Hello everyone! Today I’m excited to tell you guys all about one of the greatest and most fun weekends of my life, which took place only about an hour from where I live. I got to meet up with several other bloggers (one of which is a friend of mine in real life) for a blogger weekend in Grand Forks, N.D. where we did a variety of activities, including doing an art and wine walk, exploring the downtown area, eating at many delicious restaurants, discussing blogging and so much more. I got to know Samantha, Laura, Samantha, Sandy and Alicia (and hang out with my friend Amanda), and it was such a blast!
Photo from Laura. All of us outside The Toasted Frog. From left to right: Shelley from the CVB, me, Amanda, Samantha, Alicia, Laura, Samantha, Sandy and Julie from the CVB
The Grand Forks Convention & Visitors Bureau was nice enough to provide us all with a free weekend trip, but all opinions are my own. I mentioned this trip in my Weekly Wishes last week, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to get my post up, but here we go! Amanda from Notes from a Newlywed and Samantha from The Samantha Life both wrote amazing posts, so please check out their blogs to see what they had to say!
My Instagram feed quickly filled up with photos of delicious food and yummy drinks, but I was totally fine with that. Our first night, after getting settled in at the Staybridge Suites, we had dinner at Fuji Japanese Steakhouse, which was freaking amazing. It was a hibachi-style grill, and it was both fun and terrifying to be sitting that close when the chef (purposely) set some food on fire.
We all had a great time finally meeting after admiring each others’ blogs for so long, and it kind of felt like we’d all known each other forever. We talked about blogging, work, college, which alcoholic beverage sounded the most delicious (answer: all of them) and so much more. Once we returned to the hotel, we all grabbed some wine, Sam brought some mini cupcakes and we sat in the hotel lobby for a few hours and just chatted. It was so much fun to just connect and get to know each other better!
The next morning we woke up pretty early (well, early for me on a weekend) and went to a spin class at 7:45. All of us were a bit nervous, but we survived! We had a super fun instructor who was just full of energy and positivity, and it was a great (and tiring, of course) experience. I had never done a spin class before, so I’m proud of all of us for giving it our all…and then feeling the burn in our legs a few hours later haha.
Farmer’s market
Then we got ready and explored a farmers market in downtown Grand Forks. I know Fargo has a few farmers markets, but they are nothing like this. They had a group playing music, a playground for kids and so many different kinds of booths set up with food, clothing, accessories and more. There were also a healthy amount of bees outside, so we made our way to Brick & Barley for lunch. We bonded over their huge beer selection and the absolutely delectable menu. We were all quite full for the the rest of the afternoon, to say the least.
Beer and a philly sandwich at Brick & Barley
After our lunch had settled a bit, we embarked on an Art and Wine Walk. That was my first time participating in one before, and it was so fun! Even though I only live an hour away, I haven’t really explored Grand Forks before, and it was really fun to do so while chatting with fellow bloggers and drinking wine.
Photo from Laura. Me, Amanda, Laura and Samantha during the Art and Wine Walk
To cap off a busy and super fun day, we had dinner at The Toasted Frog, where we enjoyed more wine, drinks, and delicious food like their signature Fried Cheese Pickles (which are even more amazing than they sound). We stayed up late chatting in the hotel lobby again before officially calling it a night.
Yummy cocktail, short ribs and fries. Because I’m classy.
On Sunday, we enjoyed a beyond amazing breakfast at Dakota Harvest Bakery. I mean, just look at that delicious monstrosity below. I was both excited and afraid to eat it, and it was definitely worth the splurge. After only eating half, I was incredibly full once again. That seemed to be the theme of the weekend, actually.
Stuffed baked french toast from Dakota Harvest Bakery
Then a couple of the bloggers went canoeing while me, Sandy and Sam walked along the river and discussed beauty, blogging and much more. It was so great to get to know all of these wonderful ladies better, and I think we’ve all become great friends!
Bloggers getting ready to go canoeing
Photo from Laura. All of us with the instructors after canoeing.
Some of us met up at Tim Hortons before we went our separate ways home, and that was a fun time as well. I heard Fargo is getting a Tim Hortons in the near future, so that’s pretty exciting if that’s true! We just spent more time chatting, and I don’t think there were any awkward silences among us almost all weekend. Conversation was just natural and easy, and we never ran out of things to talk about.
Pumpkin spice donut with a yummy caramel blended drink.
And this is how much stuff two girls bring for a two-day trip an hour from home. Yup.
This was seriously one of the best weekends of my life, and I’m so happy that I got to know other amazing female bloggers who live in North Dakota! I’d never done a meetup before, but I can’t wait to do one again. It was such a great networking opportunity, and I feel like we’ve forged some really great friendships as well. I really can’t thank the Grand Forks Convention & Visitors Bureau enough for providing us all with such a great weekend and opportunity. I can’t wait to explore Grand Forks again soon!
