I’m typing this 35,000 feet high up in the clouds!!
It’s been quite a long day – and it’s not over yet! We were up at 5:45 this morning to take quick showers and head to the airport via. subway after a 3 block walk to the station. We arrived, only to find the station CLOSED on Sunday mornings! Of ALL the helpful information we received in planning for this conference, I am shocked that no one mentioned this small yet extremely important bit of information about San Francisco public transportation! Luckily there was a taxi waiting nearby to catch tourists like us, but the fare was 4x what it would have been. At least it was a quick and easy ride in.
Once at the airport, we scouted out the breakfast options. Sarah had given me a packet of Kashi GoLean oatmeal on Friday along with the tip that she often carries packets of oatmeal with her when she travels for instant breakfasts. I happened to have a packet of plain instant oatmeal in my suitcase, but of course upgraded to her selection for Sunday’s travels. Thanks again Sarah!
I got all settled with my oatmeal packet , hot water (to be turned into tea after I borrowed a half cup), a banana, and a yogurt –
UNTIL….I turned and saw on the San Francisco Soup Company menu:
"Steel Cut Oatmeal with Toppings"
How lucky was I!! So I saved the packet and got in line for a steaming bowl of hot oatmeal!
My toppings included a tsp of brown sugar , a tbsp of raisins and 2% milk , which I saw a woman pour over her oats and decided to do the same. I also sliced in my banana . The oats were great – just plain old steel cut oats in a commercial crockpot.
I was [ this close ] to eating my yogurt when I saw the menu, so I had already opened it! I didn’t need it plus my oats, so my mom and I devised this handy tea cup carrying case with napkin padding and ate it for a snack around 10:00 –
We got ON the plane at 9:30 and back off at 10:30. Maintenance problem . The air conditioning had some kind of leak. How ironic is it this I spent the entire flight wrapped in a blanket because the plane was so damn cold. What’s with the obsession with AC in the summer. We’re having an energy crisis in the world – couldn’t we turn the temperature up just a little?? We were told the plane would be repaired by 12:30….
…..4 hours later , we took off.
But in the meantime we had a fabulous lunch! We had originally had only a 40 minute layover in Chicago so we bought a spinach wrap to share on the plane along with a side salad and an apple . Having gotten breakfast at the SF Soup Company, I was really craving soup over a cold sandwich. So in that sense, the layover was a treat to a hot soup lunch!
I ordered a cup of low-fat Southwestern Corn Chowder…
Which came with a yummy sourdough roll!
Plus my little side salad for some green chew –
(I decided to save the apple for later)
All set up in the airport, I had to tell a few people giving me funny looks that I was a food blogger – and even showed a man the site 🙂
On The Ground – With More Delays!
CROSS YOUR FINGERS that we make it home tonight! Our next flight (Chicago to Raleigh) is delayed by 2 hours . It board says we’re leaving around 11pm. My mom has her first day of class (as a teacher, not a student) in the morning so she MUST be there. I had planned to drive home to the husband tonight, but I think I’m going to wait until the morning. His brother is visiting so at least he won’t be lonely.
I had a glass of OJ on the plane (no photo due to claustrophobic seating) to tide me over until we arrived in Chicago to hopefully grab something quick while running to our gate. Upon discovering the delay, we were relieved to be able to have a meal and not rely on apples and LaraBars for dinner (it’s harder to plan the return trip without a kitchen or grocery store to pack meals).
It had been almost 6 hours since lunch, and all I wanted was something warm. I debated pizza or a panini but settled on a Black Bean + Goat Cheese "Naked" Burrito from Burrito Beach ! Not something I would normally order but it totally hit the spot tonight. It was quite good:
- Romaine
- Black Beans
- Spanish Rice
- Goat cheese crumbles
- A few sauteed veggies
And a tortilla on the side. I know these 13" tortillas are upwards of 300 calories so I tore it in half and threw away the rest before I could "accidentally" eat the whole thing.
I also got a Diet Dr. Pepper to entertain my mouth. Water seemed too boring (and considering we have a late night ahead, caffeine might not hurt either).
Mom proclaimed she was too tired to eat healthy and was starving and got exactly what she was craving: chicken, mac n cheese, a cornbread muffin + sweet potatoes. She wanted to be on the blog too 🙂 (I think she ate it all, but she might have left some muffin).
I’m so confused on what time it is here, there, and in CA. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get things back to normal! I’ll be driving home to Charlotte in the morning (if we make it) and plan to start my day with banana PB oatmeal : )
One last question: do any of you Twitter? It was "all the rave" at BlogHer and I’m interested to see how it works 🙂 I’m KathEats (obviously!) if you’re looking for a new friend.
***
Update: Flight is now not scheduled to leave until 12:15. Buh.
