FNCE 2012

So I like Philly. I went back to Philly AGAIN in October for the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) - the Annual conference for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. FNCE is the best weekend of the year and it is a celebration of all things dietetics-related, including friends. This year, Shannan, Emily, Millie, and I met up for an epic weekend. What made the weekend even better is that my work subsidized my mileage, meals, and conference registration!

On Friday after lunch, I left work and headed on up. I stopped in DC to have lunch with Megan and then I picked Shannan up at the University of Maryland. We got stuck in some traffic so Millie and Emily just went straight to the hotel from the airport and waited for us there. I got a pretty good deal on the Aloft Hotel near the airport and we just drove into downtown each day (about 10-15 minutes).  Once we arrived and got settled, we headed into town for some dinner. We had Indian food at Karma and then walked around old town and saw some historical sites from afar.

The next morning, we slept in a bit and then went to Sabrina's for brunch (it's the best!). Emily and I shared pumpkin pancakes and an omelette. Afterwards, we went to Laurel Hill Cemetery and wandered around. The cemetery is mostly historical and has lots of ornate tombstones and vaults. Since Shannan is 8 months pregnant, we were looking for good names for her baby boy. After that, we headed to the conference center and got checked in for the conference and enjoyed the opening session. We had dinner that night and enjoyed "the best burger in Philly" at the Royal Tavern.

The next day we enjoyed the conference all day and had enjoyed Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch at the Reading Terminal Market (RTM was a daily lunch tradition from then on). Emily also presented her poster on her Master's thesis! Tonight was potentially the best night ever though as Dr Nyland agreed to have dinner with us! We enjoyed hearing all the details of her courtship and subsequent engagement. She normally doesn't have time for dinner with students/former students but we were able to swing it this year!

Fun at the Expo

FNCE LOVE

Monday we enjoyed more conferencing, lunch at RTM, and dinner at the oldest Italian Restaurant in the nation! The sauce was incredible...

RTM

Cash only and a tight squeeze.

My first badge with RD on it :)

Sporting our Peanut Envy shirts 

Tuesday was our last day! Shannan had to head out early on the train home as she had class that afternoon and we hung around until the closing session. We stopped at the RTM for lunch and then I dropped Millie and Emily off at the airport so they could fly back to SLC and started the drive back to Richmond - with a stop to see Eric and Darien in DC on the way home.

SWAG collected this year.