New Orleans or Bust?

In a little less than a month, my hometown (well, not exactly hometown, since I live in a suburb outside) of New Orleans will be hosting several amazing food bloggers for IFBC.

Originally, when I heard the announcement of IFBC being hosted in NOLA, I was very excited about going. I was definitely going…definitely.

But then the price tag hit me. $350. It was a little steep for me, and since we’re currently saving to get a bigger house in the near future, I just could not justify the expense on my hobby, as much as I wanted to go.

Then, IFBC tweeted today that they are graciously gifting 3 bloggers with free registration. To enter, all I have to do is write about why I want to attend. Where do I start?

I’ve been food blogging for over 3 years, and have never had the opportunity to go to a food conference. Usually, they fall on weekends that just run into family events/birthdays. As lame as that can sound, I’m a huge family person. I just don’t skip family things, if I can help it. August 26-28th is free in my calendar. No birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, graduations, etc.

While food blogging is strictly a hobby for me, I’d love to hear from inspiring, successful speakers to learn how to take my blogging to the next level. Some of the sessions I’ve especially got my eye on are food photography (Hello, have you seen my inconsistent photos? I sometimes think I have no clue what I’m doing with my DSLR!), recipe writing and development (I’d love to dabble in this on my blog and share more original recipes.), time management (Yeah, I have no idea where my time goes), and eating on a budget (Our grocery bills are way too high lately!).

IFBC this year is in my hometown. New Orleans is about an hour away from where I currently reside, Baton Rouge. Doesn’t everyone love a local? 🙂

Shameless cute picture. Millie can play with Dixie all weekend. Millie is my dog. Dixie is my family’s dog. They are sort of besties, and would love to spend a weekend together. 🙂

The food. SO many wonderful restaurants will be feeding the attendees at the conference, including one of my favorite bakeries: Sucre. Aren’t those macarons just gorgeous?

Image source (this is the link to the blogger who took this picture, since I never take pictures of myself) — Me (right) and Big Apple Nosh

Actually putting names to faces in the food blogger community. I’ve seen the blog roll of the attendees, and I would be absolutely stoked to meet everyone. I met a bunch of fellow wedding bloggers from Weddingbee this April, and had an absolute blast. It’s so fun to meet Internet friends. 🙂

Whew…that was a lot to share!

As you can see, I have many reasons to attend this conference. Thanks so much for sticking around and reading this post, by the way. Please cross your fingers and toes for me to get chosen to attend! 🙂