Pioneer Woman in Atlanta....

Yep I am a little late getting around to this, but it is only a week till Christmas so can I have a little slack. Pretty please!!

This little book signing was an event that I looked forward to since the post first came on Ree's sight. I don't know who turned me onto this sight, but wow do I love it. Ree takes gorgeous photos and make fabulous recipes, her house looks amazing and she has Charlie whom I would just love to cuddle and snuggle. Charlie by the way if your not familiar is a Basset Hound.

When I found out that she was coming to Atlanta I could barely contain myself "Oh my god I live in Atlanta!!!!" So I called up the girls and we put it in our calenders and started counting off the days.

I just knew that we would have so much to talk about I mean, DH grew up on a cattle farm, that his dad still works. Check...

Boogie has these adorable red boots that she just loves to wear....

She loves to do her chores at the farm when we visit, like feeding the chickens....

She loves the chickens and they love her. See...

She has a cow at the farm named Elsie. Elsie is a pretty little heifer too, Boogie was there when she was born.

Her daddy looks good in a cowboy hat and a pair of wranglers too. (He's in the back ground here)


Boogie can hang out with her Papa on Cattle gates like no ones business, and look totally adorable doing it.

We have a cute puppy that I just love to snuggle, Tickle is our big jowly baby we love to play with her lips...


There were so many factors here that I thought this would just be friends at first sight. I would say something witty, my friends would laugh. We would pose and show how goofy we were and how much fun, and it would just be sheer bliss.

So we pre-ordered our books and some for Christmas presents and continued to patiently wait and wait and wait. This was actually good practice for the night of the signing, it was like preparing for a marathon. (little did we know)

Finally the day of the signing was here, we were geared up, I even made sure that all three batteries were charged up on the beast and against my better judgement decided to leave the mega flash at home. One of my wonderful girlfriends got off work early and headed over to the bookstore at 4pm to try to get us seats. I am almost 8 months pregnant and didn't think that I could stand for a couple of hours without some serious back strain so she said she would take one for the team. We had no clue what we were in for, but when Jen called and said there were no chairs and she had gotten wrist bands I knew we might be in for a wait. Still this was Ree we would wait.

So I got there at 5pm and happily bi passed the wristband people that were already on green, Jen got Orange (woo hoo) and headed upstairs. And found Jen and started waiting, with all these nice folks at 5pm.


I wondered how long the people that got the first bands had been in line because we got Orange G, and Orange A had been there since 9am...9am people this is like rock star tickets!

So while we waited we snapped a couple of shots because that's what I do...

Me and Jen and our cookbooks (Yay) I had a whole bag full of them at my feet. :D

Then Shwetha (our newly engaged friend) made it in from Douglasville. She was fast!

And then finally it was 6pm, yes they pushed the event up from 7:30, and she was there....Ree was in the building....OMG!!!

Isn't she pretty!! I was snapping like a paparazzi, thank god I left the big flash in the car, the poor woman would have been blind. I was right up front, it was awesome I was excited, there were pictures. I had pictures. People were getting their books signed, mine would be signed, OMG. I took pictures of total strangers because they drove from Florida and I just had to drive across town. I was amazed!

My little flash proved to be a good little flash that could and didn't let me down. Soon however we realized that the wait was going to be a bit long, our snacks were going to run out, Shwetha was going to die of thirst and my 3 inch heals and pregnant belly were not going to be forgiving, so we hit Seattle's best and found a nice comfy piece of rug, right behind the T-shirt table and entertained ourselves.

Jen found this little Gem of a book....

I highly recommend it as we were cackling like witches, I think some people around us thought we might be drinking a different kind of beer, instead of our root beers. I would however caution that this is maybe not a game to pass this time with say your family. Mom might look at you in a whole new light once your answer some of these or vice versa.

While we were sitting there laughing our heads off I noticed this....

Cakewrecks is another great blog and if you haven't visited I highly recommend it especially if you need a good laugh. Jen and I ventured to their book signing as well and it was just as fantastic as Ree's. However I digress, Cakewrecks is in no way shape or form related too or has anything to do with Gambling. I don't know how shelved this book, but it is so ironic that a book about cakes gone wrong would go so wrong its self. :D We had a nice laugh about this too, really we were laughing about everything, maybe we did pick up the wrong kind of beer.

Finally we got called to line up. Now this just meant that it was time to get in line to get your chance to talk to Ree and get her autograph, we still had another hour wait. However being giddy on root beer we were able to entertain ourselves with the various topics that we wove through on our tour of the stacks leading to Ree. I will say that we had to stand in the Mathematics and Quantum Physics section just a little to long and I started to get dazed and confused...but then finally after waiting for 3 hours and 45 minutes.

There were our 8 books sitting in front of Ree on the table and WE WERE NEXT!!!

My witty comments were ready, I was going to meet my new best friend. I couldn't wait I just new that angels would start singing at any minute and then it was time.....

There she was signing my book and saying something...something what was she saying. OMG!! I turned into the biggest goober that ever walked the earth and could say nothing. I was star struck, I was mute, I was standing there like a fool. All my good intentions went right out the window. *Sigh*

Oh well Ree was just as expected, very cute and funny and gracious with her time. Shwetha and Jen were able to get a few words out, but I just stood there and nodded with a blank mind. *Sigh*

We got a great picture.....


I'll be able to show baby Addison when she is born, but I will make up a great story about how I just charmed the socks off of Ree with my stories about life at Papa's farm and her cute big sister. Then we were finished and it was time for the next person to get her few minutes of time with Ree.

We did get to say a quick hello to Betsy (Ree's sister) and Hyacinth (her friend) and got one of the last T-shirts of the night. Now that is luck because I love these shirts too, the pattern is beautiful, and the shirt is so soft....

That was it the night was over it was 8pm and we had our signed books and good memories. It didn't go quiet as I had built it up in my mind but the time spent with good friends was fantastic. It was the perfect first meeting. We left the bookstore excited and STARVING so headed over the Mellow Mushroom for what had to be the best pizza ever created on the face of the earth and just a little more girl time before heading home.

All in all a magical evening with Ree the Pioneer Woman.

Oh and if you get a chance pick up her cookbook the recipes are amazing. The mashed potatoes are a new house favorite as are the meatballs. So far everything I have tried has been amazing, so it is well worth adding to you kitchen library.

Happy cooking everyone and thanks for visiting Atlanta Ree, it was a fabulous night.