A behind-the-scenes look at the Fresh Air Retreat in Atlanta with three days of incredible food, meaningful connections and some amazing brands.

Last month I had the privilege of attending the Fresh Air Retreat in Atlanta, Georgia, and I’m still riding the high. I’ve been to a lot of events and conferences over the years, but there is something about this particular retreat that hits differently every time.

I first attended back in 2021 when it was held in Breckenridge, CO, and had such a wonderful experience that I was absolutely thrilled to be invited back this year. If you follow along on Instagram, you may have caught some of my stories from the trip, but today I’m sharing the full rundown: the people, the food, the brands, and yes, a little Alan Jackson singalong situation that I will not be forgetting anytime soon.

What Is the Fresh Air Retreat?

The Fresh Air Retreat is a food blogger and content creator retreat hosted twice a year by Liz Della Croce of The Lemon Bowl and Lauren Grier of The Curious Plate. They bring together a small, hand-selected group of creators for a few days of learning, connecting and of course, eating.

As someone who spends the majority of my working hours alone in my kitchen or behind a computer screen, getting to be in a room full of people who truly understand this career is genuinely refreshing. The content strategy rabbit holes, the constant algorithm pivoting, work/life balance… these women get it in the best possible way.

Who Attended the Retreat

What I love about this retreat is that is is a small group of bloggers/creators so you really get a chance to connect with everyone. We couldn’t have asked for a better group for this one… everyone is incredible at what they do and so generous with their knowledge. Some of the ladies I’ve known online for years; others I was meeting in person for the very first time.

• MacKenzie – Grilled Cheese Social
• Ashley – The Recipe Rebel
• Christine – Jar of Lemons
• Erica – It’s a Flavorful Life
• Jenn – Foodess
• Jess – Choosing Chia
• Laura Ashley – Dinner in 321

Plus our hosts, Liz from The Lemon Bowl and Lauren from The Curious Plate, who somehow manage to make hosting a group of food bloggers look completely effortless.

We also had Chef Trimell Hawkins cooking for us the entire time. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s a Marine Corps veteran turned chef who has appeared on Guy Fieri’s Flavortown USA and just opened his own seven-course dining experience called Trust GR in Grand Rapids. Incredible talent and an even better human.

Day One: Arrival + Butterball Welcome Dinner

I flew into Atlanta Tuesday afternoon and one of my best friends from college picked me up from the airport so we could grab lunch at Rosa (a completely GF Mexican restaurant). I hadn’t seen her in years so it was so nice to catch up and the food was delish. After lunch, I popped by Drybar for a quick blowout and then headed to the house to get settled in.

We were greeted with some welcome snacks including Liz’s famous Lebanese hummus (so good) and then everyone got ready for the evening.

We kicked things off with happy hour and dinner hosted by Butterball, and what an opener it was. The menu included ground turkey kofta skewers with tzatziki sauce, a wedge salad with turkey bacon (yum), a hickory-smoked turkey breast roast, grilled asparagus and the most amazing cast iron potatoes.

When I think of Butterball I immediately think of Thanksgiving turkey but I learned that they have so many different turkey products including ground turkey which is such a weeknight MVP and one of my favorite proteins. See all my ground turkey recipes here.

Day Two: Usher Yoga, Labanese Lunch, Learning, Zwilling Demo + Sunset Dinner

Wednesday was a full day. We had planned to take a walk on the Atlanta Beltline, a really cool 22-mile loop of trails and green space that winds through Atlanta’s neighborhoods, but it was a raining so we settled on an Usher yoga flow… an Atlanta-appropriate choice that set a great tone for the day.

Chef Trimell made a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and peppers and my favorite, shakshuka.

After breakfast, we jumped into morning learning sessions: a “Problem Solving Lightning Round” where everyone brought a challenge they were dealing with in their business, followed by a “What’s Actually Working” speed round. Both were genuinely useful. There’s something about being in a room with experienced creators who are all willing to be honest about what’s working and what isn’t.

