Tag Archives: blogging

Hitting Some Writer’s Block (or This Is What I Thought Would Happen)

Posted on April 24, 2020 | Comments Off

When the pandemic started, one of the first blog posts I wrote was about how I wasn’t sure how I would be able to keep up my blog. So much of what I write about is because I’m out doing things. But now, I’m just home. For the next week or so, I’m not even going outside for walks since I’m doing another strict voluntary quarantine after seeing my family. My biggest adventure outside is to take my trash to the curb or to walk across my driveway to do laundry. I’m glad I don’t care too much about my step count right now because they are pathetically low.

I have a little bit of a routine at least still going on. I’m only working 3 days a week for an hour, but that’s something regular. I have my workouts, even if I’m a bit flexible on what time I’m doing them. I’m still doing them in the morning, but sometimes it’s around 8 am and sometimes it’s around 10 am. But it’s a planned thing. And I have a few different groups that I do Netflix Parties with or watching other videos online together. They are usually held at the same time each week, and it’s so nice to have something like that to look forward to each week.

And I have this blog. I am still keeping up with my writing schedule. Sometimes, in the past, I would write a few blog posts at once. I would get all the posts for the week written before the week started. That usually can only happen when I know exactly what posts are going to be going out that week. There are times that my editorial calendar has been planned out for 2 weeks in advance. Those times were awesome, but that’s not at all what I have now. I do have my Monday posts planned since those are still my workout recaps. But there really isn’t much else figured out.

When I wrote that I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to keep up this blog, I was coming up with ideas on how to make a new schedule. But now that we are over a month into this, I don’t think I want to do that. I want to keep my normal blogging schedule going. I need any sense of normalcy that I can get and writing on here is one of those things. But some of the posts might end up being really short or really boring. I might not have much to write about. But I need to do it. Even if nobody reads the posts, I need it for me.

At least this writer’s block gave me something to write about today.

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Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged blogging, isolation, writers block

Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)

Posted on July 16, 2019 | Comments Off

It’s the anniversary of Finding My Inner Bombshell! 7 years ago I posted my first post on here and I haven’t stopped since. I know I sound like a broken record because I say this every year, but I still can’t believe that I have been able to keep this up. I have blogged 5 days a week since I started. I have written over 1800 posts which is insane to me. I don’t know if this will ever seem easy or normal to me, but maybe it’s good that it doesn’t. Having this feel special and hard makes me work to make it better and I don’t go easy on myself with writing posts. There are plenty of times I have nothing to write about, but I have learned to be honest when that happens and I think that is much better than making up something to write about.

The benefits I have gotten from writing on here are more than I can count. I have become a much better person because of this blog. I have become more honest with myself and with others, which I think has made my relationships with my friends and family stronger. I feel like I am more of myself than ever before and that allows me to bring people into my life that add to it and end friendships with those that take away. I didn’t have the confidence to do that before and I know I kept toxic people in my life much longer than I should have because I was scared of losing people in my life. But as I have written about myself on here, I have become so much clearer in what I want out of life and the type of people I want in it.

And some of the amazing people that I have added to my life have been because of this blog. There are things I have written about that made an acquaintance of mine become a friend because we connected on something that we both kept hidden before. And I’ve been introduced to others because a mutual friend saw a post about something and knew someone else who would love to read the post and talk to me more about it. I’ve pushed myself to meet new people more and go to more events because I wanted to be able to have things to write about. And going to those events has led me to some of the most incredible people that I have ever met.

And yes, I have gotten to have some great opportunities because of this blog that I wouldn’t have had without it. My introduction to Orangetheory was because I was in a blogger group that was hosting the preview class I went to. Maybe I would have discovered Orangetheory on my own, but I don’t know because I never went to Brentwood much before. I probably would have found it when they opened the Culver City studio last year, but that was several years after I started. But I am forever grateful for that first class I went to over 5 years ago and the progress I’ve been able to make in my physical and mental health. And I’ve been invited to other random and fun events that I know is a privilege and I am so grateful for each and every one that I get an invitation to. I do want to start getting invited to a few higher-level events because I would love to be able to review and share them with you all. But even if I never get to that level, I still am so lucky with what I do get to do.

