Showing posts with label Tastemaker 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tastemaker 2010. Show all posts

Blissdom 2010 Recap: Blissfully Inspired

Monday, February 8, 2010

What to say about Blissdom? If I only could only use one word it would be fabulawsome. In the airport on the way home, I wore my tiara from the pajama party because I wanted the feeling to last just a little bit longer.

Alli, Paula and Barbara wanted to create a welcoming, comfortable environment and they succeeded in spades. Even in a space as ginormous as the Opryland they managed to make it an intimate experience (seriously, I was having 3 Day flashbacks with all the walking we did!).

Even though I didn't know too many people before the conference, now I feel like I have a whole new circle of friends. It's always so nice to meet the people behind the avatars and blog posts. And can I just say, y'all were an amazingly beautiful and well dressed bunch of women! (Southern nod to Rachel and Robin)

I will have a lot more to say about Blissdom in future posts, but here are a few of my highlights:

*The workshops. I went to Vlogging and Editing, SEO, Advanced Social Media and caught the tail end of Media Training. I got a lot out of all them and hope to put what I learned into practice and make this a better place for you to hang out.

*The opening keynote. Man, did Kevin Carroll knock it out of the ballpark! We laughed, we cried and then laughed some more. I will never look at a soccer, basket or kickball the same way ever again.

*Hanging out with my fellow Tastemakers and watching Jessica showcase her inner cheerleader (someone, please tell me they got that on video!?). The event (the whole experience) was fun and different. I appreciate the chance to participate and embarrass  myself in front of a live audience. Congrats JoLynne and Rachel!

*Getting to see Renee, Danielle, Christine, Stacie, Casey, Audrey, Julie, Melanie, Erin (and her adorable baby!) and so many others again. A virtual hug just isn't the same as a real one.

*My first (but hopefully not last) speaking opportunity. It was slightly out of my comfort zone and all the faces in the audience made me want to faint but I'm so glad I did it. Having people ask me questions at the end of the session was incredibly gratifying.

*Being alone in the hotel hallway with Harry Connick Jr.! He was on his way backstage and I didn't want to bother him, but holy regrets I should have asked for a picture. Listening to him sing wasn't too bad either.

*Finally meeting Redneck Mommy (more on that later, she threatened me, and I liked it).

I learned so much at Blissdom and have so much to think about, both personally and professionally. I must also give a special thank you to Liz Strauss. At the Personal Branding session, she answered my question about bringing more of myself into the blog and her answer smacked me over the head and was exactly what I needed to hear. 

There will be way more Melanie coming out on these pages soon. I hope you'll like her, I hope you'll respect her voice and appreciate her desire for increased authenticity. I hope she doesn't scare you away. But, if she does, she will have to be OK with that. She'd rather lose traffic and followers than to keep losing any more of herself. She learned that at Blissdom too.

Other things I took away:

We are powerful.

We are trendsetters.

We are trail blazers.

We are loyal.

We are experts in our own rights.

We are amazing!

What did you take away from Blissdom?

There are Blissdom recap posts all over the place. JoLynne and Tamara are hosting link ups.Christine has a giant linkfest. There are tons of Flickr photos too, including ones for Annissa. If you feel the need to know about every spectacular moment, search the #blissdom hashtag. Pictures coming soon!

Thank you to everyone who made attending Blissdom possible: To Alli and Barbara for asking me to speak. I am still beyond flattered. To Jessica, Liz and Brittany; Fleishmann-Hillard and the US Potato Board for sending and taking such good care of me!

Tastemaker Challenge #3 Meals in a Time Crunch

Friday, January 29, 2010

For the third and final Tastemaker 2010 challenge, we were to prepare a meal in 30 minutes or less. I found a Loaded Baked Potato soup recipe to use up all the potatoes I had leftover from the last challenge.

If I make this again I'll only use 3 potatoes instead of 5 and increase the chicken stock to 3 1/2 - 4 cups. The soup went from liquid-y to almost mashed potato consistency after I turned it off as the potatoes soaked up all the moisture. 

Being part of the Tastemaker Challenge was fun. It was a little out of my comfort zone since I'm no chef but I liked looking for the recipes. 
I'm looking forward to our final challenge at Blissdom. If you'll be there please RSVP for the party and make sure you say hello!

Video #1- Potatoes Celebrate National Seafood Month here.
Video #2- Meals on a Budget here.
Video #3- Nutrition in a Time Crunch here.
 
