Bear with me while I gush about my experience attending SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas this past week. This post is mostly for me, to preserve this feeling of total gratitude and expanded possibilities.

Deb Ng, Nathalie Lussier, Muhammad Saleem, Darren Rowse, Jonathan Fields – Photo by Think Maya

SXSW Gratitude Video

(Click here if you can’t see this video.)

SXSW Is All About The People

Before I went to SXSW, I knew that it was going to be all about meeting my cool online friends in person. I also thought the panels might be interesting.

Some panels were definitely great, but I want to reiterate that meeting people was by far the best part of my SXSW experience!

Here’s a quick rundown (in no particular order) and a big THANK YOU to all the amazing folks I met up with at the conference. If I didn’t get a chance to meet you, please comment and we’ll make plans for next year. :)

Commence Major Geeking Out

Photo by Maya

Chris Garret was a total blast to hang out with (and contrary to this, he didn’t suck!). We talked about the differences between England and America where muffins and cupcakes are concerned.

We shared some laughs with Sonia Simone about getting to know people online, and I admired her pink hair in person. :)

Deb Ng and I bonded over stories of Chinese relatives-in-law. I thought I was the only one with funny Chinese related stories!

I got to meet and hang out with copywriting masters like Brian Clark, Taylor Lindstrom, and Kelly Parkinson. Their knowledge of copywriting and online business is incredible, and getting to know them personally was even more awesome.

We grabbed a green juice with Nora at The Daily Juice, and talked online business with a touch of law of attraction, and lots of raw chocolate – yum!

Photo by Maya

Hung out in the bloggers lounge and met with Muhammad Saleem, Darren Rowse, and Aliza Sherman. I had a nice chat with Jonathan Fields and love what he’s up to! The caliber of these folks still blows me away!

On my way to Austin I had a layover in New York and I sat 2 rows away from Sarah Cooley. I recognized her from Twitter and mustered up the courage to pass her a note, then we got to sit down together and have a heart to heart.

I spotted Chris Pirillo on the first day and was too shy to go over and introduce myself. But my little geekgirl heart leaped when I recognized him.

In the “How Not to Be a Douchebag at SXSW” panel I met Violet Blue (NSFW), and laughed at her jokes. Then nodded at her growing concerns as a famous blogger.

We had a great time at the SOBCon party, meeting with Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker. There’s a joke in there about Terry being unable to find a starbucks.

Had lunch with Erica Douglas and her boyfriend Richard. I was totally star struck on the first day of SXSW. These people are so totally awesome in real life, it’s not even funny. :)

At Chris Guillebeau’s meetup I met Eileen and her husband, and it was awesome to hear about her background. There’s only so much you can learn from someone through their online presence, but one thing is for sure – they are both so awesome in person!

I got to hang out with the super smart Ali Hale, who just rocked my world with her devilishly cute British accent. Now I know why I like her so much. :)

Another great person that I finally got to meet in real life is Charlie Gilkey and his wife Angela. This man is so authentic and bright, it was just awesome to get to know him. Next year, more conversation time!

In the bloggers lounge I also met my dear friend Maya! It was a coincidence that we tweeted each other about being on the 4th floor of the ACC, and it was great to hug in real life!

Saturday night I was so stoked to meet Chris Guillebeau, who as it turns out is also even more amazing in real life. He is so generous with his time and advice, and I’m so happy we got to connect. Really looking forward to his book tour now. :)

Coincidence had it that I was able to catch Elizabeth Potts Weinstein for lunch. We chatted about business managers and our time belly dancing with pitas.

Belly Dancing at SXSW

Jennifer Haubein, Danielle Miller, ElizabethPW, Martha Chinnock, Nathalie Lussier, LuAnn Glowacz, Reese, Liz Philips, Sarah Robinson

Some of us ladies of SXSW got together to take an awesome belly dancing class! It was a new type of female bonding experience that took us all away from our iPhones and texting devices. Not to mention that it was a great work out and really fun to be dancing like this!

Speaking of dancing, I got to watch Carl Nelson in action at the New Orleans party. Definitely look him up if you want to up your dance skills!

Kyeli and Pace Smith – Freak Revolutionaries

One reason why SXSW was so incredible was thanks to these two lovely ladies: Kyeli and Pace Smith! They let me sleep on their comfy couch and hang out with their three adorable cats. They also taught me the meaning of the word barnacle, along with a few other funny words. ;)

We had some of the best conversations between midnight and 3am, and I am super duper grateful for the honor of meeting them in person and getting to hang out!