7 years ago, as much as I wanted to believe that I could keep this up I was also having doubts how long I could blog. I was scared to be open and honest and I didn’t know how long I could keep going without oversharing. Now, I think oversharing is the least of my worries (and I probably do overshare, I just don’t care about it). Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be doing this still 7 years later. But now, I can’t imagine my life without this blog and having this outlet. So I guess here’s to the next 7 years and seeing what it brings for me!

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Posted in Celebrations

Tagged anniversary, blogging, writer

6 Years In (or Being Ok With Where I Am)

Posted on July 17, 2018 | Comments Off

Yesterday marked 6 years since my first blog post on here. I know I say this every time I get to a milestone on this blog, but I’m still so surprised that I’ve not only been able to keep this up but still blog 5 days a week like I set out to do when I started. It’s been over 1500 posts and they haven’t all been interesting, but they have been the proof of my journey. And I have been on quite a journey since I started this 6 years and a day ago.

When I started, I had no idea what I would really blog about or how much of myself I would be open about. I still don’t always know what I’m going to blog about sometimes, but the blog has motivated me to make sure that I keep my life as interesting as possible so that I can have fun things to write about. It doesn’t always happen, but it is some motivation for me when I feel like I don’t have anything fun in my life. I know that life will be boring from time to time and that will result in some boring posts, but I think that my life has gotten more interesting in the last 6 years.

And I still surprise myself but how much being open about tough things in my life on here has benefitted me. I was terrified when I revealed some things about myself that I wasn’t very public about because I didn’t want negative reactions from anyone. I have had some people comment about how I am lying about my eating disorder to make an excuse for my weight, but those are rare. A majority of people have been very positive toward me about these issues. Some have admitted that they have the same struggles or have reached out to me asking for how they can help someone they love who struggles with things. Being able to help others or encourage others to be open has been a really positive experience for me and I’ve tried to do that more often when possible.

There was no way for me to know 6 years ago the craziness that my life was going to have in the coming years. I’ve had some crazy health issues and fortunately they have all either worked themselves out or are not things I really need to worry about right now. I feel like I’ve had dozens of different day jobs since starting this blog, but I know it hasn’t been that many. My job situation has actually been more stable in the last 6 years than it ever has been for me. I haven’t traveled as much as I would have liked to in the last 6 years, but there are a few factors preventing that and I’m hopeful that in the future I’ll be traveling more.

And in the last year I’ve written more about dating than I ever thought I would. But if I’m being honest with myself, I think that this past year (or year and a half) of dating adventures has been the thing that has changed me the most over the course of this blog. It’s made me more adventurous in trying new things and taking chances on meetings guys who I wasn’t totally sold on from their dating profile. Sometimes they are just as bad in person, but there have been a few guys that I really wasn’t looking forward to meeting in person that ended up being really awesome. I’ve also learned to stand up for myself more and to not allow guys (or anyone for that matter) walk over me because I think I am not worthy of asking for more. I still struggle with that, but I’m getting better. And I’ve had to be more honest with myself on what I want in a potential partner, what I want in the future, and be willing to lose a great guy because we don’t want the same thing. Just like so many other things in my life, this is a work in progress, but the progress I’ve made has been so much more than I ever expected it to be.

Just like how I had no idea 6 years ago where I would be today, I have no clue what the next 6 years of this blog will bring. I have ideas of what I hope will happen, but I also have learned that nothing seems to go exactly how you hope. I can just have goals and work as hard as possible to accomplish those goals. But plan A rarely works and I’ve gotten used to working on plan M or Q. I do hope that I will still be blogging and still be blogging as regularly as I have been. I know that eventually I’ll miss a day or something will happen that prevents me from blogging (I thought my liver surgery would be that thing), but I do have every intention of keeping this up as long as possible.

Thank you for following my journey for the last 6 years and I hope that things continue to take twists and turns so I have fun things to write to you all about.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged anniversary, blogging

I Guess I’ve Been Very Lazy (or I’m Sorry This Isn’t That Interesting)

Posted on June 15, 2018 | Comments Off

I’ve had times in the past where I’ve struggled with what to write on here. My life isn’t always super interesting and I do try to schedule stuff from time to time because I know they will make a good blog post. And I really felt like I had been doing things lately that were fun, but this week I’ve really struggled with topics to write about on here.

