Love a good list that ranks your favorite cities? I do! Yesterday, I was in San Francisco to celebrate the City by the Bay being named the SMARTest City by SELF Magazine and Smartfood and announce an amazing contest that gives you the opportunity to win $10,000 and be featured in SELF magazine this fall! Read on for details, to see if your city made the top 10, and learn how you can win $100 Visa and Smartfood gift basket for just leaving a comment below!
I was invited by Smartfood to be a guest and share my experience and celebrate the city with the people who make it the SMARTest. I wasn’t allowed to say where I was going or why until the big reveal on Thursday. The judging was based on what it means to live smart including regular physical activity, education, a balanced diet and caring about the environment. They created an acronym for the criteria, S for savvy, M for motivated, A for accomplished, R for responsible, T for thoughtful. Celebrity Brooke Burke-Charvet and SELF fitness editor, Marissa Stephenson were on hand to celebrate and help give away some awesome prizes including kindles, $250 gift cards and a SMART car to the people of SF.
Based on the SMART criteria, the following top ten SMARTest cities have “smart in the bag” as ranked by Smartfood and SELF magazine:
- 1 San Francisco, CA
- 2 Seattle, WA
- 3 Washington, DC
- 4 Austin, TX
- 5 Minneapolis, MN
- 6 Portland, OR
- 7 Denver, CO
- 8 Boston, MA
- 9 Honolulu, Hi
- 10 San Jose, CA
Yay! Boston came in 8th. I will admit, we’ve got nothing on SF when it comes to the healthy restaurant offerings. I love San Francisco so I was excited to be involved. The day started out with a giant bag of Smartfood quizzing residents with challenging questions like the age of the oldest female to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. Winners were given prizes as mentioned above. It seemed like kindles were given out every 10 correct answers. Other cool prizes included a solar phone charging case and $250 in Visa Gift cards. Anyone could play! You just had to be in Union Square Park between 10 am and 3 pm. I tried to tweet and Instagram to let you guys all know. Sarah Fit and PBFingers reader Divya made it!
At noon, there was a rubix cube contest. The winner was gifted a Smart car! The winner was able to complete the puzzle in under 26 seconds. Crazy.
Afterwards, there was a fun round table that I was able to be a part of with the rest of the bloggers invited on the trip, including Julie, Sarah, Louise and Kelly. While many of you probably recognize Julie, Sarah writes for the Bold Italic (a SF online magazine), Louise is a mommy blogger at MomSpot and Kelly writes for MakobiScribe.
We were able to ask Marissa and Brooke questions which I took video of, as you can see me above with my camera in hand. Marissa is similar to me when it comes to fitness, intervals and planks are her favorites. Brooke spoke a lot about being a mom of 4 and making time herself. Both ladies were great and I’m excited to edit the video I shot.
I was also able to take a quick 10 minute Will Power and Grace demo. I’ve never tried it and had a nice little 10 minute workout in the middle of Union Square Park. I was glad we weren’t in Boston for this one!
From now until July 7, the Smarfood brand is conducting a nationwide SMART Search to reward someone who has “smart in the bag” – someone who is savvy, motivated, accomplished, responsible and thoughtful. For official rules and to nominate someone you know or yourself, please visit www.Facebook.com/Smartfood. One one nomination per person. The winner will be featured in a SELF magazine advertorial and win $10,000 in prize money! For every entry, you also get a “Buy one, get one free” coupon for Smartfood Select products.
Meeting Marissa and hanging out in SF with a great group of women, was the highlight of my trip. Brooke Burke-Charvet was also super cute in person but I wasn’t able to chat with her except in the round table. Marissa and I are both bigs fans of Michelle Lovitt and the TIU gals.
Lastly, I have a $100 visa gift card and basket of Smartfood to give one of you guys! To enter, let me know down below which SMART characteristic you most embody and why? I will pick a winner on Tuesday morning 6/25 at 8 am. Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win the 2013 SMART Search for a chance to win $10,000 and be featured in SELF!
This post is sponsored by Smartfood. While I was compensated for my participation in the event, all thoughts and opinions are my own and you guys get the opportunity to win a wicked cool prize… 10K anyone? Nominate yourself or a friend today. Contest closes on July 7th.
