Famous

Alternately titled: In which Tori and Allison dork out while meeting a celebrity

Allison and I got the opportunity to meet Ree Drummond, otherwise known to the entirety of blog land as Pioneer Woman. About a month ago, Allison called me and told me I should buy a copy of her new cookbook, and sign up to go to the book signing with her. So I did. She forgot. I didn't sign up for an extra ticket, but somehow one got assigned to me because when Allison finally went to reserve her spot (like last week), they were sold out! Lucky Allison!

Anyway, back to the signing. We left the big kids with alternate caregivers, and headed out with Charlie to Will Wyatt's Cowboy Couture to meet PW. We got there a little early (shocking, I know) and were sent upstairs to "shop" and wait. And wait. Apparently Miss Ree is veerrrrry popular in KC. Who knew! But we found a chaise lounge to sit on (which had a storage compartment for a GUN CASE in the side... and was labled as such) and started reading through the cookbook.

When we first started waiting, they were taking tickets 1-65. We were 132 and 133. We walked around a bit, and by the time we sat down they were taking up to 75. They quickly walked through and announced to come down if you were up through 100. Then shortly after 120 and 125.

Then we sat. And sat. Finally, someone came through and announced 120! Um, hello? We've already done 120! Once we finally got downstairs, time passed quickly. Allison could finally buy her book, and I posed with mine...

Like how I let everyone know that there was a baby under that blanket named Charlie? That's because so often when I'm wearing him in the sling and take the blanket off of him someone will come over and say, "Oh, wow! I didn't know you had a baby in there!" Why exactly do they think I have a huge bulge in front of me with a blanket draped over it? I don't know. I just figured giving the bulge a name might help. :-)

We made friends with some of the people in line- and they even offered to take our picture on the wall of boots. Please excuse the awkward way my head is turning that makes me look like I have multiple chins. I had a baby 2 months ago, remember?!

By the way, Kenny, Allison found a pair she wants for only $1,625.

Charlie was good as gold...

...but all the waiting meant that he got hungry before we got to the front of the line. So, I did what any mama would do- I nursed him standing in line- even though in 19 months of nursing Jack I'd never nursed that publicly! As soon as I started feeding him one of Ree's "people" came up and asked if I wanted to move to the front of the line. Really, nice, but I declined, seeing as I was half naked under the blanket! Charlie totally finished eating before the big moment.

Allison was first.

But the real star of the show was Charlie, who was held by a celebrity for the first (and let's face it, probably last) time! :-)

Apparently something on Charlie's hands was suddenly very interesting to him, but we were pretty psyched to meet Ree and get our books signed!

What A Week!

Jack and I are in Florida after driving from vacation with my family in the mountains of NC. We had no internet access there, so I am very behind in my blogging. Part of the reason for the blog is to document Jack's adventures, so I'll update in some detail the events of the trip, but since I just have a quick minute while Jack is napping (I'm supposed to be catching up on work :-) I'll say that we had a great time and upload a few preview pics. Jack did spend the first couple days of vacation still sick, but we are thankful that he felt better by Wednesday. He had TONS of firsts, and learned a lot in a week, so it will be exciting to share that as well. But for now, a few pictures.

Blog Makeover!

You may have noticed that the Friedrich blog looks a little different today. No, I didn't do it myself, I'm not that savvy! I had it designed by a very nice young lady who is raising money for a humanitaritan trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. You can read about her here. Most of the money she charges for a new blog design go towards her trip and buying supplies to give out once she's there. A small portion goes to a "Charity of the Month." March's was the adoption of William, a baby in Liberia with a host of special needs. His family is still "recovering" financially from their daugher's adoption, but are trying to raise funds to get him home to better medical treatment asap. Here's his website if you'd like to read about him, or donate to his adoption fund. His story is close to my heart seeing as my beautiful niece Kennison was once listed as a special needs orphan far away. Although her special needs were nowhere near as complicated as William's, hopefully we'll see pictures of William smiling at home with his family soon. Here she is smiling, an All-American toddler today!

So, if you're feeling like your blog could use a makeover, and you have a blogger account (sorry, that's the only one she can work with) check out Nikki's blog and consider supporting the great work she's doing!