I don’t know what I’ve been doing with my time that feels like I’m busy but I’m really not. I’ve been doing a lot of work stuff lately and doing some random side projects for friends (I’ve recently been doing some graphic design work and am finding that I’m able to do more than I thought). I’ve had some dates recently, but nothing too crazy that it needs to be a blog post on here. And I think I’ve just been very focused on getting better and that has been tricking me into thinking I’m busy.

And I know I’ve spent a lot of time just being lazy. I want to use the excuse of trying to get better as the reason for my laziness, but I know that’s not really it. I’ve just been in a low spot physically and mentally and I think that being lazy is the way I’ve been recovering from it all. I do feel so much more like myself, but I still am having moments where things feel overwhelming and I need to take some time to decompress. But those moments are getting less frequent so I’m happy about that.

It’s also been getting hotter in LA lately. I was hoping we’d still have more June Gloom to help keep the temperatures down. But it’s been getting hotter and that means it’s been hotter inside my house all day while I’m working. I’m so grateful that I have my A/C so I can keep it cooler. I would love to use the A/C as little as possible, but it’s very tough for my house to cool down even when I open up all the windows. For example, as I’m writing this it is 71 outside and 84 inside after running my A/C. And if I opened up the windows, I know that it wouldn’t be getting much cooler inside by the time I go to bed. I know that because I dealt with that for so many years. It’s just the way that my house was build and how the insulation works.

The heat adds to my laziness, but I can’t completely blame it for how I’ve been feeling lately. But because of everything that I’ve been dealing with lately, I’m just trying to be extra gentle with myself and not trying to feel guilty for being lazy. I do have some things planned coming up that will be fun, but I’m not going to push myself to schedule more just so I could have better blog posts. I’ve said it before, but showing how boring life can be sometimes is an important part of this blog. I don’t love having to admit it, but I also don’t want to be only posting the best parts of my life and having a fake online persona. This is the real me and this is really what I’m dealing with.

I do feel bad when my posts on here aren’t as interesting because I know that you all reading these don’t necessarily find them interesting either. But I did make a commitment to myself that I was going to blog every weekday and I’ve been doing that for so many years now. I’m not going to let a lag in my social life ruin that streak I’ve been having.

At least the weekend is almost here and I know I’ve got some fun things next week happening. That doesn’t mean I won’t necessarily have some boring days, but I am looking forward to having something fun to write on here!

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Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged blogging, boring, scheduling

Not Having Fear Of Missing Out (or I’m Sorry In Advance For Boring Posts)

Posted on May 16, 2018 | Comments Off

After being sick for what feels like forever (I’m still not totally better), I’m seriously having some cabin fever. I’ve left my house for a few errands in the past couple of days because I was finally feeling like I wasn’t at risk of passing out, but pretty much I’ve done nothing in a week now. It’s starting to get to me and I’m trying to do more and more things each day to help be out of this boredom. But even with doing a few things, there are plenty of things I’ve missed out on.

There was supposed to be a Disney adventure with friends this past Monday. I was starting to feel a bit better then, but I also knew that I would be exhausted just walking from the car to the tram into the parks. There was no way I could do a day at Disneyland. And my friends totally understood (they ended up having other things they needed to do that day too). Disney days are always fun, but it would have been awful if I was there and feeling miserable. I’m glad I didn’t go but I’m totally ready to reschedule and be there soon!

And yesterday I was supposed to go to an informational session at SAG-AFTRA. Yesterday was the first day I felt really like myself. I was still sniffling and coughing, but my voice didn’t sound like I was sick and I wasn’t dealing with fatigue. And I thought about still going to it because I wanted to get back to my normal life, but I also knew that I didn’t want to be there and coughing and sneezing the entire time. And even though I know I’m not contagious, I bet other people there wouldn’t really want to be sitting next to me if I was sniffling the entire time. So I ended up staying home for that too.

While I was looking forward to both of these things, I’m fine that I missed out on them. I know it was for the best for my health and that has to be my focus while I get over this epic cold! I know that having these lazy days are exactly what I need to do to get my body healthy again. It’s a little frustrating that this is taking so long, but the improvement each day is keeping me hopeful and motivated.

