Welcome back! and thank you for being patient with me. I wanted to get this update up sooner but I was having some technical difficulties, but more on that during a later post!
On day 2 we were given the gift of sleeping in and arriving to the festivities at 10 AM, instead of 8:30 AM. And normally, I’d be all over that. But the night before, Danica and I talked about getting some exercise and since we sat for most of the weekend, learning and eating, we decided to go for a morning stroll. So we woke up and walked the streets of Atlanta with her hubs. I was surprised that even that early in the morning it was mild enough to not need any kind of jacket!
At 10, we headed in for a welcome and summary of how our day would go. Then, we were headed to session one. The seminar choices were:
Voice: Recipe Writing: Copyright, Credit and Etiquette
Visuals: Finding Your Visual Voice
Vittles: Foodie Mom, Picky Kid - Staying motivated and challenged when your kids’ palates are challenging to accommodate
Vocation: Branding Ain’t Just for Cattle: Set Yourself Apart from the Herd
I attended theVocation track because I am always interested in being more of "yourself”. Sometimes it can be hard in the blog world with so many amazing influences that it is easy to get lost and not be true to who you are. But this seminar really allowed me to realize that it is okay to still be figuring out who your blog self is and how to express the real you through your blog.
After the session we were given another opportunity to speak and sample with the vendors and of course we had some more samples. The vendors were the same which is why I did not repeat any photographs. But, we did snap a photo with Charlie! I’m hoping to host a Starkist giveaway sometime in the future so stay posted for that!
Then, we headed to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
When we arrived there were several food trucks outside where we could purchase something for lunch.
We thought it was interesting that you could get half a hot dog!
One of the weirdest things we saw was this… yellow root tea. It looked like, uh, well you can guess.
Apparently, it can help heal all of these ailments.
And it comes from these twigs.
Not only was there an obvious abundance of veggies and fruit, but also baked treats, homemade candy, flavored popcorn and places where you could grab lunch.
Grindhouse was one of the places were we grabbed something to share. The meat that is used for their burgers is ground on the premises, hence the name.
We had the Grindhouse Burger: American cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, pickles, grindhouse sauce.
And we tried several items from the Sweet Auburn Barbecue.
A chicken taco and beef brisket with coleslaw.
And after all of our palate tempting tastes, we headed back for session two.
Voice: Food Blogging for Change
Visuals: Simple, Affordable Tools, Techniques, and Accessories to Improve Your Food Photography
Vittles: Charcutepalooza: A Bumpin’, Grindin’, Sausage-Makin’ Demo
Vocation: Professional-grade Recipe Development
During this session I attended the Visuals track which wound up being my favorite session all weekend. Some of the best information that I obtained was to BUY A TRIPOD, use inexpensive props that you may have at home and to focus on lighting sources and ways to fix them for the best possible photos. I also learned new things about my camera while fiddling around with it while listening. I think pictures really mean the most and allow readers to understand what the food was like, so this session really hit home for me.
During our last demo and tasting session, frozen treats were offered and then we headed to the closing keynote about The Evolution of Food Writing.
And then before we knew it, it was time for the Closing Party, hosted by POM Wonderful.
The party was great and there was plenty to taste. I had a few small bites of everything but was trying my best to keep an appetite because I knew I was going out with Danica and Jay (her hubby) afterwards. My only complaint would be that the lighting was terrible for food photography, kind of ironic, no? But I understand that it was meant to be fun and have a great ambiance, which it did. I just can’t help it but try to take photos!
Then, we headed out to find somewhere to eat. Max’s had caught my eye when I was exploring so we decided to check it out.
We shared an amazing twist on a caprese salad. Fried green tomatoes, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, arugula and balsamic glaze. All of my favorite things in one dish!
This pizza was a Mediterranean pizza: artichoke, roasted red pepper, mixed olives and cheese.
And a margarita pizza.
We all agreed that the Mediterranean was our favorite.
After a tasty dinner we said goodnight (and goodbye!) and I headed back to pack. I had another day left in Atlanta on Sunday and I visited Atlantic Station to shop!
I had an amazing time in Atlanta at Blogher Food and I learned so much! I hope you’ve enjoyed my posts and maybe you’ve learned something. (you can learn more by visiting the online seminars!)
I was sad to leave Atlanta and all of my new blog friends, but how could I be sad when I came home to this face?
Tomorrow I will be posting a summarized top 10 as well as a giveaway announcement so make sure you check back!