Oh man, sorry about BART. If I had realized you were leaving THAT early I might have thought about it 🙁 Good luck getting home.
Ha ha, the mile long post! Good luck getting home!
Yuck, I hate all the hassles of flying! But it seems like you’ve done a great job of eating healthy despite a crazy schedule/unknown place.
Every single time I have gone on vacation, I’ve always ended up with stomach problems, because I eat too much outside of my norm. I’ve realized how important it is to remain healthy when traveling, and your food choices are a perfect example of that!
I wish I could have met up with you while you were here in the CA Bay Area, but I’m glad you had such a great trip!
So many great pictures!
I flew today too and we got delayed THREE different times, to a total of three and a half hours 🙁 Now that it happens every time I fly I’m pretty sure it’s bull & they just want you to spend money at the airport, which is basically a mall now.
and it works. because 3.5 hours + CNN + those chairs you can’t lay down in will get to you.
At least on Jet Blue they gave us mini Dove lotion samples for the inconvenience… although that’s probably just product placement! haha.
Great lunch! And how funny that you had to tell people you were a food blogger!
I had a “I’m waaay too tired to eat healthy/ I REALLY don’t want a salad” meal last night. Mom didnt want to cook so dad got Applebee’s To-Go. It was fun- and it hit the spot with a fajita wrap and *gasp* fries with ketchup 🙂 . but, it ws sooo good.
I was worried about your travel back due to Tropical Storm Cristobal pounding the Carolinas. I hope you return safely! You will be greeted by alot of rain!
ugghhhh delays are the worst!!! at least you have blogging to keep you busy and your mom to keep you company 🙂
you just made my day — i had NO IDEA kashi made oatmeal!!!! two of my favorite things put together! i must buy some tomorrow.
i hope that delay was your last- have a safe trip home!
Oh my gosh I feel your pain 🙁 Waits in airports can be so fustrating!
On the up side, it looks like you had some delicious food 🙂 I find it a bit “fun” sometimes to have to come up with a healthy meal while traveling – you get creative! haha
Hope you get back home at a reasonable hour! And thanks for all your great posts from BlogHer 😀
Ugh poor kath, I HATE being stuck in an airport! At least your mom is with you though, it’s always better to have company. Looks like you are staying positive though! Good luck!
wow, what a day! it looks like you did a great job making the best of it, though. i hope your mom made it to work this morning!
i am excited to see what new ideas end up on your blog!
Sounds like a really long day. Hope you are safe and sound in NC now!
All those delays in the summer…Which airline did you use?
Hope you made it home in ok time! It always seems to happen when all you want to do is get home!
Yikes….I hope you made it home alright!! One time flying back from NY, my plane got delayed for like 6 hours…..I could have driven home in that time! Its so frustrating when there isn’t anything you can do about it!
Hope you got home okay! Travel can be SO stressful 🙁
Looks like you scored some good airport food, though. Your mom’s mac and cheese is making me drool.
kashi maple brown sugar oatmeal is my FAV!!! and it has 5 grams of fiber per pack!! I love mexican and your meal looks right up my alley (and mom’s meal!!) have a great day and rest up kath!
major bummer.
I have the best luck with my flights when I don’t need luck (like a boring weekend visiting my fiance in philly) and the WORST luck when I realllly need it (like when trying to surprise said fiance for his birthday and getting stuck in the airport for 5 hours, getting on and off the plane, and finally going home in defeat).
I hope you and your mom made it home at a reasonable hour and are not still stuck in an airport somewhere!!!
happy monday!
awww boo!! i hope you guys made it home okay and not too super late 🙁 that’s never any fun… i hate the airport! looks like you guys made the best of it though and glad SF was so fun!
Good luck with the rest of your trip! So lucky about the Steel Cut Oats 🙂
Regarding Twitter – I have friends who use it, and I’ve looked into it, but I’ve never joined. I actually joined Tumblr (which is like a twitter – but you can add photos, etc.) But I only posted a few times and actually forgot about it until your blog post. Maybe I’ll find it again? Hum… Can you tell me what they said about it at the conference? I’m curious what their take is.
hope you had a safe flight
Hi Kath’s Mom!! 😀 That Southern meal does look like much-needed comfort food after a day of airplane drama.
And Kath, your travel ordeal depresses me so 🙁 I am loathe to fly anywhere these days unless absolutely necessary, because those sorts of delays and malfunctions are almost inevitable. I’m glad that airports are finally offering some decent breakfast options, at least. Good luck finally getting home!!
