St. Louis and Meeting The Pioneer Woman

My alarm sounded at 5:15am, but I was already awake. It was like Christmas morning, except that even Santa doesn't excite me that much. We hit the road around 7:30am and it rained all the way to the city.

We started at Saint Louis University, where Kyle and I met with people from the law school and the speech language pathology programs, respectively. Oh, my word was it fun! I found out some really unique opportunities I would have at SLU that aren't available at some other schools.

We then joined Aunt T, Uncle D, and Cousin Steph at the beautiful Four Seasons hotel where they were staying and had lunch. What a gorgeous place it was! It may have been the swankiest hotel I've ever seen.

After lunch everyone wanted to do a little shopping (I had a small chunk of change in gift cards to spend at Anthropologie) so we parted ways. Anthropologie brought their A-game. The store was decked for the holidays, but in a very subtle, Anthro way. Everything was beautiful. For the first time, I actually allowed myself to look seriously at their clothes. Never before had I done this for one simple reason: clothes from Anthro ain't cheap! Since I wasn't technically spending my own money, I went for it, and oh, what fun it was! I tried on many lovely things and had a difficult time choosing what I wanted. I walked away with two beautiful shirts that I hope to use and wear for a long time. I exclaimed to Kyle, "I feel so special!"

We headed back downtown to Christ Church Cathedral where Ree was speaking at 7pm. We got there three hours early.



We had second row seats, so it was worth it! We took pictures of everything while we waited.







Then Marlboro Man (aka Ladd, her husband) and her two youngest punks, Bryce and Todd, came storming in the room. They were as cute and wild as I imagined.



Right before it was time for her to speak, Cousin Steph went to the ladies room and on her way out ran into P-Dub! Oh, I was so jealous. Lucky.

But before long, Ree was standing in front of me. I mean, right in front of me. She was beautiful and tall and thin. Ignore all her "chubby" jokes. They're lies.



The evening began with question and answer, so I said, "Hi, Ree. Will you pretty please do your Ethel Merman for us?" People cheered. She blushed. Then she did it.



Then her boys tugged at her jacket, her hair, her microphone, and climbed the podium. It was awesome. They clearly adore her.



Then, quite sadly, the Q&A was over and it was time to get my book signed.



We stepped up, made some sweet small-talk, posed for a picture (taken by my sweet, ever-patient, ultimate trooper hubs) and I felt complete.



Marlboro Man gave us free t-shirts and sent us packing.



We said our goodbyes and started our drive home. Then we stopped at Chili's for dinner (not-so-exciting, but we had a gift card). Chili's is the place to do business, as in, the business of fawning over your husband and thanking him for joining you on this day that was, more or less, all about you.



As we were pulling in the driveway at home, Cousin Steph called and said, "You'll never believe who we just saw in the hotel gift shop!" It was Marlboro Man and the punks. They were staying at the Four Seasons. Lucky.

It was, without a doubt, one of the most fun days I've had in a long time!

Cooking with Chelsea and Ree

Tomorrow I meet Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and one of my heroes. What is it about her that everyone loves so much? She's the blogging it-girl. Is it her charm, authenticity, humor, talent? It's all of that and more.

If you've been reading my blog, or following me on Twitter or Facebook for any amount of time you've probably heard me singing her praises (listen carefully and you'll probably hear my husband singing along in the background). She inspires me to cook and enjoy cooking, to stop and look at the beauty around me by snapping a photo, and to keep plugging away at this little blog I love, never knowing what it might mean to someone else.

So, inspired by Julie & Julia, a love for Ree, and little encouragement from my beautiful cousin Stephanie (who's going to meet Ree with me tomorrow!), I'm going to start a little project. There are 61 recipes in The Pioneer Woman Cooks. In the next year, I am going to cook through all of them. I mean, if Julie Powell can make it through Julia Child's 524 French recipes in one year, I can make it through 61 country recipes, right?

Wait. Don't go anywhere.

You might be saying, "Chelsea, we've seen you start these 'projects' before, and you NEVER carry them through (i.e. Old Music Tuesday, all those multi-part series posts you began and never finished)."

Yep, you're right. I have very little stick-to-it-iveness. I blame it on television. And my mother for letting me quit summer softball in the 4th grade. Television and my mother. Thanks, Ma! (Just kidding, Ma!)

With all the seriousness I can muster, I'm excited to see where this goes. I have no expectations, except the hope that I might come out a better cook on the other side, and maybe I'll finally get Kyle to put on a few pounds. We need some balance in our relationship.

Oh, and Ree, if you ever read this, thanks for everything.

Love,
Chelsea