So I met the Pioneer Woman

She's pretty.

So so pretty.

And gracious, and down-to-earth, and funny, and intelligent, and pretty, and witty, and just so so pretty.

There we are,

Ree and me.

I'm trying desperately to keep my composure and not say something stupid.

I babbled.

A lot.

I may have even said, "I worried all day that I'd say something stupid..."

I thanked her for coming to Alabama.

I thanked her for taking the time away from her kiddos to meet with crazed fans, like myself.

She liked my top.

She told me that one day she hoped to be brave enough to wear sleeveless.

She said I looked pretty.

That's when I wet myself.

Just a lil' bit.

I talked to Ree, y'all.

And, as if it weren't a big enough deal just to meet her, guess who else just so happened to gotten off of the elevator with her...

Allow me to give you the play-by-play since I was the crazy fan positioned on the other side of the doors just waiting to catch the first glipse of her as she got off and began her presentation. Picture me, stalking waiting patiently in front of those elevator doors, camera in one hand, phone in the other, in a slightly crouched position so as not to get pushed over or shoved outta my spot or anything. (I said I didn't want to SAY anything stupid, nevermind looking it...)

And then, the doors opened.

(these are a bit blurry, but they were in motion...)

See? Not kidding about stalking those doors. And do you SEEEE who that is in the plaid? It's totally Kevin of Kevin & Layla of the Lettered Cottage. Behind Kev (I call him Kev since we're BFF's now) was Ree...

and behind Ree was Layla of Kevin & Layla of the Lettered Cottage. I read their blog everyday as well, so you can imagine the puddle that formed when those doors opened.

And then, guess what?

 Kev and Layla hung out by me during Ree's presentation.

Yup.

We're pals.

And Ree?

Well she gave one heckuva power-point presentation which she said would be a very brief summary of how she became The Pioneer Woman. It began like this...

and this...



and even after stating that she feels incredibly awkward and uncomfortable talking in front of large groups, she had, within an instant, captured all of us with her story-telling skills. I snapped about 472 more pics of her in front of the screen before remembering that my point-and-shoot is also a video camera.

and then, she sang.

To her dog.

After her fabulous presentation, they made us line up by number and thanks to my friend Brittni who went to BAM the previous day and picked up lucky #27, we were near the front of a massive crowd of Ree fans. See em?

After waiting in line and chatting and taking more photos, it was our turn.

There I am.

Babbling like an idiot.

There's Brittni and PW.

Thank you thank you Brittni for getting a number and for seeing my post about going to meet her and for letting us stand in line at #27 and not #338.

My friend, Cyndi, who's also a huge PW fan and who also offered to let me ride with her to the Ham.

Thank you thank you, Cyndi.

I had a blast last night and thanks to you, I didn't have to drive myself there which would've resulted in me getting lost 8 times and missing the whole shebang.

Brittni's friend, Jennifer, and her sweet lil' Anna with PW.

And then, my newest BFF's, Kevin and Layla, agreed to take a pic with me and my craziness.

And pictured below?

Well I just so happened to also meet Katherine of Grass Stains and Shaunna of Perfectly Imperfect.

What a night, y'all.

And just when I think I've made it through the evening without making a total fool of myself, Layla suggests we take a funny pic too,

and my crazy comes out...

if that wasn't enough to make you need some depends,

I did it again...

And that, my friends, was the end of an awesome evening.

Huge thanks also go to my mum who watched my kiddos last night.

Thank you thank you, mum.

Happy Thursday to ya!