But the one regret I have about missing out on things is about what I can write on here! Those days would have been fun posts for me to write (and for you to read) and now I don’t have them. And there are only so many posts I feel like I should write about being sick even if it has taken over my life for a week and a half so far. I always try to keep this blog interesting and fun and when I’ve had nothing in my life to write about for so long it’s tough! So I’m sorry if the posts lately have been a bit boring. I’m hoping to make things interesting again soon and I should be going to some fun things in the coming days as long as I keep feeling better.

I know I have a few friends who are also battling this epic cold (fortunately, I don’t think I passed this on to anyone else I know). It’s almost like a hybrid cold/flu and seems to be taking so many people way longer than normal to get over it. It sucks that I got this, but I’m grateful that I’m healthy enough that I was able to fight it on my own. All I had to do was take about a week off of my life and take some over the counter meds. That’s a minor inconvenience compared to what other people have had to do (including going to the hospital for breathing treatments). So if you are reading this while dealing with this cold bug going around, I’m sorry you are sick. And I’m sorry if my blog is dashing your hopes that you will be over this bug quickly.

And to everyone reading this, sorry for the boring posts that I’ve had lately and will possibly have for a few more days. There’s not a ton to write about when you are napping and watching a lot of tv and I can’t wait to be done with that and back to my normal life again.

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Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

Tagged blogging, sick, sorry

1500 Posts (or This Really Is Just A Part Of My Life)

Posted on April 13, 2018 | 1 comment

While I do have my blog anniversary marked in my calendar, I really don’t think too much about blog milestones much anymore. I actually missed acknowledging my 1,000th post because I didn’t think about it. And the only reason why I knew this would be my 1,500th post is because 2 weeks ago someone asked me how many blog posts I’ve done so far. I looked up the number and realized this milestone was coming up. While I knew I had written a bunch of posts since my last milestone post, I honestly had no clue that I was about to get to another milestone.

If I hadn’t been asked about it, I could have gone several months without checking to see how many posts I’ve done. When I started, it was such a big deal when I realized how many posts I had done because it was proof of me following through with a goal to keep this blog. But it’s become so normal for me now that I don’t really know what a milestone really means for me.

On the days I don’t write a blog post (either I don’t need one for the next day or I’m blogging in advance and don’t need to write), it almost feels weird and that something is missing in my life. I’m so used to having the time most days to reflect on a specific event or subject that when I don’t have that moment I miss it. I almost crave the time I take to write my posts. I don’t crave it enough to try to blog every single day (5 days a week is enough), but it really has become almost a part of my self-care work. It would be nice if other aspects of my life could feel so needed to me like meal planning, cooking, or stretching. But for now, I can be happy that blogging feels so natural and normal.

But even though in a way having a milestone like this doesn’t feel like a big deal because this blog is just a part of my life, it is a big deal and I should recognize that. I have several blogger friends who either just didn’t like blogging or didn’t feel like they could keep up with it. Even friends of mine who were much more successful than I am have decided it wasn’t worth it. Maybe they felt like the money they got wasn’t worth it, but I find this so worth it even though I don’t make money from here (I do have ads and affiliate links, but I’ve made under $100 over the entire lifetime of my blog).

I have had people ask me how long I’m going to keep blogging. For me, I really can’t see myself stopping. I can imagine in the future maybe I won’t be blogging every day (I had that thought last year when I was going to have surgery), but I don’t see an end point yet. Maybe in the future I’ll be done with doing this, but this blog isn’t necessarily about a journey that will have a conclusion. This is the journey of my life and there have been lots of twists and turns that I never imagined when I started this. Obviously I never thought I’d have liver tumors and that took my blog in a new direction. I also never thought I’d be blogging about dating (partially because that felt too personal and partially because I didn’t have much to say), but I’ve written lots of posts about that too. And I’m sure that there will be so many more posts about things in the future that I can’t imagine right now.

