I was very, very excited about New Experience #12 for two reasons:
~ I would finally get a chance to go to local new-ish restaurant thrive juice bar
~ I would get the chance to meet two local bloggers, face-to-face! (Never met blogging buddies in person, before!)
Yesterday, we braved the wild winds of April to meet up in Uptown Waterloo.
thrive is located in the bauer complex, a five minute walk from where i live - handy!
A bit of background: Angela (I’ll introduce her in a minute) had organized a blogger meet-up at thrive back in March. Unfortunately, I was in Aruba at the time, (I know, no excuse! Shoulda flown back early!) and had to miss this event. For Angela’s recap of the social, click here. I was sorry to not be in attendance – everyone had a great time!
Anyway, Angela and I decided to do a mini-meet-up, and Odette was able to join us, too! (She missed the March outing, as well).
clean, minimalist design, greeeen: the concept and tone you'll find at THRIVE
small touches count: we even had a table reserved for us! thanks to angela, i do believe!
Odette of the only planet with chocolate and I started chatting animatedly the moment we met!
odette!
Odette has led a very exciting life of late! This past weekend she attended the Blue Jays home opener, a Raptors game, enjoyed a special dinner at The Bauer Kitchen, PLUS just last week she found out she has been accepted at TWO law schools! What a whirlwind of adventure!
I have read Angela’s blog, Eat, Spin, Run, Repeat, for quite some time, now. I think I first found it because she indicated in a comment on another blog that she lived in Waterloo. It’s fun to read a blog which mentions places and activities with which I am familiar! Plus, Angela writes a lot of informative posts about fitness and healthy foods. And she likes new experiences!
angela!
The menu at thrive is fresh, unique, and offers many healthy+delicious choices.
a sampling of the sandwiches...
Once I saw that I could sub in a gluten free bread choice…
a very raw foods, vegan, vegetarian, or GF-friendly menu!
I knew exactly what to order!
me, angela, odette
My sandwich choice was divine. Love, love, loved it, and highly recommend it if you dine at thrive.
a perfect combination of flavours and textures!
Odette went with the Veggie Burger, and Angela enjoyed the Raw Pad Thai.
capturing angela in action, in true food blogger style!
Conversation flowed steadily and easily! For having never met in person, we had a lot to discuss! Topics ranged from fitness activities to blogs we enjoy reading to how/when we blog. All too soon, it was time for us to get on with our days.
Local readers, I highly suggest you make a visit to thrive. Owner Jonnie…
jonnie in his milieu!
…is running a gem of an operation here.
all the best, jonnie! i'll be back!
Odette and Angela, many thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable New Experience! I do hope we can meet up again, soon. Let’s go back to thrive!
p.s….I’m still clean!
But I have to say, for whatever reason, I’ve had major cravings and a huge desire to pop a cold one these past few days. Spring fever? Too much knitting?! But I refuse to cave…however, all bets are off as to what happens on Monday April 25th, though (only 19 days from now…not that anyone’s counting, or anything!) 🙂
1970KikiProject Blog 
Comments
What a fun restaurant!! I wish we had more places like that in Nashville, the menu sounds amazing!
I love blogger meetups, to me, it always feels like you’ve known the person forever, it’s such a cool connection!
i’m so happy i know about THRIVE, now! there is another veg/vegan place in my ‘hood, “seven shores urban market” – i’m now really psyched to try that place, too!
true: i never would have thought that you could feel like you “know someone” by being blog friends, but i’ve changed my opinion. glad we’ve connected, too, amanda!
I can’t get over that although you live right THERE you hadn’t been to Thrive yet! A few of us from work will pop over every now and again and either pick up a juice (some of them are meal-worthy) or one of their wonderful lunches. I’ve had the raw pad thai before – absolutely delicious. Your sandwich looked very tasty as well.
So much fun that you had a bloggy get together! I can only imagine that there was much to discuss. 🙂
i was wondering if you had been over to check it out since you’re so close…glad you’re a fan, too! i’d def try that raw pad thai in the future! there was a lot of “blog shop talk” going on!!!
Congratulations on staying “clean.” It looks like you had a really fun time….what a great “new experience!”
thanks, zo! yes – both the menu and the company were top-notch! craving has passed, thank goodness!
I’ve only been to one juice bar. It’s called the Juice Stop. I used to run by there a lot but one day I checked my blood sugar after one of their smoothies and it was WAY HIGH. I quit buying the fruit based smoothies and tried a veggie juice which tasted great but it was warm. I could have put it over ice but I didn’t find that out until after I left. I don’t go there anymore. I need to buy a juicer but the good ones cost too much.
we have another juice place, booster juice, right across from where i live, but i’ve never been…not a juice fan! i’d rather eat than sip! thrive has a lot more than just juices, thank goodness….i can’t wait to go back and try another sandwich or a salad. i’ve heard juicers are not cheap! maybe you better stick with fresh squeezed orange juice??! 🙂
Oh how fun! I wish I could meet up with you!
me, too, janetha! some time, some where…who knows, right?!
Oh my goodness, looking at that food again makes me crave Thrive that much more! So wonderful to meet up with you two lovely ladies- such great conversations! It was a pleasure to have lunch with our little group and I definitely am hoping we can do it again soon as well:) Congrats on being ‘clean’!! That’s a huge accomplishment!
any time you wish to go back, you have a ready “date” in me (and angela, i bet!), odette! food + the friendship…both made for a most excellent visit! i can’t believe how we hit it off, too! the conversation flowed fast and furious! i’d love to hear what you decide re law school, when you reach that decision – best of luck as you weigh your options!
it was absolutely fabulous!! 🙂
I am fairly sure that I’ve now settled on Western!!! I am so so excited. After researching and speaking it over with Ross, Western seems like my best option. And London is beauuuutiful. I’m going to check it out this weekend and I can’t wait!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you soon!
Wow–fun! That looks like a great place to eat…and to meet up with blends!
I’ve only had one blogger meetup—well, we turned out to be neighbors almost, so we’re just friends now! It’s such a great way to meet awesome people!
i love how you can connect with people literally from coast to coast in the US and canada, thanks to blogging! but it IS super fun to connect with “locals” and meet face to face! i hope we can make a meet up happen this summer, lisa!
I’ve had a lot of fun on blogger meet ups in the past. I want to plan one in Dallas sometime in the next couple of months at the Farmers Market. Keep resisting the temptation! You can do it. 🙂
thanks for your support, dorry! just “venting” about the craving made it pass – helps to share!! i wish i lived closer to dallas! a farmer’s market outing would be so fun…not to mention the socializing aspect of a meet up!
What a fun time Cathy! And your sandwich looks and sounds delicious.
I’ve only met one blogger in real life, but yes, we had plenty to talk about it was so much fun! I’ll meet a few more blog friends in June at the conference and I can’t wait — it seems like you share a special bond with other bloggers, right? And when you come to MN to run Grandma’s or when we run the Flying Pig together I’ll get to meet you too!
oh, those are fun sessions to look forward to, holly! a running race or a conference…you’ll make some awesome real-life connections! flying pig…you got it!