Food Blog Forum 2013 Recap

Wow!

I went to the Food Blog Forum Convention and enjoyed a little Disney vacation with the family and I feel like I was gone for a  month, not just 5 days! Are you one of those people who needs a vacation after the vacation? I sure am!

Before I left, I told myself that I was going to get the photos edited, uploaded and have Monday’s post ready to go… well, I’m so sorry but I fell short on time and something had to give.

One thing I learned at Food Blog Forum was to “take the time”. As a parent, I put my daughter first most of the time. After her, my husbands needs generally are taken care of and I just don’t seem to put me first. I lack at taking the time for me. Some might argue that my baking and blogging is my “me” time, and it is, but it takes time away from my family. Sometimes I’ll rush through recipes, photos, and posts just to get it done and I don’t take the time to always do it well.

I’m glad I decided to postpone this weeks posts to allow me to catch up after our whirlwind trip. I needed it.

The second thing I learned was to nurture, grow, and expand beyond my communities. My family is a community, my Facebook friends are a community, my Twitter, Instagram and FB Groups are my community. I know that I sometimes “link and run” with the social media, so I hope to make more connections in the social media arena.

It was amazing to meet the women that I have been conversing with online for the past two years. Even though I walked into the room alone, I knew there were friends there to greet me with a smile. So I’d like to thank Kim, Joan, Roxana, Tanya, Christina, Kristen, Katie, Melanie, Angie, and Julie for welcoming me on Friday night.

I also met a lot of new friends, like Amanda, Katrina, Amy, Julie, and Lindsay.

The hosts and hostesses were amazing! Steamy Kitchen and White on Rice Couple have amazing blogs and take outstanding photos. I’m going to keep practicing my photography and hope to take photos, and soon videos, as well as they do!

Now… If you’ve gotten through all of that… Thanks so much. I would like to return the favor by having a little sweepstakes giveaway that I want to call “She went to the Conference, but I won the Swag!” I mean… check out all of this stuff! Wonderful sponsors like  OXO, Florida Dairy, Whole Foods, KitchenAid, Goo Goo Clusters, Hershey’s, oh my gosh… There’s just so much! And some may have been opened and eaten while en route from Florida back to West Virginia…

So’ I’d like to share the love and pass along a few of these items. I had no idea what was going to be in the swag bag when I picked it up, and you won’t know what’s going to be in your box! (but judging from this photo, it’s bound to be GREAT stuff!!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!