It’s funny to think about how worried I was to be a good blogger when I started when in reality I just needed to be consistent, true to myself, and honest. I’m not the most interesting person and I know there are plenty of boring posts on here, but that’s the truth of my life. And even if I feel like I don’t have anything interesting in my life, I’ve got 1,500 posts on here saying otherwise. And while I know that not all 1,500 posts have been the most interesting ones, they are proof of the life that I’m living and that I am making progress in many aspects of my life.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged anniversary, blogging, celebration, milestone

Another Educational Union Event (or Merging My Acting And Blogging)

Posted on February 2, 2018 | Comments Off

As I continue to work on my union education, I seem to find more and more events that I really want to attend. Some of them are events that they have from time to time at the union that I’ve never attended before and some are new events that I’m so excited to be a part of. And this week, I was invited to attend an event that was brand new and perfectly suited for me!

SAG-AFTRA and Tubefilter came together to co-host an evening to discuss influencer marketing and the FTC guidelines we need to follow. While I don’t do a ton of sponsored posts on here or on social media, I do have them from time to time (I try to limit them to only things that I really believe in). And I know that there are some rules I need to follow in order to follow what the FTC requires and I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything properly. And since many sponsored posts can be under union jurisdiction, I loved that the union was involved in this conversation to answer questions.

I’ve learned a bit about some of the rules I need to be aware of because of other union events I’ve attended. Until recently, I had no idea that things I did on my blog could be under my union’s jurisdiction. I think this is something that most actor/bloggers aren’t aware of yet and I know that SAG-AFTRA is starting to get the word out now that guidelines are starting to be a bit more clear.

At this event, there was a panel that had a lot of amazing panelists. They included a YouTube creator, an employee of the FTC, and a union representative. While there was a lot of back and forth because some rules are still a bit unclear, I think the tone of the entire event was that we all want to work together to figure out how to create policies that protect us as creators and still follow FTC guidelines.

The meeting really reminded me of the Union Working events with how people may be coming from different sides of an issue but we understand that by working together and being strong as a group it will benefit us the most. And while not everyone has the answers to everything, people are bringing up questions that are helping those higher up to understand the issues we are facing and the concerns that we want answered. Sometimes, the answers to questions was to say that they didn’t know, but I highly respect people who aren’t afraid to say that they don’t know (instead of making up an answer).

The panel was about 2 hours long (and they probably could have gone for another 2 hours and I still would have been fascinated) and then there was a bit of a social mixer after. I was sitting at a table with some of my friends so I had a chance to be social before the panel. And after the panel, we came together to discuss what we had learned and what issues we are concerned about. We had a chance to speak with the National Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA and I got to express some of my personal concerns or confusion over the rules. Influencer marketing is still a pretty new system so I think there is a lot of confusion by a lot of people. And since I don’t do it that often I think I had extra questions. But I did leave the meeting feeling much better about the situation and knowing who to contact if I needed to get something specific answered.

I don’t know how big the overlap is with actors and bloggers (or other types of influencer marketers), but I’m very excited to be someone who fits into both categories. I’ve already talked to the union about how they can reach the blogger community to help those who are not in the entertainment industry understand what is happening and what the union is doing for them. I think it’s going to be a very exciting time to see those two worlds come together and I love that I get to help connect them and bring them together.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, blogging, event, SAG-AFTRA, union, writer

5 Years Old (or My Blog Is A Kindergartner)

Posted on July 18, 2017 | 1 comment

This past Sunday, my blog turned 5 years old. As I’ve said each blog anniversary, I can’t believe this! When I started my blog, I knew that I would be doing what I could to keep it up. But I don’t think I would have been able to do 5 years of every weekday posts!

Looking back at my first blog post is a big embarrassing because I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t know if anyone would ever read it (and back in the beginning I had plenty of days with 0 readers for the day) and I didn’t know if anyone would care. But to know it all started with a post where I pretty much said that I didn’t know what I was doing makes me so happy to be where I am now.

I know I’ve said this so many times, but I wanted to say thank you to every single one of you who reads this blog. Some of you are my friends and family but many of you are people I haven’t met in real life yet. Some are following me for my eating disorder recovery, some for my acting career, some for my fitness journey, and some of you just like reading what happens in my life. No matter why you read this blog, please know that I appreciate each and every one of you.

