25 Days of Christmas: Day 8

Last night, Ree Drummond, aka, The Pioneer Woman, was in Atlanta for her cookbook signing. I bought her cookbook the week it came out. To say it’s fabulous would be a tremendous understatement. It has breathtaking photographs and great stories which are all written in true down to Earth PW style and humor. The recipes are amazing and very easy to prepare. Every one I have tried, which have been several, have all received rave reviews. Some of our favorites include the Hot Artichoke Dip, Chocolate Sheet Cake, Penne a la Betsy, Chicken Spaghetti and the Chili recipe. The biscuits are pretty yummy too. Anyhow, I told Craig how much I wanted to go, but it was 45 minutes away and at 7:30 at night, so I just figured I would read about it on www.thepioneerwoman.com . Craig was on his way home and said traffic wasn’t bad so if I wanted to go, he would take me down there with the girls. Have I told you how much I LOVE this man? I got the girls all dressed up and was expecting a crowd, well, that would also be an understatement. Realistically, it probably would have taken me 3-4 hours to get my cookbook signed. Realizing it wouldn’t be fair to Craig or the girls to stay out that late, especially way past bedtime, I was content to stand and watch Ree sign and interact with all the lucky ladies in the line who must have arrived HOURS earlier to get a bracelet and get in line. She is every bit as lovely, beautiful, personable and funny in person as she is in her blog. I did manage to get her sister, Betsy and her friend, Hyacinth’s autographs,  they both have recipes in the cookbook as well. They gave me a t-shirt too, totally cute and I took their picture with Olivia and Lauren. Even though I wasn’t able to get Ree’s autograph, it was totally worth it just to be there, witness and experience all the excitement and to talk with Betsy and Hyacinth.

This is Ree Drummond, a.k.a., The Pioneer Woman.  I can’t imagine how exhausted she must have been signing all those books and meeting all those people. She was so gracious and funny and so completely lovely. I wish I had gotten there earlier so I could have met her too.

Lauren and Olivia were so well behaved, which was wonderful considering it was close to bedtime and eventually much past bedtime by the time we got home.

 

The crowd was organized by colored wristbands and letters. They had a white board and made announcements when another flight would go through, then everyone with that corresponding wristband color and letter would get in line. It was a good system, but there were so many people there, it likely would have been well past midnight by the time I got in line.

How lovely are Hyacinth and Betsy? Isn’t Hyacinth’s coat absolutely fabulous? I was so touched that they took the time to sign my book for me and give me a super cute PW t-shirt. Thanks ladies for making my night. Olivia and Lauren and I really enjoyed  meeting you and watching Ree with all her fans!