Kristen Steele Photography

The Pioneer Woman's Book signing in Nashville, TN!

From time to time I want to take a break from all the photo sessions & share some fun personal stories. Here’s is my recent venture with my fabulous wedding planner friend, Vicky Stanton of Tennessee Bella Weddings to meet The Pioneer Woman…

The Pioneer Woman. She’s a HUGE phenomenon in case you haven’t heard of her. I’m fascinated by her. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the sights I saw last night, after all it was a giant group of women, but I was. Ree Drummond (aka “The Pioneer Woman”) has become a mommy/cook/photographer blogging mega-star. She has thousands upon thousands of followers and it all started on a BLOG.

If you haven’t heard of her, go here to read her blog: www.thepioneerwoman.com.

I will admit up front, I haven’t been reading her blog for three years like the majority of women who turned up last night to Davis Kidd. In fact, I only recently discovered her when I Googled “Photoshop Actions.” That was a few months ago and I’ve been reading her blog ever since.

Now I’m a geeky technologist, a blogger, a photographer, a wife, a determined cook (I say determined because after I got home last night from the book signing I asked Dave how the Crock Pot recipe was I lovingly made for him and I realized I had fixed another dud, too-dry recipe… oh well, try again!) and a huge twitter/facebook-aholic so why was it so hard for me to realize that The Pioneer Woman had amassed a huge following? Because I had never experienced it first-hand.

The women in line knew EVERYTHING about her: the name of her best friend and sister who were there signing books too, about which cities she had already visited on her book tour, her husband’s pet name “The Marlboro Man,” the fact that Ree loves babies and will take pictures with them @ her signings… I could go on and on but I won’t. In fact, MANY women brought gifts to her (see photo below), as if she was little baby Jesus in a manger. I don’t mean that sacrilegiously, I promise, I mean that seriously because some of the women had that kind of devotion.

Checkout just how many women I mean…

So when she finally walked out, everyone was so excited, the energy was incredible!

She said a few words, explaining that she wasn’t going to take the time to chat beforehand because there were SO many people there! {Please notice the scene in the background which was SO typical of the whole night: a cute girl taking pics with her awesome camera, several onlookers including a bored man who was probably the wife of a fanatical fan. }

Checkout her stash of gifts beside her on the table, that was only after about a dozen women. One girl brought her a box of Gigi’s cupcakes, YUMMY!!

But Ree graciously signed EVERY single book that came through the line, even when a couple of women brought an entire BOX of cookbooks they had ordered off of Amazon!

The background of our book signing here in Nashville was much prettier than some of the other book signings she has been to!

So then I FINNNNALLLY got to meet The Pioneer Woman! I really didn’t have anything else to say other than, “I’m a photographer too! I love all your actions & your photography blog posts, thanks!” She was nice, signed my book & it was fun!

Apart from the sheer-phenomenon aspect of it, it was ridiculously fun! We were all standing in line together, waiting to get our fancy cookbook signed. I went with my wedding planner friend, Vicky Stanton of Tennessee Bella Weddings and we had a blast!

Tags: Booksigning, photography, The Pioneer Woman

1. Judy DiSalvo says:

   December 11, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   Hi Kristin! I am glad you discovered PW – now I am wondering if (by chance) you might have taken any more pictures that have the older woman in the purple sweater (in the first group). I was leaning over for something (Lord knows what). My daughter was with me. She had on a black and white mini over black leggings. Our pics were just AWFUL (I cannot stress the word awful enough here). I just thought it you had any candids that include us we would love and see and possibly purchase? You can contact me @ my email address above.

   Thanks so much for posting these. I met Ree at another signing earlier but it was daughter’s first time. I wish PW would have spoken for a few minutes longer. She is really funny. I think she must have been really tired from the night before. Thanks again!

   Reply
2. Wendy says:

   December 11, 2009 at 5:22 pm

   I love the Pioneer Woman! I use her Boost action on almost every photo I produce! I haven’t been following her book signing tour. I didn’t even know she was going to be in Nashville. I would have loved to gone. Oh well…

   Great blog, by the way!

   Reply
3. Shelly says:

   December 11, 2009 at 6:29 pm

   Kristen,
   It was great to meet you the other night at the PW book signing! I’ve had fun browsing through your blog and admiring your gorgeous photographs.
   Take Care,
   Shelly V.

   Reply
4. Vicki says:

   December 12, 2009 at 4:22 am

   Love your pics of the Pioneer Woman. My daughter and I are actually in the middle of your first picture. We were in group 8 and decided to sit right there on a bench in the middle of the main line. We watched everyone come through and could see PW thru the crowd. It has been fun to check different blogs and see pics of people we saw and to get their take on the evening. I have just been reading PW blog for about 2 months. My daughter longer but has been cooking many recipes. I can’t wait to send my daughter this site. We had fun. It was a great night. VH

   Reply
5. Kristy says:

   December 12, 2009 at 6:37 am

   Sooooo very jealous you got to meet her. I was in Nashville that night, but with a series of mishaps combined with the downpour and three very active boys, I was unable to make it to the signing. Looks like it was a blast!

   Reply
6. I love The Pioneer Woman | My Life the Way It Is—No Fluff & a Lot of Mess says:

   September 9, 2010 at 12:46 pm

   [...] The Pioneer Woman at her cookbook signing. Yes, THE Pioneer Woman. For a full recap with photos click here. Here’s me meeting the infamous Pioneer [...]

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