"The Highlight Of My Year" Part III "Meet Purina! "

If you have been reading Part I and Part II of "The Highlight Of My Year", you are aware that my trip to Purina for their "Meet Purina Blogger Summit" was indeed, the highlight of my year!  If you missed Part I you can read it here and to read Part II click here.

The people at Purina couldn't have been more welcoming, informative, open, and accommodating, there wasn't a need that went unmet. They also never stopped feeding us!

We were treated to a most interesting lunch in the Purina Culinary Center where Chef Amanda Hassner creates dishes that are "pet-inspired" and later become the flavors in much of the Purina pet food that you see in the stores today!

Chef Amanda Hassner was a complete joy!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

I must be part dog because my favorite dish was the inspiration for Chef Michael's Carvery Creations, Beef Short Ribs Flavor.

Check out the waffles
 and the maple glazed BACON!!Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

I never stopped laughing and smiling
on that trip!
Dan Koehler and I laugh at
something Diane Silver of
To Dog With Love said
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

My least favorite was believe it or not the inspiration for Friskie's Tasty Treasures and it was made with chicken, tuna and cheese in gravy. Great for cats, for me? Not so much.

Was Tamar texting her kitties about the food?
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

The "cat food" I didn't love that much
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

That wasn't the end of the food! That evening Purina treated us all to a delicious and fun dinner at Sqwires. I greatly enjoyed not only the meal, but dining with my friends and having a wonderful conversation with Adrian Palensky who is Vice President of Quality Assurance for Nestle Purina.

Left to right:Dorian, Tamar, Angie, me
and in the middle, Jaime

Friday morning greeted us with a torrential downpour that lasted the entire day. That didn't dampen our spirits though. We were headed to Purina Farms!

I'm the one that looks like a bag lady
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

At Purina Farms we were treated to presentations informing us about the purpose of the Farm, how Purina is involved with working with breeders and shelters and a discussion about "why pets make us better." As if we didn't already know :)

We toured Purina Farms and the Event Center, enjoyed a fabulous Cat Training Demonstration and a Dog Frisbee Competition!

You think that only CATS
love Brian's Home (Terry?)
Think again.
He was the "Poodle Whisperer!"
while Candy Caciolo,
the Portfolio Director for
Specialty, Breeder & Pet Acquisition
at Nestle Purina PetCare
was giving her presentation.
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

See what I mean?
Don't let the kitties of
Brian's Home
see this!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Have no clue what I was babbling about
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Love this photo!
Left to right: Paris, me, Anastasia, Jaime, Felissa
and Terry in the middle!
Wish I could remember what we
were reacting to
Photo Courtesty of Nestle Purina PetCare

This dog performing is a rescue dog!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

It was pouring rain
and nothing stopped these dogs!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Who says cats can't learn tricks?
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

More kitty tricks!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

Even more kitty tricks!
Photo Courtesy of Nestle Purina PetCare

After lunch in the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge VIP tent, Tamar (I Have Cat) Angie, (Catladyland) and I were given an impromptu tour of the incredible Cat Tower at Purina Farms!

Hey! What's a dog doing there?
Left to right: Tamar, me, Angie
and unnamed woofie

Cat Tower at Purina Farms
I had blogged about it in October
read about it here

Most of the cat bloggers, including this cat blogger, left on Friday, but a number of people stayed for events that took place on Saturday that were primarily dog related. Much of Saturday was involved in giving back to the community and helping pets. You can read about how Purina is deeply entrenched in animal welfare here.

I had the joy of sharing a ride back to the airport with Angie and Tamar,  just reading those names you know it was a good time!  Sadly, Tamar had a plane that left from a different part of the airport, so she missed me getting stopped by security and having my entire suitcase emptied (probably all of that Purina swag we received, but the security agent at Delta,  was kind enough to repack for me after I fussed about how hard it had been for me to get everything in there!). Tamar also missed a delicious hummus snack that Angie and I shared along with a double Bloody Mary for me (the nervous flyer! Angie had wine which thankfully unlike BlogPaws 2011 I didn't spill it on her. But I DID spill coffee on her at breakfast the day before!) 

Now do you see why it took me so long to blog about this trip? There was so much to write about, and there is so much more I could write about, but this was already longer than I had intended. THANK YOU to all of you for reading, and a HUGE THANK YOU to Nestle Purina for a trip that will always be appreciated and will never be forgotten!


Disclosure: Nestle Purina PetCare completely paid for my trip, accommodations, travel, etc. All opinions are my own.