My Weekend at BlogHer Food Miami

 A Recap of the BlogHer Food 2014 Conference in Miami

“Lets watch videos of cats with socks on and they don’t like it.”

This is what my little 5-year old said to me this morning, and how could I resist?  I mean is there anything else in the whole world that could be more fun than that?  Especially after having been a thousand miles away from that angelic face for the last 4 days…

So what if I had planned on a fabulous recipe for baked churros with homemade cajeta for today’s post.  <–(Stay tuned.  It’s coming, I promise!)

Instead, I’m going to hang with my sweet boy, talk a little bit about BlogHer Food 2014, what an amazing time it was, and introduce you to a few of my new friends/favorite blogs.  I’m going to share some of their links/pics, so if you want to pin them that’d be awesome!  Just please click through to their sites and do it from there, mm-k?

I ended up spending much longer than anticipated in the air on my way over.  There are two things I am not very well accustomed to.  The first is sitting for more than, like, a 10 minute stretch.  So, needless to say, after 4 1/2 hours in a middle seat, my booty was none too pleased.  The second is air travel.  It makes me a little nervous, especially if I’m doing it alone.  Of course I’d glance up at the tv at my gate and see that there were tornadoes in the direct vicinity of the airport to which I was headed!  Well, duh!

Arriving 2 hours late to the party I had been so excited to attend was not in the original plan, but it all worked out for me because Amanda (of Kevin and Amanda) was without a doubt, one of the sweetest and warmest people I think I’ve ever met.  And girlfriend has been blogging since 2002, so you know she’s a total pro.  But she didn’t make me feel like the clueless noob that I am for one second.  Even when she was teaching me how to send my first selfie on Instagram.

Yes, that’s right!  I’m on Instagram now.  It’s about freaking time, right???  Follow me here, but please be patient, I’m still learning the ropes 😉

Amanda’s been doing a whole lotta travelling lately.  You can read all about her trip to Seaside here.

(Make sure you scroll all the way down to the bottom; there’s a surprise!  I’ll give you a hint: it begins with a “g” and ends with a “iveaway.”  And it’s a good one!  Oh, yeah.)

As much as I wanted to stay at the party, I knew I had to give Amanda and her girls some down time, so I headed back to my hotel room to get to know my roommate a little better.

This is Connie and she blogs at Urban Bakes.  If you like the kind of recipes you get here on Baking a Moment, you will love her blog too!  She’s super talented and her blog is gorgeous.  Check out this amazing cake she posted last week.  I’m still weak in the knees over it!

We hit it off immediately.  It probably wasn’t the smartest move ever, but we stayed up past 2 am chatting like a couple of high school chippies.

The next morning I was feeling a little crispy around the edges, after being up so late, but my adrenaline propelled me out of bed as soon as the sun came up.  We headed downstairs to register and get coffee, and I caught a glimpse of Jocelyn from Grandbaby Cakes.

We’ve been following each other’s blogs for a while now, and sorta running in the same circles (I know she’s tight with my bff, Zainab from Blahnik Baker), so I went right over and introduced myself.  Instant. Connection.  I am totally in love with this smart, talented, fun lady.  Her recipes are inspired by her Grandma.  <– I know.

She baked these Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes earlier this month and I about died.

We sat at a table with Kevin from Closet Cooking and I’m so happy we did!

I’m sure he needs no introduction, because everywhere we went he was instantly recognized (and fawned over!).  I swear, it was like being with a celebrity!  He is just the sweetest guy and we ended up hanging out quite a bit, for pretty much the whole weekend.  Again, super smart, and a serious pro blogger, with 5 e-books under his belt.  It’s no wonder he’s such a superstar in the food blogging world, with recipes like these Quesadillas al Pastor.

I mean, don’t you just want to reach right into your screen for a bite?  Insane photos, outrageous recipes.

It didn’t take long before I found my old friend Alice.  Remember?  I told you all about her here.  We picked right up where we had left off without skipping a beat.  I seriously love this woman!  We have so much in common, both being moms, and she is a total rockstar.  She cranks out sometimes 5 posts per week, while taking care of her girls, her man, and her home.  I honestly don’t know how she juggles it all so flawlessly.  She made this Spring Medley Mac and Cheese right before leaving for Miami and I want to take a faceplant in it.

That post was for Wisconsin Cheese, who treated us to an unforgettable wine and cheese tasting party on Friday night.  It kicked off right at sunset, at a villa right on the water.  Pure bliss!

The following day was pretty much a blur, a fast-paced extravaganza of learning as much as possible about Pinterest, Facebook, partnering with brands, and the emerging trend of video blogging.  I met so many incredible people, and this post would seriously go on forever if I told you about every one, so I’m going to have to restrain myself, for the sake of brevity.  However, if you are looking for some really great blogs (written by really warm and wonderful people), definitely think about adding these into your feed:

The Kitchen Prep
Take a Bite Out of Boca
Brown Sugar Mama
Eat Your Heart Out
Foodie Crush
Savory Simple
Joyful Healthy Eats
Cooking in Stilettos
That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Yummy Healthy Easy
Spoonful of Flavor
Weelicious
Simply Recipes
Crazy for Crust
The Pioneer Woman
Sugar Free Mom
Oh Sweet Basil
Make Bake Celebrate
Mama’s Mission
I Breathe, I’m Hungry
In Katrina’s Kitchen
The Slow Roasted Italian

In a nutshell, I pretty much had the time of my life at the BlogHer Food conference.  Every second of my time in Miami was just jam-packed with fun and learning.  As a blogger, you know, I work from home and I don’t often come across many people who even understand what it is that I do, let alone be able to relate to it.  I ate up every second of food blog talk with a spoon, and learned a ton to boot!

‘Til next time, friends!