And the fun continues…

On my second night in Austin, I got to be present for the Maple Syrup inside joke that took place between Jeff Moriarty and Melle! The price of my flight was worth it just for being able to see Pace Smith laugh so hard.

I got to hang out with Johnny B. Truant, and hear his new droid phone make funny noises. Oh, and his business cards made the rounds and totally made him even more famous than he already was. Rock on.

Speaking of rocking, we played Rock Band until two or three in the morning one night. Most fun I’ve had playing video games since I was a teenager! I now understand why The Beatles got so popular. “It’s about charity!”

The night before I left we held a birthday party for Cath Duncan and Kyeli! We scared the living daylights out of poor Cath by pretending we left and then jumped out screaming “Surprise!”. Happy birthday my dears!

I got to connect with Andy Hayes, whose accent is very misleading by the way. It was great getting to know him and talking business, travel, and life!

It was great meeting Tzaddi Gordon, a fellow Canadian, and talking about web design. It was so cool to meet her because I had seen her site before and really admired the designs she had!

I finally met Karl Staib of Work Happy Now, and it was great talking about business and life together. His sincerity and joy-of-life really shines through!

I finally got to meet Martin Whitmore (the man responsible for my awesome witchy logo) in person! This guy has such a fun personality, and we took full advantage of the Bing photobooth.

You can read about his adventures wearing a kilt here too. Oh, and yes I did escape without getting eaten, or turned into a zombie of any kind. I’m a witch after all!

It was fun talking to Robert Dempsey about our businesses, and what it’s like being a multi passionate entrepreneur.

I also had the pleasure of meeting and hugging the super sweet Adam Baker. I’m really impressed with all he’s done for himself online and it was great meeting him in person!

Brunch with Colleen Wainwright revealed more awesomeness about the lovely Communicatrix. Also I learned about a new non-martial martial-art called Nei Kung. Sweet stuff!

During the Freak Revolution meetup I got to hang out with the ever lovely Lynnivere. It was great to connect with her in person and hear her raw food journey story.

That’s also where I met Chris and Cherie from Technomadia. I was pleasantly surprised to see their trek across America and I invited them to come visit me in Toronto! :)

Gala Darling, Nathalie Lussier, Molly Crabapple

On the first day of SXSW I was a total fangirl and asked to get my photo taken with the super sweet Gala Darling and Molly Crabapple. I love these ladies.

More Awesome People…

Naomi Dunford – Photo by Maya

I got to hang out with the ever flavorful Naomi Dunford and Megan Morris. These ladies launched some stuff during the conference and they were just rocking it! Big hugs – *muah*!

More Toronto-ish peeps I got to meet include Scott Stratton, and Melanie Baker. Yay Canadians! ;)

Kelly Kingman was a total sweetheart and pleasure to hang out with. She also let us have parties at the swankiest pad ever, and we got down to the nitty gritty of online business together!

Another New Yorker I had the coincidental pleasure of meeting is John Keefe. It was fun talking about specialists vs. generalists and I’m eager to see what he is up to!

It was also really awesome to meet Andrea Ramirez and her husband Mark. Andrea and I really connected because of our shared passion for health and online biz, woohoo!

I also met Michelle and her husband Matt. Her sense of style is definitely wicked and I loved trying to anticipate what color her hair would be the next time I met her! We talked comics, biz, and blogging, woohoo!

The same night I first hung out with Michelle and the gang, we visited the Marble Cows. We also got to hang out with Steve Spalding and Nathan. Everyone was running low on sleep, so we came up with some hilarious book titles!

Talk About a Whirlwind Experience

Last but not least it was awesome almost-meeting TheGirlPie!

I’m sorry if I missed you at SXSW, or if I met you but forgot to include you in this post. Leave a comment or tweet me and I’ll rectify that immediately. :) I blame lack of sleep and too much awesomeness for that.

So what did I learn at SXSW? That life is short and there are too many awesome people to meet. Also, that writing this post is a great way for me to not-forget everything as I move my business and blog forward!

Big hugs everyone!

I am super excited to announce the release of my latest recipe book!

It’s called “11 Snacks to Silence Your Stomach“.

I’ve been working hard preparing, measuring, and photographing each of these recipes. These are all tried and true recipes that I make regularly.

