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…and with the way my luck usually goes, I should have known what I was gonna get!

**ETA** Added link to Kids Cooking Company, a SUPER DUPER cute store we found near the Border’s on Preston and Royal in Dallas.

In case you weren’t aware, even though I mentioned how excited I was to meet PW no less than five times in this post, last night was Ree’s book signing in Dallas.

Little did I know that people came by the Border’s at 9 am to get a wristband.  I didn’t stand a chance!  It was not exactly economical for me to make the two hour round trip to the Borders in Dallas twice…and here we are all about being economical!  {it would have been worth it, though!}

So my cousin and I head out to the bookstore, oh, at about 6 pm.  We drove in the pouring rain, dodging traffic and 18 wheelers the whole way.  {note to the authorities in charge of the road systems: please replace the paint on the roads!  we could not see the lane markers.}  We get to the bookstore at around 7:30ish.  We could not find a parking spot, plus every spot was for compact cars.  One spot I saw I doubt I could have parked my backside in!  It was that tiny.

We got our silver wristbands (the last group at the time) and thought for a bit…’what to do while waiting?’

Eat, of course!

We found a Cantina Laredo, and since it was close and we didn’t feel like Pei Wei, sat down to a relaxing dinner.  Fifteen Diet Cokes later, we headed back to Border’s, where we got to see Ree and her punks up close.

They were on the second group.  We were the eighth group.  We each got phone calls and text messages from our husbands saying our young kids were still up and causing a ruckus, so we knew we couldn’t stay much longer.  We calculated the time we would be waiting if we stayed.  Three am? Would our husbands appreciate that, when they had to go to work the next day?  Um, probably not.

So, to keep our marriages intact, we made the decision to leave.

But not before snapping a few “fake meeting Ree pictures”!!  It’s the next best thing.  And Aunt Z, I am so sorry I didn’t get your book signed.  Really, truly, I am.  I am sorry I didn’t get mine signed too.

So, to recap:

• We should have gotten a wristband at 9 am.
• We did not, and were in the 8th group.
• We saw a Chocolate Soup!
• We saw the Kids Cooking Company (link up when I find it)!
• We ate at Cantina Laredo (where my cup of soup and Diet Coke cost $15)!!
• We did not get our books signed.
• We got to see/take random pictures of Ree and the punks!
• We survived the rainy roads intact and lived to write about it.

So, all was not wasted.  And Ree…if I mail you my books will you sign them?

My husband was not lying.  When I walked in at 11 pm my two year old was awake saying “Mommy’s home!” and the baby had just fallen asleep.

So Ree…hows about a signed book??  Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Or, just come back to DFW, but this time make it to Fort Worth or Arlington, so I can go super early to get in line.  You will?  Oh I knew it.  Thank you!!