41 Responses to “What I loved and hated about the Healthy Living Summit 2010”

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  1. Sounds like an amazing time….well, except for the ghosts and the cabs! Glad it was a blast. Hopefully, I can make it next year!

  2. soooooooooooo i totally got goosebumps when i was reading that…after the first night i would have left, hands down. holy crap that’s scary!

  3. what a fun time!!! I loveee that Feta too! haha.. πŸ™‚ Do your bags ship to sweden? πŸ˜‰ … I can not believe your hotel was haunted.. wtf? You should have left the first night and demanded money back. blah!

  4. I stayed in the Hilton, so I didn’t experience the haunted hotel. Too bad! I am sad that I didn’t get a bag! Can I pay through paypal? I would love one!
    My favorite parts of the summit were the city (how amazing is Chicago?), the yoga class, and meeting some pretty great people. My least favorte part was how much it did, in fact, feel like freshman orientation. Kind of like a popularity contest. But that’s what you get when a huge percentage of the population is girls in their 20’s and early 30’s!

  5. I SO wish I could have been at your presentation! As I always tell you- you are the queen of parties. Whenever I need a party recipe or idea, I open up your blog. Sounds like a great experience overall. I really want to go to one of these conferences

  6. Here’s the deal on the cab situation in Chicago:

    Under the law, cab drivers who are part of a company (not independent ones who just have their own cab and that’s it) are REQUIRED to let you pay by CC. The machine works. Credit card companies, however, charge the cab companies a percentage of their sales that are paid for by CC (this happens at all companies that take CC – hence why some smaller ones have minimum purchases etc). Because the people that own cab companies are assmongers, they take what the CC company charges them out of the cab driver’s pay. Therefore, cab drivers don’t like you to pay by CC and will make up whatever excuse so that you don’t. I try to always pay by cash for this reason, but if I have to pay by CC, I try to give an extra large tip (if they are nice about it).

    Fun fact: average pay for a cab driver in Chicago is about $4.50 an hour.

    Hope this helps!

    • RhodeyGirlTests

      @Beth @ Will Run for Books, Thanks. I am actually aware both that the % is taken out of their pay and that they are required to take my credit card… however… 4 out of the 5 cabs I took claimed their machine didn’t work. I ALWAYS tip by cash, but I prefer to pay the actual toll by CC (especially from the airport- which was about $25) since I need to record it for tax purposes. I was SO frustrated that they kept insisting their machines weren’t working! That doesn’t happen in Philly!

      • @RhodeyGirlTests, Yeah, it’s a dick move. I’ve also heard “my boss won’t let me,” “i’ll get in trouble” etc etc. They will basically try anything.

        They are required to take it though, but usually the only way you can get them to is to tell them either to take the CC or not get paid. The machines are SUPER old and take about 20 mins to process your fare, which sucks and is why I usually just pay cash because I only take cabs when I’m in a hurry. There is one company though that has machines like NYC, where you swipe the card yourself – genius!

      • Phoebe

        @RhodeyGirlTests, I just moved out of Chicago a couple weeks ago and I had the exact same experience in a cab there recently. I really wish I had pulled the “take card or not get paid” move but I didn’t think of it and was really frustrated at the time.

  7. Ahh, the haunted hotel. That place was so creepy! I’m glad you and Gina managed to escape and enjoy your last night. I also thought the cabbies were pretty ridiculous. One guy kept driving us around in circles acting like he didn’t know where the address was. I think he was just trying to buy himself some extra time! With the negatives aside, it looks like you had a great time in Chicago!

  8. It was so nice meeting you, too! I loved the Rhodeygirl Tests bag as a carryon for my flight. I’m going to use it as a grocery bag at school and see if anyone says anything. I hope you’ll visit Providence some time this year!

  9. Kate

    Cab drivers in Chicago always claim their credit card machines don’t work b/c then they have to claim that income on their taxes. They are lying 99% of the time. You should say you don’t have cash or a way to get cash and you either pay with credit card or you don’t pay fare. It’s ridiculous and very annoying! Also the cab rides (in my opinion) are very scary!!! Glad you had fun!

  10. Loved the recap! I would have LOVED staying in that hotel though. I think that stuff is really interesting.

  11. I’ve heard tons of mentions of the haunted hotel but no specific stories. I would be so freaked out!!!

  12. That is crazy. I am running the Chicago Marathon and that hotel was so cheap and we almost stayed there but my family said its kinda in a bad area so we went with the Hyatt! I am so glad..I wouldnt want to be up scared all night before my frist marathon! Glad you had an awesome time besides that! I really hope to attend a blogging conference soon!

