That Wife Meets Pioneer Woman

I’m writing this post with the assumption you know who Ree, The Pioneer Woman is. If you don’t, this is something you must change. With photography, cooking, lifestyle, homeschooling, and home/garden sections updated daily on her site there’s sure to be something that piques your interest and keeps you reading like I do. I’m a better photographer because of the posts on her site.

Once The Pioneer Woman held a comment contest on her blog that would choose a few lucky readers who would be provided her home address and a chance to experience ranch life and some of Ree’s fabulous home cooking. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones chosen to visit the ranch, but I was provided a second chance to meet The Pioneer Woman this week when she visited a Dallas Borders to sign copies of her new cookbook. I love the format she chose to write this book in, although I’m sure all kinds of publishers balked at her proposal. Each recipe not only has step-by-step instructions, but photos accompanying each step! I think I starred almost every recipe in the book as a “must-make”, mostly because of her love of butter. I love butter as well. And cream. And meat. If you love those things too, you will love this coobook.

7:30 pm, Tuesday December 1st

I arrive at the strip mall where Borders is located. Every spot is taken and so I choose to park in a dark alley behind the mall and walk through the pouring rain to get there. The store is packed and I don’t see any copies of her book. I go pick up a magazine I need and head to the counter to ask if they have any cookbooks left. I get 3rd to last one in the store (no joke!). None in back, none on the shelves, no more copies to be found behind the counter. What would I have done if they were out? I was issued a wristband in the color gray, which just so happened to be the last color to be called. I knew it was going to be a long night.

8:39 pm

I sneak around back to see Ree and her two kids signing away.

Aren’t her daughters cute? I cannot imagine what this must be like for them, to watch your mother being giggled over by hundreds of people in cities across the United States.

There were people everywhere. And lots of dSLRs.


I’m not really sure why these people are waiting here since this isn’t where the blue line is located. All blue lines lead to Pioneer Woman at this particular Borders.

9:16 pm

I went and got some frozen yogurt at I Heart Yogurt. I walked back over to Borders, but I didn’t’ see any point in getting in line yet so I wandered back over to check on Ree. Still smiling, accepting gifts, cooing over babies, and acting like signing books for

9:35 pm

I decided to sit down and send out a few tweets and answer a few emails from my phone. Then I went through the cookbook and marked all of the recipes I want to make. This made me hungry so I decided to go get something to eat, and ended up at Pizza by Marco. I ate an 8″ bruschetta on whole wheat crust and it was beyond delicioso.

11:07 pm

I still haven’t joined the line yet, as I don’t see any point in standing for that amount of time when I’m going to be near the end anyway. The lady in the gray sweater decided she wasn’t going to make up and asked her friend to take a photo of her with Ree in the background just to prove she was there. This was not good enough for me, I wanted a real-life encounter with the oh-so-fabulous Ree to add to my memory book (aka my blog).

5 hours in and Ree is looking as chipper as ever. Taking her time with each person, signing each book with a personalization in big swoopy handwriting.

1:01 AM

I’m in a line of never-ending bookcases. The aisles are lined with step-stools and chairs that have been collected by sore footed fans over the last 6 hours. I decide to start reading a book (I’m in a bookstore after all) and choose Ella Enchanted. I’m hooked from page 1 and spend little time socializing with the people around me. Time goes by much faster this way.

2:32 AM

We round the corner and there she is!

Oh crap, Ella is at the ball, she’s dancing with the prince and the clock is going to strike midnight soon. Will she lose her glass slipper? Will her step-sisters prevent her from finding true love with Char? Will they slide down banisters together yet again?

2:35 AM

I’ll never know the answers to these questions as it’s time to put the book away (I left it out of place on some science shelf, sorry Borders staff I was flustered about my impending meeting with my favorite blogger).

2:37 AM

Pioneer Woman: Well hello, thank you for coming.

That Wife: Hi Ree. (Giggles like an idiot)

Pioneer Woman: I like your scarf.

That Wife: (Giggles like an idiot)

My new line friend who offered to take a picture with my camera: Over here!

That Wife: (Giggles like an idiot)

Pioneer Woman: I’m so glad you were able to take that photo from above, in Arizona they had me up on this platform and I cringed every time someone took my photo from an upward angle!

That Wife: Thanks for sticking around so long Ree.(Giggles like an idiot)

Not quite the impression I wanted to make, but she liked my scarf, and I got my signature and photo, and an adventure to blog about to boot.

I didn’t know it until I got there, but they were giving out free t-shirts as well!

Looks good with my intermediate belly bump, don’t you think?

