“Wait, so none of you actually even know each other in ‘real life'”?!

said my husband as I told him 15-20 of my TIU sisters would be coming over to our house yesterday afternoon…

…and that is exactly what I love about the TIU community so much. Besides a sorority, family reunion, or maybe even a church group, where else can you get together for the first time, with a large group of women you’ve never met before, and just “click”?

Share. Love. Inspire. Sweat.

Those four words are what bond us, and what make the TIU Sisterhood so unique.  So when I wanted to host a local #tiusandiego #tiumeetup I never for a second thought it might be awkward or weird. Instead, I already felt like I knew these women inside and out from us all following each other on Instagram.

As everyone came over, it was so much fun! Sure, there’s always the semi-awkward silence in the beginning as you feel like you know each other from Instagram, but are just meeting for the first time face-to-face. Social media is so funny in that way…you can “know” someone for a pretty significant time before ever meeting them, if you ever even meet at all!

Pumpkin Painting

Having Tan Tan, night time meet ups for us are pretty much out of the question with his bed time routine starting around 5:30pm; dinner, play time, bath time, nursing, bed time. So I knew I wanted to plan something around his nap schedule in the late afternoon. Being fall, who doesn’t love pumpkins?! and it’s always good to have an activity when around new people, to break the ice, and give you something in common besides TIU. Immediately it was so fun to see everyone growing Pinterest for ideas, swapping paint colors, life introductions, and TIU stories. The backyard was filled with so much love – and pumpkins, paint, and glitter….three of my favorite things!

TIU Approved

I also decided to make it a potluck, since my time is limited in the kitchen now with Tanner. Being TIU girls, I made the food & drink theme anything “TIU Approved”, which basically means anything healthy. For example, baked goods are made with coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup as sweeteners, use brown rice, quinoa, or whole wheat flour rather than enriched, apple sauce or egg whites instead of eggs or processed thickeners, etc. So basically a guilt-free or guilt-reduced potluck where you can go back for seconds with no hesitation! And let me tell you…everything was SO GOOD. I wish every potluck was so fresh! The table was full of veggies and fruits, hummus and healthy dips, TIU baked goods like brownies, PB blondies, and pumpkin bread…oh my gosh, everything was DELISH. Two of my favorites were the TIU Mocha Brownies from the TIU Nutrition Plan, and the PB Blondies. They were both out.of.this.world. and guess what the PB blondes were made of?! Literally two main staple ingredients…….peanut butter & chickpeas. Seriously. and you would never even know it!

It was such a fun day to meet so many of the wonderful faces behind the wonderful San Diego TIU accounts! Thank you so much to everyone who came!! I can’t wait for our next get together!

and look! Even K&K spotted our adventures and gave us some love! XOXO

Supplies:

• Paint Brushes
• Acrylic Paint (doesn’t chip!)
• Glitter
• Modge Podge
• Table Cloths
• Cups of Water to Rinse Brushes
• Paper Towels
• Ribbon