& she was beautiful & fabulous & many of my best (& new!) girlfriends were there to celebrate the event.

Sara was gracious enough to snag us all tickets, so we took up an entire group!

We arrived early, made sure our cookbooks were purchased, & sat down for lunch.  Water, beers, mojitos, wine…& a ton of sunshine!  Tons of laughter, until the sun became BLAZING & we moved inside.  (Hello, North Carolina.  Why must you go from winter to one week of spring to summer all in six days?!)

We were the dorks that gave her a card as a group.  Ree came out & spoke about spanks, confirmed that her husband wears boxers, & how unflattering pictures must be taken at an upward angle.  She even sang for us & talked about her sweating back.  I love a woman who has no shame of back sweat (considering I have this issue all the time).

We tweeted while we waited.  By “we,” I mean me & Pioneer Woman.  Because we’re BFF.  Not really.

Then I met her.  She’s even more gorgeous in real life & I was completely star-struck like a giggling school girl.  But she’s just so stinkin’ nice that I couldn’t help but feel it meant a lot to her that I wanted to see her, instead of the other way around. She’s so humble.

& gracious.

Nate graciously stayed with Harrison last night so that I wouldn’t be on the road at midnight, so the female side of The Lushers & I stayed with Jenny, who as always, played the perfect hostess.  She even made us pumpkin oatmeal in the morning & introduced me to Glee.  GLEE!!!

My friends are beautiful, inside & out.  Old friends like The Lushers, that go back to fourth grade, & new friends like Jenny that quickly became a soul mate.  All brought together by blogging & this past weekend, Ree Drummond.

But I really, really couldn’t wait to get back to this guy.  I’m happy to say that I missed the hell out of him.

& judging by the grin on his face when I walked in the room, he missed me too.  Melted my heart.