She only has a few appearances left, but here are a few tips for those in the cities she has left to visit. I make these suggestions based on my own experience at Borders:

1. Search online for a coupon to the bookstore you are going to visit and purchase a copy of her book from. The day after I bought mind someone tweeted about a 30% off coupon at Borders that I could have used.

2. Arrive early and get a good color wristband, not gray, the last color to be called.

3. Then go get something to eat. I recommend Pizza by Marco’s but I don’t think that’s an option for the other cities.

4. Snag a stool/chair and drag it along with you in line.

5. Grab a book off the shelves and make the time go faster by becoming engrossed in a totally different world. Ella Enchanted was a good choice for me.

6. Dream up what you want Ree to personalize your book with before you are at the end of the line. Otherwise you’ll feel put on the spot and will just blurt out your name because you can’t think of anything clever. I wish I would have been clever.

7. Don’t giggle like an idiot at everything Ree says. You’ll probably regret it later.

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44 thoughts on “That Wife Meets Pioneer Woman”

  • The first time I discovered Pioneer Woman (which was from your blog) I thought to myself - “This is Jenna in 15 years!” You are totally the young PW.

    Your story reminded me when I went to LA with my family. My sister got to meet Nicole Richie and was thrilled. I got to meet Perez Hilton and I was thrilled. My mother said it perfectly, “This sums up the few differences between my daughters - one wants to meet a tv star and the other wants to meet a blogger!” People who don’t read blogs have a hard time understanding how cool it is to meet one!

  • *First: I second that t-shirt is adorable
    **Second: I LOVE to get books autographed by their authors! (My secret goal is to have my first edition “Princess Bride” Book signed by Goldman- but he is just way too old, he resides in NY, & detests writing autographs I found out….)
    ***Third: I have never known someone with as much dedication as you to stay up until nearly 3AM to get an autographed COOK BOOK (which is totally cool I might add)…

    The most prized possession of all our autographed books is by an Mike Mullane a NASA astronaut. I bought the book ‘Riding Rockets’ for my dad’s Christmas gift 2 yrs ago…but I thought it would be special if it were signed. So I wrote to the astronaut asking if he would be willing to sign it, I shipped to him the book. He shipped it back free of charge and with a lovely note to my dad inside!!! My dad was so blown away- It was the best feeling ever to see his expression!

  • You have such a beautiful smile. Your excitement is radiating! I have to admit, that is probably how I would act if I got to meet you!

    And your scarf is awesome.

  • If you ever write a book and promote it in Australia, I promise I’ll stand in line for all hours of the night to get you to sign it :P

    That t-shirt has a gorgeous colour and design. It looks good on you. You’re glowing! :)

  • Haha, awesome! Don’t worry; I do the same thing whenever I meet a celeb. And the T-shirt is gorgeous! I can’t believe how late she stayed. I love Ree.

  • 2:30 am?! Wow! She is amazing!

    I attempted to meet her in Los Angeles, and unfortunately had to leave at the end of hour two because my two year old was not having any of the waiting!

    She did answer one of my questions from the Q & A, which was sweet because I was aaaaaaaaaalll the way in the back.

  • How fun is that? I don’t subscribe to Pioneer Woman just because the sheer amount of posts is too overwhelming for me, but I do check in from time to time.

    Glad you loved Ella Enchanted - I love that book so much that I made Bart read it. And he loved it too.

  • Yes, she lives happily ever after with Char and breaks the curse. I love that book. Mostly because we share the same first name. :).
    I don’t stay anywhere until 2:30 am! Especially if I’m not driving home. It’s amazing that she was able to stay that long.
    (I reacted exactly like you did when I met Gloria Steinem and she signed my book. I was like, giddy and starstruck and amazed that she was willing to sign people’s books on her way out from her packed talk…I love writers who really care about their readers.)

  • Jenna — again, not to be creepy — but I feel like you and I were seperated at birth!! I am off to meet Ree in West Chester PA as part of Mr. Wife and Blog’s gift to me for Christmas. He is going to be HORRIFIED when he sees you waited in line for over 6 hours. I’m ecstatic. She HAS to be as pretty in person as she in those pictures, yes?! AND you look adorable in that shirt!!

  • I’m so incredibly jealous of you! I’d totally wait 6 hours to meet Ree too…

    It’s so great that she signed everyone’s book, regardless of the time. :) She’s awesome!

    Did you tell Ree you were pregnant? I’m sure she would have gone nuts over that, since her ovaries jump over babies haha!

  • I’m not sure what I’m the most amazed about: a pregnant woman staying up till 3+am or a writer doing the same and signing book and talking for that many hours.

