I live in Los Angeles. I've seen Renee Zellweger at the dry cleaners and Meryl Streep at a cocktail party.
But I have never fanned out on someone quite so much as I did tonight.
Part of it is that I feel a kinship with Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman. We're both from a similar upbringing in Oklahoma. We both moved to Los Angeles when we were young. Only one of us went back home and found some sanity, and the other one stayed on the west coast sinking deeper and deeper into insanity. (That would be me, in case you're unclear.)
The other part of it is that she's an amazing blogger. And I wanted to tell her that. She's been a major, major influence on me. Not just for blogging. For life.
I was (literally) first in line. This involved an early morning trip to Barnes & Noble to secure a wristband. Still, when I realized I was (literally) first in line, I got the giggles. I mean I really guffawed. I sat on the floor and marveled at my line placement for many minutes.
You can ask Elizabeth, my new friend who was next in line. (Elizabeth, I wish I had taken of picture of you. Why didn't I?!) Elizabeth will tell you how I was really quite hysterical over the whole "first" thing.
Then my friend Anna showed up, and she helped me ditch the Nervous Maniacal Laughter. (You might remember Anna from my F+C party.) She also gave dirty looks to the VIPs who actually got to go first. But she didn't mean it. Anna's bark is worse than her bite. (Anna, am I blowing your street cred if I say that?)
Newly pregnant Anna was glad that we were at the front. This meant that we didn't have to wait in the line that wound through the third floor, then stretched down to the second floor.
Instead it meant that we could eat a long dinner, with loads of cheese and french fries.
And I could forget about my cheeks shaking, and hands fumbling.
The night I met Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.
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