Lunch was out at Zakia Modern Lebanese and if you’re ever in Atlanta, go. Everything was incredible. I was a little bummed I couldn’t eat the pita (it’s not gluten-free), but it looked absolutely perfect. That said, everything else I had more than made up for it including my chicken kabob.

Back at the house that afternoon, Zwilling led a cooking demo and knife skills class. I learned more about proper knife technique and blade care than I have in years of cooking, and also found out about Knife Aid, a mail-in knife sharpening service that Zwilling offers. 100% sending my knives in ASAP because there is nothing worse than dull knives.

The Zwilling Group actually encompasses six brands (Zwilling, Staub, Miyabi, Henckels, Demeyere and Ballarini) and getting to see and use a range of their products in person was really cool.

That evening, SUNSET® Produce hosted us for happy hour and dinner, and this was hands down my favorite meal of the retreat. A gorgeous produce-forward spread: pickled vegetables with spreads and bread, fresh burrata, and then marinated grilled steak with Sunset mini peppers and chimichurri. I went to bed extremely full and extremely happy.

Sunset is already a brand I genuinely use and love, so getting to connect with their team in person felt really special. Isaac and I are obsessed with their Flavor Bomb tomatoes, and my kids will reliably eat their mini cucumbers, which if you have picky eaters, you know is basically a miracle. Their produce is greenhouse grown with flavor as the priority, and the difference is immediately noticeable. More Sunset recipes are definitely coming to the blog soon.

Day Three: Mediavine Session, Amylu Lunch + Ray’s on the River

Our final full day started with a quick morning workout. Jess and I did a Faster Way pilates workout and then breakfast that Chef Trimell prepared including oatmeal, baked egg muffins and turkey sausage.

Then we had one-on-one website audits from the Mediavine team, which were genuinely valuable. For anyone outside the blogging world, Mediavine is an ad management company built specifically for content creators — and having dedicated time with their team to talk through my site and get actionable feedback is the kind of thing you can’t really put a price on.

Lunch was a build-your-own power bowl bar with Amylu Foods, and honestly this was right up my alley. Amylu’s founder, Amylu Kurzawski, was there in person. She pioneered the chicken sausage category back in 1992 after working in her family’s traditional sausage business, and today the lineup includes over 50 flavors of sausages, meatballs, burgers, patties, and crumbles, all made with antibiotic-free chicken and no nitrates or nitrites. I was already a huge fan of Amylu’s so getting to meet the founder in-person was so cool!

I built my bowl with a bed of greens, lots of fresh veggies, pickled onions, and couldn’t pick just one protein so I went with the chicken sausage, crumbles and a few meatballs. It was exactly the kind of high-protein, feel-good bowl I make myself for lunch every day and I’ve already started stocking Amylu products more intentionally since I’ve been home.

We wrapped the afternoon with a second problem-solving session, group photos, and then headed out for the final dinner of the retreat, hosted by Mediavine at Ray’s on the River.

On the bus ride over, I put on “Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson. Because obviously. And a whole group of us sang along. It was one of those small, spontaneous moments that ends up being a highlight of the trip.

Ray’s itself was beautiful, right on the Chattahoochee River, great food, and a long dinner conversation with the Mediavine team that covered everything from the state of the industry to work-life balance to motherhood. One of those dinners you don’t want to end.

Final Thoughts + Takeaways

Three days away from your daily routine, surrounded by women who genuinely get this job, eating really well and actually having space to think, it does something for you that’s hard to replicate any other way. A huge thank you to Liz and Lauren for creating something so genuinely good.

And to Butterball, Amylu, Sunset, Mediavine, and Zwilling for making it all possible. Your investment in this community means a lot.

If you’re a food blogger or content creator and want to apply for a future retreat (the next one is in Austin, TX this fall!), you can submit an application here. Highly, highly recommend.

All photos courtesy of Amanda Kamppinen.