On our drive to New York City, one of the questions I asked of my travel companions was, “Should I perchance run into The Pioneer Woman, what do I do?”

I have met many celebrities over the years, or should I say almost met.  I came close to many and felt that I shouldn’t approach them because they were in their downtime.  Who am I to go up to them and and talk to them and possibly interrupt their day?  Nobody, I am just a fan who admires their work, so onward I go leaving that moment behind me only ingrained in my memory.  So, I asked my travel companions what I should do, is the blog celebrity world the same as television or movie stars? Is it alright if I walk up to The Pioneer Woman and shake her hand and blubber on and on in nervousness?  Are there rules for this?

Nobody had the answer.

On Thursday night, when I was celebrating with the other Ladies who traveled to BlogHer in a Chevrolet sponsored by GMCanada, I spotted Marlboro Man going into the elevators.  I was a couple of drinks in and in a good mood and I almost, yes almost yelled out to him, “Hey Marlboro Man, tell your wife we love her!!!”  Then I chickened out and he got into the elevators.  Then, he came back down!  And it took all my Canadian politeness to keep it in again.  This could be the closest I would get to saying hello to his gorgeous wife.  I let it go, I remembered my manners and the fact that he may or may not call security to have me removed from the Hilton.

The conference went on and there were no further sightings of either Marlboro Man or The Pioneer Woman.  I saw her tweets, wished I had been at her cocktail party (but really, I do not cook as well nor photograph my food as well as PW or her guests) so onward I went.

On Saturday afternoon, in between lunch and sessions I dropped into the trade show with A Capital Mom, we were checking out some of the booths, and I turned around and beside me was The Pioneer Woman.  I am sure she was thinking who is this crazy woman pointing at me, but I said, with my finger pointing towards her (sorry Dad, shame on me I know), “May I say hi?”  And she said, “certainly”.  Gosh I almost passed out.  I think I told her I was BeachMama but, did not give her my real name, nerves, then went on to thank her for my mixer, thank her for inspiring so many people with her website and tales of her family and held her hand for a brief moment.  Then let her go.  Off into the trade show, most likely running away from me as fast as she could.

A Capital Mom had sort of moved on and back tracked.  I wanted a photo of that moment, but couldn’t do a self-portrait shot with my big Nikon, so let it ride. It wasn’t like I wanted to pull my iPhone out of my bra in front of The Pioneer Woman to take a picture.  It was ok, I could let it go, I had that memory forever ingrained in my memory.

Then later that evening, we were all standing in the lobby waiting to go for dinner when who should also be waiting, but The Pioneer Woman.  It took a long time for me to get up the courage to ask for a photo and it truly was GlidingLara who convinced me to do it.  GlidingLara wasn’t going to let me let it slip away, so I set up my camera for her (with the flash that I NEVER use) and off we went.  The Pioneer Woman was so sweet, remembered that I was BeachMama to which I told her my real name, we had a small laugh, then moved into better light to get a shot.

And so we have the photo, proof that I did meet The Pioneer Woman, that I did make a huge fool of myself and that I really need to work on my introduction to strangers.

Thank you Pioneer Woman, my smile in this photo alone says so much.  I was really, really happy to meet you in person and to thank you for all that you give to your readers, both in stories and gifts.  You are a gem and an inspiration to others and so, so beautiful. Thank you for letting me get a photo of us and so sorry I didn’t have my proper flash with me, I shot from the hip most of the weekend and didn’t want to carry more than I needed to, lesson learned.

Until we meet again,

BeachMama