful niece, Haven, and probably sometime before that. I decided not to pay attention to my time for this race but to focus more on making sure everyone else was happy, motivated and moving. Once Nicole and I crossed the finish line, Fiona and I went to find the walkers and finish the race with them.

I’m so proud of the Race & Relax Beauties and all that they accomplished. While a handful of them have run 3 miles before, this was a first for many and a huge notch on their belt. With that said, they definitely deserved the “Relax” part of this journey. More on that in Part 2, but for now here are some pics from the Race.

Our contest winner, Fiona, arrives to the race in style! Well, we couldn’t let her walk to the race.

Lisa C. Writes and @TheGreatDanaJ were chatting it up while we waited

Krystal Grant and new mommy Joan of All Trades were ready for their first race

The Race & Relax Beauties before the race

OK, so we were pumped and a little silly before the race, too

Me and my BlogRollin’ partner, Christie

Getting my music right, this was my new baby’s first race

The slim and trim Renee J Ross taking pics and cheering folks on after finishing the race (She PR’d – Yay, Renee!)

Me getting ready to cross the finish line. Aren’t our Powered By Red shirts cute? A huge thanks to the Cherry Marketing Institute!

All the Beauties afterwards

Still Smiling and having fun

Race & Relax had several wonderful sponsors including The Cherry Marketing Institute, Walt Disney World Resort, The Wine Sisterhood and Pampered By Adrienne. A huge thank you to them and the lovely participants for making it happen; and another big thank you to our wonderful photographer (and my brother-in-law) Corey Shelton for caputuring the morning in pictures for us!

Stay tuned for Part 2. We all had no problem Relaxing …

Winks & Smiles,

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It's Time to Get Moving!

Friday’s Confession …

I’m excited.

No, elated.

Actually, I’m beyond thrilled that tomorrow is our first Get Moving! Race & Relax event. In the morning, 20 lovely ladies will get together to support, encourage and run (or walk) the Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K in Atlanta. Afterwards, we’ll celebrate our accomplishment with a fabulous brunch and will be rewarded with spa gift certificates. *insert running-man dance here*

I’m so appreciative of the women who signed up to launch this event and to the wonderful sponsors – Walt Disney World Resort, The Cherry Marketing Institute, Wine Sisterhood, Pampered By Adrienne – who are helping to make it possible.

My goal for Race & Relax is to encourage women to get active and take care of themselves – and I’m so pleased to say we’re off to a great start. I’m looking forward to fun-filled morning and will make sure to take lots of pictures to share with you next week.

What are your plans for the weekend? Hopefully you’ll “Get Moving,” too!

Winks & Smiles,

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Bantering Blonde is Atlanta Bound

Remember last week The BlogRollers held a contest to fly one lucky winner to Atlanta to take place in our first Get Moving! Race & Relax event happening June 5, 2010? Well, I’m thrilled to announce that the lovely Fiona Bryan from Bantering Blonde and MomActive will be hopping a plane and joining us for the big day!

Fiona was on a mission to win with a whopping 19 entries and we’re excited that she’s our newest Race & Relax beauty.

We’re also pleased to welcome the Wine Sisterhood to the party! The Wine Sisterhood has signed on as the exclusive Swag Bag sponsor for Get Moving! Race & Relax. Thanks to them all the participants will enjoy a lovely bag that we are filling with fitness and relaxation goodies!

The Wine Sisterhood joins the Cherry Marketing Institute, Walt Disney World Resort and Pampered by Adrienne as sponsors for this event. We appreciate all of their support in making Race & Relax happen and are super excited for a fabulous event. We also appreciate everyone who entered the contest and look forward to hosting more events and opportunities soon!

Winks & Smiles,

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Did Someone Say Free Trip To Atlanta? Get Moving with Race & Relax

Run Wifey Run

My BlogRollin’ partner, Christie, and I are feeling so much love surrounding our upcoming event Get Moving! Race & Relax that we decided to give a little back. We are holding a contest over at The BlogRollers where one lucky lady will win registration, airfare and a two-night hotel stay to join us for the fun. What do you have to do to enter? Simply leave a comment on The BlogRoller's post here. That’s it.

It’s with the support of the wonderful blogging community and our fabulous sponsors – the Cherry Marketing Institute, Walt Disney World Resort and Pampered by Adrienne – that help make all of this possible.