They’ve even got my boyfriend Robin’s seal of approval. If you know him or how he likes to eat then you’ll understand that he is very picky. ;)

Why Free?

Why am I giving this delicious snack recipe book away, you ask?

Because I believe it’s great to give back to every one of you who have made my business what it is today.

But I’m also releasing it to give you a taste of what kind of recipes I like to put together. Because once you know how great tasting some of these raw recipes can be, you’re a lot more likely to sign up for my latest project when I unveil it. ;)

More Recipes and Menu Plans

After you’ve devoured the deliciousness which is the “11 Snacks to Silence Your Stomach” ebook… make sure you keep an eye out for my future emails and videos.

I’ll be announcing and unveiling my latest project – code named The Magick Menu!

Lots of love and snackish goodness!

Mindful Monday is a tradition where we take a few minutes to reflect on the week gone by and the one ahead.

Feel free to join in the fun by commenting!

What Are You Grateful for This Week?

• International Women’s Day: It’s time to celebrate International Women’s day, and what better way than with The Women’s International Summit for Health? I’ve been sending out links to WISH to my newsletter subscribers for the past few weeks in anticipation for today. Because we really need to celebrate women and women’s health together.
• Thought Provoking Movies and Good Food: Friday night I enjoyed an evening in good company at one of Toronto’s raw restaurants called Rawlicious. (I loved the raw pizza I had, super double yum!) We watched the movie The Yes Men Fix the World, and it was a very relaxed but insightful movie followed by great conversations.
• An Awesome Walk by the Lakeshore: Sunday my boyfriend Robin and I took the most amazing walk along the lake shore. It was sunny, it felt like spring, and there were these gorgeous sea birds out on the lake. It was a great way to get reconnected to nature. It made me realize how much I love being outside in it.

What Do You Intend for the Coming Week?

• Lots of Ease in Finishing my Work: I’m heading to SXSW in a few days and I have this massive to-do list to finish. I intend to check things off easily, in a flowing way that doesn’t cause me stress or worry. I know everything will get done.
• Simple, Quick, Packing: I’m generally good at packing and organizing before a trip (see my how to eat healthy at SXSW post) but I want this time to be stress-free. I know that the weather in Austin is going to be warmer than here, but I’m ready to pack a little variety to make sure I’m comfortable no matter what.
• An Awesome Time in Austin: I intend to meet some awesome people, learn some cool stuff, and enjoy myself at SXSW. Looking at the schedule at SXSW is a little overwhelming. I know it’s all about hanging out in the Bloggers Lounge or meeting people between sessions rather than trying to fit every panel in.

Note: I will be back with more Mindful Monday in two weeks from now!

Leave a comment below and let us know what you’re grateful for today and what you intend for the coming week. :)

Next week I’m flying out to Austin, Texas to attend the South by Southwest Interactive conference, also known as SXSW.

Traveling always involves a lot of planning from the plane tickets to the accommodations. One of the things that I’ve found incredibly useful is to also plan out my healthy eating strategy.

To give you a glimpse into what I’m doing to get ready for SXSWi here are my suggestions to eat healthy at SXSW…

Note: All of these recommendations are based on my extensive travel experience throughout Europe and Asia. I learned a lot of these the hard way, so you don’t have to. :)

Eating Raw on the Plane

If the first part of your journey takes you on an airplane, you’ll need to bring some food that you can eat immediately.

I like to bring some fruits that don’t bruise easily like apples, peaches, plums, and so on. I also usually bring a few bananas to eat at the gate while I’m waiting for my flight.

I have had trouble bringing oranges onto a plane going from Canada to the United States. The citrus import laws are different, but it still baffles me that you can’t bring and orange that was grown in Florida back into the United States. Anyways, that’s just my little rant.

In general you can bring fresh fruits and vegetables onto a plane, as long as you plan on eating them in the air. They just don’t want you to declare any plant products at customs when you land.

Bring Food From Home

There are certain things that you can pack and bring with you, saving you time and effort once you arrive.

Dehydrated Snacks

If you have a dehydrator you can make some fruit leather to pack with you. I’ve already made a large batch of green smoothie “leather”, that’s just a green smoothie that I’ve dehydrated.

I’ll be bringing several sheets of green smoothie leather in a baggie and it makes a great snack because it’s light and super nutritious.

Make a Trail Mix

Another great thing to bring is a trail mix or some nuts and seeds. You can bring a few different types of nuts or you can just mix them all ahead of time. This is an awesome snack if you need something a little heavier too.

