Guarded, scattered, anxious. Just a few words to describe my state of being before attending my first ever food blogging event, Big Summer Potluck in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I had just decided to drive directly to the Friday night dinner which meant wearing my “party clothes” in the car. I had slipped in sheets of paper towels between the seat belt and my crisp white shirt and cranked the air conditioning to preserve things just so. I was driving to a party to meet about 50 people at a house in the middle of the woods. People who I’ve never met in real life. But I was SO excited.
The food blogging event was a last minute trip for me thanks to Casey at Tastestopping. The event was not really about blogging, f-stops, or SEO. No, not at all. The inspirational words of award-winning photographer Penny De Los Santos and food writer and cookbook author Shauna Ahern (Gluten-free Girl) pierced the walls that I had built up over the past decades and into the core that housed my passion, my soul.
Wow. So unexpected.
I could feel the tears welling up and let a few drop to the floor, but didn’t want to melt into a slobbering mess. This weekend was a certainly a moment for me in my journey; a moment that has sparked something inside me to move. To act.
My walls are still here (hey, some are good), but I’ve been working hard at making them less hard and more giving and more open.
Allowing myself to be me.
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A big thank you to the hosts, Three Many Cooks and The Ivory Hut. Best hosts EVER.
Thank you to Pam Anderson and Justin Schwartz for your unselfishness and willingness in sharing your perspective on “the business”.
Thanks to the sponsors who fed and gifted us – Kerrygold, popchips, Green Mountain Coffee, Green Valley Organics, and KitchenAid.
And thank you to my husband, kids, and parents for letting mommy go on her first solo overnight trip!
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Read more about Big Summer Potluck by other attendees:
