Providence and the Pioneer Woman

Last year at this time, hubby and I were in Las Vegas for this...http://http://iwishiwereawalton.blogspot.com/2009/04/country-music-awards.html I was more than a little dissappointed when he wasn't interested in going again this year:(

But I got over it soon enough when Tami, http://http://theladyinthestonehouse.blogspot.com/ called and invited me to go on a little road trip with her and a few friends. We were working on our taxes and had so much work to do in the yard on what was supposed to be a beautiful weekend, that I actually told her I wouldn't be able to go with and to give the spot to someone else (insert gasp!).

I talked to her again on Fri or Sat and the seat hadn't been filled. Said that if it was raining, I'd be at her house by noon or go without me (another gasp!). My Jesus is such a smartie!!! He sent in the clouds and a few little drops here and there and I knew I was supposed to go on this little trip!! This Pioneer Woman, http://http://thepioneerwoman.com/, was coming to the Seattle area and we were going to meet her!!!!!!

We had to stop at the local General Store so thatKelly, http://http://soleobsessionfootwear.blogspot.com/could pick up her cookbook...she likes to support the local economy!

We all piled into Tami's car and headed down the highway! Went straight to the bookstore to pick up our tickets. We were in group E. They didn't start lining up group A for a few hours, so we had lots of time to hit Alderwood Mall and do a little shopping!! Notice our purchases are not pictured...that is to protect our husbands!

Got a group shot just as we were leaving. It was starting to rain and blow and getting a little bit icky out. This after we'd worked so hard to look beautiful.

We got to the bookstore and had dinner at a nearby restaurant and then proceeded to have our picture taken in this shoebox! Believe me when I say that the outside picture was much better than the inside!!! Ree has talked about Spanx on her blog before, but not one of us had any on which was the reason we didn't all fit in the booth! There was a woman looking on with fascination and she'd finally had enough of our histerics and offered to take our photo!

Later we presented the booth photo to Ree with all of our signatures and blog info!! I'm sure we'll be hearing from her soon!

We met some lovely people in line, including a new blogger friend, Jenn ,at www.seizingtheday.com. She and her hubby were so nice !

Finally the big moment arrived and we were with the Pioneer herself! She is so tiny!!! So kind!!! So real!!!! We were asking how to go about finding the right size Spanx (if you've ever bought them you know our difficulty!) And she says, "well I wear a size ? (I will never put anyone's actual size in!). Blurted it right out there in front of God and everyone! We gasped in horror at her honesty! Tami asked, "where does it all go? It has to go somewhere!" She said, "it goes to my back", leaned forward and said,"here, feel"!!!!!! Bonded us for life it did!!

She was so sweet!!

I think she likes me...look how close we are...maybe it's because I own so many of her books!!

This is her oldest daughter, whom we had met earlier that night. She is a long, lean beauty! I thinks she's only 13, but I felt pretty small, I mean short, next to her.

After asking permission from Ree, we found her again and asked her to sign our books also. She happily complied and even let us take a few photos! You can tell what a great mom Ree is by the way her daughter handled herself. So polite, kind and she didn't even laugh at us for chasing her all over the store, just to get a photo and autograph.

She was adorable in her Wranglers and denim shirt, but the boots sent me swooning!!!!! These babies rocked!!!

And speaking of shoes, we were all thankful for our comfortable shoes from Kelly's store! They did us proud!!



Miss Leslie is on the left, and she is the blond one in the photo's. You can learn more about her here,http://http://leslieisverbose.blogspot.com/

It was a really fun day and I'm so glad I went! Even better than the Country Music Awards!!!