Recent Travels – Episode 32: PaleOMG Uncensored Podcast

Talking about my recent travels to Costa Rica for our 1 year wedding anniversary and then straight to Dallas for the rewardStyle Conference!

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Episode 32 Transcription!

Welcome to the 32nd episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. Before we get started on this monumental episode; 32nd. I don’t know why it’s monumental, but whatever. Before we get started, we’ve got to talk about today’s sponsor. Because I’ve talked about them a ton, but they’re seriously awesome and they’re changing lives. And it’s really damn cool. And I’m so lucky to be a part of it.

If you haven’t heard me talk about Aaptiv yet, Aaptiv is a fitness app that brings together the voice of a trainer, a playlist so you can listen to cool music while you’re working out, and they walk you through your workouts. Whether you’re wanting to do a treadmill workout, or spinning, or strength training, or a kettlebell workout, or abs, or legs. They literally have so many different workouts to choose from. And you can pick your time range. So say you just put your kid down to sleep, and you know that your kid doesn’t sleep for sh*t, so you only have about 20 minutes; well they’ll have a 20-minute or less workout for you. They have all kinds of different time ranges, so you can really fit it into your schedule. And you really have no excuses. It’s an app; apps make our lives go ‘round.

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This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

Juli Bauer: Well hello there, pumpkin pie bear. How are you doing? Welcome back to another episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. I am Juli Bauer Roth, the creator of www.PaleOMG.com. I feel like I should do that intro every time. I know I don’t. I’m just like a sh*t storm, just talking about whatever every single time. But I think I should use some sort of repetition. So that was me, trying. Welcome back. Hopefully this isn’t your first podcast. Hopefully you started from the beginning. Because that’s how all podcasts should go. Right? You’ve got to get to know the person. See what they’re all about before you really get into the nitty gritty of their hormonal state.

I’m a bit hormonal today. I’m a bit of a raging b*tch. I don’t get like this very often, but when I do, I’m ready to go. My poor husband is just stuck in this house with me. I think he went to bed at like 9 last night, just so he could get away from me. But that’s how it goes. That’s how the cookie crumbles at times. I should have had a cookie, speaking of. But, you know, I didn’t.

4.21.

So this past weekend. Oh, I shouldn’t even get into it yet. Because I need to start from the beginning. We’ll get into it in a second. But I did want to do a little update on fascia blasting, because I get questions about that all the time. What are the results like. And I talked about that on the last episode. I really haven’t been really good about keeping with it, because I’ve been traveling so much. If you have a Fasciablaster or you’ve seen it; imagine those back scratchers back in the day that are super long. But 4 of those combined. Not length wise, but it’s like multiple back scratchers. I had this guy, one of our neighbors, come work in our bathroom on something and I had the Fasciablaster in the shower, because I’ll do it in the shower. He was like, “What is this? Is this some weird back scratcher?” I was like, it’s hard to explain. You’re 60, you don’t care when I’m talking about cellulite. So I’m like, “oh, it’s for muscle recuperation.” Which it is. Whatever.

So, I haven’t been taking that with me, obviously, and I’ve been traveling the past month and I just haven’t been able to use it on a regular basis. But now I’m back home, trying to use it regularly. And physically, I don’t see much of a difference. I haven’t been doing before and after photos. But something that I seriously am obsessed with it for is muscle fatigue. It helps so much when your legs are just dead. I didn’t work out; well, I did workout. But I didn’t do CrossFit for like 11 straight days, so coming back these past couple of days into CrossFit doing bar muscle ups, doing squat cleans, doing heavy deadlifts. My quads and my hamstrings were dead. So sore. You can’t lean over sore. And I just start using this, and it’s like night and day. It seriously helps so much with muscle recovery. I like it so much more than just rolling out on a roller.

So I think it’s huge with that. If you’re a person who is bad about rolling out on a roller, you should do that. Because then you’re like; “oh, I’m working on my cellulite.” So it’s more motivating. But it’s been so helpful with that.

But I also; and I don’t know if anybody else has ever experienced this. But I have; it’s hard to explain. But I’ll get little bumps on the back of my legs. Almost like they’re just irritated bumps. I don’t know if it’s from rubbing on my jeans. But I only get them on the back of my legs. I’ve seen people get them on the back of their arms, but it’s like little tiny bumps. Almost like little tiny whiteheads. They come and go, I don’t know what causes them. And I’m sure somebody will email me with the answer, but I don’t give a sh*t enough to do research on it. But after using the Fasciablaster, those bumps completely go away. So it must be a circulation thing with those bumps, I’m guessing.

So muscle recovery, and those little bumps, are 10 million times better. I used to have; I don’t know. I don’t know if you guys can picture that. But it seriously has helped so much. So if you’re a person who has been thinking about getting the Fasciablaster. And I’m not getting paid by them. I wish I was; that’d be sick. But I’m literally just saying that I really love it, and I think it’s awesome. And I hope it works with cellulite long-term. But we’ll see.

