I started by running in and out of no less than eight furniture stores looking for a reading chair for my newly painted and rearranged bedroom. I needed a comfy but small chair to fit the small space. This is a tall order when all of America seems to be going Texas style. BIG. Overstuffed and oversized was the norm for most of the furniture. Finally in the eighth store I found the perfect, and I mean perfect chair. And I got it at a discount because of a flaw. Score! I spent less than I budgeted! Love that!
Then it was on to Costco where I loaded up on cheese and vegetables, and later Ikea and Home Depot for pantry closet remodel supplies.
I was in a rush to beat the traffic to the other side of the city. There was a special event going on at Powell's Books (the best bookstore in the Northwest!) and the traffic is the worst in that part of the city.
I made it to the bookstore 45 minutes before the event was to start.
And this what it looked like:
They were all there to see Ree Drummond. The Pioneer Woman.
They were just handing out the last ticket for those who wanted to have one of her cookbooks autographed. They had handed out 350 tickets and clearly there were many more people than that. I didn't need a ticket since I already have a signed book, courtesy of the most wonderful, the sweetest and most self-sacrificing angel on earth. Thank goodness, I wouldn't have to wait about six hours holding the last ticket to have a book signed! Except if I was last maybe I would have been able to have a nice chat with Ree Drummond about pies or something.
So I found a standing-room-only spot in the front near some baby strollers and against some bookshelves to await the arrival of the celebrity blogger.
During the 45+ minutes I stood there I noticed a few things. For one- there were a lot of babies there. They were all wearing cute outfits, dapper hats or perky bows on their heads. I found the presence of all these babies surprising. Usually moms don't take their babies to something that they know will drag on for hours in the evening do they? But anyone who has read The Pioneer Woman knows that PW loves babies and likes to photograph them. Were all these mamas hoping to get their baby's photo on the PW website? I know it made this old mom tired thinking about juggling a little one all night in my lap while waiting for my cookbook to get signed.I was standing tightly up against these two strollers. The one with the blanket was one of those large double strollers. I was concerned that there was a little guy inside sleeping peacefully and I tried not to bump it. After a half an hour or so of standing very still I finally asked the lady who owned the stroller:
Me: Is there a baby sleeping in there? I'm worried about bumping the stroller.She: Oh no! It's okay. It's my basset hound.
Me: {blink. blink.}
Okay then!
I didn't photograph it, but yes, there was a big ol' dog napping in that huge stroller. Did that woman think she would become Ree Drummond's new BFF when she presented her hunky pooch in the baby pram when her ticket came up? Was she counting on having an edge over those mom's with adorable babies?
I may eat all those words if this morning there are pictures of that dog on The Pioneer Woman.
Ree was a bit late. She got stuck in that notorious Beaverton traffic and her GPS sent her the wrong direction down Cedar Hills Blvd. I thought that was interesting since I almost did the same thing. In the end I guessed right and her GPS guessed wrong.
Her late arrival meant that her chatting with the audience via a Q & A time was a bit shorter than usual.There were a lot of people waiting to get her name on their books.
Those empty shelves behind her were full just minutes before.I thought it was really fun to see PW's mother-in-law and daughter who suddenly appeared as the signing started. The darling cowgirl daughter has certainly sprouted up very tall. The mother-in-law was very elegant and hip at the same time. They walked close by me later when I was power shopping for school books but I didn't invade their privacy by asking them to pose for a picture.
So all in all....seeing Ree Drummond and her family was quite surreal. I've seen so many pictures of these people that it was just plain odd to see them in real life.They are real people. Imagine that.