The Pioneer Woman, aka Rock Star.

I have been dying to sit down and write about this weekend with my mom and our new friend, The Pioneer Woman. I can't describe how fun it was to have this little road trip with my mom for her birthday. I am so thankful that I have a mom that I can be friends with. What a neat blessing in this life! I pray that Langley and I will be close as she grows up. I hope that I can plan trips for her and her children like my mom does for me. She is very generous in that way. It was a fantastic trip. Thanks, MOM!

We left B-Town Saturday morning in plenty of time to eat, check in the hotel and gawk at the Pottery Barn building right next to our hotel. The book signing started at 6:00, so we headed over to the library about 4:30. I don't think we were prepared for the amount of people that flocked from all over the mid-west to meet Ree. By 4:30, the crowd was sizable and the line was out the door into the parking lot. We gathered up Wit's stroller, a bag of snacks that rivaled any grocery store, our cameras and our PW cookbooks.

This was the line out of the library at 4:30.  It got much, much larger.  Crazy.

It was such a fun experience to wait in line with hundreds of other women. The conversations were buzzing with PW's latest blog posts, recipes, fashion tips and most importantly Cowboy Josh. The funniest quote of the night came from a group of young women in front of us. One of them said, "getting ready to meet Pioneer Woman is way more stressful than a first date!" I agree. I hemmed and hawed over my outfit several times during the week leading up to the signing.

Aren't women funny?

While we waited in line, the library employees headed out in the cold to give us tickets into the building. The tickets represented what group we were during the autographing portion. We were in group 3, out of 12. One couple who had a ticket for group 12 offered my mom $20 to give up her ticket. They asked if both of us really needed to go meet her, or would it be ok if only one of us did. Really, people? Suffice it to say we DID NOT drive 4 hours WITH a toddler for ONLY ONE of us to meet Pioneer Woman.

Sheesh.

Once the doors opened it was a mad rush to get a seat for her presentation. We lucked out because my big, awkward stroller could only go in the side front row. So we were really close to the stage. It was awesome. At that moment, I was so happy that my mom insisted we take Wit.



The tray is for sitting, Mom.  Only babies sit in the seat.



Finally, it was time for her to speak. What a pleasant little ray of sunshine she is! Adorable from head to toe, she stood at the microphone and shook nervously. Immediately I connected with her. She talked about everything from cooking, to blogging, to her dog Charlie, to her fabulous boots. But the one thing that struck me was how real she was. She could have come on stage with her $400 boots and her sassy hair and been ALL THAT. But she wasn't. She was the most approachable person I have ever met. In the middle of her Q&A session she stopped talking and just shouted, "I'm sweaty up here!" A sisterhood was formed right there among 800 women.



A-DOR-ABLE!!  Inside and out.

Her website gets 31 MILLION hits per month because she is so real. She writes from her heart and doesn't try to sell herself as being awesome. Never once did she parade her children's achievements or her busy schedule in our faces. She just talked like you and I would talk. Normal, natural, human connection. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Someone asked if she wanted another baby.  Here she is looking at Marlboro Man for the answer.

Listening to her answer questions about blogging really inspired me to keep it up this time. Not that I want to ever have a blog that gets that kind of attention, it's not about that. It's about valuing my stories, my children and our life. She said to write honestly everyday. Not try to make every piece epic, just real. People are drawn to real people. She gave me lots to think about regarding passions. You can tell that hers is writing and cooking and family. Again, connection made.

After she spoke, they began to call groups back by number for the autograph portion. This was hilarious because they put her in a fancy room but they left Marlboro Man, her husband's blog name, to fend for himself. You should have seen the crowd of women surrounding him to get his picture. {He was dreamy.} I'm not sure if he planned for all this attention, but he sure got it and more!

My silly mom cropped herself out of this picture. But she was there, too!

I practiced what I was going to say when it was finally our turn at the table, but I was too awestruck to say anything other than, "I love your mixer." (What!?) I drove all the way from B-Town, stood in line for hours and all I could say was, "I love your mixer."

Dummy.

She didn't seem to mind. We had a great one minute talk about her mixer and my toddler. I think she liked him! He was the perfect gentleman for the entire night. Not one tear, or tantrum. I am so proud of my little wingman!

Sweet Wit.  What a trooper for putting up with all these women!

We had a delightful night topped off with The Cheesecake Factory. I don't think it could have been more perfect. The next day we strolled through Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. *swoon*

The only picture my mom would allow of herself on my blog.  You're beautiful, Mom. Don't be too hard on yourself!

Awesome trip. Awesome Mom. Awesome celebrity crush!

And Awesome Skip for having the house clean and kid's homework done by the time we rolled back into town! So thankful for that!