Speaking of that; that’s funny, because the creator of that; I think her name is Ashley Black, maybe. I am going to the Girl’s Gone WOD podcast live event this Saturday, and I’m like interviewing them. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to ask. I need to pull some stuff out of my butt. But they were traveling to Costa Rica, and I saw Claire took a picture with that book that said Cellulite is a Myth from the creator of the Fasciablaster. So I cannot wait to tell her about my experience with that. Because she probably thinks it’s completely bullsh*t. But I’m pro-cellulite is a myth, even if I still have cellulite. But I like what her concept is. So I can’t wait to talk about that with them. But not at their live show.

I’m actually having them on my podcast. I’m recording them this weekend to have them on next weeks’ episode of the podcast. So if you haven’t gone to Girls Gone WOD podcast, they’re amazing; Joy and Claire. And they’re super fun. And I’ve been on their show like 4 or 5 times. So I’m excited to have them in my house. So I told my husband, I was like, “I’m having 2 friends over and we have to record a podcast, so you need to get the hell out of the house. Sorry guy, go away.” But Jackson’s still welcome. But yeah, he has to get out of the house. I may go get some gluten-free donuts, because that’s what a good house host should do. And it’s more for selfish reasons; let’s be real. But I might do that. So I have them to bring over this coming weekend.

I can’t keep any dates straight. Joy texted me the other day, and was like, “Hey, are you still cool to interview us on Saturday?” I’m like, what’s Saturday? Doesn’t she mean Sunday? I’m a f*cking head case. I’m a mess. But you know what, that’s cool. I’m still getting my sh*t back together.

9.51

I’m trying to think if I have any updates for you guys. Well, let’s just get into the trip. I want to tell you guys about my past trip experience. I went from Costa Rica for our one-year anniversary trip. With my husband, obviously. Then we; we meaning me. I literally flew in, landed, 12 hours later left for Dallas. And I was in Dallas over the weekend. So I want to share that whole experience, and kind of what went down on our trip, and all the drama for your mama.

Ok, so last year when we got back from Jamaica from our wedding, I was having post-wedding blues. Because I was like; “Ok, I’m not in Jamaica. We aren’t having kids. What the hell am I going to do?” We’re landscaping our yard. And then we just keep saying we’re going to landscape our yard, and then keep putting it off because it’s so much f*cking money. And landscapers just really don’t email you back. What the hell is that about? I guess I’m terrible at email. Who am I to judge.

So we get back from Jamaica; I’m sad, I want to plan something. So I’m like; ok, I’m planning our one-year anniversary trip. We decided on Costa Rica, because I loved Costa Rica when I went a year prior to go; I had a PaleOMG retreat with a company called Under 30 Experiences. It was so much fun. We went to Manuel Antonio on that trip, and I fell in love with it. It was just so cool, such a beautiful place. So chill. So I wanted to take my husband back there, since he didn’t to experience that trip with me.

When I started talking about the Costa Rica trip and kind of where to stay, this reader emailed me and was like, “My parents actually own an AirBNB out there, and it’s a treehouse. And it’s super cool. I highly recommend it.” Whatever. So I look into it. It’s awesome. It has amazing reviews. It had like 500 reviews. Everybody loved it; talked about monkeys on their deck every day and seeing sloths. And whatever; all the animals. And it was just such a cool experience. So I was like, ok. Him and I haven’t done an AirBNB together, and like cooked in a place, so that would be awesome.

So I booked the trip a year out. And if you haven’t been to Costa Rica. We flew into San Jose airport; and Manuel Antonio is a 3-hour drive. And I did the drive the first time I went, and this time I was like, f*ck no to the drive. So we booked a flight. Because it’s like a $60 flight, and it’s a 20 to 25-minute flight, and it’s beautiful. It’s almost like you’re just in a helicopter flying over everything. Because it’s one of those, you’re in a paper airplane. You’re sideways taking off. So sketchy. And we were almost the only people on the plane the first time around, which was sweet.

So we take that 25-minute flight, get in. Because we took the Red Eye, so we got in at like 2 p.m. Get a taxi, and they take us up to the treehouse. So this treehouse is like; it’s literally a treehouse, but it has running water, it has a bathroom, it has a shower. It has a working kitchen. So, it is still like a functioning place. It doesn’t have air conditioning, but it’s like an open-air treehouse. So there’s screens everywhere. Like screens and kind of fences to lock and support the place. So we get a cab, and we really don’t know where we are obviously. We haven’t been in this area. And I kind of remember some of the area from before. We drove past the marina in Quepos, and I remember that. I’m like, oh yeah we walked over here.

So we get this cab up, and it’s probably a 15-minute walk from the marina. So a quick cab ride up. But it’s super uphill. Terrible roads; the roads are kind of falling apart. It’s like dirt roads. And then the cab would have to gun it to get up some of these hills. They’re pretty incline hills. And then he would go the wrong way, and be in someone’s driveway, and have to back out. We couldn’t find it; and it’s hard to see if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

So we finally make it there, check in, and get to meet the owner. He was awesome; he was so cool. And he kind of just gives us the breakdown of everything. So since it’s like 2 in the afternoon, I’m like, “let’s go get drinks.” Right away, let’s start partying here. We’re so excited to be here. So we walk down. We walked the 15-minute walk down to the marina. And get a couple of cocktails there. We’re both; me probably more than him, because I drink a little less than him. But we’re both buzzed right away, because we have very little sleep off the Red Eye. We hadn’t eaten yet, we just had snacks. And so then after a couple of drinks at the marina, we go into town. We get a taxi into Manuel Antonio.

