Foodbuzz Festival Day #1, San Francisco

I was back in town from tour for one night, to repack another suitcase to head to California for this reason:

 After a very bumpy flight (and I fly alot!) and this:

 A Bloody Mary to calm our nerves....but they didn't have any biscoff cookies :(

and I had to leave this last image at home:

Siena's either thinking, "Mom, I'll miss you...or, who are you lady!?"

My mom and I made it to San Francisco from Salt Lake City! We took the super shuttle to our hotel which was right down by the Ferry Building. We found a great deal at The Harbor Court which is a Kimpton Hotel (Like the Hotel Monaco where my husband and I got married!) We tried to upgrade to a  room with a view of the Bay Bridge but had no luck. So.....we got an upgrade to a room with a huge comfy King bed!

We got out our map and found our way to The Grand Hyatt (the festival's official hotel) where they had registration and I got my badge (I've never had a conference badge before) as well as this:

The coolest swag bag!

Godiva coffee, a cake mix, coupons, chocolate, walnuts, and a great DIY Cocktail book!

A foodie like me loves free stuff... especially when the free stuff includes products that I actually like and will use! At registration I recognized right away,www.foodbuzz.com big time blogger Kath ! I said hello to her because she knows Faith who was a college mate of mine. I probably sounded like a dork, but oh well! I also got to meet Beth, who works for Foodbuzz and has a great blog about life in the fantastic city of San Francisco!

Onward, into the city! We were hungry (and still a little queasy from the flight) so we just stopped in a small coffee shop and ordered some iced coffee and sandwiches. They were surprisingly really good!

After lunch, we headed to Union Square where we found a huge Nordstrom and I bought these boots (extra bonus that the Half-Yearly sale was going on!).

I love Kimpton Hotels because they always have a happy hour in the lobby with free beer and wine!

Sometimes snacks too!



I finished getting ready for the welcome reception at the Terra Gallery. Luckily, we were close enough to walk to the event space. However, when my mom headed back I must say I got quite nervous. I entered the gallery and it was a cocktail reception where I knew absolutely no one...... and it seemed like everyone else knew each other....So, I grabbed a glass of wine, walked around the space and then I went right up to Sarah and introduced myself. She didn't know anyone else either and thank goodness she was really nice and friendly! We talked until it was time to go upstairs to do what foodies do best, eat! 

Potato-Broccoli Soup, Baked Four Cheese Macaroni, Meatloaf Muffins

Pan-seared DayBoat Scallop 

with grapes, capers, wood roasted cauliflower, parsnip puree, and verjus

Lentil salad "to-go" Boxes (so yummy!), Cerviche Shooter, Beet Ravioli, Tuscan Kale, Leek and Ricotta SalataTart

 The food was great and the open bar was fun too! They were featuring Bloom Gin which I loved and need to find a way to smuggle a bottle back into Utah......

The Gallery Space and a bunch of bloggers!

Big time bloggers: Joy and Marc

Created by Top Chef's Yigit Pura, the desserts were bite sized and tasty. There were macarons too but they ran out before I got any :(.

 Some Spanish Cava to end the night! It was a good opener but I felt like such a newbie. Next year I think I will study the menu a bit more so I don't miss out on the macarons!


That's all for now! Day #2 recap coming soon!