The Food + Wine Conference is an annual conference held in Orlando, Florida hosted by the Family Foodie and the Sunday Supper Movement. This three-day conference is organized each year by Founder Isabel Laessig and an amazing committee of devoted Sunday Supper community team members – after being on the committee for two years, this was my first year attending as a speaker only, so believe me I fully appreciate all the work that goes on behind the scenes make this event run as smoothly as it does.

The Sunday Supper Community member attendee group picture – photo credit Ashley Harmon Photography.

Let’s begin my Food + Wine Conference recap with..

the highlight of my Food + Wine Conference 2015 weekend!

Let me start off by saying that I grew up watching Bob Barker and The Barker’s Babe’s welcoming contestants down on The Price Is Right during the summers, or when I was home from school feeling sick on the couch, so when MY name was called by Michele Northrup, of Intensity Academy + The Sauceology Group, {our Saucy version of Mr. Barker} to approach the stage during her conference version of the iconic game show, I was honestly giddy with excitement and ran right up to the stage to take my place on Contestant Row and proudly don my big yellow price tag name badge. I put on my feathery antenna headpiece, grabbed my marker and pricing board, I was ready to win big!

The prizes were announced and after three rounds of some of the worst price guessing I have ever done – it’s not as easy as it looks when you are actually up there guessing prices – the room became a big blur of people yelling numbers and suddenly I could barely remember how much a tube of toothpaste should cost let alone a BMW mini car! As fellow contestants correctly guessed and moved on to collect their prizes, I was one of the remaining original contestants on the final round and simply hoping there was going to be the chance of a consolation prize in my future.

Bob, I mean Michele, announced that the FINAL prize would be a “Life Changing Opportunity” – no pressure right. I adjust my headpiece and wrote my best guess on my board. We all reveal our numbers and surprisingly we are ALL over! We erase them and look to the screaming audience of fellow bloggers for advice and then reveal our new guesses. Honestly I can not remember what number I wrote down at that point, but then… MY name was called!! Could there be a mistake? I look over to confirm, yes it is true!! – The “Life Changing Opportunity” is mine!! I think I may have screamed a little and quickly ran off the stage before they could watch the replay and take my silver cow bell away!

So what did I bid on and win? What is the highlight of my Food + Wine Conference 2015 weekend?

I am the lucky winner of a “three-day trip to Colorado to work side by side with the Beef.org culinary team and recipe testers to ideate, test and fully develop a brand new beef recipe!!! My trip will include a tour of the culinary center, one on one time with their culinary team as well as hands-on testing in the kitchen to see my recipe go from an idea to a triple-tested recipe to be featured on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.”

“Life Changing Opportunity”? Quite possibly! Stay Tuned for more!!

Karli Millspaugh of Beef.org, Krayl Funch of An Appealing Plan, Erin Weber of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association – side note… this photo was taken the following day after lunch so my excitement level is not accurately reflected here.

Okay let’s find out what else happened over the three-day Food + Wine Conference 2015… Lots of this…

Friday Night Food + Wine Conference Welcome Parties

“Florida Strawberries Welcome Reception” – Strawberry Martini’s with St. Augustine Distillery, my favorite part of this picture is the smiling Rosen Shingle Creek staff member in the background!

“Florida Strawberries Welcome Reception“ – Rosen Hotels amazing Chef David Ramirez creating chocolate masterpieces.

“Taste of Rosen Shingle Creek” – Lobster Tart

Saturday Events at Food + Wine Conference 2015

” Idaho Potato + Wisconsin Cheese Poutine Bar Lunch” – Anatomy of a Chicken and Waffle Poutine,Egg, Bacon and Chive Poutine, Mushroom and Kale Poutine

Amazing cheese display by Wisconsin Cheese Cheese Board – the Burrata was fantastic!

Did you see my submission into the #WisconsinCheese contest – Nectarine Gallette with Thyme + Gruyere?

“Fields Auto Group #FieldFoodies Fun and Dessert ” – fun with my friend T.R. Crumbley of Gulten Free Crumbley

“Afternoon break with Georgia Peach Council and Parkesdale Market“ – Krayl Funch, of An Appealing Plan, with Gena Knox, author of Southern My Way.

Gena was just as lovely as you would image a Georgia Peach would be! And those Georgia Peach Smoothies… can I have one delivered to me every morning please.

Saturday Day Night Dinner at Food + Wine Conference 2015

“Around the Sunday Supper Dinner table with Certified Angus Beef and Hess Collection Wines“ – what a joy to top off an incredible day of panels and speakers with our Saturday night dinner around the table with old and new friends.