So, Quepos, where the marina is, is a 10-minute drive, 10 to 15-minute drive from the beach. But Manuel Antonio is almost on this mountainside. So it’s really windy, sharp turn roads. There’s no real sidewalks on the edge, but people are walking everywhere still. It’s like blind corners. So it’s just a sketchy walk to be on; but we did it many times. It’s fine. So we go to El Avion, which has an amazing view. I didn’t go there last time, because I heard it was overpriced. And it is. But it was just a fun time to oversee the entire ocean. And then it’s built around this; there’s a bar inside of an airplane. Yeah, so you can go inside the bar. But it’s a cool spot, and they have fun drinks. Like the fruity, super bad for you drinks.

So we had a couple of drinks there. And then we were like; ok, it’s getting nighttime really early here. Because they don’t have daylight savings, like us. So it’s like 4:30 and it’s getting pretty dark. So we’re like, ok, sh*t we need to go down to the beach. We’ll just walk, it can’t be that far. We’re looking at a map, and we’re like, “Oh, it’s not that far.” It never is on the f*cking map.

It was super-hot that day. So we’re walking, and we’re like; are we ever going to get there? We keep thinking each corner we’re going to get there and we don’t. We finally make it to the beach when the sun is setting. And dipping our toes in, trying to decide what we’re going to do next. And then some guy comes up, and is trying to sell us drugs. I’m like, what the f*ck? Because this beach is really patrolled. There are police officers everywhere, but obviously it’s night and people are clearing out. And you can’t see. This guy is trying to sell us drugs. I’m like, what? Why are you trying to be my best friend? I’m f*cking drunk, leave me alone. I don’t want to buy drugs. But we’re Americans; I’m guessing a lot of Americans like to buy drugs. But, not me. I just wanted a cocktail.

So, we have some dinner, and have another cocktail. And then we’re like; ok, we need to get back. Let’s get back and head to bed early since we haven’t slept at all. We’re both poop tired. And it’s only like 6 p.m. But we were both exhausted from the day. So we’re like; ok, let’s get a cab ride back. And there’s the language barrier. Some people speak English really well there, and some people don’t. Obviously, why would they speak English? Going to other countries like this makes you feel like such a f*cking turd. I met so many people who spoke like 4 languages. And I’m like, oh, no just one here. I’m the worst. F*cking ‘Murica. But whatever.

So, we have the language barrier. And he was pretty much like, I can’t take you to the treehouse. I’ll take you to the marina. So we go, get to the marina, and we’re like, ok, whatever. It’s like a 15-minute walk, we can do it. It’s not a big deal. And we’ll start figuring out situations for the future. So we start walking up this road to get to our treehouse, and it’s like pitch black. Thankfully I had my phone, so I’m using that as light. And we can’t see anything. I keep tripping. I bruise my ankle, because my ankle rolled and I hit that little numb on the side of your leg. And I’m like, ok. And I’m starting to get nervous. Because we’re in a jungle, pitch black, we’re both drunk. It’s just a sketchy situation that we shouldn’t have really put ourselves in. No matter how safe that is, we just don’t know what kind of neighborhood. Yeah. And you’re just in a different country. You just don’t know what’s going on.

So, we start going up, and we’re like, sh*t. The road starts forking, and we’re like; “Wait, did we go that way or did we go that way in the fork in the road?” We can’t really figure it out. It’s not like our maps are going to work. And I then as we’re trying to see right in front of us, these dogs start running down a driveway and start barking at us. And we think they’re going to stop at the end of the driveway, and they keep running at us fully, and they come up behind us, like they’re about the bite us. I’m just trying to look down, not look them in the eye. And they’re barking like they’re going to bite us, and I just start bawling. I just start losing it.

I’m like; we’re not going to make it back. These dogs are following us. Who knows what other f*cking creatures; I don’t think there’s really any other creatures. But my drunk self was very freaked out by creatures. And I was like, I booked this place, are we ever going to get a cab to it? Are we going to have to do this every single night? I’m drunk, fatigued, exhausted, and emotional. So I’m just bawling my eyes out. We finally make it back, and everything is completely fine. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. But of course, my 29-year-old self just still finds things dramatic. So we literally passed out that night.

I was like, ok. I love this place, this is awesome, but I don’t want to stay here the whole time because I don’t want to do this every day. If you wanted to go to the marina, and be more just in the jungle, that’s awesome. But we’re both water people. My husband grew up on lakes; he was a wakeboarder, and I grew up in pools. I swam my whole life. So we’re just water people. And our dream vacation is on the beach. And we both just thought it was closer to the beach. So whatever, we pass out. And we’re like; we’ll look for places the next day. We’ll start trying to find another place to stay out.

