The Pioneer Woman National Holiday

If you don't know who The Pioneer Woman is, you should be ashamed of yourself. When I say one of the main reasons I went to Utah was so she could sign my copy of her recently-released cookbook, I am not exaggerating. I thought it would be much more fun to visit her with my Mom and sister, Charloe, than alone (she came to Phoenix the very next day). They both follow her blog like me, and we all simply adore her! The best thing? She is just as cool in person as she is in writing!

Jeff tagged along on our journey to visit P-Dub. Charloe and Mom's books both arrived in the mail that morning, but mine was a no-show. I ordered one from the bookstore over the phone so I wouldn't have to worry. We swung by Nephi and picked up Mom before continuing north to Salt Lake City. We stopped first for a non-healthy lunch at the wonderful Utah buffet, Chuck-A-Rama. There may be nothing better than fresh homemade scones with honey butter. Charloe needed an oil change on her CR-V, so we walked to Costco for some great shopping while waiting for the car. We all got some Christmas shopping done and enjoyed our few hours in the store! Then we house-hunted in the area of town where Jeff is thinking about moving if he gets a local job. The neighborhoods are so cute near Sugarhouse, which is where I went to school for a year at Westminster College before transferring to the University of North Dakota to finish my degree.

We drove past the bookstore around 5:00 PM, and the line was already curving around the block. We parked and waited with the rest of Pioneer Woman's fans. She just released her book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, which is loaded with delicious recipes that she has developed as a city-girl-turned-cowboys-wife. It is also a photography book, showcasing so many of her gorgeous pictures from her ranch life in Oklahoma. We were finally allowed inside the art gallery next to the book store to listen to her talk. It was magical when she finally arrived! She is so beautiful and funny, and we enjoyed listening to her answer questions from the hundreds of people who had shown up to see her. We then waited in line for three more hours before finally getting to her signing table. It was so worth it! We finally made it out of the book store, with huge smiles and autographed copies of our books in hand. We stopped at Crown Burgers for dinner before making the trip back to Nephi to drop off Mom. Kip was asleep, but Parker had made us cookies and Merrill stayed up to say hi. At 1:30 AM, we finally pulled into Charloe's driveway. It was worth the trip to Salt Lake City to see Pioneer Woman.

So you, too, can become an addict: www.thepioneerwoman.com