Mixed Conference

This past weekend I attended Mixed Conference, my very first food blogging conference. OH.MY.GOODNESS it was full of food, fun, and new friends! Huge shout out to Lucky Leaf for sponsoring me to attend!

I began my trip with a short pit stop for a few days in Boston where I was visiting a friend from Australia. We had the best time; I can’t wait to share more photos with you soon! After that I jetted to Roanoke, VA in a tiny plane. A little frightening, but I made it! From there we took a shuttle to Mountain Lake Resort & Hotel, where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed. The original movie was filmed before I was born, so I was a little clueless but whatever… if there’s food, I’m there.

When I arrived there was a huge pile of Hershey’s candy on my bed. I wanted to throw them in the trash (for obvious reasons) but decided to eat all of the ones with fillings because that seemed like a compromise. You know because not eating all of the candy is excusable in some weird way… it’s kind of like when you tell people, ‘well I only had half of my giant double cheeseburger’. Okay and plus, peppermint patties and Reese’s peanut butter cups are dear to my heart.

Later in the day I met the lovely host Paula from bell’ alimento, who should probably adopt me because she makes incredible Italian food on her blog that I want to eat forever. I also got to meet our other adorable host, Susan from Doughmesstic, who was busy running around all weekend. Thank you ladies for an incredible weekend!

There was also great food at the conference. Every morning I woke up to a continental breakfast which I consumed like I was some sort of person that hadn’t eaten for weeks. Ugh. Help would have been appreciated.

But you know it’s not like it stopped at breakfast or anything…

There was cheese and wine for snacking at nearly every corner I turned. I tried my best to dart away but who can resist creamy cheese? NOT I.

AND OMG… Way Better Snacks have some pretty dang good chips! If you haven’t tried them, go buy like 26 bags. I was walking around with their sweet potato chips in my hands allllll weekend. There’s no judging on this blog. Food hoarder is what I am. Reluctant to eat is what I am not.

Thanks to all of our awesome sponsors: OXO, KitchenAid, Dixie Crystals, Hershey’s, Attune Foods, Way Better Snacks, Lucky Leaf, Bake with Butter, Dreamfields Pasta, and Wisconsin Cheese.

Oh, and we had some pretty awesome speakers too! Huge thanks to Duff Goldman, who helped me create this incredible cake along with a shout out to My Invisible Crown!

Another favorite was Heidi of FoodieCrush, who has an incredibly talented vision and is also the creator of Foodie Crush, an online magazine. I loved listening to her session on e-cookbooks and checking out her design work. By the way, she recently photographed and designed Two Peas and Their Pod’s new Holiday Cookie E-Cookbook which you absolutely need to buy. Because who doesn’t want awesome cookie recipes at this time of year?!

I can’t forget to thank the other talented speakers including: BakedBree, ChezUs, RunWithTweezers, and Sweetopia. You are all fantastic!

Shout out to some other food bloggers from Minnesota: Mackenzie and Angela! Hope to see you guys soon!

I met other amazing food bloggers as well:  Lauren, Carrie, and Katie, and I couldn’t forget the lovely Ali (not pictured). Definitely have some new blogs to follow now.

On the last night of the conference we had a fun mixer full of giveaways, there was even an adorable band playing! I won a blender from KitchenAid, that I can’t wait to use.

I also enjoyed some caramel flavored vodka with ginger ale or something like that anyway. All I know is that it’s quite possibly better than a margarita. I wish I had the recipe.

Last but not least, I enjoyed extended leg room on my way home. I’m so happy that I won’t be traveling for a few more weeks because I need a serious break after Cali, NYC, Boston, and Virginia back to back. It’s time to cozy up with hot cocoa and finally unpack my bags.

HUGE thanks to everyone who made Mixed possible! I had a wonderful time and I can’t wait to attend next year!