So, we fall asleep, and then in the morning we’re woken up. Awakened? Woken up? Whatever. We’re awoken by monkeys everywhere. And I posted this on my Instagram, so if you haven’t seen it. And I did a post about this on my blog with a link to that. But we woke up to monkeys everywhere. And they’re running all over the deck. And you can see everything. You can see them on the roof. So they run all over the deck, and then on the rooftop, they created these skylights, but with plastic. And the monkeys come on top of the plastic, and use it like a trampoline. And they’re just jumping up and down and looking inside. They’re just running everywhere; it’s so freaking cool. It was like 5 in the morning. It was such a cool experience. I think everybody, if you can stay at that treehouse, you totally should. Because there are creatures everywhere. We had a lizard inside of our room. If you’re cool with creatures, obviously. But it was so cool.

Woke up to that, and I was like, ok today is going to be awesome. So we go to Café Milagro for breakfast. And that’s honestly my favorite place in Manuel Antonio. And I think, if I’m correct, the owner was a CSU student, which is where I went to school, is CSU; Colorado State. And moved there and opened that coffee shop. And I think they have a few of them. But it’s just this adorable coffee shop. And they have really good food. There’s, sometimes you go to a place and the food is kind of whatever. This place has great food, it has great coffee, it has great cocktails. It has a really cute patio. It’s just awesome.

So we went there, and then scoped out another place kind of when we were in that area that was just down the street. Because we were like, ok, if we want to book another place, let’s find a place and talk to them and see when we can book. Anyways, we then spent most of our days on the beach. And the best part is you can rent like boogie boards or surfboards. You can take lessons if you want. There’s horseback riding. There’s, what’s it called; is it parasailing? When you’re behind the boat and they’re pulling you right on a big old parachute. That looked really boring to me, but who knows. Maybe it’s cool.

We just rented; my husband rented surfboards. And I think he was drunk, and he rented a much smaller surfboard than he learned to surf on in the first place. And he was just getting wrecked by these waves. Like taken f*cking down. This poor guy. Because he’s a really good wake boarder, but when you’re trying to surf and these waves are way bigger than the ones we did in San Diego; it was just f*cking hilarious.

So I was like, I’m not surfing. Because I don’t want my face mashed into the ground. I’m happy with how my face is. So, I rented a boogie board, and I just boogie boarded every day. It was f*cking awesome. It makes you feel like a kid again. The whole time, I was like, “Whee! Whee!” like that pig on whatever that commercial was. God that pick was f*cking cute. But that’s how I was on the boogie board. I luckily brought a rash guard; I highly recommend a rash guard if you’re going to be boogie boarding or surfboarding since your stomach is on it over and over and over. And we just did that all day.

We’d get cocktails on the beach. And those are kind of expensive, so we’d just literally walk across the street, because they just sell booze in the little supermarkets there, and pretty much the convenient stores. So we walked straight across the street. I got a ton of coconut waters that had coconut chunks in them, and that was my drink of choice when I wasn’t wanting to drink alcohol. So I just drank water and coconut water. And then we’d order food on the beach. And it was awesome. It was just so much fun doing that every single day.

And then we were like; ok, we should do a couple of excursions. We both didn’t really want to do a zipline tour. I know a lot of people think it’s cool, and say it’s awesome. But I just didn’t want to spend most of my day ziplining. So we did one that was a minute and a half, that’s over by El Avion. And it was a minute and a half of fun. But I really just didn’t need more than that.

So the other excursions we decided to do. My husband really wanted to fish, but I was like; I’ll do it for you, but I don’t want to. But I will do it, and I will act like I like it if you really want in. But remember, you can always do this with your guy friends other times. But he was like; let’s spend our money on other things. So we did a catamaran cruise. Which is kind of like a booze cruise, but it was like families and everything. It wasn’t like the ones that I went on in Mexico and did things that I won’t speak of. It wasn’t that kind of booze cruise.

It takes you at sunset, and you get to go snorkeling. I didn’t thing the snorkeling was that good. It was like 2 fish, and they weren’t that interesting. And then you get to watch the sunset. Which usually, in Costa Rica, the sunsets are the most beautiful sunsets you’ve ever f*cking seen. But sadly every single night we were there, it was just cloudy at night. Or it rained at night. So we didn’t get to see the really cool sunsets. But seriously, their sunsets are stunning. So usually that catamaran cruise, out on the water watching the sunset would be really rad.

You get to go snorkeling, you get to play in the water. And they serve you dinner; make you food as well, which is great, having that in the amount you pay. And then we also; which was so cool, we also got to see dolphins jumping all over the place. Which was so cool. Seeing dolphins in the wild, not at just f*cking Sea World, gag me. Oh my gosh, it’s the best. These wild dolphins just jumping free. It’s just so f*cking cool. So we got a little dolphin show, if you will. It was great.

One time, we were looking the other way than everybody else, and we got to see our own dolphins. And my husband was like, “it’s our own dolphin show. How romantic!” He’s like, “Don’t say anything!” So I’m keeping quiet, not trying to be like, “Oh my god!” But they were jumping so high. It was so cool. So that was amazing.

