Hello lovely friends of mine! 
I hope you all had fun with my Mom yesterday; thanks for giving her such a warm welcome! She was pretty nervous about writing her first ever blog post, but I think she did great! Make sure you try out her recipe – it’s a “go to” in our house! In fact, she just made it last night for my Dad and herself
Yesterday was a long day, but a great day! It all began when my alarm went off at 4:30. I got ready within an hour – make up, hair, meals packed in cooler, all that fun stuff – and was on the bus leaving for Toronto at 5:30! I didn’t know of any of my friends going to the conference until I got on the bus where I was greeted by a ton of my best girl friends from Brescia <3
The whole gang
We arrived in Toronto at 8:30 just in time for registration. The conference began at 9:00, so we collected our name tags and then quickly found tables to sit at before the presentations started. The event schedule was the following:
The keynote speakers were two ladies, Ellen and Jenn, from The Manitoba Canola Growers. Their presentation wasn’t anything like I thought it would be! It wasn’t really about canola growing at all; they focused more on the people within The Manitoba Canola Growers and the long lasting relationships that they want to form with all of us who show our passion for what we do! It was truly amazing to listen to these lovely ladies. I was so motivated by the both of them that I introduced myself to them on break and talked to Jenn multiple times throughout the conference! Jenn and Ellen also had us participate in an activity about setting goals and how we plan to achieve them. This activity was very interesting and something new to me, so I would love to go more in depth about it in a future post!
Being The Manitoba Canola Grower’s, the brought canola oil for all of us to sample! So, I was able to taste test different flavours of canola oil!
We had a selection between regular, beet, and vanilla flavoured canola oil. I loved all three, but I think vanilla would have to be my favourite! It was so unique
All ready to taste test canola oil!
The morning carried on with another great presentation about red meat (there was a minor change in the schedule shown previously) and then we breaked for lunch!
I can prepared as usual!
They provided all of us with Perrier; I don’t often have this because it gives me the burps (haha), but I enjoyed one two yesterday!
After lunch, there were more amazing presentations; all which left me feeling motivated and assured me that I am where I need to be. It’s pretty comforting to know that I picked the right career path for myself! I love the excitement I have about my future and attending events such as the 2012 OHEA Conference created that already-built-up-excitement within me to sky rocket.
Throughout the conference there was so much talk about how important being involved within social media is, so I was even more happy (if that’s possible?) about starting this blog <3
The day ended with a cooking demo put on by Mairlyn Smith, a Professional Home Economist and food writer, who appears on many Canadian breakfast TV shows! Mairlyn has one of the best personalities I have ever came across! She had the entire audience roaring with laughter for the whole conference It was a blast!
Mairlyn’s cooking demo
I am so happy that I signed up to go to this conference I went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I knew I couldn’t miss out this year!
At the end of the conference, Mairlyn Smith ended the day by saying I wish you all lots of “peace, love, and fibre!” She said that she believes that if we have those three things in our life we will always be
happy!
On our way out, we all received take home gifts filled with amazing treats and new to me products! I guess I have a few product reviews to write now, huh!?
Two KRAFT cookbooks, a package of dried herbs, soynut butter, maple flavoured lip balm, Quaker granola bar, two kiju juice boxes, one Enerjive quinoa bar (I can’t wait to try this!), and a Cadbury chocolate bar.
We also received goat cheese from Woolrich Dairy Inc. 
I’m off to the gym now, but will be back with a recipe tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed the recap!
How are you spending your Sunday?
Do you like attended conferences having to do with your profession/future career?
Have you ever tried beet or vanilla flavoured oil before? I had no I idea what to expect! The only flavoured oils that I had tried before had been infused with herbs, so the beet and vanilla flavours were definitely new to me!
See you all tomorrow with a tasty breakfast recipe!
Lots of love,
Meg
xoxoxoxoxo
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
ohhhhh goat cheese. you know what ya need? BEETS! Perfection.
Glad you had fun! maybe we can all go to this conference next year!!!
Loved your mom’s post – and looks like a great day in T.O!
Dang what a fabulous event! It sounds like a blast
and that goodie box sure was filled with some awesome stuff!
Have fun at the gym, love!!
Looking forward to your recipe tomorrow
the only flavored oil I’ve tried before is a walnut one and it was pretty good ! I’ve also tried raspberry vinegar, delicious !
I’m just getting back from a 1 hour run (under the sun it was soooo great !) I’m now chillin’ with my special shake !
have a lovely Sunday
I am so glad you enjoyed the social media presentation and happy you came away from the conference energized and feeling like you are in the right place. Love conferences for that. I attend many – for both my profession and my writing and I like the feeling I get when I am there amongst like minded people.
