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A Peek Into My Cart

shaws cartWell, it’s been a long time since my last peek into my cart post. Rest assured I’ve been shopping, but it’s been sort of haphazard at best lately.

When things get real nutty, I end up shopping the loss leaders at all three major local grocer chains. It’s not ideal, but at least it’s price conscious. My poor coupon binder has seen better days.

And today’s trip is a good example of this kind of shopping. Not careless, mind you. Impulse shopping is not something I indulge in. But today’s trip to Shaw’s was event oriented, as I had an after-school party planned. There was precious little in the house to eat which is certainly a problem when you have tweenage girls coming over for fun and chow. Tweenage girls especially like good chow.

So, my shopping plan was pretty simple. Run in, grab just a few things that were on sale, exit as soon as humanly possible and jet back home to set up for the party.

And I did a pretty good sticking with this plan. I did get stuck in the juice aisle for a bit because after months of not having any juice on the shelves that was domestically processed, Shaw’s finally restocked the Kedem apple juice. The only kind of apple juice at my Shaw’s that’s made in the USA.

I think anyway. There’s a flag stamped on the bottle and it says product of USA but I’m not naive enough to believe that it’s fully harvested and processed here. I need to call them and get some questions answered on that front.

peanut butter and nutellaI don’t usually purchase white bread. But I wasn’t sure if the other girls that were coming to the party would eat wheat. So, white it was. White bread with Nutella and peanut butter cut into butterfly shapes. Because I’m a crazy mother who can’t serve a square sandwich, apparently.

sandwich crustsGuess what I’m having for lunch tomorrow. Yup. Sandwich crusts. C’mon you know me better than to toss perfectly good food. Nevermind that I don’t like Nutella. I will for the next two days.

party foodNot too shabby of a spread. Everything was on sale except for the fruit dip. I just didn’t have time to whip that up from scratch.

nail polishOh, and I forgot to tell you what kind of party this was. A spa party. I’ll be telling you more about this in an upcoming post, but I promised the kids I’d give them manicures. CVS was kind enough to offer an ECB deal of $5 back for $10 spent on Sally Hansen polishes. That certainly was good timing.

spa partyAfter a relaxing day of working all morning for my real no kidding paying job, shopping at Shaw’s and CVS for the party and then throwing the actual spa party for very loud enthusiastic girls, I finally got to do this tonight….

wineAnd while I might not have scored any amazing coupon deals today, this bottle of wine came with a rebate. So, I’m not totally off my game. I think.

Food Blog Forum 2013 Part 3

Disney Grand FloridianAs of late, when I attend mom blogging conferences it’s for one of two reasons. Either I’m going to them on behalf of companies to find bloggers that might be interested in working with them or I’m attending in a role as mentor/volunteer.

To be honest with you, I don’t really learn much at mom blogging conferences anymore. After blogging for so many years, I kind of know this blogging stuff inside and out. So, if I go to a conference I’m either being paid to do so or I’m there to help others and in that case my conference fee is waived.

But this conference was a different story. The Food Blog Forum Conference held at Disney’s Grand Floridian was a smallish gathering of 125 food bloggers. And when I heard the lineup of speakers, I knew that I definitely wanted to attend.

While I feel like I know what there is to know about mom blogging, I still have a whole lot to learn about food blogging. And what better way to learn than by listening to others who have successful food blogs? It doesn’t hurt that attendees were offered a package that included a stay at the Grand Floridian, park passes and some meals at a giant discount. So, it was sort of a no brainer to attend.

lobby at grand floridian

rooms at grand floridianThe Grand Floridian is quite spectacular. The most deluxe of the deluxe hotels at Disney World, the Grand Floridian is exquisitely posh and the staff oh so very gracious. When we visit Disney we usually stay at the economy hotels. So, this was a very decadent weekend indeed.

david leiteOur conference was held right at the Grand Floridian at their conference facility which is located just minutes away from the hotel rooms.

And as I mentioned earlier, there were some highly successful food bloggers among us. Up above is David Leite who I feel very privileged to know. David was on a panel on growing your blogging community and he had some insightful comments to share. For those of you who love food, be sure to visit his site Leite’s Culinaria. Lots of good cooking over there!

My real purpose for attending this conference was to learn more about food photography. And when I heard that Todd Porter and Diane Cu were speaking, I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity to learn from two of the best in the food photography field.

But I have to be honest with you, I didn’t get as much from their presentation as I had hoped. You see, there was a lot of time spent talking about videography which totally isn’t my thing. And even if I was interested, their videos are professional and extremely creative. Way over my head.

So, for me it was a little frustrating as I had hoped to walk away with some new ideas on composition, props and equipment that I could use over at A Beautiful Bite.

Even though I didn’t get a lot of tips and hints on how to take better pictures, I did get the chance to network with other food bloggers which was pretty awesome. We chatted about cameras, recipes and the ups and downs of food blogging. It was very nice to share my joys and frustrations with other people who understand what I’m talking about.

Only a food blogger can understand why another food blogger would melt into a puddle of tears when the sun sets before a recipe can be photographed.

disney food blog forum

disney cake

disney cupcakesA food blogging conference wouldn’t be quite right without some food. We were treated to all kinds of whimsical creations made by the Disney chefs. While they had some delicious appetizers, I think most of us were enamored with the very magical dessert table.

disney food blog forum swagAnd of course there was swag. Mostly edible swag. This was one conference where no one could say that they were hungry.

food blog forum swapAnd if that wasn’t enough stuff to drag home, some of the attendees participated in a food swap. Myself and about 30 others brought food items that represented our states and we swapped in the Grand Floridian lobby.

Trying to get this stuff into my suitcase was the ultimate game of Tetris.

downtown disney treatsOh, I had to save room for one last thing in my suitcase. In Downtown Disney there’s this shop called Goofy’s Candy Company where they hand dip treats in chocolate. My kids just love the chocolate dipped Rice Krispie treats. And even though my suitcase was bursting at the seams, I couldn’t leave without those.

All in all I had a great time. While I didn’t learn as much as I had hoped I would, it was still great to connect with other people who do what I do.

One thing that I heard from one of the conference speakers that really resonated with me is the idea that in order to grow, you need to surround yourself with people who are what you want to become.

And in my case I’d like to become a successful food blogger/stylist/photographer. So, even though I didn’t get a lot of new knowledge from the conference, I did make some new friends who are darn good at what they do. And there isn’t any conference swag better than that!

melanie and buzz