MyBrownBaby Is On the Way To the Betty Crocker Kitchens With General Mills

Okay, but seriously—how stoked am I to be one of the 50 bloggers invited to the General Mills Eat & Greet in Minneapolis? Yup: The packaged goods giant behind legendary brands like Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs, Pillsbury, Gold Medal, Green Giant, Yoplait and Betty Crocker will be opening it's headquarter doors today and tomorrow to MyBrownBaby and a legion of food, frugal living, lifestyle and mom bloggers who will get to sample the company's latest products, tour it's new photo studio, visit with members of the General Mills team, and prance around in the legendary Betty Crocker Kitchens. I'm looking forward to lots of commiserating, eating, exploring, and good times with an incredible group of women, including my blogging buddies Sheena of Mommy Daddy Blog, Mel of Mel... A Dramatic Mommy, Michelle of The Integrated Mother, and Kim of Mom in the City, as well as a plethora of bloggers I'm looking forward to getting to know.

But time out: The Betty Crocker Kitchens, dude. Understand me when I tell you? I. Am. Down. Right. Giddy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, a closet foodie whose favorite room in the house is... yes... the kitchen. (Hey—I love to create and explore over a hot stove. Don't judge me.) The Betty Crocker Kitchens facility includes 19 kitchens decked out like authentic American kitchens; there's also a 375-square foot walk-in refrigerator, a 222-square foot walk-in freezer and more than 1,500-linear feet of cabinets and storage rooms, including a walk-in pantry and enough room to house America's largest corporate cookbook library, with more than 9,000 cookbooks. A 50-seat conference room with a complete kitchen station gives visitors an up close view of staff presentations and cooking demonstrations in the kitchens, where nearly 50,000 tests are conducted annually.

I can't wait to dive in. And I'm not leaving without a Betty Crocker cookbook to add to the collection of cookbooks I've collected during my travels over the years.

Want to see what we're up to in Minneapolis over the next few days? Follow me and my blogging buddies on Twitter at @mybrownbaby, @mominthecity, @mommydaddyblog, @adramaticmommy, and @integratedmom, or check out tweets under the hashtag #eatandgreet.

Minneapolis! (Yes, that was a nod to the almighty Janet Jackson's Escapade. Don't let me mess around and run into Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Get it.)