    So you ended up finding a book on the shelves after all?

    The T-shirt is gorgeous by the way. And as far as giggling, at 2:30 in the morning I would have been yawning not giggling so kuddos to you.

    Oh and thinking of the post yesterday, if you are interested, my husband told me a story yesterday and it made me think about your post and how certain things are more done by woman and others by man. It’s a really sweet story and I wrote it both in french and english for once so…
    http://frenchyncarolina.blogspot.com/2009/12/hat-of-love.html

    Ok on my way to check the pioneer woman blog.

  • I love that book! I may have to drag my copy around with me as I do the airport shuffle over Christmas. Whether stuck in a crazy long line or a metal tube, a good book can almost make it worthwhile.

  • OH MY GOSH JENNA!!! You should have told me you were going i LOVE LOVE LOVE Ree!! Have you read her love story about her and Marlboro Man? Im still reading it, its super long but so good! Im so jealous you got to meet her!!

  • Your picture with her, you do look like you were giggling like an idiot. haha. I love free t-shirts!

  • She lives an hour or so north of where I do, but I hadn’t heard of her until about a month ago when all my local friends started anticipating her signings. Her blog is fabulous. If I wasn’t a vegetarian (and a mostly dairy-free one), I’d be on top of a lot of her recipes. And I think it’s a rite of passage to act like a goober when you meet a celebrity. I have done that plenty of times myself.

  • thanks for blogging about your experience! I am going on Saturday in Houston and CANNOT wait!! Love the shirt too - looks awesome with your baby bump!! :)

  • oh my goodness! i am envious of your PW encounter. i cook something from PW cooks every week. i too entered the contest to visit the ranch (along with every other contest she posts), but didn’t win either. i’m not sure i could have handled winning, i would have probably spent the entire trip starry-eyed and giggling.
    p.s. that scarf is super cute.

  • Oooooh! You’re so lucky! I love (in a non-creepy way, OF COURSE) The Pioneer Woman and am so jealous of all the people that get to go to her signings and meet her! So glad you had the chance to meet her- props to you and your perseverance!

  • Oh my goodness! The Pioneer Woman is going to be here in Austin at BookPeople tonight. I was thinking about going, but after seeing how long you had to wait, I’m definitely not! I love my sleep too much and I’m not a huge fun; I just check in on her blog from time to time. That t-shirt is really, really cute though!

  • WOW. I am so glad that I learned how crazy the book signing will be ahead of time. I knew Ree was popular but had no idea it was like this!

  • So cool and lucky!!! So far, her only stop in California was in LA (6 hours away) on a Sunday in the evening. If it was in the morning I could have *maybe* justified it, but that would have been a loooonnnnggggg day. I’m hoping she adds another stop to her tour.

  • Cute tshirt! She comes to Houston on Saturday afternoon and I just picked up my “signing line” card. She won’t be at a bookstore here, they just moved the even to a farmer’s market/small grocery store because of the amount of people they’re expecting. Thanks for the tips and that is a cute scarf!

  • How did I not realize Ree was coming to Dallas?! I can’t believe I missed the book signing, but at least I got to read about it. Thanks for sharing!

  • Thanks for the tips! I think I’ll take along one of those chairs in a sling things and I’ll have to go tomorrow and pick up her book. I’m already trying to think of witty things for her to write in mine! Of course, now I’m having a brain-freeze and can’t think of any… I never was witty.

  • don’t feel bad - i don’t think i even said hello. i think i just giggled like an idiot the whole time… and pointed at my computer. yes, im pretty sure kate (in GEORGIA) talked to Ree more than i did… haha!

  • I was just ahead of you in line…I’m in your pictures. :) I have replayed the conversation (if you could call it that) so many times, and felt so silly myself. She’s so sweet for sticking out that line. I don’t know who’s crazier, her or us!

  • oh my! we wondered who the people were who were closing down the place!! i enjoyed reading your recap! i was there, too (you can read about it on my blog)-but we were gone by 9 pm.

  • Hi. Just found your blog. We were the girls right in front of you in line. I love your pictures. I”m really glad you enjoyed Ella Enchanted. It was my favorite book for the longest time.I hope you finish it!

  • So I’ve been a reader of yours for a little while now but haven’t commented yet. However, I just wanted to say that I was happy to see your link on the Pioneer Woman’s recap of her time in Dallas. Wish she had come closer to Portland! Also congrats on everything going on with you and I look forward to hearing more!

  • Love your blog post about this! How great! I’d wanted to go so bad but couldn’t make it :(

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