Bloggers, Inspiration, and the Big Apple

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Attending a blogger conference in 2015 was on my to-do list. I did some research and found BlogHer15 — a conference that supports women bloggers. It would be in July at the New York Hilton. My sister, Cheryl, and I go to New York every summer, so this was perfect for the geography and my hotel points. As always, we balanced our activities. We bookended the conference with hang-out time in the City and with family.

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First things first:  BlogHer15’s theme was “Experts Among Us.” I had no idea what to expect. Blogging has become quite an industry. I was excited to dive deeper into our blogging venture and share the experience with Cheryl.

SheKnowsMedia masterfully rolled out the BlogHer keynote speakers and workshops in the months leading up to the conference. I was uncertain how I would fit in with established bloggers because this blog is young, and yet-to-be-monetized. Cheryl was apprehensive about the social and networking aspects of the conference. I  hoped the conference would kickstart relationships with other bloggers.

Ran into the one other blogger I personally knew: Rhonda Swan of soul-searching.com

Ran into the one other blogger I knew: Rhonda Swan, journalist and blogger – http://www.soul-searching.com

I don’t know how many bloggers attended BlogHer15, but it seemed like easily a thousand. BlogHer15 was a professional, unexpectedly balanced production. It doesn’t mean the conference was perfect because I saw some missed opportunities to help bloggers connect with others in their blogging genre. Nevertheless, there was plenty of substance there for everyone.

Why BlogHer15 impressed and inspired me:

  • Attendees were diverse in sexual orientation, race, generation, and geography. (I thought attendees would skew heavily toward millennials, but GenX and Boomers were in the house, too.)
  • Presenters and Keynote speakers were similarly diverse. To name a few, we had Ava DuVernay (award-winning director of “Selma”), Christy Turlington Burns (former super-model and founder of “Every Mother Counts”), Soledad O’Brien (journalist and philanthropist), and Gwyneth Paltrow (fellow blogger, actress, and author).
  • Social issues had a platform at keynote sessions. The founders of BlackLivesMatter, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, kicked off the conference on the first night with a conversation moderated by Essence magazine’s editor-in-chief. Christy Turlington Burns hosted a keynote session on maternal mortality and introduced us to Ancient Song Doula Services. (We learned the shocking statistic that the United States is the only developed nation in which maternal mortality is actually on the rise!)  There was also a screening of the documentary about Pakistani teenager activist, Malala Yousafzai, co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. (The Taliban nearly murdered her for activism in women and education issues.)
  • Sponsors were diverse:  financial, food, personal care products, household products, baby products, technology, and health and wellness. One of my favorite sponsors was Jet, the shopping club that boxed up the swag we picked up at the Expo, and delivered it to our homes. Other favorites were WordPress (their “Happiness Engineers” provided technical help with blogs), and Depends, which hosted yoga classes early each morning. All sponsors gave away swag.  Swag, swag, everywhere!
  • Sessions and workshops had something for everyone. For the most part, we chose well and gained great information. Attending sessions was like a moveable feast. Some presenters reinforced what matters:  quality content and writing, integrity, and passion. We learned that a blog’s value is not solely based on analytics and social media fans and followers; being able to connect influential people to brands is valued, too.  Speaking of social media, I went to a session that made me sigh, and then exclaim….”What?! I need to add another one? Twitter??!” Ahhh…the time suck of social media. But, it was clear I could no longer avoid Twitter. Bloggers were expected to punctuate conference happenings with tweets. (I don’t have a single damn tweet, but you can now follow me, anyway  @kalison0515.)
  • “Experts Among Us” wasn’t only about the luminaries among presenters and keynote speakers; it was about blogger attendees, too. We were asked what was our expertise.  I gave this some thought. I’m expert in personal transformation. I had a life-changing event and made lifestyle changes that, seven years later, are still evolving in a positive way. This kind of change is difficult to start, let alone maintain. People ask me for advice all the time. I’m claiming this expertise!

We were in great company with many accomplished women.

Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O’Brien

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Gwyneth Paltrow

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Ava DuVernay

Last, but not least, a few words about The Big Apple and how Cheryl and I enjoyed the City.

Flower District - seriously green space in a non-park environment.

Flower District – green space in a non-park environment.

Before we checked into the conference, we had a mission on the Upper East Side. That mission was to hit the two Roundabout designer consignment stores.  After we scored some very cool items at the semi-annual sale, we enjoyed a long walk back to the hotel.

Cheryl nonchalantly photo-bombed the sculpture. Rude.

Cheryl nonchalantly photo-bombed the sculpture.