Pack Larabars

Of course you can always bring along a few Larabars or other raw bars. These pack well and no one will confiscate a packaged bar from you as you board your plane.

They’re also very much like a treat, so carry one with you if you feel tempted by unhealthy desserts or snacks while you’re out.

Do Your Research

You can always do research about nearby restaurants and juice bars before you leave. If you leave it to the last minute or plan to do it once you arrive, you’re a lot less likely to follow through.

Here are a few Austin specific restaurants and juice bars, just to get you started:

• Beets Cafe: Raw restaurant and cafe, with good reviews.
• Barboleta Gourmet: Raw restaurant opening up again right before SXSW.
• Daily Juice: Fresh juice bar, a bit out of the way but may be close to where you’re staying.
• Yelp List of Juice Bars: A massive list of juice bars in the Austin area.
• Eat Well Guide Austin: I’m not the only one with the idea of eating healthy at SXSW. Download your Eat Well Austin guide here.

How did I find these places? One of my favorite vegetarian friendly restaurant review sites is called Happy Cow. Check out the Vegetarian restaurants in Austin.

Get Thee to a Grocery Store

One of the first things I like to do when I land is to find a grocery store. You can research these before you leave and find the closest one to your hotel.

Some of stuff I buy when I go to a grocery store on a trip include:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Oranges
• Baby carrots
• Whatever vegetables look good

Bring a Reusable Water Bottle

I’ve found that the most important trick to stay healthy when traveling is to drink plenty of water. It’s hard to think of drinking water when you’re always on the go, so bring your own reusable water bottle.

They may make you empty your water bottle before you board the plane but at least you’ll have it when you land and you can use it throughout your trip.

Trust me when I say that drinking more water can make the difference between getting sick or feeling tired. Water is definitely more important than food in this way.

Prepare Ahead of Time

Bring food with you everywhere you go, even if you’re going to a restaurant at some point during the day. You never know when you’ll be hungry or faced with nothing but a vending machine.

Another tip is to bring a blender with you, or find out if anyone will have one with them. This may be a little bit hardcore for some people, but I know that I personally do better with a green smoothie or green juice daily.

If you don’t bring a blender then you can definitely get green juice at most juice bars.

I usually bring a few whole fruits with me wherever I go, along with some nuts, and a water bottle.

It may seem heavy, but when you’re getting a lull in energy it’s totally worth it to take out a banana from your bag and feel satisfied.

Go with the flow & have fun!

After all of these tips, I’m going to recommend that you not be too hard on yourself! After all, you’re going to SXSW or whatever event you’re going to for a reason. And it’s probably to have fun, learn some stuff, and meet great people. Not to be obsessed about the food.

You’ll probably eat something that you wouldn’t have eaten were you in your normal environment. That’s fine!

Like I mentioned in my how to eat raw when you’re eating out post, it’s a lot more about your attitude than it is about the food itself.

So enjoy yourself, be gentle on yourself, and enjoy the great company. :) If you’ll be at SXSW interactive, follow me on Twitter and be sure to say hi!

Got Any More Recommendations?

The tips in this post are all based on my experience, but I know you’ve also got some great tips and expertise to share.

Leave a comment below and let me know what has worked for you, and what you recommend for making the best of SXSW and travel!

One of the questions I get asked all the time is what do you do when you have guests over? Especially if your guests are not raw or even aware that you’re into eating more raw food.

Well there’s a simple way to deal with that. It’s all about making food that most people would recognize, except instead of buying it in a can or a box you make it yourself.

With that in mind, I’d love to share with you a recipe that is a huge hit with both raw and non-raw friends and family.

My Wicked Guacamole Recipe

Most people will thank you for serving up such a fresh wholesome snack. With the rampant access to unhealthy snacks, everyone is working hard to make healthy choices. You’re actually making it easy for them to eat right!

If you’re really worried that people will want something that’s not raw – you can pair this guacamole recipe with some organic corn chips or some raw crackers.

The dinner itself can be a more traditional dinner with some cooked options. But you can rest easy knowing that you’ve plied your guests with more than their recommended dose of veggies for the day!

More Raw Snack Recipes Coming Your Way…

On the guacamole video page you’ll notice a sign up box to get more recipes. Once you’re on that list you’ll get access to my upcoming free recipe book.

So go ahead, get on the goodies list – and let’s make some delicious snacks for ourselves!