Last year was my first year to attend Shiftcon, a conference for eco-friendly organic-loving bloggers and social media superstars, and I was totally hooked! After 3 days of classes on social media, blogging, and healthy everything, plus a whole entire checked bag worth of FREE goodies, and the chance to socialize IN PERSON with all of the people I work with online daily, I knew that I would be coming back year after year. This year just as amazing; except instead of sandy California beaches we got Bourbon street, Cafe' Dumond, and the jazzy music-loving people of New Orleans! 

I almost couldn't attend this year, but MegaFood made it happen

Back in September, I realized that I needed to make a choice between Outessa and Shiftcon. I didn't have enough money to be able to go to both, but I didn't want to give either one of them up. After making the difficult decision to go to Outessa, since it was the inaugural year, I sadly sold my Shiftcon ticket and lamented over not getting to go to New Orleans, a city that I hadn't yet visited. It's funny though how things work out, though. As I was lamenting over not getting to go this year, my BFF's over at MegaFood were planning the trip of a lifetime, and they decided to include me in the fun! When they asked if I wanted to go this year,  I had to giggle a little, because their timing couldn't have been better. I was over the moon to get to hang out with them again! I had been missing them since my New Hampshire trip back in June!

BMO tried to join me on my adventures

I was so excited to get the chance to travel to New Orleans because I have never had the chance to visit there! The morning of my trip, I excitedly got ready for the day and came out of the shower to find BMO ready to go in my check bags. Apparently, he thought that he was going to make the trip with me! Sorry BMO, while I am working very hard to turn you into an adventure cat who loves to go on hikes and backpacking trips, I don't think that the Hilton would have liked my extra stow away guest in their hotel room. I wonder if I can get him certified to go everywhere with me LOL! Alas, on this trip, I had to leave him at home. Maybe next year!

Perusing the booths at Shiftcon = kid in candy store

After I landed in NOLA (what the locals call New Orleans), I waited for my blogging friend and fellow MegaBlogger, Sarah, from Making Thyme for Health. We carpooled to our hotel, got our stuff in our rooms and met up with each other to go downstairs and hit up the first expo scheduled. As we checked into the conference, we were handed a HUGE bag of all sorts of FREE goodies from brands that I LOVE!!! Entering into the expo, I was like a kid in a candy store. There were so many wonderful brands and tables to visit, that we barely had enough time to peruse the tables the first day. We enjoyed hitting up each of the booths throughout the entire weekend, and ended making out like bandits with all of the free stuff that was given to us! Who doesn't love free stuff? I'm obsessed with it LOL!!!

Dr. Low Dog opened my eyes, I have a LOT more to learn about nutrition

While all of the classes that I attended were very informative and pertinent to what I was wanting to learn more about, I was blown away by the lunch time keynote speaker on Friday, Dr. Tieraona Low Dog. A midwife of 30+ years, a medical doctor, and a mom looking to make her family healthier, Dr. Low Dog has been a very influential person in the natural health world. Though she has written 6 books, her newest book, “Fortify Your Life: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, & More“, is one of my absolute favorites. It's chock full of surprising information on our nutritional needs and their correlations to all sorts of medical conditions. Since she helped MegaFood design their supplements to meet our nutritional needs, I got to have lunch with her and listen in on even more of her wisdom. She even signed my copy of her book! Needless to say, I am working on getting more iron in my diet and endlessly referencing her book when I look for what gaps I need to fill. She is a wealth of information.

The best part of traveling is all the food

There are so many wonderful places to visit when I am traveling, but one of my favorite things about traveling is getting to try all of the different local eateries! Our breakfasts, snacks, and lunches were amazing organic and non-GMO foods made by the Hilton's chefs and sourced locally! We chowed down on all the amazing offerings while listening to different keynote speakers. It was our dinners out with MegaFood that really took the cake! Every night we had the most amazing meals, but there was one that I couldn't leave NOLA without experiencing at least once, dessert beignets from Cafe Dumond. They were definitely worth the fried fatty goodness! I am very glad I don't live anywhere near their shop! LOL

Shiftcon is my favorite blogging conference

This year's Shiftcon was so much fun! It's getting better with every trip! I got to meet so many wonderful people, hang out with longtime blogging friends from across the country, and eat some of the most amazing foods along the way. I got to meet Youtube sensation, JP Sears, learn tips from him and my friend Jenny Chu about on making my own videos for you guys, and even photobombed JP while he was being interviewed…because he would like it that way 😉 Needless to say, Shiftcon is by far my favorite blogging conference to attend, with it's many eco-friendly and healthy brands, organic foods, and classes that teach you more about health than you ever knew.