We dined in Harlem at Barawine (Lenox & 120th) — delicious! We walked a few blocks from there to the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park where we saw a jazz singer and her trio, followed by Classical Theatre of Harlem‘s production of  Shakespeare’s, “The Tempest.” I hadn’t seen the play before and agreed with reviews that the acting was superb. Classical Theatre of Harlem produces a play each summer at Marcus Garvey Park that attendees can see for free!

Our final highlight in NY was brunch at Cocotte in SoHo with my nephew / Cheryl’s son, David. I had the fluffiest, most divine (and expensive) scrambled eggs, potatoes, and peach bellinis ever! True French cuisine is worth it (as an occasional treat).

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Cocotte – SoHo

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Kim, David, and Cheryl

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K&C – sister bloggers on the loose!

And, I’ll close with a final image from New York….

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2 Healthy Summer Treats

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Did you know Americans consume an average 130 pounds of sugar a year? See this  infographic.

Recognizing that we human beings have an Undeniable Sweet Tooth, I’m sharing two easy recipes for healthy summer treats. I swapped the type of fruit in one recipe and the type of sweetener in both. What I know for sure is that the treats won’t contain crap like artificial coloring and “tastes like” ingredients. My theory is that maybe the treats also have a lower glycemic load than the original recipes, unless, of course, they’re so damn good that your portions are out of control.

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Strawberry and Greek Yogurt Popsicle – adapted from a recipe in thefoodiephysician.com.

STRAWBERRY AND GREEK YOGURT POPSICLE 

The original recipe can be found here. Here it is with my adaptations:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sliced ripe strawberries
  • 3-1/2 tablespoons coconut nectar
  • 1 -1/2cups plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Place strawberries and 2 tablespoons coconut nectar in a blender.  Puree until mostly smooth, with some small chunks of fruit.
  2. Mix yogurt, vanilla extract, and remaining coconut nectar in a bowl until smooth. (The amount of coconut nectar is a guide; you can adjust amounts to your own sweet tooth, but do so sparingly.)
  3. Spoon 2-3 teaspoons of strawberry puree into bottom of each popsicle mold. Spoon about 1 ½ tablespoons yogurt on top of fruit.  Keep alternating layers of strawberry puree and yogurt.
  4. Place popsicle sticks into popsicle molds. Cover and freeze until solid, about 2-3 hours.

This was a quick and simple recipe that did not involve making a simple syrup with more sugar.  The popsicles were refreshing. The flavor, like the popsicle construction itself, was alternately sweet and tart. Using plain yogurt instead of sweetened vanilla yogurt reduced the overall amount of sugar in this treat.

Next up….

PEACH AND BLUEBERRY CRISP (GLUTEN-FREE)

One fun fact about the fruit used in this crisp … peaches and blueberries are summer season fruits and they have a lower glycemic load. You can find a list of low-glycemic fruits here, along with an explanation of “glycemic load.”

From prepping the fruit in the pan to putting the crisp in the oven took about 20 minutes. That is real fast for me because I am one slow cook. I adapted the original recipe found here.

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Prepped fruit — peaches (white and yellow) and blueberries

Ingredients

Fruit filling

  • 5 organic ripe peaches (mix of yellow and white peaches, cut in bite-sized pieces)
  • Pint of fresh blueberries (or most of a 10 oz. bag of frozen wild blueberries)
  • 1/4 cup coconut nectar
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch (it’s a thickener similar to corn starch)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Topping

  • 1 cup gluten-free old-fashioned oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed almond meal / flour (If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute the almond meal with 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup oats)
  • 1/2 cup chopped raw almonds (optional)
  • 1/3 cup lightly packed organic coconut palm sugar (the color of brown sugar, but doesn’t turn hard as a brick when stored)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (The original recipe called for a 9 by 9-inch square baking dish. I don’t have one so I used an uncoated 2″ deep pan that is about 12.5 x 8.5 inches.)
  2. In the pan, mix together the fruit, coconut nectar, arrowroot starch, lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oats, almond meal/flour, almonds, coconut palm sugar and salt. Mix in the Greek yogurt and melted coconut oil. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened throughout. (Add a little more yogurt and oil, if necessary.)
  4. Evenly distribute the oat mixture over the fruit filling. (No need to pack it down.)
  5. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the top is golden brown.
  6. Let the crisp rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Peach and wild blueberry crisp

Peach and blueberry crisp – recipe adapted from a simple gluten-free apple crisp found on cookieandkate.com

Oops!  I meant to take a photo of a full pan of the finished peach and blueberry crisp, but then I scooped out a serving for a friend. He went on and on about it, so I had to have a taste myself. Needless to say, this peach and blueberry crisp didn’t see the next day.  Portions were clearly out of control.  It was insanely delicious!!

Let me know if you try these healthy summer treats. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

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