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?
I agree! I look forward to meeting everyone in Vegas!
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It’s going to be an amazing conference!!! Looking forward to meeting you there!
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love, love, LOVE your post! It’s like you were reading *my* mind! 🙂 Looking forward to meeting you in Vegas!
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Oh! I wish I’d heard about this conference sooner. 😦 I’ll have to keep it on my radar for next year. Have a great time!
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I look forward to meeting you all too! I hope we have name tags with our blog names so we can recognize one another! I am sooooo bad with names. I blame it on gluten lethargy. 🙂
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It is always nice to know you are not alone. How exciting that you are going to the conference. I look forward to some posts about the conference.
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And I look forward to posting about the conference! Is your book out yet? I keep looking . . .
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love your blog! i might not be allergic, but i have dietary demands that make me feel like the “oddball” too! i nominated you for the liebster award, congrats! check out my post for details!! http://howdairyyou.com/2013/08/20/liebster-award-congrats-how-dairy-you/
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Thanks so much for this post! Nothing worse than wanting everything and being able to have none of it. 😦
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