The other excursion we did; we went on this ATV tour. And they told us, the ATV tour is awesome. It takes you through waterfalls. So I kind of expected, the way they talked about it, the ATVs going through the waterfalls. And we took an ATV tour, it was really hot. We were on regular roads. Because you pretty much drive through all these neighborhoods to get to these ATV tours, and you’re still in a neighborhood. I drove past a school on my ATV. Driving through all these palm tree fields. So we took this ATV tour. It ended up being a private tour. It was just me and my husband, because nobody else had signed up. So I don’t know if our driver was super pumped about that. Because he was like, f*ck, how am I going to waste all this time, that’s all the time frame is supposed to be, when it’s just two people.

So we take this long ATV tour; I’m like, “Ok, are we going to go fast?” We’re just kind of moseying along. When are we going to speed it up; go quick? And I get it. Just make us sign a waiver. We just weren’t going fast at all. It was just kind of boring. So then we get to this rainforest. I think it’s just the rainforest hike; I forget what it’s called. Rainmaker hike. Yeah. Rainmaker hike. It’s like this rainmaker train. And you can go around this trail. You can walk it yourself. It has like super sketchy bridges, and a ton of wildlife throughout. It’s a really cool hike. The thing about hikes is I f*cking hate hiking. I don’t want to hike. If I wanted to hike, I would not pay for it. I would just walk uphill by myself.

So we didn’t know there was going to be a hike involved. Neither of us like hiking. And everybody in the whole world is like, “oh, you need to try this hike, and this hike.” And I live in Colorado with all the hikes in the world, and I don’t give a sh*t about walking uphill to see a lot of stuff. I don’t know. Like, what a lame thing. But I would just rather be in the water than hiking. Like, I want to be active in a different way. And it’s just not that cool to me.

So we went on this hike, and it’s just the three of us; the guide and my husband and I. We’re going through this hike, and he’s showing us all the wildlife. Which was cool. There were these ants; you know the ants that are carrying giant pieces of leaves. The whole ant family. And then we got to see frogs. You just get to see cool wildlife in here. And then there are waterfalls. And there’s this one waterfall that leads to a little pool, and you can jump in the pool to cool down. And he’s like; “Ok, if you guys want to jump in.” And both me and my husband were like, “Nah. We’re cool.” Then he’s like, “Ok, well I’m going to jump in.” And he goes swimming. And we’re just kind of sitting there, waiting for him. Because we’re like; ok, we don’t want to do that, we want to move on. But I can tell our guide is wasting time.

So then we walked back to our ATVs. And at the end, there’s a hut that they use the water from this little river, whatever, to make their own draft beer. And he’s telling us about this draft beer. I’m like, honey, you are talking to the wrong person. I don’t even want to drink beer if someone paid me. I f*cking hate beer. I think beer is so gross. But I just don’t like the taste of most alcohol anyway, let alone beer.

The first time I drank beer, I remember spitting it back out into my beer can. And then to be cool, I went to the bathroom and poured out most of my beer to make people think I had drank most of it. Do I still do that to this day? F*ck yeah, I do. I go into bathrooms all the time and pour out my drink so people think I’m being involved with their social activities.

So we get to this little hut where they make food and beer. And he’s like, “We’re not eating here, but you can grab a beer.” And I’m like, “No I’m cool.” Brian’s like, “No, I’m cool.” And he’s like, “Ok, I’m going to get a beer.” So we’re just sitting around while he’s drinking his beer, because he’s still trying to waste time. I’m like, dude. We’ll leave early, we don’t give a sh*t. We just want to f*cking go fast on an ATV.

So then he was like; well we have some time. I want to take you to this cool spot that I can’t take a big group. So he takes us up this hill. And I have some pictures on my blog if you want to see any of them. But he takes us up this hill, and it oversees; it seriously looks like all of Costa Rica. It was f*cking; that was really cool to see that. And I didn’t have to hike to it. An ATV just took me right on up there. No hiking needed. So we got to see this cool spot that he normally didn’t take people, which was cool. Unless he normally did, I don’t know. But it was like someone’s private property. And there were cows that looked pissed that we were on their property.

So he shows us this cool area. We get some cool pictures together. And then we go back, and they make us a homecooked meal. And that was awesome. That was probably my favorite meal, was this food that we got on this ATV trip. It was like total custom Costa Rica type food. It was just bomb. And then that was it. I was like; ok, we literally could have come here. I could have gotten a meal and left, because I would have been fine with that. We wish, once we got back, we were like; we should have just kept that money and just gone to the beach all day. And we’re total doers. We’re not just sit and read a book type people. But I just feel like sometimes those excursions; obviously people love them because they do them all the time. But I’m like, I could have gotten so much more out of just playing on the beach and just being active that way. So we were kind of bummed that we didn’t just do that. Because that was awesome.

But yeah. So we ended up moving to a different hotel that kind of overlooked the ocean. It was so beautiful and the service was amazing. It was called La Mansion Inn. And the staff was amazing. The food was amazing. It was just a really cool hotel. And if you ever want any of this information, I put it on my blog in a recap under the travel tab. So you can always search it there.

So yeah. Then we ended up; we took an afternoon flight out. So we didn’t get home until 1 in the morning. I didn’t sleep on any of those flights, so I worked the entire time. So I was pretty exhausted the next day. So we land at midnight, get home at 1 in the morning. And then I have to get a quick sleep in, kiss my dog, take him for a quick walk, and then I repack my bag because I left for the airport around 9:30 that morning to leave for a flight. And by the way, I was at Root Down at DIA, which is one of my favorite restaurants, especially at the airport. And I was at Root Down, and the server recognized me. He’s like, I see you here all the time. You must travel a lot for work. I was like, actually I do travel a lot. And now we’re friends. So I can’t wait to see him again when I leave in a couple of weeks again.

