BlogHer Food 2014 - Miami , Day 1

As much as I loved being a 'Newbie' at last year's BlogHer Food in Austin, It was a whole new level of experience this year in Miami. For one, I traveled with the family,  and while Mommy was attending the conference, the kids were taking full advantage of the beaches and hotel swimming pool.

Thanks to severe weather  in Miami, what was originally supposed to be a 2 3/4 hour flight lasted over 6 hours. One hour on the tarmac at La Guardia, with a trip back to the gate just to fill up on extra fuel. and then when we finally took off towards Florida on a longer alternative flight path, the aircraft kept circling around for about 90 minutes before landing. We finally landed in Miami, hungry, and tired out with one hyper cranky 5 year old in tow.. My older one was way too excited about the holiday to whine.

As a result, I had to give the sponsor receptions a miss even though I had accepted the invitations. The swag bags at the registration were quite bulky, so had to call my other half and ask him to pick it up. One of my biggest regrets that I felt like kicking myself over was that my choice of smart phone was ironically,rather dumb, the Motorola Droid was a useless piece of junk that drained out the battery within the span of an hour or so.. net result, I must have been the only disconnected dinosaur in the room!

As it was with  the previous conference, the sponsor tables were a MAJOR attraction, and I must have spent most of the morning chatting with the representatives about their products, connecting with them  to evaluate how we could create a mutual symbiosis with brand Panfusine.

A selection of the wonderful items in the registration welcome bag!

Lunch was a yummy sit down catered affair sponsored by McCormick spices,but that is a subject for another blog post. The discussion during lunch time was on 'Superfoods' and their role in changing the health destiny of America. Needless to say, the list had Turmeric & Ginger at the top of the list, and I plan to make sure to include as many of the ingredients mentioned in my recipes to come.

The afternoon session was one that I really wanted to attend, as it pertains to where I want to take the blog from its present state over the coming year. From being a home maker who also blogs, its time to switch the terms to a food blogger who also happens to be a mommy.

The Highlight of the day of course was meeting David Lebovitz in person. He was the keynote speaker and hearing him relate his experience as a food writer in Paris was inspirational to say the least. I'm in the midst of reading his latest book 'My Paris Kitchen' and it definitely is a great addition to my collection.

And so that was Day 1.. BlogHer had hosted a wonderful reception in the evening with a decadent spread of amuse bouches , but then as I said before, that is a story for my upcoming posts.