Catching up...

November was not my best blogging month, I won't lie.  And I've got a lot of catching up to do.  I'm excited that I can finally blog about one of the most fun things I did in the last month.  I got to meet Ina Garten!  While I was at Sur la Table getting some things to make a cookbook for my sister, I found out that Ina Garten, of Food Network fame, was coming to sign her new cookbook at that very store just a couple weeks later.  With Christmas fast approaching, I thought what a perfect gift this would be for my mother!  (I gave my mom her autographed copy of Ina's new cookbook this week, so I can finally tell you all about it!)  

I went the day before the big release to buy a copy of Back to Basics, securing me a place in the autograph line.  I asked the Sur la Table employee what I could expect for the big signing launch and he said that when Rachael Ray came to sign one of her cookbooks, people were waiting in line starting at 6am! (the signing was not scheduled to start until noon)  I thought about going super early, but quickly realized that it would not be wise to make Reese miss her morning nap, and decided to go as soon as she woke up.  By the time I got to Sur la Table, the signing portion of the afternoon had just begun and the line was through the entire store, out the door and halfway around the block!  It was a little chilly, but luckily I bundled Reese up and had toys and snacks to keep her happy.  It took us a little over an hour to get through the line and Reese was a champ!  Sur la Table employees were walking around with Barefoot Contessa samples from her line of boxed mixes.  We got to try her coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, peanut butter and jelly bars and lemon angle food cake.  Delicious!  It made the wait so much more enjoyable...and Reese was a big fan of such yummy new treats to try!

When we finally got to the front of the line, I seriously had butterflies!  hee hee.  Ina was so nice...she said how beautiful Reese was and how nice it was to see us.  I told her I love watching her everyday and love everything she makes!  (I had an hour and a half to think of what witty thing I would say to her when I got to the front of the line, but when push came to shove, I froze!)  All in all, it was a great day and a very enjoyable experience!  (much more so than the last book signing I went to when they pushed me out of the way as I was trying to get my picture taken with the author.  the nerve!)  And, to top it off, my mom loves her new cookbook!