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But anyways. Go back to the airport. And then head to Dallas. So I got invited to this event in Dallas. And if you follow me on social media, you’ve seen me post outfits, and it has a Like to Know It link. Like to Know it is this company that helps you monetize what you’re selling online. So I’m selling outfits there. And the company is called Rewards Style. So they hold a convention; or I should say a conference, every year in Dallas where their company is. And they hold this conference. They kind of talk about everything, from SEO, to marketing yourself, to working with brands. And then they have little meetings. Shoot, I was really trying to breathe extra today so I wouldn’t yawn as much. I got this.

So they set up these meetings with companies, as well. So I went to this conference, and I was able to meet with Express, and Loft, and Lole, and Super Goop. And then I was also able to talk to companies like ASOS, and Ambercrombie and Fitch, and Soul Society. So many cool companies. So this was a weekend long event. And I was asked to actually speak at the event for the topic of brand extensions related to books.

So there were a couple of women; one woman talked about licensing, and my little speech was about writing books. And what was funny about is, I don’t think a lot; most of these women are fashion bloggers alone or they’re kind of more lifestyle. But they’re not looking to write a book; especially a cookbook. So I didn’t know if my information was even helpful. But I felt really honored to get to go to this conference, because they invited their top 200 influencers. So I felt really, really lucky to get to go to this conference with such influential women in this brand new type of marketing and brand new type of income. This world of monetizing the internet was not possible years ago, and it’s crazy how the world has changed, and really how Reward Style has changed the game, especially in fashion.

So, I just got to talk to these women in a short classroom session; 45-minute session. Talking about my experience with writing a cookbook. How much money it cost. What I would do differently moving forward if I want to write another book. And I got to answer any questions they had. And luckily, they did have questions. So it felt like they were involved in the conversation. It wasn’t like a one-sided topic. Which was really cool.

But every day was a little bit different. So when I landed in Dallas, I just checked into my hotel, got ready, and went straight to this party that was hosted by Soul Society. So the party was on the rooftop. The whole event and the stay was at the Crescent Court Hotel in Dallas. So the first party was on the rooftop pool. So went to the pool. And I’m sure anyone who is listening to this who has been to a conference knowing no one can totally relate to this. But I was walking into an event where I knew no one, didn’t know who to talk to, was completely out of my element. Because I’m not a full fashion blogger. I was just feeling intimidated, and thinking negatively on myself in a way. Just because nobody knows who I am or gives a sh*t. Why are they going to want to talk to me when there’s all these bigtime people here? I don’t know if that makes total sense.

But how I pictured it walking into these events and feeling awkward was 100% how it played out. And it’s not even people are rude and don’t want to talk to you; it’s just, they have their groups. All these women have either talked to each other online, or they’ve met each other at past conferences, or they know someone. And I didn’t know anybody. It was like, I knew a couple of people that I follow on Instagram. That doesn’t mean we have a relationship. So I just felt super awkward. I got to talk to some people at Soul Society, which was awesome. But I just felt so uncomfortable and it was so hot that day. And there was no shade. So we’re all dumping sweat; sweat is running down the backs of our legs. Everybody is dressed up, because it is a fashion event. And yeah. I was like; ok, I feel so uncomfortable. I really want to get a workout in before I go to bed. And this is the only time I’ll probably get to do one before the whole weekend starts, because the weekend is all back to back. So, I hung out there for like an hour and a half feeling awkward as f*ck. And then I was like, ok. I’m going to go to my Zen zone, and go to the gym.

And if you haven’t been to this hotel, this hotel has a f*cking bomb ass gym. If you’re a person who books hotels based on gyms, you would love this one. This gym is gigantic. I think a lot of people who don’t stay at the hotel who just live in Dallas go to this gym. The gym is awesome. And I’m sure the spa is awesome, too, if the gym was that nice. But I got to work out there. And then ordered room service, and passed out super early. Because the day started pretty early the next day.

So, the next morning, it started off with these speeches by head people of Reward Style. And they were just talking about how Reward Style has grown, how influencers are influencing the market more. And just giving us kind of statistics. It was just really interesting. It was really fun listening to all these people. We also got to listen to the creators of, what’s it called? Bumble, the dating app where women make the first move. And it was just like; I mean, I think there are probably 3 guys who were invited to this event. The only guys were people who worked at the event, or worked for companies who were at the event. So it was mostly women. So it was really empowering listening to these women who had a dream, did what they wanted to do, didn’t listen to other people, and stood up for what they believed in. And it’s just really empowering listening to that sort of thing from other women.

So that’s what was really cool about this event. It was filled with women who were creating their own lives. Creating their own jobs out of something that was not available to us 5 or 6 years ago. It’s crazy how much this business has grown. So we got to listen to just really influential people, and that was awesome.

