The big thing about any trip to Baltimore is spending time with our boy, Gus! We got to babysit twice this time, whoohoo! He seemed to like it, too! We were also there to attend Baltimore Concert Opera's kickass production of "Barber of Seville" on Sunday but when I discovered that The Pioneer Woman would be in town for the Baltimore Book Festival I had to figure a way around the schedule so I could hear or meet her...and get my cookbook autographed!

Ree was scheduled to speak (fortuitously, right down the block from our hotel and brunch location) at one pm, so I arranged with the Club to switch our brunch reservations till 1:30. It became obvious pretty quickly that I would not only miss about half of her program, but would probably also miss any chance of getting that cookbook autographed. Here she is arriving....look at those boots!

I did have to leave halfway through, but when I got to brunch, I found that my dear husband had pretty much already eaten with our son, daughter-in-law, and a few others. What the? Heck, I could have stayed down at the Book Festival if I'd known that! It was a good thing, though, because it meant I could wolf down a quick brunch (Eggs Benedict do not hold well in steam trays, just so you know) and drag the Big Guy back down the square with me to get that autograph! I didn't lug that book all the way down from Connecticut, not to mention all day Sunday in my bag, to go home un-autographed, believe me! Here is Ree (she is one funny lady!) posing for some pictures with people in front of us.

Now it gets tricky. If you read her blog or follow her on Facebook, you know that Ree was also in DC on Saturday for the Washington Book Fair....and forgot her camera, forcing her to record the visit on her iPhone. Gee, I thought I was the only one. Problem is, BG knows how to work the various and assorted cameras we own. The iPhone? Not so much. I gave him a quick tutorial in line, then proceeded to dump the entire contents of my Vera Bradley backpack onto the ground in front of the signing table just as I reached it. Soo classy and cool. We distracted her from my clumsiness by telling her about the place WE used to have in Oklahoma (okay, most of it was in Kansas, but we had to fly into Tulsa and drive up through Oklahoma).....that kept her busy while I retrieved all my stuff, fortunately!
BG actually got three shots (one is horrible and I will not share) although he doesn't recall taking this one or the one I'm not sharing, and I love this one. (Wait a minute...when did my hair get that freaking WHITE??!) We look like we are BFF's, don't we? Eat your hearts out! (She really is that sweet, by the way.)

And this one is not bad, even if I do look like a total dork. Again, with the WHITE HAIR already?!

The End.