Six months in the planning and it’s here!!!!!
The cocktail party was a huge success!!!! We promise our color palate was not coordinated at all!
The event was held at Rustic Kitchen, an Italian-style bistro and wood-fired pizza restaurant next to the Radisson. They have been awesome to work with, and the night was a blast.
We arrived around 6:45 to get the party started!
And soon enough we had over 100 blog enthusiasts packed into the atrium!
Thanks to Hangry Mark for being our bouncer!
The menu that Tina and I, the Social Committee , planned included a selection of wood-fired pizzas, grilled veggies, a mixed greens salad, plus Wild Mushroom + Goat Cheese Bruschetta, Fried Risotto balls, and Beef Tenderloin crostini.
Rustic went above and beyond pumping out hot pizza after hot pizza, and they all tasted amazing. My favorite was the Fig Preserve Pizza!
I started the night with a club soda. I wasn’t really in a drinking mood – butterflies!!
After an hour, I decided to order and drink and realized I hadn’t had anything to eat yet! I attacked the pizzas.
MANHATTAN = the best sipping drink of all time
Stack-O-pizza varietals plus some veggies and a risotto ball
I ate dinner with these new friends!!!! I got to talk to tons of totally awesome, intelligent, kind readers (coming from as far as L.A. and Texas!), but there were so many people I didn’t even get to say hello to. Tomorrow! Come say hi!!
I had a fun conversation with these middle ladies (also drinking Manhattans!), who hail from the NYC publishing business, about the relationship between blogs and magazines. I told them I would LOVE a column in a women’s magazine – any editors who read, fo’ real!
My drink was strong, so I went back to club soda for a final drink
And had a final piece of fig pizza!
I had SO.MUCH fun tonight my voice is hoarse.
Why am I blogging at 10:24 when I should still be out partying? Because I am determined to get a good night’s rest tonight before today, which is a huge, very long, exciting day!! I’m exhausted from last night’s insomnia. So happy that I my stomach isn’t full and I’m clear-headed going to bed tonight 
Eye mask + ear plugs + blackout curtains + water + no wine = rest.
SEE YOU FOR THE 2009 HEALTHY LIVING SUMMIT!!!
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Good luck tomorrow
Aw, so fun. Have a blast tomorrow!
Fig preserves?! I can wait till my figs are ripe!
FV
That pizza looks amazing. Love your dress! Have a great, fun-filled day tomorrow!
aww good luck tomorrow! the spread looks amazing! yummmm
I love the matching-on-accident dresses! so cute!
Glad you are having a SUPERB time!
Great looking food!
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Looks like a grand time!
The food looks amazing!
Wow, unique pizza combos! Looks awesome.
Good luck tomorrow!
Jenn
Looks like sooo much fun!
I hope you get some good rest, and good luck tomorrow!
Wish I could be there
The menu looks OUTSTANDING. The fig pizza sounds so so good. Never heard of anything like that before! Get some nice rest <3
neato! neato! everything seems to be going great! Can;t wait to scope out the HLS live stream!
Great job with the summit? Why am I commenting at 1 am when I should be resting up for tomorrow? I guess I just wanted to let you guys know what a wonderful job you did. fo’ real.
Hope you get your good night’s sleep
The venue you guys chose looks perfect. I wish I could be there!
That food looks so good! Well done for being a restrained drinker, you’ll be thankful in the morning
Looks like a fun night! I can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for the rest of the weekend!
Okay, first, that fig pizza looks awesome. But so do all you ladies
Good call on getting rested up. Can’t wait to hear about today’s events!!
That looks like such a fun time! Good luck today!
Kath, it was so nice to see you again and catching up with you. You ladies did a fantastic job last night. I had a blast! Can’t wait for what you have in stored for us today. See you soon.
Good idea for catching up on sleep so you can feel good and refreshed tomorrow!
I can’t get over what a fun weekend this must be…keep having FUN! 
I’m enjoying all the recaps!
Looks like a great time! Good luck tomorrow!
The pizzas look amazing! Looked like a fun event!
You all look beautiful! What a great night – the pizzas look amazing!
Love figs on pizza. The food looks great. That lunch too. Is there going to be a “detox” theme next week from all the HLS folks?
wow all that food looks so yummy! that fig pizza sounds amazing!
that fig pizza looks AMAZING! glad you’re having such a grand time!
Thanks for all of your hard work! It was awesome!
I’m just catching up on blog reading after being in the States for a bit—the summit looks amazing! Way to Go! That fig pizza also looks great–what kind of cheese did it have on it? Glad y’all had such a great time!
Kath-
Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog! It was so nice to meet you too. I really enjoyed the whole weekend.
That fig pizza was out of this world good. Excellent choice!