The Pioneer Woman

Ree Drummond's new Cooking Show started Sat. on the Food Network. Did any of you see it? I think it will be a huge success for her and I wish her well.

How many of you have ever heard of or keep up with The Pioneer Woman's blog? ( http://thepioneerwoman.com/) She has giveaways that are incredible, and I mean incredible! WARNING--this post is a bit lengthy and has more pics than normal. Grab a cup of coffee. lol

She has been blogging three years and is such a hoot as she writes about her life on a cattle ranch. She's the daughter of an orthopedic surgeon who was on her way to law school when she met the "cowboy", better known as Marlboro Man and her life changed forever. She found herself out in the middle of a western ranch with cattle and hundreds of wild mustang horses that they care for. Four children later she decided to write a cookbook with recipes she has developed and feed to her family, friends, and ranch hands. They are tried and true.

I can attest to how wonderful they are! I have her cookbook.

The rest of this post is a revisit from 12 '09.

On Sunday a friend e-mailed and asked if we wanted to go to Atlanta to her book signing at Borders. I saw the e-mail after church and right before I went to a funeral in the afternoon. I called her in the car and said, "Wow, I'd love to meet her but this is such short notice!" (The book signing was Monday evening.) I told her I would have to think about it. After the funeral it was back to church for the Children's Christmas program. We came home and didn't talk much more about it. I was having company on Tues. evening for 7 people and had many things to do.

Monday a.m., Hubby and I went through the house, did some laundry, & banking and sat down to eat some lunch at 2:00. We both looked at each other and said let's leave and meet Debbie, my friend) in Atlanta. I got on Priceline at 3:00 and secured a great room for a great price (I always bid my own price) and we took off. ( Hubby was grabbing a few things and throwing them in the car while I was on the computer .)

Here is Ree Drummond's new cookbook. It's made the New York's best seller list.

Ree is a fantastic photographer and all the pictures in the book are taken by her. She loves to go step by step doing her recipes and documents them with pictures. Very easy to follow that way.



This page tells of her life and the silhouette is of her cowboy husband.

The next few pics are of the crowd gathering hours before the signing.

Here's my friend Debbie who got our wrist bands ahead of time for us so we would have a spot in line. Thanks Debbie!

Hubby and I with Debbie and the crowd.

Ree just came in and was thanking everyone for coming and making her book a success. She' s holding the mike.
Her blog has won several blogging awards in 2007, 2008, & 2009. In 2009 it was awarded top prize as Web Log of the Year.

She travels with different people. Sometimes her kids and hubby and other times friends or family members.

This is Ree and I while she was signing my book. She is friendly, and very personable and will not leave until the last customer has their book signed. They were estimating that she would be there till midnight on Monday. She started at 6:00. We actually talked to her for a few minutes, while my hubby was kidding about staying at their "Lodge". (They have a guest house built on their ranch for family and friends). You must go to her site and see the pics.

Debbie and Ree.

She had her sister and a good friend with her that night. Their job was giving out T-shirts. They thought my husband was hoot, which he is. They were calling him night in shinning armour because he ran down the escalator to catch a lady that left her camera behind.

Ree's friend starting taking our picture with Ree's sophisticated Nikon. It's a dream camera.

We were tired from our two hour drive and standing in line for two hours so we went for a bite to eat at Houston's in Buckhead.

Remember I said Hubby got a few items together while I was making priceline reservations-- wellllllllll, he forgot a few things----like pj's. I know what some of you are thinking--but I rest better with them. We ran to Target at 10: p.m. Have you been to a two story target before?

Actually, I have once before in Los Angeles. They're BIG!

We passed the Lennox Mall which is always a nice shopping experience.

We checked into the Grand Hyatt and crashed. If you haven't booked through priceline, I would recommend it. We get 4 Star Hotels that run up to $400.00 a night for 65 to 70 dollars a night. Unbelievable I know.

Some night shots of the city.

The hotel is just beautiful.

The breakfast bar was fantastic.

This is Hubby's plate, notice all the meat. lol

We sat next to doors leading outside where they had a waterfall to look at.

On the way to check out I snapped some of their chandeliers.

A lounge to relax in.

Time to drive home and for a pic of the outside.

I know some of you live in large cities and have lots of traffic and traffic lanes. We don't so I thought I'd snap a pic of the six lanes of traffic leaving Atlanta in the rain, no less.

On our next trip to Atlanta, I'd like to go to Ballards. Have any of you been there? I read about it on some of the blogs.

Thanks for hanging in their till the end.

She posted about her Atlanta book signing here and our getting to meet her. http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/01/memories_of_atlanta/

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Georgetown Cupcakes

On our recent trip to Washington we made a stop in Georgetown. Our daughter insisted we make this stop for her. She wanted something special and we had to bring it back for her....can you guess what???
She has seen the show DC Cupcakes and wanted to try these delicious little morsels of goodness. lol

Isn't their delivery van cute?

I shot this pic through the window when they weren't open.

We were first in line and went in for our selections.

It's not a very big space but they are always crowded because of their demand!

When the workers saw my camera, they automactically started to pose. They were all so cute and sweet. No pun intended.

We came home with a dozen of these little beauties!

There is always a line down the block. No matter what time you go. lol We arrived at 9:10. ( They don't open till 10.)........ All because we love you Sarah!

Georgetown is just an adorable town. The shops, the flowers...all so cute! Look at these row houses.

We left there to meet fellow blogger Jennifer from Trading Ashes for Beauty. We had such a great time visiting with her. Her husband came later to eat with us at Cracker Barrel.
I took her a DC Cupcake. She took this pic with her camera. ( I borrowed it Jennifer...hope you don't mind)

We had to have a picture together before we started the long trip home. She is the sweetest person.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nation's Capital

I've been missing in action lately. This summer has been so busy!
We just got back from Washington, D.C. We had a convention to attend. I may post about that on another post. Met some very interesting speakers.

We did get in a little site seeing while we were there. We've been to D.C. many, many times and have seen a lot of the wonderful historic sites. I used to do two shows there each year when I was painting.
I thought I'd share a few pics with you.

I love going to the historical sites and walking where our forefathers have walked. This is one city rich in the history of our great country.

We had never been to the Washington National Cathedral before and it was on our list this time.

AMAZING piece of architecture. Sooooo huge!

I took this pic for those of you who do needle work. A local group of ladies stitched this kneeling cushions.

Lots of stained glass.

It took 70 some years to be completed. Funding was a factor.

We drove by Arlington.

The Naval Observatory

The access to the White House is more difficult than it used to be. That is such a shame, since it's the people's house. It is understandable though.

Years ago we took a tour of the White House. I don't know if they still allow those or not.

We took this shot from quite a distance in a moving car. Not so good!

I'll be posting more of the trip soon!

Hope you're having a good week!