There's hardly a day we'd call "normal" at Foodspotting. Often we work way past business hours and keep each other company on Skype since we work from two coasts. (Our headquarters are in San Francisco and we have an office in New York.) The weekends, especially, are good times to tackle our lengthy To Do lists while more sane people in the world don't. Believe me, when you enjoy what you do, you keep your door open even on days when work follows you home.

But what does this have to do with happy photos of our team smiling, eating pizza and looking so darn pleased in general? It turns out when you love what you do, it shows.

Our friends at MINI Countryman happened to see our glow and invited us to participate in their Wanderlust video campaign. After some party planning and travel coordinating, we got the show literally on the road last Saturday and drove the vehicles to Brooklyn and the Bronx in search of foods we discovered on Foodspotting.

We bought cannoli from De Lillo's Pastry in the Bronx and Key lime pie from Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie in Red Hook. Then we dropped off the goods at Roberta's Pizza where we celebrated a successful day with dinner for our closest friends, supporters and foodspotters.

One of the questions we get most often is "How do you keep in shape if all you do is eat and spot food all day?" Fiona likes to scare people by telling them about the Foodspotting 15, which, as far as I know, is a myth. That night we danced off the pizza, beef brisket, wine, beer, and four desserts we had for dinner with Dave 1 of Chromeo at the spin table.

Thanks to everyone who came out for our dinner and dance party. After all, food – and fun – is always better when shared!

Hungry for more? Check out the detailed recap of our day on MINI Space.
Photos courtesy of Donny Tsang, Clay Williams and Brad Bunyea.

For those of you who don't know, one of our lovely co-founders, Ted Grubb, is a Philadelphia native. Because of that, we're especially excited to welcome VisitPhilly.com to Foodspotting.

According to Ted, this is proud moment for him. Not only does he have the support of his hometown, but what better way than Foodspotting to showcase Philadelphia’s culinary treasures beyond just the typical cheesesteak?

Visit Philly is starting things off right by hosting a fun contest to reward foodspotters who spot all 6 items on its Famous Philly Flavors guide.

Of all the people who complete the guide, 10 will be randomly selected to win a Flavors of Philly food tour by City Food Tours. Then one randomly selected Grand Prize Winner who completes the guide on Foodspotting will win an overnight stay at a luxury hotel in Philadelphia, a Flavors of Philly food tour by City Food Tours for two, and a $100 gift card to Garces Restaurant Group.

Quick, you only have through May 25th 5:00 p.m. ET to complete the task! Follow Visit Philly here, and for official rules, please see Visit Philly's blog uwishunu.com. Happy spotting!

Some call it food photography, others go so far as to call it porn. Whether it makes you lick your lips or green with envy, it's clear that even the most casual food photography elicits a visceral reaction. You may have been hungry before, but the best food photos really get you going - into kitchens, into restaurants, you name it. Take it from us: pictures are the deal breaker when it comes to deciding what to eat.

In this spirit, we're celebrating the release of On A Stick by California-based food photographer and beloved food blogger Matt Armendariz! You gotta see some of these recipes to believe em: chicken and waffles on a stick, fried popcorn balls on a stick, skewered fruit, skewered meat, and, of course, traditional impaled appetizers grace the pages.

The book is available on Amazon, but thanks to Quirk Books, we're also giving away ten copies to foodspotters who spot foods on sticks! To enter, use Foodspotting to share photos of skewered foods you order at restaurants or find at food stores. Make sure to include the tag #onastick in the Notes section so we can count your entry!

Ten lucky winners will be selected randomly on Friday, May 20th. Good luck and go forth, Foodspotting peeps.

Giveaway open to U.S. and Canada residents only.

Every year the James Beard Foundation crowns the best in the U.S. restaurant industry. This year Foodspotting was invited to attend and blog live from the awards ceremony, capturing the excitement for our community and food lovers around the world. You can read our musings from the event on the JBF blog.

We arrived at Lincoln Center and found our All Access passes in the sun-filled lobby of Avery Fisher Hall where we bumped into Chef Marcus Samuelsson and Bobby Flay – even Chef Christopher Ivens-Brown – who Fiona and I had met on our San Diego trip with Sony Electronics.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Bravo's Andy Cohen, and Maya Hailen

The chef and restaurant world is an intimate one, so it was fun to see so many familiar people in one place. Some we recognized from TV. Others, like Thomas Keller, we know because he created our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and yet others own our favorite brunch spot in the East Village.