That looks SO fun! I would LOVE to attend a conference that is health/fitness related… Not my profession, but my passion. I actually signed up for a Whole Foods class that will meet once a week in April that I’m pretty excited about. I didn’t even know there were different flavors of canola oil! Pretty cool!
Hello love!!
I need to catch up on your life! Glad to see you had a fun weekend at that conference! Free stuff is always a plus! The goat cheese melts my heart, I love goat cheese!!
Happy Sunday! <3
It’s a relaxing Sunday physically, but trying to get a lot of work done on the computer for business. It’s rainy and a little chilly here in NJ and I’m okay with that.
Slept in which felt wonderful! Happy Sunday and hope you are relaxing today as well. xoxo
Ohhh boy is this your first time trying Cadbury’s? If so you are in for a treat, my friend!
I think you know you’ve made the correct career decision when you enjoy attending conferences. At my last job, I had to go to full-day conferences usually twice a month. It was torture, and I dreaded going. But anything to do with nutrition and fitness I’m all ears!
Goat cheese…best conference freebie EVER!
I think peace, love, and fiber may be my new favorite way to wish someone well
I’m so jealous of this event, it looks so awesome, sounds like you learned a ton. Would have loved to be there!
Those oils are so interesting! I’d love to try the beet one! …but I’m sure you already anticipated that.
Professors are ALWAYS talking to us about how imperative social media is becoming on the professional world of nutrition – we’re SO lucky to be able to establish ourselves so quickly. <3
So glad you had an amazing day! Love you!
I LOVE how motivated and involved you are in getting forward with your career! I predict you will go far, and take dietetics by storm;)!
Iv never actually been to a conference , but this one looks right up my street. However I’m not sure I’d actually like tasting straight up oil on its own,( give me it on roasted veggies please), although vanilla is always fab- I can imagine it would be amazing coating fruit like apples before baking or something:).
What a cool goody bag. I have always wanted to try goats cheese, and iv had a dark chocolate bar with quinoa before which was AWESOME, how can you go wrong with like the best grain ever and dark chocolate?
Xxx
aww how fun! It looks like you had such a great time at the OHEA conference! I’ve never been to a conference before but I’m sure I would love going to one that had to do with my future career (education).
Sounds like the conference was a total blast, I’m glad you had fun! I would love if you wrote more about the speakers! The goal setting sounds like such a great thing to listen to, it sounds like they are great motivational speakers. I never even knew there were different flavours of canola oil!!! I’m surprised, but I agree vanilla sounds like it would be the fave of mine too
You should write about canola oil, there is such controversy with it, I’ve kinda been avoiding it every since the ED started. Yay to new cook books! And that is my absolute favourite goat cheese everrr! It is the best, so smooth! I just made a recipe with it for today so I’ll let you know how it turns out 
I’m spending my sunday out in the sun for a bit and grocery shopping, then work! Enjoy your Sunday!
What an amazing sounding conference! And I can’t believe they have beet flavored canola oil (or vanilla for that matter!) So cool
It sounds like your conference was so much fun and I am glad it was reassuring to you about your career path! Vanilla flavored canola oil?? That’s so interesting! I think it may be a really good oil to cook with!
And that is by far the BEST goat cheese ever. Enjoy every bite haha
I wish I could attend a conference like that – I’m a (failing) English PhD student and I find every aspect of the conferences I have to go to horribly dull. I literally count down the seconds until they’re over.
I’m not sure about vanilla flavoured oil, but beet sounds nice.
Lol, did you bring the chicken/sweet potato with you or did they cater for you with that?
Interesting about the chocolate being in your goodie-bag – I suppose everything in moderation, but it’s strange to see it as part of the take-home products for such a health-focused conference.
xxx
Aw! It sounds like you had such an amazing time at the conference. I’m jealous! And maple flavored lip balm?! I’ve never heard of such a thing but it sounds absolutely amazing!
I would love to hear more about the speakers, of course. (:
Looks like you had an awesome weekend!! Your Mum’s recipe looks awesome, gonna have to keep that one on hand!! xo
Ahh that sounds like it was great! I hope next year it doesn’t fall on the same day as the Exercise and Nutrition Symposium so that I can go to BOTH! And if not, well, I think I’ll have to choose the OHEA conference.
So jealous about you getting to see the Mairlyn Smith demonstration! What did she make?
The conference sounds so great! I would love to go to some things like that to benefit my career. I will have to start looking into it! I spent my Sunday sleeping in, going for a 1.5 mile run, played disc golf, and had brunch with a friend!
looks like so much fun!
The conference sounded great! Wow, vanilla flavoured canola oil?! Crazy!