I am a social media toe dipper.

Well, let me clarify.

I am an avid consumer of all of the socials, ironically juxtaposed by only contributing rarely and being categorically terrified of things like posting my own Instagram Story. When Instagram Stories came on the scene I looked at the little circles on the top of my phone, filled with bright colorful pictures of mostly strangers and thought, do I dare press this tempting little person-circle? What could they be sharing? Is it weird that they will know I’ve seen it?

When I finally got up the (what I can only assume is generationally specific) courage, I was mesmerized. There is something about the candid nature of Insta Stories that is somehow lost in the ultra-curated social media landscape. There is authenticity and imperfection and less filtering because these bad boys just disappear and are not memorialized on your profile!

Even still, every time I watch I feel like I am tiptoeing towards someone’s window, and even though I’m invited, squishing my face against the glass to see things like what they had for lunch or what they paid for gas.

I can’t explain the appeal really, but yet here I am.

I am a deep admirer of those who do this well. Who represent themselves and the things they believe in a candid and authentic way and last night…guys…I got to hang with some of the greats.

Territory hosted its first even Influencer Dinner and ten social media heavy-hitters came to eat with us and this girl got to sit at the seriously cool kids table. These influencers are some of the best at what they do. They speak their truth about health, wellness and nutrition with an incredible array of tones and tenors, reaching tens of thousands of people with each post.

We got to hear about what they are passionate about and they got to learn a little more about the goodness we have cookin’ (get it?) here at Territory.

We had a chance to share something that not everyone realizes…Territory meals are made by local chefs, who run their own businesses and restaurants, and cook meals for our customers within the mix of their already busy schedules. What this means is that all of the recipes are created by local chefs, cooked by local chefs and made in their own kitchens…hence the deliciousness. This is true across all four cities we serve.

To highlight this goodness last night we dined at one of our Territory chef’s restaurants, and oh boy did we dine. Chef Anna, who is one of our stars in DC, hosted us in her amazing restaurant, Taqueria del Barrio and served us a Whole30 meal that brought tears to my eyes.

It honestly made me want to start a revolution! It felt amazing to be out of the house in the land of the living, and to see the glorious words Whole30 listed next to almost every single item on the menu. What if this was real life? Could you imagine sipping delicious mocktails with friends while dining in a beautiful establishment, with no Whole30 anxiety or 100 extra questions while ordering?? All while on Day 17 of your Whole30?? Inconceivable.

Without question Chef Anna. Hooked. It. Up.

Food and rallying cries for revolution aside, a non-food related highlight of the evening for me was when one of our guests casually asked me for my Instagram handle so she could follow me. This should be expected at an event designed around those who expertly wield their profiles to reach the masses, but I was unprepared for the question.

I laughed and said, “Sure but you won’t find much. Mostly pictures of leaves.” Which is true, but in retrospect, also awkward.

After my, how do the kids say, Follow Back (and yes, I used Urban Dictionary to ensure that was the correct term, thanks for asking) I realized that this amazing young woman has quite literally 50 times more followers than I do. This boggles my mind. I would never post anything for fear of that many eyeballs! My mom is generally the first person to like my posts and sometimes one of the only…

So feast (See? I did it again! So weird I don’t have 50K followers with pun game like this) your eyes on some highlights from the magic last night. I tell you what folks it’s possible that I could Hashbrown Whole30 4 Life if more goodness like this existed.

Special thanks to Chef Anna, all of our fab Influencers, BYT and the Territory team for all of their work pulling this together!

P.S. If you haven’t checked out Jen’s take on traversing the halfway hump, with a heaping side of help from her pre-prepared sidekick, read it here!