Mountain Woman meets Pioneer Woman

                                        my first blog

Two years ago, my daughters called from Chicago, "Mom, you have got to read this blog, Pioneer Woman. You will absolutely love her." After giving me an over the phone tutorial on how to access a blog, I became a regular reader.

                cathie's first blog

A few months ago, Cathie wasn't feeling well, so to cheer her during her recovery, I phoned her, "Cathie, you have got to read this blog, Pioneer Woman. You will absolutely love her." Cathie e.mailed me the next morning to tell me that she had stayed up most of the night reading her love story. Cathie now reads PW's blog and mine. (Yes, I now have a blog, too, just like Pioneer Woman ~ only she gets one million hits a month and I get 50 hits a day.)

          cathie returns the favor

Cathie has a wonderful, huge collection of cookbooks, so she was probably the first one on the block to own, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (and her cookbook is already well stained and well loved.) She called Dave to recommend he purchase the cookbook for me for Christmas. Yeah, now I own the cookbook. (I have made the yummy pot roast twice and Cinnamon Rolls are next on our list.) 

                    a field trip planned

Cathie (party planner extraordinaire) planned our outing to meet Pioneer Woman. We would take our husbands (who are great friends) along, too. And Wes' sweet mom. We all needed a good adventure. We would go meet PW, get our books signed and have dinner at The Blue Moon, listed in the top ten hamburger spots in Seattle and recommended by Cathie's daughter.

                    but first, the first autograph

Yesterday afternoon, my husband signed my cookbook first. Hoping that Ree would read it, he wrote . . . "YOU are my pioneer woman. And you are a much better cook. And more creative. And funnier. And a better writer. And cuter than her."

                    the golden ticket

                           

Cathie (party planner extraordinaire) thought of everything. She called Third Place Books to get tickets for the signing. We got a coveted "B" ticket. Each lettered ticket represented 50 fans of Pioneer Woman, who would cheerfully wait in line to meet her. When we arrived, Terry, the thoughtful employee who had held our tickets, told us," You were the last ones to get tickets over the phone. We got so many calls, we had to change our website to say that tickets were available in person only." Now, Ree, we would have happily driven the 20 miles to Lake Forest Park to get tickets, but Terry saved us a lot of hassle. We felt like we had won the golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

                    our adventure begins

Last night was simply delightful. We arrived at Third Place Books to a long line of women (sprinkled with a few men), all holding the cute orange cookbook, waiting to meet PW. The line moved slowly, but people chatted . . . what is your favorite recipe?, how long have you been reading The Pioneer Woman? etc.

One woman behind us had cooked a special treat to bring as a gift to PW, but sadly it had not turned out properly. She had stopped on the way to purchase salted caramels, because she knew Ree like a sweet and savory combination. (Pioneer Woman has loyal and faithful fans.)

                    Numbers 98 and 99

Because of traffic, we arrived 30 minutes after the signing began, but they were still in group B. (Thank you, Terry.) We ended up being fan # 98 and fan #99. Excitement grew as we got closer and closer, winding our way through the shelves of books. We knew we were almost there when we could see the constant flashing of cameras. We rounded the final corner and there she was . . . Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman!

the mountain woman and her friend meet the adorable pioneer woman

                                      

        

It was my turn, mountain woman, #98, holder of a  "B" ticket and a wonderful orange cookbook, had made it to the front of the line. TIME SLOWED DOWN . . . The first thing I noticed was Pioneer Woman's pretty red hair (because all of us faithful readers know that for her first cookbook tour she had trouble getting the color just right.), then her cute blue shirt and how straight she sat in the chair.  Ree was beautiful, sweet and charming. Despite the long lines, she took time for each guest to chat and joke and take photos.

Pioneer Woman also had her famous camera along and she took a picture of Wes, after he took pictures of us. As we left she thanked us for coming, hoped we were doing something fun on the way home and called out to Wes, "I can't promise you won't show up in my blog next week." So watch for Wes.

                             

                                           

                     #99 and 98

As we gathered our things and prepared to leave Third Place Books, we stopped to take a quick excited glance at our cookbooks. Alas and alack, the cute employee at the front of the line (who looked like she could have been Ree's sister), had switched our books. My wonderful copy said "love to Cathie" and Cathie's cookbook said "love to Glenda." Back to our go-to employee, Terry and back to the front of the line. PW sweetly offered us new copies, but no, we are sentimentally attached to our cookbooks . . . so she signed them AGAIN.

                       

Thanks, Ree, for coming to beautiful Seattle and for a wonderful adventure!

P.S. A little note to Third Place Books ~ Thanks for bringing Pioneer Woman to Seattle. We really appreciate it.

P.P.S. A second little note to Third Place Books ~ I was surprised when I noticed that no water had been provided for PW as she chatted with over 700 fans. An idea for next time ~ provide an employee as a hostess to tend to our friend, the Pioneer Woman, during her long hours of signing our books. Thanks.

Update: Here is Ree's take on the evening ~

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/04/unsung_heroes