it is now monday night and i am back in my salty city. i am sad that the foodbuzz festival is over but i was ecstatic see marshall and the pups. and my mom 
going back to work, however, is a different story. it was even more horrible than expected.
i took a look at all my photos are realized i have a whole lot to blog about. better get crackin’!
friday afternoon, i registered for the festival and picked up the notorious bag-o-swag. i will spare you photos as i am sure you can see similar ones on 83 other blogs. i will just say that foodbuzz hooked it up with lots of good stuff. thanks, foodbuzz.
after registering, i got to my hotel and was greeted by danica & the husband, elise and holly, then susan arrived shortly after. a dangerous sixsome, if you ask me. and, for the record, lots of the photos in this post are stolen from my roomies. sharing is caring 
danica is a baller and scored us the presidential suite. i have never stayed in a fancy hotel room, so i am about to get all pioneer woman on your asses and post photos of the room.
rad.
even more rad, danica brought us all goodie bags! 
chock full of annie’s treats and a T-shirt. she also gave me some of her favorite trader joe’s loot. AND, to top it off, she baked me a batch of the same pumpkin banana muffins that my pups ate the other day.
saying danica is the nicest person ever is an understatement.
thanks, danica!!!
can i just say how amazing it was to see these ladies in person?! i met danica last year, but it was my first time meeting the others. it honestly felt like we had already met before.. crazy how blog friendships are like that, eh?
we were all real excited to be there, obviously.
before we knew it, it was time to head out to the first foodbuzz festival event: the welcome reception & street food fare.
we clean up nicely.
danica, me, elise, holly & susan. the husband, jay, was behind the camera.
the event was held at fort mason.
i loved the boats and surrounding scenery.
we took advantage of a photo op on the dock.
the shenanigans were held in the herbst pavilion. 
everyone received a table number and we sat down for the foodie gift exchange. 
i am a bad blogger and didn’t take a single photo of the gift exchange.. but i will tell you how lucky i was. i ended up sitting next to allie and, what do you know, i received her foodie gift. ALLIEBARS. i am slightly obsessed with these things, so you can imagine how stoked i was. it was fate, no doubt.
after the exchange, it was time to eat, drink and be merry. i think this is best portrayed through photos.
three words: vanilla bean beer.
you can imagine my excitement.
my first pick for food was a gumbo and a paella.
both were absolutely incredible. i am not exaggerating!
next up was from 4505 meats and it was a whole lot of pig.
a pork loin brined in jalepeno liquid then crusted in corn meal, topped with beans, onions and coriander aoili all on a sesame bun. it came with pork rinds but i am not a fan, so i skipped out on eating those.
next up was a spencer’s french food truck, the same one that competed in the food network’s great food truck challenge.
the menu had three items. i am greedy and decided to try all three 
the braised lamb sandwich was too much bread—which is surprising to hear from ME, right?
the lobster cappuccino was.. um.. interesting? i wasn’t a big fan.
surprisingly, my favorite thing at the french truck was the escargot lollipop!
i had never tried escargot, but there is a first for everything. it actually just tasted like a deep fried ball of yum. yes, that is my official description.
my favorite item of the night came from curry up now and it was a chicken curry wrap..
SO DANG TASTY.
something that was pretty cool was the huge mini cupcake display. the cupcakes spelled out “FOODBUZZ”
the cupcakes were delicious! i had two pumpkin cupcakes.
last, but most definitely not least, ICE CREAM.
strauss creamery, which is located in MARSHALL, california (thought that was cute) provided two flavors of organic ice cream. naturally, i tried both.
the toffee crunch was my favorite.
i realized that i was too busy eating to take photos with people. if you have any of me and you together, send ‘em my way!
i got a few…
susan, me, lara
me & amanda, we share a love for purple and owls
i get by with a little help from my friends.
after the street food fare, we stopped by a bar to hang out with elise’s sister & mister.
we got a wee bit camera happy.
my feet hurt SO bad by the end of the night. dang wedges.
we decided to head back to the hotel, where holly found her boyfriend.
and we decided to call it a night 
friday was a success. i want to go back.
i will be back soon with more recapping.
hope your monday was better than mine!
