Glad to tell you all that I have cracked my fear of flying.  I guess flying more than once every two or three years helped – I think this is my third flight this year which is unheard of for me.

Beef 2085

I got her the same time as fellow blogger Vanessa from French Foodie Mom who also lives in the Chicago area.  We had some time to kill before meeting everyone in the lobby, so we walked to the mall close to our hotel and had a delicious and light lunch at Cheesecake Factory – I’ve never thought of going to Cheesecake Factory for lunch because I always imagined super huge portions and heavy food, but we were both pleasantly surprised.  We split the ahi tuna carpaccio, the chicken and avocado salad and each enjoyed a glass of wine and enjoyed catching up with each other.

Beef 2101

I texted pics of my room to Hannah and Jacob – it’s a pretty great suite just for me!  I guess I could get used to these accommodations!

Beef 2091

We had a progressive dinner last night which I’ll go into more detail later, but it was great food, great drinks and great friendship – I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Beef 2206

Today we are going to the retail side of beef and we will end up buying a big piece of beef and going back to the National Cattleman’s corporate headquarters to learn how to cut down a big piece of beef and cook and recipe develop.  How cool is that?  Be sure to follow me on Instagram – my bizzy kitchen.

Alright, have to run downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat and get this day going – make it a great day!