Dreams Do Come True

I feel that this blog post needs a bit of back story, so please bear with me.

I love Ree Drummond. You may know her as The Pioneer Woman. She wrote a cookbook. It's amazing. Buy it if you haven't already. After writing this cookbook, she decided to go on a tour around the country. Her first jaunt around the US didn't come anywhere near NC, so I just figured it wasn't meant to be. Then she decided to do a second tour, hitting 5 more cities which included Seattle and Charlotte. She didn't forget about me. She also didn't forget about Susie.

Ree went to Seattle first, back in April. Susie had a chance to meet PW then. It didn't work out. You should read that story here. Go do it. I'll wait.

Sad, right? Well, I had a similar dilemma - I almost didn't meet the Pioneer Woman either. Charlotte is 3 hours away, I had to work on Friday, and Conor is so busy at work that he wouldn't be able to come with me. Besides, there are some things in life that Susie and I are meant to do together. This is one of them. Same with teaching, although this is yet to happen as well. We will teach at the same school one day, and we will be an unstoppable force. I predict the next plateau school will be called Allison-Glassey Elementary School.

I set off to work on Friday unsure whether or not I would actually make the drive to see Ree. Conor was a real trooper. He assured me that 3 hours really isn't all that bad, that Ree would love to meet me, and that I would be extremely upset if I didn't go. So, off I went in hopes of arriving at the bookstore just minutes before the event was supposed to start.

As I walked up to the line, I heard quite a commotion so I looked up to the second story of the bookstore, and Ree was standing there taking a picture with her iPhone and she said "I'm twittering this" - I was in the photo!!! Very exciting.


See that blue blob in the right hand corner - that's me!

I walked up to the counter to receive my line ticket, to find out I was going to be there for a while...


Oh snap. Group Q. This might be a long night.

Ree started the event by saying hello and answering a few questions and answers about herself. I honestly don't remember many of the questions because I got strangely nervous to meet her. But I do remember her answering that Marlboro Man wears boxers. Hotsy-totsy.



She even did her Ethel Merman impression!

Once she got settled upstairs, I realized just how long this might take, so I was trying to think of something to do. I walked down to Starbucks to get a frou-frou drink. That only took up about 5 minutes. Then I called Susie and we chatted about what a travesty this was that we were thousands of miles apart on such a special occasion. I told her I would try and make a friend like she had in Seattle. Yeah, that didn't work. Everywhere I looked, there were groups of people. 2 friends dressed all cute holding their books. Groups of 3 chatting about their families. Moms and daughters bonding over Ree. And a few stragglers, like me. Although, they all seemed content to sit and not look over at me while I feebly attempted to "hit on" them. I'm no good at making new friends, I like the old ones.


See, these people all had each other.

I guess I was going to have to make my own fun.


Ah yes, my section. Love you Edward!


I spent most of my night here, on a tiny little bench reading Sh*t My Dad Says. It's pretty funny, actually. But then I thought about how depressing that was, reading by myself in a corner, so I walked around the bookstore a bit. I did a lot of walking.


I think this might be something you would only find in a North Carolina bookstore. Susie definitely didn't have this experience at her PW book signing.


Conor would have sat here the whole night if he had been able to come.

The letters slowly kept being called, but she finally called Q. It was my time. As I was walking up the steps, I started realizing that it really was a bummer that Susie wasn't going to be there. Separate, we're alright. But together, Ree would have invited us to the Lodge and would have realized that we were meant to be lifelong friends. I swear, I'm really not that creepy, I just wanted to share the moment! And then I started thinking about how I was going to get to meet her, and that Susie didn't. This was an opportunity that just couldn't be passed up. Now it was just a matter of if she was going to think that I was crazy. Once I reached the back of the line, I snuck a peak and saw her.


So close!

There was a group of 3 just in front of me, and Ree was chatting with them quite a bit - she ended up taking their picture and I'm sure they'll be on the blog later. I'm not in the military, and I didn't make an I "heart" PW sticker, so I didn't get my picture taken.

The couple just behind them brought her a bag of Honduran coffee because they just went on a mission trip themselves. Thoughtful.

The lady just in front of me was having a book signed for a wedding present. She barely said a word. I realized she might be nervous, and then that made me realize that I should probably be nervous too. Was she really going to do what I was about to ask? Oh man, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Then it was my turn. It's still a bit of a blur, but I do remember walking up there and not even saying hello. I just sat next to her and nervously started talking.

"I have sort of a strange request." - jittery Cheryl
"Uh oh, what's that?" - amazing Ree
"Will you write 'Suck it Susie' in my book?" - Cheryl, pondering if she actually just said that...
"I'm not even going to ask, I'm just going to go with it." - befuddled Ree
"She tried to see you in Seattle, but she had to leave because of a school function, and I she's going to flip-out when she sees this. Thank you so much!" - blushing Beaker
"I think this may be the first time I've ever written "Suck it Susie" in a book before!" - fantastically understanding Ree


If you look close enough, you can see me giggling while she is in the middle of writing "SUCK IT SUSIE"



I also asked her to sign my copy of Muriel's Wedding because it's also one of her favorite movies.


She signed "I heart T.C." on it too, Toni Collette is the best! I have to be honest here though, I think she just wanted to get rid of me at this point. I officially may have freaked out the Pioneer Woman. This is what I mean - Susie and I are meant to be together so we don't do stupid things like this while apart!


Ree and I together, future besties.

I still can't even fathom the night's events. Calling Susie afterward was the best, you'll have to read her story here about it.

Thank you Ree for a fabulous night - I was on such a high that the 3 hour drive at 10:30 at night didn't even phase me! Oh, and Susie - I got to meet her in person, so SUCK IT!