Qs~
1. have you eaten anything from a food truck? what was it?
2. favorite beer?
xo. janetha g.
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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
“Get all pioneer woman on your asses…”
That made me laugh out loud. I follow The Pioneer Woman’s blog so I totally love the reference :D
1.) Funnel cake
2.) Not a beer fan
I love the feeding that was going on with your little group. In normal situations it would be totally creepy, but let’s face it, when are bloggers not creepers? Officially jealous of your guys’ room, by the way.
Fave beer = Shock Top. The 12% kind :)
FUN!!! I am ao super jealous and can’t wait to read about more shenanigans! I keep telling myself I need to save up money to go next yr.
There used to be a natural.organic food truck in town but they just opened a restaurant. When I visited I tried some black bean and rice concoction along with pierogies, yum!! I hear there is a dessert food truck in NYC and I will be hitting that up next month.
And favorite beer…just one? I will pick my favorite of the moment–Abita Purple Haze.
Love your Friday recap! Great photos! Looks like you guys had an awesome time! LOVE the hotel room!!! Sorry we didn’t get to hang out more. It was hard to drive back and forth to check in on the toddler… Well, there is always next year! :)
Your roomies look like a ton of fun too! Glad we had so much time to chat on Saturday :)
Ok how terrible am I? I’m totally reading this recap in my boring class.
Love the picture of the two of us! Can I post it on my blog too??? :) (I’ll totally credit you!) It was great hanging with you this weekend but not nearly enough time. I need to come to SLC and you need to come to San Diego or L.A.
How awesome was Dexter last night?!
Oh my goodness, that room is AWESOME!!
FoodBuzz looks like SO MUCH FUN. Wish I could of gone, maybe next year. Everything looks delicious..and I’m telling ya- I would LOVE to try that brown sugar ice crea.
Vanilla bean beer??! I think I would be in love. My favorite beer is blueberry beer.
SO glad you’re back- I missed you too!! Glad you made it hope safe :)
xoxoxo
Such a fun time! I am totally jealous :) And such cool ladies that you roomed with. Holly always cracks me up. I don’t think I’ve eaten from a food truck? Sam’s Winter Ale is my fav
I’ve been looking forward to your recap. I know that you would write fun stuff and put a different and unique Janetha spin on the unbelievably fun weekend. Keep the recap coming and make them longer, lol :)
Man, you guys are ballers. How I wished I could have stayed in that room. I’ll clean the room, style people’s hair or sleep on the couch….anything to sleep in that swanky room :)
It was nice meeting you Janetha…you tiny you. I can’t believe we’re the same height.
Looks like a ton of fun! :)
Just this past weekend I got a bratwurst from a food cart! It was pretty good.
I think my official favorite beer is Shipyard Pumpkinhead. But I do enjoy Blue Moon year round.
Ah, you lucky girl!!!!! I wish I could have been there with you. Next year!!!
We have this KILLER slider truck here in Vegas called Slidin Thru..my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
I don’t drink beer, never have never will. I also have never been drunk so I don’t have much to offer in the department of alcohol either.
I had Friday and today off from work because of a trip to Cali I had to cut short. It was a nice, cold day to shop and relax! Easy week ahead with Veterans Day and a random Thursday off.
ahhhhh haaaa! This makes me laugh so hard! You gals are hilarious. Great pictures!
And P.S—-I totally would have loved that lollipop!
CHeers,
LC
I have never tried escargot either…..might have to now! That cupcake made me salivate a little bit! I am in cali right now and I am not going to lie it always sucks a little bit to go back to cold Utah! Favorite truck food would have to be tacos! I now have to go eat ice cream after seeing your toffee crunch!
That room is so cool! Super swanky. I’ve been following all the FB posts from everyone and I am super jelly! Vanilla bean beer?!? Whaaaaat? YUM!
Going back to work after vacation is always terrible :(
You are brave to eat the snail. Ew. Thanks for your pork sandwich description as I’ll be posting my photo tomorrow and had no idea what was in it besides the pork. I didn’t eat the rinds either. Not my thing.
