I went to FBC2013 Conference and all I got was this fabulous swag...

As the amazing posts from the FBC conference have been pouring in, I found myself feeling guilty. Guilty for not having this magnificent story to tell straight away about my experience. Any chance I had to sit down at the computer, I would stare at a blank page, counting how many times the cursor blinked a minute, hoping to catch out the previous count time before. I didn't. 

Computer - 1.  Jenny - Nil.

It's not that I didn't have a wonderful time. Oh, quite the contrary. I have so much to say, I just didn't know where to begin. Few times in my life have I ever been to the point I just couldn't find my words. 

This was one of them.  

Now that I've had some time to decompress and digest everything; sit down and really think about it, it was the most incredible experience as a blogger I could have ever been witness to. By the end of the first evening, it was like being part of a really big family. No egos. No agendas. Just friends. I've heard stories of conferences where there were bloggers in excess of 300+, something I couldn't even imagine, considering I still feel bad I wasn't able to meet all of the 80 that were in attendance at this one. 

Looking back prior to the conference, my nerves would have told you a completely different story. I stressed about what to wear for days, I stressed about not knowing anyone, I stressed about catching a bad case of verbal diarrhea - something that often happens when I get nervous, I stressed about people not getting my humour or sarcasm, I stressed about walking into a room and having no where or no one to sit with. It was like having all the worst fears about high school come into play, but wearing really cute shoes doing so.

You can imagine my relief when none of those things happened. Except the shoes. My shoes were pretty kick ass.  

Everything about that weekend was nothing short of stellar. The speakers, the sponsors, the brands, the workshops, THE SWAG, and the food. Oh, the foooooood. 

 

But more importantly, it was meeting up with bloggers I have long admired, like Aimee Wimbush-Bourque of Simple Bites (who I very soon realized upon meeting is pronounced, 'A-may'. I was a bit embarrassed, considering I've referred to A-may as 'Amy' since I discovered her blog, if you will, all thanks to my American upbringing and bastardizing of most words) Meeting her was surreal. 

Jan from Family Bites. She's like that sister you never had. Heck, she's like the sister you do have. Trust me, that makes total sense in my head. She's super incredible.

Meeting bloggers I only discovered in the last year, like, Meg, from Sweet Twist of Blogging, a blogger I had followed for about a year. I met up with her for drinks a few days prior to the conference when I found she only lived ten minutes up the road from me! (I'm inserting my one allotted exclamation point, because it truly warrants it.) It was like meeting someone I had already known forever. 

Brittany Stager, Mushroom Canada's PR it-girl and blogger behind My Daily Randomness. A girl I connected with pretty much straight away. She's AMAZING! (Ah, screw it. I need to have more exclamation points in this post! Sorry David Leite. I can't help it.) Have you seen Brittany's living room post? Check it out and you'll totally see why I'm crushing on it.

Kelly from The Gouda Life, who I totally think could pass for a Kate Hudson double. She can make an egg look like it belongs in Vogue. Or Gourmet Magazine. Or in my belly. Either or, she's an absolute doll.

Michelle Peters-Jones from The Tiffin Box. This girl. She's even more magnificent in person and can whip up Indian food like no one's business. Which is awesome, because I love Indian food. It was a win-win from the beginning. 

Isabelle of Crumb Blog. She was also my roomie at the conference. She's as incredible as her blog. She's warm. She's funny. She's a wealth of knowledge. And she's also someone that convinced me to call my cell phone service provider and blast them for giving me such a low, crummy data plan. Yeah, you had to be there. 

And finally, bloggers I've discovered through the FBC website and Twitter only months before. There are so many kick ass folks to mention, but the few that made it  - Kathy from eatHalifax, Kris from 80Twenty, Louisa from Living Lou, Jeanine from The Baking Beauties, Christina from Buffy and George - I can go on and on AND ON, but I'll spare you. This time. Ya welcome. Please know there were so many more of you. 

And of course, the three people I owe a mountain of gratitude for this incredible opportunity; Mardi, Melissa, and Ethan.

I was THRILLED. TO. BACON BITS. when I finally met Mardi of eat.live.travel.write. She's my hero. I can talk all the live long day about how wonderful she is. And how she rocks the French macarons like no one's business. 

Melissa, the girl behind the blog, Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach. A title I can totally relate to on a daily basis. Melissa is the kind of girl I could totally hang out with and totally would if she totally lived here. Totally. I mean that in the most un-stalker way. She's a total sweetheart. And can we please discuss her MAD computer skillz? Yes, skillz with a zed, because I mean business. 

Ethan Adeland. Oh Ethan. Will someone PLEASE get this boy into toothpaste commercials. Please. Aside from being the boy behind the blog, Feeding Ethan, the guy's got some incredible chompers.

At the end of the conference, I said goodbyes and hugged my new friends, wishing them adieu and safe travels. By that point, my emotions were so raw and so close to the surface, I sprinted to my car and burst into tears as soon as I got in. With the lack of sleep (in a good way), the wealth of knowledge I learned, the truly amazing people I met, it all suddenly became too much for me. Mascara down the face in streams, splotches all over my neck - friends, I was an absolute mess. I couldn't figure out why people were giving me weird looks at the gas station when I stopped to fill up my tank. Moral of that story? Check face before pumping gas. 

I never realized how incredible it was to be part of a blogging community. I also didn't realize how important these people would become to me in such a short time. People that deserve nothing but the best in life. People I am so proud of. People I now call friends. 

The same people that help make lives healthier, happier, and more delicious.

One bite at a time.