Last weekend, I was supposed to be volunteering at the first Eat. Write. Retreat. conference, an all-inclusive conference for food bloggers. Instead, I was having a second ultrasound and enduring a three-hour glucose test (more on that in an upcoming post).

I had bowed out of my volunteer honor the month before knowing that, at seven months pregnant, I probably couldn’t keep up with the weekend’s agenda. It was the right decision but I still longed to be there.

I’ve been watching Twitter hoping to virtually experience the conference and over the last week I’ve seen a lot of recap posts, all of which made me wish I had been there even more. Not for the swag or even the awesome sessions but for the camaraderie between food bloggers. Post after post expressed the same sentiment that the connections made were the best part of the weekend.

And so I wanted to share with you this collection of those posts from the Eat. Write. Retreat website: http://eatwriteretreat.com/updates.

Won’t you join me next year?

Have you ever tried something new and instantly fell in love? Have you ever gone somewhere new and felt a connection right away? Have you ever joined a new-to-you community and realized it was exactly where you belonged?

I’ve experienced this a few times in my life…

…when I moved to New York City to study publishing

…when I met the moms in my food allergy support group

…and when I started blogging.

Blogging has given me a creative outlet to write about topics that matter to me, including food allergies, and opened networking opportunities. I fell in love with it almost immediately. And the community seemed to welcome me with open arms, as if I was already a member of their vast tribe.

When I attended BlogHer last summer, the best part was meeting other bloggers. So, when I heard about Eat, Write, Retreat, an all-inclusive conference for food bloggers, I knew I wanted to attend. It would be a chance to connect with other food bloggers (crossing my fingers there will be a few food allergy bloggers there) not too far from home (its being held in Washington DC) and learn a few things to enhance the food side of my blog – I’m particularly excited about the Food Styling and Photography workshops (have you seen my food photos? I need some help).

Only one problem: the price tag. Its a little steep for me.

However, there is still hope! The founders of Eat, Write, Retreat, Robyn Webb and Casey Benedict, are looking for two volunteers to help before and during the conference in exchange for free conference registration.

Here’s how you can help me grab one of these spots:

Visit Eat, Write, Retreat. Go now! I’ll wait. Check out the awesomeness. Heck, go ahead and sign up – there’s a 10% discount available now through December 14.

Then come back here – hi! welcome back – and let me know what you think. Looks fun right?

If you’re on Twitter, please send a tweet to @eatwriteretreat and tell them @SLDMorgan would make a great conference volunteer.

Thanks!