Now that I see people’s recaps I realize that I didn’t try a whole lot of food, but I was busy doing other stuff…darnit.
Looks like a complete blast…and I am SO jealous!
1. Never had anything from a food truck, but my gastronomy class is planning on taking a field trip in a few weeks to try all the food trucks in the Raleigh-Durham area!
2. I like stout beers, particularly ones that taste of coffee. I know, I’m a strange bird.
OK that was a long one, but worth it! ;) Danica sounds like the nicest gal ever; the fact that she made the muffins that your dogs had eaten caused me to audibly say “awwwwww” :P Also, I live in CA so I can get stuff from Strauss at my local store – yum! Annnd finally, I love food trucks so much that my man & I have been thinking about running one ourselves!! We are a bit too stuck on our full times jobs to make the leap quite yet. and finally for real, I like chocolate stout beer the absolutely best :)
Your recap is so full of life!! Love it! THe photos are hilarious- Holly is a hoot- attacking her beau, feeding you beer- silly faces! And love photos with Lara, Amanda Boo, Susan!, Danica, the whole gang!
I LOVE escargot. So glad you tried it. Re. the pork sammie, I would have scooped out all the innards of the bread (ask Lara, she’s seen me do it) and just had the crunchy crust- what more can you want?
OH! ANd i have a Marshall story- we used to go to Marshall ALL THE TIME. There’s a BBQ oyster joint there that is legendary. When my g-ma was alive (living in SF her whole life) we’d drive up there to eat from the city. And I went there all the time when I was in grad school too. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I didn’t know they had a creamery out there! It’s on a little lake GORGEOUS! Sadly they don’t have a puma store. They don’t even have a store.
Anyway, thanks for the rad recap. Looking forward to the others!
I was sooo there in spirit! :-)
Yup…I’ve seen her scoop all the “innards!” Genius.
Awesome hotel room. Love the pioneer woman reference. HAHA!
Danica does seem super sweet. Now I have to start reading her blog. :)
The food looked amazing. Seriously. Jealous of all that yumminess.
1. have you eaten anything from a food truck? what was it? Cupcakes. Yum.
2. favorite beer? Ruby, from McMenamins in Oregon.
I LOVE THIRSTY BEAR! I am gonna have to go over there to get some of that vanilla beer ASAP! YUM! :)
Love all the pics- thanks for sharing!
Wahhhhh! I wish I could have gone to the festival! Maybe next year.
I have had an awesome breakfast burrito from a food truck. So good.
Favorite beer is stone brewed beer from Walter Peyton’s roundhouse outside of Chicago. Best beer ever!
Holy hotel room!!! Wow!!
Looks like a blast and your pics are GORG. :)
We have a local food truck in CLE – but I’ve never had the opportunity to eat from it!
now that ive met you, i don’t know what else to say except my photos are 100% downloaded, many of them will be going in frames, i love you more than i thought i could, and i want to drink coffee with you and the rest of the gang on our island forever and ever.
end.
It was so awesome to meet you at FBF! I’m glad you had a blast.
I agree– the escargot lollipop was yummy!
As for food trucks, if you want a food truck experience, come to LA! They are EVERYWHERE!
MMMM! what a fun event – all the food looked super yummy…can’t wait to hear more!
seriously danica and jay rock. and the trail mix you made us is nearly gone :( it consoled me on the car ride back to so cal.
i love how freakin’ camera happy we all are…which is a nice way of saying narcissistic really…
Your room is amazing. Color me jealous. I would have had the desire to jump on the bed while throwing money around. Making it rain.
As for your questions:
1. We eat at food trucks all the time. Grilled Cheese Truck FTW.
2. Favorite beer? Hard to say, but Stone IPA is amazing.
Oh my gosh, JEALOUS! That is pretty pimp right there. LOL, Andy.
I love Hoegaarden! And that delicious watermelon beer they had at the tasting pavilion…mmm.
Sounds like SUCH a blast! I wish I could have been there… darn school. ;) I love the wedges you wore bytheway.
I’m so glad you took pictures of your fancy schmancy room. I aspire to stay in a place like that someday. My husband and I always say we will next time we’re at a hotel, but cheap out!
