A Saturday with Ree

This weekend I joined a few of my shoe divas on a trip to Seattle. We were on our way to meet The Pioneer Women at her cookbook signing.

I've never been to a book signing so I had no idea what to expect.
I apparently did not realize that when the ladies say we are leaving at noon, 5 minutes past is completely unacceptable. They were ladies on a mission. They were even more unimpressed when I made them stop at the local bookstore, Homespun General Store, so that I could purchase my own copy of the cookbook. {We were heading to a book store in Seattle.} But I'm a shop local kinda gal and if it was available in Lynden, I was going to buy it in Lynden. The ladies did stop for me and I excitedly purchased my new favorite cookbook. Chock full of the most delicious recipes that will ensure I never fit into my wedding dress again.

(Look at my huge grin...I told you, I love shopping local)

After the little delay we were on our way to the big city. I was full of anticipation and excitement. I don't often leave my small town or my store.

On our travels we discovered that everyone was wearing Sole Obsession shoes. A great plug for the store. These ladies know comfort and fashion and they all picked great shoes for our trip. Tami was wearing her new Jambu Planet's, I chose my new favorite shoes, Leslie was wearing Privo's and Holly was sporting Dansko's.

We had some great times, we shared stories about our birthing experiences because that's just what girls do, we talked about our kids because, again, that's just what girls do, we confessed how many times we each changed our outfits that morning looking for the perfect one because...that's what girls do, and we laughed A LOT!
We laughed so much that when I arrived home I was still smiling. I love spending time with people that make me laugh.

Here we are after trying to squeeze all four of us into that photo booth behind. It was not a pretty sight and eventually a lady near us just couldn't stand it anymore and graciously offered to take our photo instead. The photo booth shots are mainly of my nostrils and Leslie's cheek. I'm not sure what happened to Tami and Holly. I know they were in there but...?

By the time we actually got through the crazy line and met up with Pioneer Woman we were a disheveled, sweaty mess. It was H-O-T in that bookstore and after shopping in the rain our hair was askew, our foreheads were glistening, and our perfect outfits had seen better times. But that didn't keep us from our excitement. We were by far the noisiest bunch of gals there and we had a great time sharing our stories and questions with Ree (Pioneer Women). She may have thought we were crazy...maybe. Tami asked her what size spanks to buy...Ree heard "What size do you wear?" and actually told us, {gasp} I told her the conversation I overheard from some young, naive college boy who thought Ree's conversion from vegetarian to carnivore was "disgusting" (you can read the full story of that below*). Holly and Ree discussed the affects of wearing spanks and the whereabout of all that chub (it has to go somewhere)...yep, she definitely thought we were crazy. But we had so much fun!

Thank you ladies for a great time. Although Ree was fun to meet, the highlight by far was spending time with 3 delightful women and laughing 'til our cheeks hurt.







*My story of meeting up with the young, naive college boy and his girlfriend...
Boy: "So what is this all about. She used to be a vegetarian and now she eats meat again?
Girl: "I don't know" (she shrugs and walks away)
Kelly: (always and eavesdropper) "Yep, pretty much"
Boy: "And you are all here celebrating that?"
Kelly: confused look
Boy: (Turns to the page in the cookbook showcasing Ree's Beef Brisket and then turning to me he says) "That's disgusting"
Kelly: uncontrolled giggling
It was a classic moment. Thank you, boy, for making my day. When I told Ree she said "Where is that boy? We need to talk."