Me and THE Saucy Queen herself – as above mentioned our “Saucy Bob Barker”, of Intensity Academy.

Another highlight each year of the conference is meeting friends you have known on-line for years actually in person – Me + Rick Griffin of Midlife Roadtrip taking a break from the Idaho Potato singing heads!

Sunday Breakout Sessions at the 2015 Food + Wine Conference

“The Art of Cheese Pairings with Cabot Cheese + Hess CollectionWines” – yes, this is the perfect way to begin a Sunday!

Table Sponsor Datz Tampa, launches their new Bloody Mary mix at the Food + Wine Conference Sunday luncheon.

“The Tale of Two Photographers” break out session with Julius Mayo Jr. of Droolious.com – do you see how fast he is!!

And last BUT certainly not least – I was honored to be a part of the Cookbook Publish Panel for the Food and Wine Conference with these accomplish cookbook authors.

Stephanie Manley, author of Copy Cat Recipes, Krayl Funch, Laura Bashar, of Family Spice.

At the end of the three-day content filled weekend, I am exhausted from the events and at the same time on a creative high from all of the input and conversations. I leave feeling excited about new friends, new tools to apply to my brand and the knowledge that I am in exactly the right place for me, but also I am slightly sad to be going back to “regular life” after 3 days of non-stop action. Travel home is a time to absorb and process all that happened, and to consider what will be the highlight of the 2016 Food + Wine Conference.

Until next year my friends…

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And, if you are looking for even more ways to celebrate everyday check out An Appealing Plan the book.

Call it a trend or a return to the past, but I believe we are bringing back entertaining at home, lingering over a table after a lovingly prepared meal with friends. It has been a way of life and passion of mine my entire adult life, and I am thrilled to be able to invite you on this journey with me through a year of celebrating every day. Filled with recipes, tablescapes, floral inspiration and seasonal entertaining ideas An Appealing Plan :: A Year of Everyday Celebrations, is a dream come true for me a true honor to be able to share it with you. To learn more about An Appealing Plan :: A Year of Everyday Celebrations here. And of course, share how you are celebrating everyday.

We travel quite a bit and luckily, most of the time, my husband goes along with my desire to search out and stay at mainly boutique hotels in the cities we visit when they are available. Our recent trip to Charlottesville, VA was no different, I researched the town and found a fairly new boutique hotel call the Oakhurst Inn. And then we arrived at the Oakhurst Inn, a Charlottesville boutique hotel… it exceeded our expectations on many levels.

Located on a small historic neighborhood road, walking distance from the University of Virginia, the Oakhurst Inn, is a two building, 27 room, boutique hotel was a literal oasis for us during our visit – so much so, we came back early to stay another night at the end of our trip {and were welcomed just as warmly}.

Beginning at check-in the young staff welcomes you as if you are old friends coming for a holiday weekend – even allowing us to check-in early and bringing our bags up to our upgraded suite. This is a HUGE bonus for me. I mean if a better room is available, why wouldn’t a hotel give you that room instead… they have one room to clean either way and isn’t always better for the guest to have a better experience?? All hotels should take a page out of the Oakhurst Inn’s room upgrade policy.

The 27 rooms are spread out on the two neighboring properties many levels. All floors have a semi-private library complete with a Nespresso coffee machine, accessible 24/7, set on top of a small wine cooler filled with chilled bottled water and one of my favorite beverages, San Pellegrino Sparkling Juices, also available to help yourself as you desire.

Each library is accented with classic yet modern design touches and colors, a one-touch gas fireplace topped with an attractive mantel, filled book cases, leather couches and upholstered chairs for gathering and a daily paper from 4 major cities for reading during your stay.

Each room is decorated slightly differently but all have a chair for reading, relaxing or for just putting on your shoes.

Our room had a small seating area with surprisingly lots of closet space for a renovated older building. The bed was SUPER comfortable and we even had a small noise machine to use at night to block out any road noise and ensure a great night sleep!

The attention to detail continues into the clean modern bathrooms. Crisp clean white towels on chrome fixtures and amazingly scented bath products from Malin + Goetz made me want to stay in the shower for hours! I am pretty much obsessed with their products now… part of the dangers of boutique travel I suppose.

I have already recommended the Oakhurst Inn to friends I know look for boutique hotels and I can confidently recommend it to you if you are in the area. Even if you aren’t able to stay overnight, it is worth the visit to say hi to the friendly staff and experience the attention to detail. Please tell them I sent you and have a Pelligrino for me!