I’m so glad you had such a fabulous time at Foodbuzz! Can’t wait for recap #2!
The escargot lollipop and lobster cappuccino are beyond intriguing! Was the lobster pureed or were there chunks in there? I’m originally from the Bay Area, so Strauss yogurt and ice cream are near and dear to my heart. That ice cream looks SO good! Gah! :-)
Food trucks are taking over DC, and I’m loving it! My favorite so far is Rood Hook Lobster Truck <—Most.Amazing.Lobster.Roll.Ever.
We have a whole community of sorts of food trailers on a street in south Austin. Torchy’s are the best tacos EVAR, served out of an Airstream trailer.
I don’t drink anymore, but when I did I was a big fan of Newcastle and Chimay.
ohh wow. this foodbuzz fest looks like a massive binge-eating weekend in a cool city with fun laydeez. sorta like what i do every weekend in new york, except with mah new york crew. next time, i’m there, assuming i am no longer a grad student and am gainfully employed :) but anywho, looks like a ton of fun. i love holly’s modeling shots especially. hah. :)
despite the fact that i live amongst many food trucks, i don’t eat from them often. i like taco trucks, and want to try this very popular waffle truck here in ny (waffles and dinges) but am never around at the right time or something. who knows. truth of the matter is, i really like the restaurant experience. i don’t like standing in the street and eating – it’s just not as fun for me. call me spoiled – i kind of am :)
i am also sadly not much of a beer drinker, though i should be since i can drink most people under the table. i am a pussy when it comes to beer and usually get a hard cider when i can, or just get a crappy rum & diet from the bar while everyone else drinks beers. weak, i know.
Gaaaah, me in my eye mask. You lucked out I was inebriated and let you take that :P
We totally should have put our hands on our hips in that mirror photo a la Pioneer Woman.
Wonder if Holly’s boyfriend has a brother??
Hope your Tuesday is better!! xoxo
Man, I have major Foodbuzz envy! I really hope I can go next year! But I’m glad to see you had a great time! :)
Vanilla bean beer sounds freakin amazing! I need to look for that! I’m not a huge beer drinker, but I enjoy Goose Island 312 or Blue Moon.
Like i told you at the brunch, momma b needs to come next year. I’ll even be her roommate!
Looks like you all had a blast together, I am actually jealous cause I read and love each and every one of your blogs. I really wish the festival was longer so I could get the chance to chat more with you.
PS, holly’s bf looks a litte…stiff
lobster cappuccino…I was super curious what that would have been like…but i didnt try it :)
the curry chicken wrap…I was standing next to you when you were waiting for it and when you first got it and I noticed you were in curry wrap heaven :)
So glad you got the vanilla bean beer…I am not a beer girl. Just more for everyone else to have my share…haha!
Food from a truck? Hmmm…ice cream truck as a kid maybe?
Looks like a great time! I would definitely enjoy the deep fried ball of yum. I love escargot.
I’ve never eaten from a food truck and I don’t like beer so I don’t have a favorite. I like vodka though and am working on inventing a vodka truck where I will drive across our fine country dispensing my favorite vodka, Pinnacle whipped cream vodka, to all the masses. Getting everyone tipsy…one state at a time.
caramel toffee crunch icecream? = WIN!
vanilla bean beer? = WIN x2!!
holly better watch out. i’m planning to steal her bf. :D
glad you guys had a blast. maybe i’ll get to join you next year!
xo.
Looks like SO much fun!
I have eaten from a food truck once or twice… street sausages are always delish :P
and beer… well, my fave is Blue Moon[harvest moon a close second] but Vanilla Bean sounds incredible!!
xo
It looks like you had so much fun!! I was out in San Francisco in September and visited the area where the festival was held. I would love to go next year (is it only open to bloggers? Who knows, I may actually start the blog I’ve been wanting to write by then).
I live in Indianapolis and we have a traveling taco truck called “West Coast Tacos”. You can ‘like’ them on Facebook and they update where they’ll be serving lunch and dinner daily. They have great, unique tacos! I try to hit it up on the weekends if it is in my area.