This blog has morphed quite a bit in the past 5 years. Like I said, I had no clue what this blog was going to be when I started. And through the past few years I’ve added things to my blog such as my recovery journey and weekly fitness posts (I can’t even remember not doing Orangetheory posts on Mondays!). This blog has changed as I have changed and hopefully you will all agree that both the blog and I have changed for the better.

Whenever someone reaches out to me and tells me that they started going to Orangetheory, saw a therapist, or even started online dating because of something they read on here I’m just beyond flattered. I never thought my life could impact others just by telling the truth and it’s amazing that I’m able to do that. And finding out that I’m helping others inspires me to keep going, even when I don’t have anything to blog about.

I wrote about this recently, but this blog has changed my life because I’ve been forced to go out and do more. Otherwise, all my posts on here would be pretty boring. And sometimes it’s tough for me to figure out what to write about, but there is always something that I want to share or get off my chest. Just being able to write it down (and maybe have someone read it and help me) makes me feel so much better when I’m struggling and going through a tough time.

5 years ago, I didn’t know what I would blog about and honestly I thought that I would keep more things about my life private than I do right now. But I’ve found that hiding parts of myself doesn’t allow me to be as free as I need to be in order to write honestly. I do still keep some things to myself or wait on sharing them, but I think you all can tell that I’m not trying to hide that much that often.

I never imagined I’d be sharing as much as I have when I started this, and there’s no way for me to know what I’ll be sharing in the next 5 years. Hopefully there will be so many awesome and interesting things happening in my life that I can tell you all about. I’m putting myself out there in so many aspects in my life and I’m sure that something great will happen because of that. I can’t predict the future, but I know that all the effort I’m putting in to better my life will have a big change. And I really can’t wait to see what happens with that!

5 years is a long time to be doing something every single weekday. I haven’t even had a day job that long! But I’m so glad that I stuck with this and kept going because it really has been a life-changer for me.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged anniversary, birthday, blogging

Going Out Because I Blog (or What Came First?)

Posted on June 8, 2017 | 1 comment

I’m getting close to my blog’s 5 year anniversary and that’s so crazy to me! I’m at almost 1300 posts and I’ve been able to be consistent with the posts since I started almost 5 years ago. And maybe it’s because of the upcoming anniversary or my consistency that has made a lot of people come to me recently about my blog and how I do it. It’s funny because I still feel like I need to ask others for advice and now people are coming to me for advice.

I still consider myself a small time blogger since I’m not out doing the crazy events that so many bloggers get invited to. I don’t have thousands of readers every day and I’m not making that much money off of my blog (I think in total I’ve made around $100). But maybe me being a small blogger has made me more approachable? I’m not sure. But because so many people have helped me in my journey, I’m more than happy to help anyone who comes to me. It’s all about paying it forward to me.

The number one thing that people have been asking me is how to start a blog. And my only advice is to just start. I knew I was going to start this blog for a while before I wrote my first post. I was terrified about what to write and if anyone would care to read what I have to say. I’m so glad that you all do care about what I have to say because it helps me feel more confident about putting myself out there. I wish now that I had started it when I got everything set up instead of waiting. The sooner you start blogging the sooner you feel comfortable about blogging.

And the other thing that people ask me about all the time is how I come up with ideas to write about. And this isn’t really an easy one. There are a bunch of days that I have nothing to write about and it takes forever to think of what I could possibly have to say. And when my editorial calendar is empty, I get worried that I won’t know how to fill it. It does make it easier now that I do my fitness recaps on Mondays and I’ve got some ongoing posts like my monthly challenges. But as an example, next week the only post I know I’ll be writing will be my Monday workout recap. I have no clue what I’m going to write about the rest of the week.

But I recently posted something I got through Shine Text that was so relevant about blogging for me.

When I saw that in Shine Text, it got me to reflect on things. But instead of things being for novelty, they are because I know they will make a good blog post. When I get invited to an event and my editorial calendar is empty I feel like I have to go. I know I’ll need something to blog about and going to an event is the perfect way to be inspired. And I’m so lucky that in LA there are so many fun events that I am able to go to. It’s still tough sometimes for me to make the time to go to events, but I’m working on it.

I have become a more social and outgoing person and it is partially because of this blog. But I don’t know if I became more social and then got the courage to blog or if I felt like I had to start blogging and then I had to start finding things to blog about. I’m not sure what came first, but I’m so glad that I have both things in my life.

