An early Christmas present...

I have a little story to tell today. Once upon a time, a girl fell in love with a blog. (Technically, after the birth of 5 children, I guess I could be considered a woman...but it makes me feel old, so I'm going with "girl".) The blog is The Pioneer Woman and Ree Drummond is her name. She doesn't know it, but she's my BFF. I love to read about her conversion from city girl to country girl and all the things that go on with a working cattle ranch. And, her ranch is in the same area as my grandparent's home, so I know exactly where she is and where the towns are that she discusses on her blog. It makes me feel like I know her better than all the other readers because I've been to her town and could probably stalk her if I wanted to...which I don't... well, maybe I do want to, but I won't.

Anyway, a few months ago she wrote a cookbook. Now, I don't usually buy cookbooks, unless they have something to do with slow cooking. But let me tell you dear friends, I love her recipes. I've tried several and each one has been fantastic. So, when she posted her "Griswold Book Tour", I noticed that her very first stop would be Tulsa, my old stompin' ground. So, I thought it would be fun to go over for the evening, do a little shopping at Utica Square, eat somewhere fun, and then go to her signing. I figured I'd get a book there and then have her sign it. Sounds good...right.

The signing started at 7:00 p.m. and I figured I'd get there 10 minutes early to get a spot... Well, I knew something was wrong when I got to the driveway of the location and the line to get in the parking lot was all the way in to the street....hhhmmmmm.... Looks like a lot of people. When I finally got into the parking lot, there were simply no places to park. I drove around for about 25 minutes and finally found one about a block away. Of course, I now realize that the entire city of Tulsa has decided to attend and it's going to be a long night. I don't really care because I'll get to meet my hero...The Pioneer Woman! And, get her lovely signature in her beautiful cook book that I'm even willing to pay full price for!

I get to the door of the location and honestly, I can't get in. Women are stuffed into the building and I truly cannot get in the door. Some people are coming out and one of them told me that all the books sold out in about 10 minutes....there aren't any more books. What!! Because some people are leaving, I'm finally able to get in the door, but I can't go anywhere. I was pressed against the wall with about 500 women. I can't even see PW. I can hear her, and she sounds lovely....but there is no way I'm going to be able to see her with all these women. I stood there, against the wall, for about 40 minutes. By now it's almost 8:00, and I've got a 1 1/2 hour drive home...there's no books, so there's no reason to even stand in line to see her. So, I left. A little disappointing, but I'm positive that the organizers had no idea there would be such a turnout.

I posted about my experience on her blog...encouraging others to bring their own books and to get there early.

Guess what!!

She saw my post and emailed me personally!! I got an email from PW...she felt badly that I hadn't gotten to see her after my long drive, so she said she'd mail me a couple of signed copies. I emailed her back and told her that I thought it would be so wonderful if she'd send me some books...one for me and one for my friend, Adelia. Well, I waited, and waited, and waited... She was on her tour and really busy, so I just figured she'd get around to it eventually. Then, one day, she posted on her blog that if anyone wasn't able to come to her signing, she'd be happy to sign their books if we'd send them to her. Ohhhhh.... I'm pretty sure she meant for me to SEND her some books to sign...

Well, I noticed that she had tacked on one more stop on her tour...in Tulsa... And, it wasn't really publicized much... So, I thought I'd try again... I went over on Saturday. Here's where I went...

The signing started at 1:00, so I got there around 12 noon... I wasn't taking any chances this time... I got my number and hung around for an hour in a bookstore. At 1:00, she arrived.

I was number 30, so at 1:30, here's what happened... I met my BFF for the first time...

We had a really deep one minute conversation!

She was lovely and she signed my books...one for me and one for my friend...

Adelia...give me a call... I have your book. Merry Christmas friend...