I used to be a huge fan of New Castle, Guiness, Sammy Smith’s…but these days I’m more of a bourbon drinker. Elijah Craig, Basil Hayden, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Kristen
An OKC food truck won that contest and I’ve eaten there. It’s yum.
Love the description of the escargot ball. Fried would definitely be the way to go when it comes to snail.
Not sure about the lobster cappucino. That sounds bizarre. I still would have tried it though.
That hotel room looks awesome! It was so nice to meet you this weekend.
My favorite food truck items were the tacos, and I loved the Bison Chocolate Stout at the pavilion the next day!
LOVE LOVE the recap!! looks like you had SUCH a fun time! and what amazing food, they really know how to wine and dine the food bloggers! i have never tried escargot, btu I have heard rave reviews, after I get over teh fact that its a snail, I will definately be giving it a try!
WOW that hotel room looks amazing!!!
yes I have had some food from a food truck, but not the trendy ones that are out there haha, when I was in Laconia, NH this past summer with jason for bike week I had a greek chicken kebab thingy in pita bread from a food truck!
favorite beer (when I drink it which is RARE) is Ithaca’s Apricot Wheat beer!
Hot damn you guys got hoooked up!! LOVED danica’s gift bags for you girls! i also love the pic of you with the escargot in your mouth hahaha and where holly if feeding you wine. You guys look like such a fun bunch!!
Qs: I’ve never eaten anything from the back of a food truck and my fave beer is just Coors Light!
Glad you’re back and hope you’re having a better day today! xx
How fun Janetha!!! I hope I get to meet you in person someday as well!!
xoxo
Vanilla bean beer?!?! omg, I would have been in HEAVEN. I love beer- blue moon, magic hat #9 (a lot of belgian beer, I went there a few years ago and was in beer heaven). Also some Polish beers are on my top list. For my birthday every year my boyfriend and I go to this German restaurant and I get a massive goblet of this special German beer with a bit of raspberry syrup mixed in. SO. GOOD. Not too sweet and its just the perfect birthday drink. I prefer the slightly heavier beers over anything “light”, the taste in my opinion is so much better and worth the extra calories :)
What a perfect round-up. I was so bad I hardly took any pictures. I think I was the only person who didn’t realize that the cupcakes spelled FoodBuzz, what a dork. I’m also so jealous of your amazing room. I stayed at the Nikko and someone broke into our room and stole our stuff including my computer. Arghhh.
I seriously want to go oh so badly next year. Too bad I’m not a Featured Publisher, so the price would likely be too steep. :(
That hotel is swanky wanky!!! Ballers:)
Those pics are great – and hilarious! Sounds like such an incredible time. Hope your week gets easier, Janetha G!
love the photo down near the dock very cute! ahh i watched that food truck show! i did think spencer on the go looked super tasty, jealous you got some! my fave beer when i could still drink it was weyerbacher imperial pumpkin ale. i seriously need to find a gluten free beer. badly!
Phenomenal Pictures!!!
Holy shizz….I have total foodbuzz envy right now! The hotel room, the laughs, the foods, EVERYTHING looks like so much fun! I have to find a way to go next year!
Jen
Janetha, We had a blast this weekend. It was really nice meeting you and getting see so many people that we have read or who have posted on our site. Thank you for being so friendly. As for you questions.. I had some amazing sandwiches out of a truck once in Nashville Tennessee. AS for beer it would have to say purple Haze!!
Lew (ashandlewplus2.com)
P.S What was your favorite Meal of the weekend?
So jealous! Wish I could have spent the weekend with you guys!
:)
Oh man..I sure have hung out with you girls more ; (
Next time!!!
I am THRILLED to have finally met you in real life! You made the whole night so much fun. Dude, you weren’t kidding when you said you guys had a SWEET room! P.S. Totally stealing that photo of us :)
Awwww, I got a little misty eyed reading your nice comments – Thanks J, it was nothing really and I would’ve been so sad if we had pups and they ate my muffins too so how could I not replace them with some more (even if they were not as good as I think they should’ve been).
I think it’s awesome you caught the bird in your Fort Mason sunset pic and I LOVE Susan in her mask.
I have to say, I think Friday was one of the funnest nights of the Foodbuzz fest.