It would be great if you could post a list (or update your blogroll on the sidebar) of some new blog recommendations from this weekend’s conference.
seeing pics of you and your mom in sf sure brings back fond memories of my own trips. i recognize some of those places. i heard about twitters at a tech conference last year so it’s not really that new. it’s a short text (max. 60 word text, not sure of the word count) that you can send via cellphone, web …
Ayayayay, travel woes-boo not my favorite! All the best on getting back and back into the groove 🙂
Hi Kath!
Just wanted to say thank you for your commitment to a healthy lifestyle! Your blog is inspiring and I get new recipes to try on my family all the time.
I’m going to be a sophomore in college and had a question about your endeavors of going back to school to pursue a degree in nutrition. I love all things nutrition and exercise and think that I would like to pursue them for a career somehow but am unsure where to start. I’m wondering how you were able to distinguish nutrition as something you wanted to do as a job for the rest of your life vs. something that just interested you. I also wasn’t a huge science buff in high school and haven’t taken a course yet in college but would be interested in doing something like therapy for people with eating disorders or helping to create healthful menus for public facilities like hospitals or schools. Do you have any thoughts or advice?? Anything would be helpful! Thanks again and I’m glad you enjoyed the conference!
-Jessie
Not a fun way to end such a fabulous trip 🙁
Hope you’re back home by now!
I think that is the prettiest airport food I’ve ever seen. 🙂
The delays SUCK! I’m chelseaknits on twitter-I’ll add you as a friend. I tried the hemp milk today, I put in my maple syrup before tasting it and it was too sweet 🙂 I’m sure it’ll be great without the maple syrup!
I hope you get home okay.
husband, any update on Kath? we’re getting a little worried over here 🙂
Kath: Delurking to say thank you for all of the great posts from Blogher. Hope you made it in OK! I check your blog daily and am now feeling worried about your whereabouts! I feel like a stalker now 😉
You had much better food choices in the airport than I did apparently. I got moved to the international terminal and then had to wander around for a while until they assigned me to a gate. It was weird and awkward and there wasn’t very much food there (except boxes and boxes of chocolate in the SF-themed gift shops). Oh well, had the trusty Kashi bar in the purse!
Can’t wait to find out when you actually returned home. So what did your mom think of the whole conference? Did she attend all the lectures with you?
Hope you got some banana oats this morning!!!
And no, I don’t use Twitter but I have been hearing so much about it too that I think I may go investigate.
sweetsandsweats.wordpress.com/
Oh jeeze, travel delays are the worst when going back because by that point you just want to get home.
Your BlogHer recap was awesome and by far the best that I’ve come across. I do Twitter and I heart it with all my might. I use the Twhirl program for it which is free.
Wow! Pretty lucky that you found steel cut oats! I just realized that oatmeal is something you rarely see as an option in most food places that I’ve been to.
Hope you make it home soon!
Oh, geez. Poor Kath’s mom, having to work after all that…no wonder she needed comfort food! And you can’t exactly be a zombie or cranky when you’re a teacher, can you?
Oh, I’m with you 100% about the a/c…I find it less comfortable to be cold than hot. And who wants to have to carry around a sweater in summer to deal with refrigerated buildings and public transit?
Thanks everyone for the nice greetings and words about me going to the conference with Kath. We had a wonderful time! And to think this is the daughter who wasn’t too wild about being seen in public with me ten years ago….. Oh and the mac and cheese at the airport was great!
Glad you guys finally made it back! I hate travel delays. I read every day, but I barely comment, but I did add you on twitter. I’m omgitsrachel. Twitter fairly addictive. 🙂
Rose ,
I just started using it and they were vague at the conference but all I can say is EVERYONE was on it. It’s kind of like a cross between blogging and instant messaging.
Stephanie ,
I don’t feel comfortable doing a report of the “good” blogs from the weekend because that would mean others weren’t as good (or just that I’m not interested in the topic) but I will probably be adding some that relate to KERF in the sidebar as I go through the dozens and dozens of business cards I picked up. And you can go to BlogHer and browse tons of the blogs there (lots of people on the network were there).
Jessie,
I was a science buff growing up and in high school and have always loved the human body and been very interested in nutrition. But I knew I didn’t want to be a doctor because I’m not good with blood and sickness, so I didn’t choose a college based on career. But it wasn’t until I was out of school and nutrition became much more a part of my life that I considered it for a career. If I had to do it over again, I think I would have chosen the same path because I loved my liberal arts education and choice of school and wouldn’t have met the husband otherwise!
Chelsea ,
Oh yeah, you don’t need any more sweetener! Hope it’s better tomorrow 😉
Jill – GlossyVeneer,
Gotta love the emergency Kashi bar! I had a LaraBar but never ended up eating it.
SweetsandSweats,
Mom and I went to different sessions and some of the same. She went to a mid-life bloggers one 🙂 She appears to have had a blast!
Kath