Dust Bunnies + Collagen 

Here’s a recap of my trips to DC with Compass Datacenters and Austin with Ancient Nutrition.

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Hello hello! Last week was a big travel week for me with back-to-back work trips with Compass Datacenters and Ancient Nutrition! I left town on Easter and came back on Thursday morning, heading to Washington, DC and then Austin, TX. It’s been a while since I’ve traveled alone like this, and I had a great time! 

The logistics of this trip were a bit crazy with both trips being back-to-back. Here’s what I did:

• Drove to Dulles airport and parked my car
• Took the Metro (1 hour) into DC
• Walked to the JW Marriott; spent the night
• Walked to the media day
• After the media day, walked back to the Metro and went back to Dulles
• Moved my car across the street to the Marriott Airport
• Spent the night
• Flew to Austin the next morning
• Showered in the spa 
• Collagen Conference! 
• Spent the night at the Fairmont
• Collagen Conference day 2
• Flew home, got in late
• Took the shuttle to the Marriott Airport; spent the night
• Woke up rested and drove home!!!

WHEW! So here’s all the fun in between car/metro/airplane travel. 

Digital Dust Bunnies with Compass Datacenters

I mentioned in my newsletter that I partnered with Compass Datacenters for their 2025 Digital Dust Bunnies campaign for Earth Day. You probably saw my blog post about cleaning your digital closet, and I also posted some Instagram tips for spring cleaning your devices. The main event of this campaign was a satellite media tour. This is when you’re in a remote television studio and get plugged into morning news and radio shows all over the country! The is the second time I’ve done this (the first being with a probiotics brand in 2017). 

I spent weeks preparing for the day, studying talking points and practicing them in mock interviews. While I do know my digital clutter very well, you never know what they’re going to ask you live! 

I drove up to Washington on Easter Sunday and made my way to the JW Marriott where I enjoyed a lovely salmon salad dinner before I nested for the night. I was asleep by 9 so I’d be bright eyed for my day!

The media tour started at 8, and I got there at 7 for makeup, hair, and breakfast. LOVED my long fake lashes! Here’s the pic I took later to preserve the look. It sure would be nice to have my makeup done more often haha. 

Media started around 8 and went almost straight through to 1pm with just a few breaks. I plugged into 15+ stations and gave the same messaging over and over. It didn’t go flawlessly, with a few awkward moments on my part, but it went really well overall! 

Watch one of my clips here!

Curious if any of you saw the interviews on your news! My mom said one of her friends did. 

Overnight in Dulles + Travel to Austin

After the media day concluded, I made my way back to the airport via the Metro and crashed into my hotel room for the afternoon / evening. 

I took the first flight out to Austin, but of course not before stocking up on food from the Capital One Lounge!! My happy airport place. 

Mid flight salad + sandwich

The Fairmont Austin

Our collagen event was at The Fairmont Austin, which was super nice!! My room wasn’t ready upon arrival, so I actually went to shower and get dressed in the spa (that was an expensive shower – eeek!) But I did use the sauna while I was in there! Loved all the Rose 31 products, too. 

My room was so beautiful!

Loved the walk-in shower and plant in the bathroom. Plus more of those Rose 31 Le Labo products!

Collagen Conversation with Ancient Nutrition

Ancient Nutrition had about 40 Registered Dietitians to Austin to huddle about college and learn more about the brand. I’ll be honest that I wasn’t familiar with Ancient Nutrition prior to this trip, but I learned so much about what a great company they are and also how I should’ve started taking collagen years ago! 

A few high-level takeaways on collagen:

• Collagen declines a little each year starting at age 30.
• It’s hard to get enough from a real food diet because we don’t eat a ton of slow-cooked meats or bone broth like our ancestors did. 
• It supports SO many different processes in the body from gut, reproductive, and joint health to hair, skin, and nails. 
• It’s a great way to get a little extra protein in your day, whether you’re adding it to smoothies or your morning coffee or stirring it into soups or baked goods. 
• Ancient Nutrition’s Multi Collagen has 10 different types 
• If you’re a woman over the age of 35, you should probably be taking it! I have already started adding it to our morning smoothies. 

We met with the Ancient Nutrition team who shared lots of details about the brand’s commitment to R.A.N.C.H. (regenerative agriculture, nutrition, climate, health), Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™) farms, B Corp status, and ingredient quality and transparency. Basically, they’re doing all the good things! And they are really dedicated to helping their ideal customer, women my age, support her health. I was very impressed!

Get $10 off your first collagen order with my link

Dinner at Geraldine’s 

We wrapped up our day with a happy hour and dinner at Geraldine’s. Dinner was SO good, and we enjoyed a family-style meal with drinks and networking. I loved meeting so many other RDs! 

Day Two 

I slept so well in that amazing bed and packed up my room before breakfast. Loved all the swag they sent us home with! 

Oatmeal with whey protein and smoothies with collagen

Mediterranean lunch buffet

Loved the dips and pita chips to go with healthy salads and salmon.

Travel Home

I do wish I could have stayed to explore Austin. I know it’s a super cool city, and I hate that I only got out for one meal!

I headed back to the airport around 3 and arrived after 9:00 EST. I debated whether or not to drive home or stay and decided I’d much rather be well-rested and drive in the daylight than exhausted and driving home at midnight, so I booked another room on points. 

I grabbed this “protein bowl in a jar” from a vending machine in the Austin airport called Farmer’s Fridge and it was so good!! Mini ginger ale from the lounge as a mocktail because I really wanted a drink and compromised 🙂

Four Nights, Four Hotels

What a whirlwind of travel, but I was lucky everything went very smoothly. No delays, no sickness. Always such a sigh of relief!

Couldn’t wait to see the boys again <3