Then it kind of broke off into classroom sessions, where you’d go listen to about how to use the Like to Know it app; how to sell to your readers, and really explained the company. Or how to go through the steps. Like if you saw my shoes, I want to make sure you know how to get the information on those shoes, if that makes sense. So we got to sit in a bunch of classroom sessions just learning all kinds of stuff. And then we also had brand meetings, where we’d get to go talk to any kind of brand. So I got to talk to Express, Lole, Loft, and Super Goop. Those were my four meetings. And it was just so cool. I’ve worked with Express a bunch, and I got to just talk to them and ask them, what can I do better. And they asked me what are you looking for when you’re working with a brand. So it’s just awesome one on one connections that you just don’t’ ever get to get when you’re working on the internet. Literally, I’m sitting in my living room with my computer and my microphone in my lap. That is my contact with the outside world. So getting to see face to face, and talk to people, and showing your personality. That just means so much more; a voice and a face means so much more than just typing and listening.

So it was so much fun to go to those and meet with those brands. And then each day we had a lunch. One day was at Shake Shack, which I’ve never been to a Shake Shack, so that was really cool to get to go to one for the first time. I don’t think we have them here in Denver. Yet. Hopefully we can step it up. I heard they’re really gluten-free friendly. They’re really helpful with that. And these meals; a bunch of people are like, “oh, you can get that gluten free.” But these meals were already made. A bunch of hamburgers and cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches were all laid out, so you just kind of grab one and grab fries and go. You can’t request anything at these meals. But it was awesome. I got to go to Shake Shack, and talk to a couple of women there.

And then a blogger that I followed, her dog almost passed away, and I cried along on her Instagram when she was talking about her dog going into a coma. And her dog was there, so I was like, “oh my god, nobody wants to be my friend. Maybe this dog will be my best friend.” So I was talking to this dog. And the owner didn’t want to hang out with me. But the dog kissed my face, and it was wonderful. Dogs are just the f*cking best. Humans are the worst.

So I had another uncomfortable lunch. And then the next day, we had a lunch that was hosted by Top Shop, and that was in the hotel. And it was the best meal. Because when you’re serving a bunch of people, you don’t get many options usually. Like, here’s a burger and fries, move on. Which is great. The burger was super good. But the Top Shop lunch, it had like a quinoa salad, it has a huge kale and arugula salad. It had chicken, it had salmon. It was just so, so good. I sat at a big table of women. There was always breakfast, lunch, and it wasn’t dinner, it was like a cocktail party every night. So it was just a lot of these parties that I would go to.

I’m just like; it’s just hard to make friends as an adult. I’m just standing there kind of hoping someone will talk to me looking friendly, smiling the whole time. It’s just exhausting trying to make friends, and trying to come off as friendly. I know I come off as a b*tch, because I am, but I’m a friendly person and I get along with pretty much anyone. I coach CrossFit, and I coach really f*cking asshole people sometimes, and I can still work my way around with getting along with them. And there are these women who, we all do very similar business, and have so much to talk about. But at the same time, I’m sure there’s a competitive aspect where you see a certain number of followers, or you judge what they do on the internet. So I’m sure there’s some competitive stuff that goes on that I don’t know about, because I’m not in that circle of people. But it was just like every event, it was exhausting trying to make friends with people who already had friends, and they’re like, “we don’t f*cking need you.” {laughs} We have our group of friends, we have our Dallas people, we have our California people. We have a group of bloggers that we’re all friends with. All these people had blogger meetups, and sh*t that I just am not part of. And my social circle is more around food stuff, and that’s not their interest.

There was one girl who was giving a speech one day, and I don’t know what she was talking about, but she was like, “I don’t want to see pictures of your food.” I was like, “B*tch, that’s what I made my business around!” {laughs} So obviously, I wasn’t in the exact realm that a lot of these women were in. And it was just hard to break through. It was a really exhausting weekend just trying to make friends.

All the cocktail parties were really cool. Reward Style does an amazing job of putting these parties on. And the last night was a black tie optional night, and I seriously loved my dress. I did a Rent the Runway dress. And if you haven’t used that company, it is so f*cking bomb. Just being able to rent a dress and send it back, and not have to buy a dress that you’re never going to wear again is just such a genius idea. And it was perfect for this event. I found a dress that I felt so good in. And I ordered it while I was in Costa Rica, got it sent here a couple of days before hand, and then sent it back as soon as I got back from Dallas. It was so f*cking easy.

So anyway. This last event was a black tie optional event, so all women had all kinds of different dresses on from crazy gowns to just super casual stuff. And it was a progressional; progressive cocktail night. So we went up this elevator, and I don’t know. I think we were in the theater downtown. So we went up this elevator, we had cocktails out on the patio. Which it was freezing that night, and all of us were in dresses. And then it moved downstairs to more cocktails, and photo booth. And then this band walks up. Just imagine a high school band. And they’re like, “Follow us!” So we’re walking around to this other building. And then the next event starts.

So it’s like a 3-part thing. And then the band starts up, and then the music follows afterwards. And everyone is just dancing and partying. And my favorite thing to do is dance. I f*cking love; weddings that have good music is the best thing ever. My friend is playing a show; he just recently started doing DJ shows like f*cking straight hits. And it’s so much fun, and I don’t think I can make it because I have a birthday dinner planned. But my favorite thing to do is to just go to his club and dance. So much fun.