The US Potato Board and Fleishman-Hillard are covering my costs to attend the Blissdom conference and provided money to buy and/or ingredients for the Tastemaker meals.

Tastemaker 2010 Challenge #2: Nutrition on a Budget

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Something I've been wanting and needing to do is start menu planning. I'm the type who, come 4 o'clock, is usually still not sure what I'll be serving for dinner. I know that menu planning saves time and money. I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I just haven't had the motivation to do it.

Since my first real experience using coupons and grocery store circulars, I'm feeling more confident about how to shop and maximize savings so menu planning seems like the next logical step. In my second Tastemaker video, I talk a little bit about how I plan to get started as well as make a recipe using some featured sale items from this week's Vons circular.

The recipe is from Rachel Ray. I changed mine slightly, omitting the sour cream, heavy cream and carrots. 

A few other Tastemaker notes:
*If you are going to be at Blissdom, please RSVP for the Tastemaker Showdown Party and say hello. I need all the support I can get!

*View the new video and the first, Ideas for a Movie Night themed party on You Tube.  Don't forget to rank the videos with five stars please!

*Get to know the other Tastemaker Challengers, view recipes and learn about potato nutrition on the Mom's Dinner Helper site.

The US Potato Board provided a stipend for supplies to make my recipe and are covering my expenses for the Blissdom conference. Thank you Fleishman-Hillard for being so beyond patient!

Tastemaker 2010 Challenge- The Second Box Arrives!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The second mystery box for the Tastemaker challenge arrived on Tuesday. I like the idea of waiting to open it on video so you guys can see too.



I'll give you all the details on this new challenge soon!

Tastemaker 2010 Challenge Update- The Video is Up!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009


Editing is not my strong suit. Apparently, my new! laptop is more technology than I know how to use. But, my movie night themed You Tube video is finally up! In it, I give a few appetizer ideas and mention a few products.* I've linked to the recipes below.




After you watch the video, don't forget to rate it using the five star system. I got the two salmon recipes from Taste of Home's website. The mashed potato pizza is a replica of an appetizer I had when I was out with Deb.

I looked online for a recipe to make sure I was on the right track and the site I found had a good one. Nick from Macheesmo used homemade dough, but I went with Trader Joe's. After making the pizza, I wish I had rolled the dough out a lot thinner. The bread is supposed to be secondary to the mashed potatoes and a little crispy. Mine wasn't quite like that.

Taste of Home recipes
-Salmon Tarts
-Salmon Stuffed New Potatoes

Macheesmo.com

-Mashed Potato Pizza


Thanks again to McCormick and Schmicks for the salmon and to Fleishman-Hillard!


*FTC disclaimer: The only items given to me for this video were the salmon, a video camera, a gift card for expenses, red carpet and director's clapboard. The rest I purchased or borrowed. The websites I've linked to didn't ask me to do so, nor do they know I did (until now).

Tastemaker 2010 Challenge Update- The Stage Has Been Set

Friday, October 30, 2009

I spent all day yesterday prepping for the video shoot. It's taken me longer than I intended to get this first project done. I had a few ideas, but none of them seemed really good. Then Busy Dad threw down the gauntlet and I knew I had to do something I felt really confident about.

Mary, from The Mama Mary Show tagged me in a meme awhile back. She wanted to know where I thought my life would be now if I had chosen another path. If I were to play the "Woulda, Coulda, Shouda" game, what would I be doing instead? I told her I'd be in business as an event planner. The fact that the idea for my first Tastemaker challenge didn't come to me right away, based on my "Woulda, Coulda" career choice has me wondering if I am overestimating my abilities just a little.

For my first Tastemaker 2010 project, I've planned a theme party. In the final video I'll walk you through it giving tips and ideas on everything from invitations, to decor and food suggestions. I'll link the recipes I used in the accompanying post and maybe offer the invitations I created as a template others can use (if I can figure out how!)

After my video goes live on You Tube I'm going to need a favor. After you watch the video please take a second to rank it using the star system underneath the video. Five stars would make me really happy! You will need a You Tube account (you're good if you already have a Gmail or other Google account) and if you don't already have one thank you in advance for signing up! This has been really fun to put together. My anal tendencies may have pushed me to go a little over the top, but who wants a below the top party? My Whrrl story below gives you a little sneak peak.

Thanks for your patience. I'm almost there!

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