Blogger and Chevy Girl Meet-up

The Ohio Blogging Association (yes, apparently there is such a thing) kicked off their Cleveland-area meet ups last week with a cooking demo, appetizers, and wine at Whole Foods Market Cedar Center. Whole Foods graciously hosted about 20 of our area's bloggers, and for a $10 fee it really was a fun little event. I always love seeing some of the bloggers that I've gotten to know well and now consider friends, but meeting others IRL (in real life) for the first time is really why I attend events such as this. This time, I met The Chubby Cook, Quarry Lane Farms, and former (and fellow) Chevy Girl Alana from The Dawg's Dish.

Yes, that's right...it turned into quite the unexpected reunion for several of our area's female bloggers that have participated (or currently participating, like myself) in the Chevy program. In attendance were Allison, Alicia, Heather, Alana, Katie, and then current drivers Suzanne and Michelle. We had fun talking about the program and the different Chevy cars that we test drove. The Traverse may have been a better option for Cleveland winters, but I'm enjoying driving a compact car similar to my own.

Okay, back to Whole Foods...We started off the evening with a demonstration of raw foods prepared by Chef Lauren. She shared some sushi, raw chocolate infused with a ginger and mandarin orange/mango filling, and raw coconut shavings with a sorbet as a palate cleanser.Then we were served several dishes from Whole Foods' prepared foods section of the store, including: General Tso's Vegan Nuggets, Molly's Asian Noodles, Emerald Sesame Kale, and Marinated Grilled Vegetables with an Asian Inspired Dressing.A few of the dishes were quite good, such as the Asian Noodles. I even took some home and enjoyed them for lunch the next day! But the General Tso's Vegan Nuggets didn't trick me. The flavor of the sauce was really nice, but it couldn't mask the textural issues that I had with the non-chicken chicken. I tried, I really did, but they just weren't for me.

Overall, it was a fun evening spent in the company of my fellow bloggers. A big thank you goes out to Lisa Sands and Whole Foods for hosting us.

But then a couple of us headed down the street to Melt Bar & Grilled for one of their towering grilled cheese sandwiches. A little more my speed. Former Chevy Girl, Allison from Green Dog Wine, hopped in my Cruze to help navigate over to the east side location (this was my first time there) and she really enjoyed checking out the features of the Cruze. She instantly started to play with the buttons, do-dads, and do-hickies since she had driven the Traverse.

I finally made it home in a Parmageddon coma around 11PM, but with a smile on my face from spending time with some of my favorite Cleveland bloggers and learning a little more about Whole Foods. I'm looking forward to that west-side location that they keep telling us is coming!

Disclaimer: The Girls On The Go campaign is being sponsored by Northeastern Ohio Area Chevy Dealers, who gave me a Chevy Cruze to test drive for one month and blog about my experience using the vehicle. The program has given us some fun "missions" to do and will be providing me with gift certificates to allow me to do this. Follow Gotta Love Chevy NEO on Facebook or on Twitter (#chevygirls).