alrighty, don't blame me for bragging but i've had my fair share of celebrity encounters. okay, you can blame me, because i'm clearly bragging...
  • ryan gossling
  • michelle williams
  • joseph gorden-levitt
...to name a few.

but the best/latest celebrity encounter (yes, i'm calling her a celebrity) was by far my most favorite and most magical.

i love her.

creepy? yes. overboard? yes. entirely warrented? MOST DEFINITELY!

but do you know what made it even more memorable? she was kind. she was sweet. she was surprisingly taller than i thought. and she called my sister and me "cute girls." and i was like, uh, yeah...we've heard that before. KIDDING!

my celebrity encounter was with the most fabulous...


isn't she a doll! she writes a blog called the pioneer woman. and if you've never heard of that, perhaps you've heard of the food network? she has a show. she cooks. i don't cook. but i like to eat, and so does she and that's why i know we would get along so well.

so, i met her. i just happened to be in denver when she was doing a cookbook signing there. what a coincidence! well, not really. when i found out she was going to be there, i booked a flight to visit my sissa kelli and it was two birds with one stone. blah. blah. BLAH. i'm a creep.

saturday was magical: kelli and i woke up and first thing that morning we both got massages. my very first profesh massage. O. M. G. perfection. loved it. then we ate breakfast at this glorious little restaurant. fresh squeezed OJ is my friend. fast forward through lunch because that was very uneventful...

we arrived at the store where ree was doing the book signing. kelli and i were in a sea of 45-50 something women. and they. were. HOSTILE. people...don't mess with the 45 to 50's. they love their pioneer woman. i was shoved, glared at, beat over the head with a cookbook. not really, but i think she wanted to. in addition, i've never seen a store employee receive such a tongue-lashing. i thought i was harsh and/or aggressive...not compared to these ladies. yikes. i'm pretty sure that boy is in counseling.

so kelli and i waited and waited (for about 30 minutes) and decided we had plenty of time before our number was called to line up for the signing. we left for an hour and came back. the line had barely moved. we ended up getting her oil changed, visiting costco, eating a hotdog, and stopping at tj maxx to say hello. we thought for sure some progress would have been made by that time. uh, nope.

that's when kelli said, "karli, get in line, i'll distract them." so i sneakily sneaked my way into line. to make a long story longer, i was not assulted by any women, although i'm sure they wanted to. but i pulled the "i'm from idaho" card and badda-bing! i was at the front of the line. it was my turn!

in my 30 second conversation ree learned the following about me:
  1. i write a silly, little blog
  2. my husband is a farmer of wheat, alfalfa, and corn
  3. i don't cook and he starves
  4. my sister and i are "cute girls" (her words, not mine)
  5. i'm from idaho
i'm expecting an e-mail any day with an invite out to the ranch so her and i can be besties.

so, she signed my cookbook that i fully intend to cook from:


it says, "Love to Farmer & the Bell! May your husband gain weight! (heart) Ree

i could not have been more thrilled...or nervous. she's a doll.