I Got My Picture Taken With Ree!

I was so excited to find out, a couple of weeks ago, that my grad school classmate S had an extra ticket to a book signing that I was hoping to attend.  She kindly offered it to me, and I gladly accepted!  As you may already know, this little getaway was my Mother's Day gift.  And if you don't already know, I took a little roadtrip and went to Ree Drummond's, aka The Pioneer Woman, book signing.

I met S and her friend, K, for dinner and had a great time visiting with them (it was the first time I'd met K).  After dinner we window-shopped as we got lost on the way to moseyed over to the book signing, knowing we'd have a bit of a wait.  We managed to get a great spot to see Ree during the brief Q&A before the signing, so we stood there and visited a little more.  I was caught by surprise when the crowd got a little excited and S told me that Ree was right behind me - 

 but still managed to snap a photo! 

 It was still a few minutes until the Q&A began.  We had the opportunity to submit questions for Ree, but I can never think of anything good until it's too late.  If I could ask Ree anything, I'd ask her what she did in Charlotte on Thursday (she was in town the day before the book signing).

Through the brief Q&A time, Ree seemed funny and self-deprecating - just like she is on her blog!  Ree took a few pictures of the crowd, answered some questions, and even sang for the crowd.

In a couple of hours, it was time to get my cookbook signed.  I took my own tomato-juice spattered copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

If we hadn't been asked to "open your books to the title page" before we got them signed, she'd have noticed that I was using the dust jacket to mark the recipe I'd used earlier in the week, Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich.  And she might also have seen some of the yummy sandwich juices splattered on that page, too. 

I got a photo with Ree, but I guess I should have checked a mirror before I sat down with Ree.  I'm glad a got a snapshot, but I'm choosing not to post it here.  If you want to see Ree close up, check out S's post on the signing.  Hers photos turned out great!

I can't forget the rest of the evening, which included a little more window-shopping and dessert!   S and K, thanks for including me!