Um, wait. Why are you still here? I’d love the opportunity to see you in Atlanta. Head over to The BlogRollers now. Good Luck!

Winks & Smiles,

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Get Pampered Like a Princess

Since I’ve clearly strived to become a princess over the past year, ahem, it’s no surprise that I was more than thrilled when the good folks at Walt Disney World Resort signed on as The Rest & Relax sponsor for Get Moving! Race & Relax. Participants will be pampered like princesses as they enjoy a post-race celebratory brunch and receive a spa gift certificate courtesy of Walt Disney World Resort.

Get Moving! Race & Relax is bringing together 15 women who will get moving by walking or running in the Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K Road Race on Saturday, June 5, 2010.

In addition to the brunch and spa gift certificate, the ladies will receive a training/work out schedule, the race registration and official t-shirt, Train to manage your pain with the Red Recovery Routine and a tart bottle of cherry juice courtesy of the Cherry Marketing Institute, A Get Moving! Race & Relax, "Powered By Red" race-day T-shirt sponsored by the Cherry Marketing Institute, a swag bag full of other goodies including spa products from Pampered By Adrienne, and the support of other fabulous women just like them.

I’m also thrilled that after just two weeks of registration Get Moving! Race & Relax is almost sold out! The Race & Relax beauties are already preparing for the race and supporting each other via blogging, Facebook, e-mail and Twitter. You can follow our tweets, we’re using the hashtag #RaceRelax. Or, better yet, join us! There are still a couple of coveted spots left. For more information, visit http://theblogrollersraceandrelax.eventbrite.com/.

Winks & Smiles,

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It’s Time to “Get Moving! Race & Relax”

RunWifeyRun

I’m so excited to announce the launch of my new RunWifeyRun event with my BlogRollin’ partner, Christie. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve kind of gotten into running a little bit. We’ll, it’s done wonders for my health, my weight, and even my sanity, ahem, (we all need a little release) so I decided I want to share the good feelings and benefits with you.

Introducing the inaugural Get Moving! Race & Relax event in Atlanta. Fifteen women will join forces and get moving by walking or running in the Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K (3 miles) Road Race on Saturday, June 5, 2010. Afterwards, the ladies will indulge in a post-race celebratory brunch and enjoy other special treats. Created to inspire women to take care of themselves, Get Moving! focuses on the importance of physical exercise and making time for you. It’s the first event in our RunWifeyRun initiative – a WifeSavers series designed to help wives be the best that they can be.

Starting today participants will support each other via social media by tweeting, facebooking or blogging about their journey leading up to, during and after the event. They will receive the official Virginia Highlands Summerfest 5K race registration and race swag bag; a post-race celebratory brunch, a spa gift certificate; suggested training program/schedule and resource list; train to manage your pain with the Red Recovery Routine and a tart bottle of cherry juice courtesy of the Cherry Marketing Institute; a Get Moving! Race & Relax, Powered By Red race-day T-shirt sponsored by the Cherry Marketing Institute; a Get Moving! swag bag filled with indulgent goodies; special surprises; and most importantly they will get moving and hopefully continue to take care of themselves and their bodies.

I’m thrilled that several of my bloggy buddies have already signed on as VIP Movers and will be joining me for this journey – the fabulous Broke Socialite, Krystal at KrystalGrant.com, and The Divine Miss Mommy. We’re also excited that the lovely Joan of All Trades (who is about to give birth any moment) and my sister, new mommy NikkiD13, are also signed on and ready to Get Moving! Fitness is much more fun when you’re surrounded by friends!

I’d like to extend a special thank you to the Cherry Marketing Institute for sponsoring part of this important event. Cherries have such a high level of disease-fighting antioxidants and are an excellent choice for pain relief and exercise recovery. They are sure to help us as we start exercising and Get Moving! I encourage you to learn more about cherries here and follow them on Twitter at @choosecherries.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to Get Moving! You can join us now by registering here. Hint, hint – there’s a discount if you are a WifeSavers VIP. You can also follow our journey on Twitter; we’ll be using the hashtags #Race&Relax and #RunWifeyRun.

Finally, I’d like to extend my appreciation to all of you who have been so supportive of my running adventures. Your encouragement and kind words have been extremely motivating and hope that in some way I can return some of that love to you!

Winks & Smiles,

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