So this was like the perfect opportunity; but I don’t have any friends. Who likes just dancing by themselves at an event? Sure, I’m not trying to dance up on anyone ever. But I like having friends around that I’m dancing with that I know.

So, I didn’t dance. I got to hang out with some super nice girls. I talked about them on Instagram, and they actually let me kind of into their group. And they were just like cool, chill, don’t seem like super competitive women with each other. They’re just nice people. They’re all pretty much from San Francisco. So got to hang out with them, they were super nice, and they wanted to peace out early. Which I think the event went to like 11. I think we made it to 10:30. So we made it pretty long. But I wasn’t drinking that night. I wanted to get back to real life, so I didn’t want to have any cocktails. And yeah. So that’s kind of how that night ended. These women were like; “Come get food with us!” But I had already eaten dinner. And I was like, I’m just so tired of trying to make friends. It’s exhausting. {laughs}

It was such a cool event, and I feel so lucky to get to go to it. But I hope I have friends next year. I hope I can keep contact with some of these women that were so nice, and actually know people so it feels more fun. We’ll see. Hopefully I get invited next year. We’ll have to see. We’ll have to play it by ear.

So anyways. Get back to town. Oh, and my birthday was that night of that black-tie event. So it’s like, you want on your birthday to at least spend it with the people you love, not like complete strangers. And then I was hoping to come home to cake; like my husband getting me a cake, or something. But it’s like, that ship has sailed. Your birthday is over. Peace out. Deuces. We just went to Costa Rica. We’re getting landscaping. You don’t deserve a cake. But, my sister-in-law is the best and loves me and is getting me a cake, and we’re going out to dinner tomorrow night to sushi. And then she bought me a gluten-free chocolate cake. I f*cking love her. So. We’re back. We’re back to reality. PMSing, chocolate cake, sushi. I’m not unhappy about that reality.

So now it’s just been getting back to work. I’m trying to get as much work done, trying to bust out some recipes. I failed hard at a recipe the other day. Hopefully you follow me on Instagram stories, because I share all my failures in life there. And I failed hard at a recipe, but remade it today; f*cking crushed it. So I’m super pumped about recipes coming next week. Because one is a cocktail, and one is like a seasonal loaf; fruit loaf. I don’t want to give it away {laughs}. So if you can tell from the picture. But whatever.

And then I may have a trip coming up soon, so I’m trying to get recipes done so those are all ready to go, so I can get those to you guys. So that’s what’s been going on around here. That’s what’s been happening the Juli Bauer Roth world. Food, fashion, working out, and being extremely sore, and fascia blasting. Food, fashion, fitness, fascia blasting. Eh. That’s what’s going on. And listening to a lot of podcasts.

I’ve been listening to, if you need a new podcast, if you’re a murder reno. If you like My Favorite Murder podcast. If you like all those murder podcasts. I’ve talked about them on my blog. I have a blog about my favorite podcasts. But this one, I just started listening to, it’s called The Vanished. It just has stories of people who have gone completely missing and have never been seen again. It just has interesting stories. It’s just really cool. It’s really depressing. But it’s hard to listen to after a point, and I’ve been listening to too many of those episodes. So I have to cut myself off sometimes and turn on Cupcake Wars for a little pick me up. Because man that stuff gets dark. And then you think everybody is out to kill you. But if you need a podcast, there you go, guys. I hope that is helpful. I hope I helped you.

But that’s all I got for you this week. Next week, stay tuned, because I have Joy and Claire from Girls Gone WOD podcast. They’re such gems. They’re the best. Remember if you have any topics that you’d like me to cover, hit me up. I was thinking about when I do any travels, I was going to do a podcast about them and kind of what my experiences were in different cities and different countries and all that jazz. So I guess I need to travel more; urgh. I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. More airports. Got this. So I might be going to Savannah, Georgia. Fingers crossed. Waiting to hear back. But hopefully I get to do that. So I have more stories for you guys.

Until then, I hope to hear from you on social media. Don’t forget to follow me on www.PaleOMG.com. This past week I shared a recipe for; I don’t even remember what I had on my blog this week. Oh, I did a spring vegetable lemon basil pasta, so if you’re a vegetarian, this is a great option for you. I added hot Italian sausage to mine, personally. And then I also did a meatball casserole. So you can check that out. And then I did a recap of our one-year anniversary trip. So if you want any links from this, head to that blog post. And next week I have more recipes coming to you guys. I’m going to try to keep doing a recap of what was on the blog this week so you can always go back and search that, if you’re interested. But don’t forget to follow me on social media. Anything PaleOMG.

And, rate, review subscribe. Tell your friends. I don’t know if they want to listen to me babble on. Thank you for doing that. You’re a kind soul. But tell your friends, if they like babbles. I’m here for them. And rate, review, subscribe. Pass on positive vibes. And just do you. Go crush it, you guys. Go crush the weekend, whenever you’re listening to it. Crush today. Be awesome. And I hope to talk to you guys soon. Next week, actually. See you guys later. Bye-bye.