  13. Who says “Hogwash?” MY WIFE!

  14. I think the thing that made me laugh the most was that the hotel was haunted. Gotta love that, part of the experience!! So glad it seemed like a great event!

  15. I loved this personal review of the HLS. I would love to attend next year if I can and getting folks’ perspectives has been great. After a while though, they were all the same. This personal touch was classy and succinct. Thanks!

  16. cab drivers in chicago reminds me of the cab drivers here in the philippines…you have to be really alert not to be taken advantage of πŸ™‚

    woah…creepy hotel…what more if you’re alone in the room…eeh…

  17. I hated missing your presentation! Boooo! The cabs were pretty outrageous too. I felt like I was being taken advantage of by the cab drivers when they seemed to be driving really out of the way to drive up the price.

  18. I loved ….the food! And also the fueling for fitness presentation. They gave some really helpful tips.

    I hated the hotel as well. The entire staff was very rude.

    And as for the cab drivers, I’ve had crazy drivers and then I’ve had really nice ones who will joke with you. And I too have been told their machine doesn’t work. When they told me that, I sort of just stared at them for a good couple of minutes in complete silence until he started fidgeting with the machine, and magically it worked!

  19. I live in Chi and ALLLLL chicago cabbies will pull that move on you – esp if they know you are an out of towner. It’s illegal for them not to accept credit card. If they tell you it’s broken say “oh well – all I have is cash”. It’s ridiculous…I hear ya though…SO FRUSTRATING!

  20. Looks like so much fun! So many young forward-thinking women! Although I do have to say something in defense of the Congress Plaza – this is not the first hotel that you claimed to be “haunted”!

  21. I thought everyone was exaggerating a bit about the hotel being haunted, but your story is crazy! Otherwise, looks like you had a fabulous time at the HLS.

  22. I stayed in the Hilton down the street! Good thing too b/c I am not a fan of haunted places…

  23. Sara

    I lived in Chicago for 9 years and I can tell you with confidence that the cab drivers are a bunch of assholes. lol. Their claim the machine doesn’t work – WRONG! They can call it in to their company, they just don’t want to use cards because they lose more money on it. I had a friend who would literally get into arguments with them and say “THEN I’M NOT PAYING YOU” until they took her card and oh wow it magically worked. As a pedestrian, bicyclist or fellow driver in Chicago, it’s war against the cab drivers. I once had one purposely cut me off while I was on my bike and then say “that’s the way it goes, Bambi!” Who calls people Bambi, first of all, and why would you TRY and get a bike to run into your car?! Psychos. As you can tell it’s a subject close to my heart. lol

  24. I don’t believe in ghosts and that sort of thing, but I get easily scared and there is no way I could have slept in that hotel!

  25. You are so right about the cabs. I live here and 9 out of 10 times the drivers give me attitude if I pay with credit card. Many have told me the machine doesn’t work but then I tell them I don’t have any cash. It is amazing how fast those “broken” machines start working after I say that.

  26. We never said we heard noises behind the door, we heard noises near the stairwell at the other end of the hallway but we couldn’t see if people were there. Still creepy, but not THAT scary! Sorry you had such a scary experience that you had to leave though. :-\

    In less creepy news, it was SO nice to meet you in person. You’re so sweet! Thanks so much for the bag! πŸ™‚

  27. You forgot to add to your “Hated” list:

    *The fact that Mama Pea didn’t go

    πŸ˜‰

    Happy weekend, Sabrina!

  28. Hi Sabrina! I also attended HLS and loved your presentation, and doing Zumba with you.
    For your presentation – will you be doing a separate post recapping and maybe providing bullet points? I think that it was so great, the rest of the blogosphere would love to hear about it in more detail.
    Also, if you could share with us where you bought the placemats that you gave out as prizes? They were super cute!
    I did score one of your bags and have been using it frequently since last weekend πŸ™‚ Thanks again!

  29. Loved the recap – and, obvs, the presentation! You are right on about Chicago cabs drivers. They constantly bs about their card machines being broken, and they also aren’t afraid to hit peds. I know 3 people who have been nailed by them – they’re ok now, but seriously. I avoid the cabs here at alll costs!

  30. I LOVED your presentation! You did a fantastic job. It was very well organized and you presented it nicely. I also liked your giveaways/quizzes. For general HLS, I also liked the eats, the swag, being around so many like-minded people, and making new friends! πŸ™‚

  31. gina (fitnessista)

    what i loved about the hls: YOU πŸ™‚ obviously.
    i had so much fun with you last weekend!! thank you for escaping the haunted hotel with me πŸ™‚
    xoxo

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