I was at the International Food Bloggers Conference (#IFBC) in Portland, OR over the weekend and had a blast at my first FOOD blogging conference! I met some amazing people and learned a lot in between trying fine wines and running around the city with new friends. Thanks again Collective Bias for sending me!

I have lots to say and not enough time so this is just the first blog of a few on this weekend. Since I love lists I decided to make one of the people I met and so no one feels slighted, I did it in the order that I met them:

Marisa, Claire, Me and Cassie

1. Cassie over at Bake Your Day first reached out to me, helping coordinate for a tour of Bob’s Red Mill. She was amazing in person as she had been in her emails and I loved she was from the mid-west like me.  I didn’t get to talk to her a whole lot but every interaction was great and it’s always amazing to meet someone who loves to blog as much as I do!

2. I have to mention the guy that I sat with on the flight to Portland with b/c he was the first “local” Portlandia person I met. Phil could actually out geek me in High School which is a high order indeed- magic cards, really?  He gave me some suggestions on places to go and what do you know but the first night’s meet up was at Mother’s Bistro & Bar and I drank the lavender silk he recommended.  He has set the bar high for every flight from now on- I mean, how many people will make sure you get to pee when a flight attendant tells you to sit back down? I’d link to his twitter profile but he’s too hipster to have one.

3. The Canadians- I loved meeting The Gluten Free Vegan, Megan, and The Gormet Housewife, Jacqueline, who are from a magical place like Narnia that I  can’t pronounce…  ”Saskatchewan”.  Megan and Jacqueline set me straight about some Canadian things I was wrong about- They are saying “hey!” not “ehhhh?”, which is a very important distinction. We skipped a session and had drinks in the lobby one afternoon and it was amazing to meet them, the fact that Megan was Gluten Free was awesome and I can’t wait to be inspired by her blog! Jacqueline and I missed our kids together and I’m excited to keep up with my Canadian friends!

4. Another local, Margaritas in the Rain, was one of the lovliest people I have met. Yes, I called her Margaritas in the Rain because I tend to just know people’s twitter handles! It was so hard to remember her real name was Marisa at times!! She was from Hawaii originally and her blog came about from her first hard year after moving to Portland. On the last day she became a tour guide and gave Claire and I direction and confidence to navigate Portland on our own. Thanks again!

5. Probably the person I got to know the most was Claire, The Realistic Nutritionist, from Washington DC, who I got to explore Portland with after Marisa had to leave. We saw the Saturday Market, the river front, she filmed me for the VLOG on my new series on going back to work and she’s just in general pretty awesome. Watch for her people! Her dream is to go to la Cordon Bleu in France so if you have a connection, talk to her! I can’t wait to see her with her own Food Network show.

More to come…