Before the festivities began, Fiona walked right into the auditorium and on to the stage to catch a glimpse of what the winners see. Read her post on the JBF blog here.

We spotted Mo Rocca and Lauren Deen from the Cooking Channel who recognized Foodspotting from the recent episode we filmed for Food(ography)!

We met Mauve and Mortimer, two cute pigs who are mascots for Whistlepig Straight Rye Whiskey.

And soon we found ourselves in the Mercedes-Benz Victory Lane where the winners were photographed and toasted with champagne upon exiting the stage.

This is where Fiona (pictured above) and I set up camp for the night and where we got to chat with the winners, complimented Chef Keller on his shoes, learned to speak Thai ("Chaiyo" means "Cheers!") and even got a "Nominee" sticker from Chef Samuelsson who plucked it right off Rising Star Chef of the Year winner Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon and stuck it on me.

It was an honor to get a peek behind-the-scenes of the Beard Foundation Awards parked from our cushy spots in the Victory Lane. We weren't nominated, per se, but it definitely felt like winning.

Drumroll please...! Today, one of our newest partners, the renowned AskMen, is launching its Top 29 Cities to Visit, featuring the editors’ picks for the best places for single men to visit and look for adventure.

Listen up, fellas, AskMen did the quantitative homework to help point you to cities with the best weather, average cost of a pint of beer and a cab ride, accommodations, sports, culture, and availability of single women.

Within each city, AskMen is also asking the Foodspotting community to help recommend the best martinis that you've tried, and contribute to favourite dishes to share with the Food Network’s The Next Iron Chef judge Simon Majumdar.

Follow AskMen's Alphameals on Foodspotting, and stay tuned for recommendations, guides and a lot more surprises from AskMen: foodspotting.com/askmen.

We're proud to announce that Foodspotting will be blogging live from the James Beard Foundation Awards tonight! Behind our text and tweets will be Fiona and me, and we’ll be joined on the James Beard Foundation website by awesome foodspotters and popular New York food blogging duo, Immaculate Infatuation.

The ceremony will be held at Lincoln Center, the epicenter of arts and culture – and where we go see the ballet every summer – so we're getting dressed up for the occasion!

For those who are wondering, the JBF Awards is like the Oscars of food and restaurants, so the best restaurant, best chef, and many more will be honored within the food industry.

Follow the action on the Foodspotting Twitter page and on the JBF Awards site starting at 6PM ET. We’ll be sharing the action as it happens so stay tuned!

Our co-founder and leading business lady Soraya is traveling and spreading the Foodspotting love in Australia! If that wasn't enough to prove that we love our friends in Oz, let me point out that our lovely – and smiley – Head of Outreach, Fiona, is a native Sydneysider. Clearly, we’re feeling extra affection for the Land Down Under this week.

If you’re in Sydney on Tuesday, 3 May, please join Soraya at our first ever Australia Foodspotting Eat-Up at Harry’s Café de Wheels for their famous “Tiger” pie! As always, RSVP on the Foodspotting Meetup page and get ready to spot some beers and traditional meat pie with our wonderful colleague and friend.

Here's a photo in case you need convincing.

Photo of Sydney skyline by me.

It finally feels like Spring in New York City, and we're excited to bring together NYC foodspotters on Thursday night for our first ever Foodspotting Happy Hour at Ai Fiori.

We'll be celebrating the good weather and ringing in Ai Fiori's Spring Specialties with exclusive drink specials for you guys and some yummy bites to try, too.

Last Friday we asked you to name your favorite Spring drinks on Facebook. In response to the online calls for gin, mint, light, citrus, cucumber, "sparkling" and "refreshing," Ai Fiori's cocktail master Eben Freeman created a special Foodspotting Spring cocktail called the Campari Cup, which will be available tomorrow at our event! You have to admit it looks pretty awesome.

For our friends who want to recreate the Campari Cup at home, here are the secret ingredients:

Campari Cup

Glass: highball
Garnish: mint sprig and cucumber peel
Ingredients:
½ oz. honey syrup
¾ oz. lemon juice
1 oz. Hendrick’s gin
1 oz. Campari
Top up club soda

Method: Combine honey syrup, lemon juice, and gin in a cobbler shaker. Shake and strain into glass. Fill glass with crushed ice, swizzle briefly and top with more ice. Pour chilled Campari over drink and top with club soda. Top again with crushed ice, place straws and garnish.

Looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow! Don't forget to RSVP.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Schwartz and Ai Fiori