I’m so much more well-rounded now and I’ve found new things that I love because I took a chance with going to an event. I’ve become really gutsy in trying new things and those new things bring other new things to me. It’s a cycle of awesome for me and I never knew that this would make me so happy.

Coming up on a big blogging anniversary does give me time to reflect on things. But I probably wouldn’t have thought as much about how I’m doing more now if I hadn’t seen that message in Shine Text and if friends hadn’t been asking me about blogging. Sometimes things come your way because you need them. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump (sorry in advance for any boring posts in the next week or two) and this just reminded me on how far I’ve come from 5 years ago when I was terrified to write my very first post.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged blogging, event

Foodie Con (or Still Not Sure If Conventions Are My Thing)

Posted on December 7, 2016 | Comments Off

A little while ago, I was asked if I’d be interested in attending a food convention that would be happening in LA. While I’m not a huge fan of conventions (I don’t love the crowds and overwhelming feeling I get there), I thought this could be something really fun to do. The convention I was invited to was Foodie Con LA and it was held this past weekend.

foodie-con-sign

I was only able to attend on Sunday (I was busy with work and other commitments on Saturday) and originally planned on trying to go with a friend. Unfortunately, my friend couldn’t make it so I headed there by myself and was determined to make the most of my time there.

While there were some really great things about Foodie Con, I was saddened to see that when I arrived there were several empty booths. I don’t know if those people were arriving late, but they weren’t there an hour after opening. It did help to have fewer booths to try to get to, but it was weird to see the emptiness in the space.

But besides the emptiness, I did have some fun there. I still had the overwhelming feeling of being at a convention and it was tough being there alone, but I did meet some cool vendors. I didn’t try anything (my stomach was having an off morning) but it was fun to see some of the new and creative food products out there.

If I had to pick a favorite vendor, I think it comes down to 2 options. The first favorite that I met is a grocery delivery/farmers market box service called Milk & Eggs. I’ve thought about doing a farmers market box in the past, but I’m always afraid that I won’t be able to eat everything in the box (or it will include things that I know I don’t like). But with Milk & Eggs, you can set it up to be more like a regular grocery delivery. They have the farmers market samplers that are very common to see with other companies, but they also have prepared foods and other thing available.

food-delivery

Yes, they have dairy and egg products (hence the name), but they also have pantry items and meat. And some of the things I was seeing online were holiday specials like honey ham and pastas. I don’t know if I want to have something like this delivered to me on the regular, but I like having it as an option. I’ve been thinking about when I have my liver surgery how I may be restricted in lifting things for a while. So a grocery delivery service may be necessary. And I think Milk & Eggs seems like an awesome one to use that is reasonably priced and has a lot of things that I would want to eat.

And my favorite food vendor was Truffles USA. I love truffles. They are just so yummy and when I see a dish that has truffles in it at a restaurant I will usually get that. And Truffles USA is all about truffles! They do sell whole truffles (which are very expensive and totally out of my budget), but they also have a lot of truffle products for sale.

truffle-table

I didn’t buy anything while I was there, but I have a feeling that I will be making some purchases from them soon. I’d love to have some truffle oil or truffle butter to use in recipes. It may help to get some creativity back into my meals. Truffles USA also posts some recipes on their website and I’m seeing if any of them seem to be something I could and would like to make. I’ll share with you any truffle recipes that I test out and love!

There were other nice vendors at Foodie Con, but I didn’t really connect with any of the other businesses there. Some of the stuff was food I wouldn’t really eat (a lot of vegan and gluten-free options compared to non-vegan or gluten foods) and there were a few booths that were so packed with people that I didn’t feel like I could go check it out. Even though there weren’t a ton of people at the event while I was there, it seemed like a few booths were the super popular ones that everyone went to and crowded around.

Overall, while conventions aren’t really my thing, I’m glad I checked out Foodie Con. I did get to meet some cool food people and I have a feeling that I will be checking out some of the vendors to see if I want to order from them at a later time. I’m grateful that I was invited to check it out and hopefully the next time I go to a convention like this I have a friend to check it out with me!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

Tagged blogging, event, food

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