When I first started Adventures of an Allergic Foodie, I hoped to meet a few other people out there in the Internet universe who have multiple food allergies like I do. Never did I dream that while sitting behind my computer screen–blogging and reading blogs, chatting in groups, pinning onto boards, joining circles–I’d meet so many inspirational, helpful and kind people!

I now have thousands of virtual friends!

More importantly, I no longer feel like the oddball woman with the leaky gut . . . or the freak who orders no bread, no butter, no cheese, no mayo . . . or the pain-in-the-butt guest who can’t eat anything the hostess serves.  When I log onto my computer, I’m surrounded by other allergic foodies who don’t think I’m an oddball, a freak, or a pain in the butt; in fact, I’m pretty normal to them.

And I’m so grateful!

After all, without you, my fellow bloggers, I’d still be hiding in my safe gluten-free kitchen, afraid to venture out to a restaurant and order a meal.  Thanks to you, I have the confidence and the tools to advocate for my special eating needs.

Without you, my fellow bloggers, I’d still be staring at my pantry shelves wondering what in the world I was going to make for dinner that didn’t have gluten, soy, dairy, corn, vanilla, nutmeg, etc.  Thanks to all you allergy-aware chefs–amateurs and professionals–I now have thousands of safe and tasty recipes on my computer.

Without you, my fellow bloggers, I’d still be wandering aimlessly in the grocery stores, trying to decipher ingredient lists and angrily throwing packages across the aisles (yes, this really occurred–actually, more than once).

Without you, my fellow bloggers, I’d still be starving during airplane trips.

And now I will get to meet and thank some of you in person!  This week I signed up for the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference in Las Vegas on November 2-4.

Who would have thought! A conference for people who blog about food allergies! Brilliant!

This will be the very first conference I’ve gone to where I won’t have to worry about what I’m going to eat! 🙂

I’m not sure why my autoimmune system went haywire, but I do know that I wouldn’t have met all of you if I hadn’t started my blog looking for a little help.

There is always a silver lining, isn’t there?