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Monday, February 1, 2010

The Pioneer Woman Cooks! In Chicago!

In November, I really hit a low point. You can read about it under "house crap", but aside from all that I really hit a low point in my life and my emotions. My friend Lisa ('memba her?) pulled my sorry butt all the way out to Skokie for a meet n' greet and book signing for one of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman. If you're not a longtime reader, I'm a pretty big fan of PW, as her faithful readers call her. I find her writing style to be really witty and funny, and I like that nearly all her blog posts are picture-laden, so you not only get the step-by-step in the cooking process, but you'll also get breathtaking photos of sunsets and bassett hounds. Gotta love it!

Lisa and I stood in line for hours--hours!--to get our books signed by Ree, and Lisa actually ended up leaving at 10 p.m. because we still hadn't gotten close and it was way past her bedtime! All in all, it was a good time, and I'm glad I went and got to meet one of my fellow bloggers, despite my haggard appearance and fall-on-my-face first impression. Oh well. At least I got to meet her!

Before the book signing, this lady gave us the details about the signing and how everything would work.

She was wearing a nice skirt.

Yay! Ree finally arrived!


As you can see, Ree is pretty popular.

Really popular.

Kind of insanely popular, in fact....

Really awkwardly popular....

Ree was kind enough to do a question and answer session with everyone here. Way nicer than I would have been!


She even gave us an Ethel Merman impression!

Lisa had to leave. She was tired and had to get up to go to the gym the next morning. She's totally hardcore. I started taking pictures once I got "close".

Think this is far? We started all the way back here....

Getting a little woozy...

Some of the scenery on the way.


It would have been entirely possible to read this whole damn book during the wait time.

Holy crap! Marlboro Man!


I thought about throwing myself onto this pile of books from the balcony. It looked soft.

Note to self: Start Christmas shopping.

Closer!

I looked at these "goal posts" like the touchdown. The stairs were the field goal.

Hooray! I made it to the bottom! By now my feet were wicked pissed.


While we were waiting in line, this lady wasn't terribly friendly, but I liked to think that her feet were sore too.

But she was right in front of me. I WAS NEXT!!!

Okay, Ree and I did pose for a picture, but it didn't take or something, because it wasn't even on my memory card when I got home that night. Poop. The best I've got is this blurry one.

Ree was perfectly lovely and made great conversation for the few minutes we sat together. I made a great first impression by getting to the front of the line and modestly shouting, "Oh, thank GOD! A CHAIR!"

I've got great people skillz.

I promise, I didn't puke all over my brand new cookbook. I just like to look like I'm going to.

And to top off the night....

My very own photo with Marlboro Man! See? I can take a nice photo, Mom! My hair was all curled and everything.

Overall, it was a fun evening. It was great to get away and hang out with Lisa for a few hours, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment. PW is just as funny as she is on her site, but a little more reserved. I think most bloggers are. It's so easy to be funny and silly behind your laptop's keyboard, but throw yourself in front of some fans and BAM! Insta-fright. I think Ree did great in holding her own with the large crowd. Hopefully she'll pen another cookbook soon(ish) so I can see her again...and get a seat this time!

2 comments:

  1. I feel like such a wuss that I couldn't make it until the front of the line!

    That was a fun night despite the LONG wait...and PW is an amazing, talented woman!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dude. I was in line for another HOUR after you left! For a brief moment I considered leaving myself, but I waited too damn long!

    ReplyDelete

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