mixedcon ~ up in the mountains

i attended my first food blogging conference over the weekend. what i imagined to be a chaotic foray into networking madness turned into a revelation. i have grappled this year with what to do with this here space, i have moments of flights of fancy and then other moments where i am left unmotivated. this retreat allowed me to finally come up for air.

nestled in the blue ridge mountains of southern virginia, where i attended college, is a tiny resort where a big movie was filmed. there we immersed ourselves in not only the barren landscape that the exiting autumn left behind, but in each other, drawing breath and ideas and inspiration.

i left on sunday morning, driving down the mountain with the windows open, these mountains that when i was in school always provided such comfort just from the sight of them. the long windy road home was spent reflecting on what i had learned. to keep this to the point, i will simply say that i traveled that distance, i spent that time to come to the conclusion that i am where i want to be, where i need to be.

so, in the meantime, thank you to the organizers and sponsors (like kitchenaid and dreamfields) of Mixed, to the speakers and the staff at mountain lake. last, it was wonderful meeting people. i should be back next week with new recipes to share.