I Am in Love

I am in love. Obsessed even. With a woman. And no one is more surprised than me.

Her name is Ree Drummond, and she is the author of "The Pioneer Woman" blog (http://www.pioneerwoman.com/). And the cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Reflections of an Accidental Country Girl." And her new memoir (though her story is far from over), "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." She has a gazillion loyal and crazed followers and this fall will host a cooking show on the Food Network from her ranch. (This is hard for me to imagine, considering that her driveway alone is five miles long. Can you imagine getting all that equipment out there?)

I first heard about Pioneer Woman while reading a blog by another brilliant and talented writer/photographer/mother Tracy Morrison., the author of Sellabit Mum (http://www.sellabitmum.com/). She called Pioneer Woman her idol and wrote about what it was like to meet her when she came through town on a book tour for her cookbook. How she agonized over what to wear, what to say, etc.. I briefly looked into who this Pioneer Woman was on the internet and thought, nah, not for me, country stuff, another cookbook, and besides, I would never go that gaga over someone.

Then Ree Drummond wrote the whole story about how she met her husband (famously known only as Marlboro Man) on a stopover trip to her Oklahoma hometown, in between leaving L.A. and moving to Chicago. I knew I wanted to read "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" because I had read bits and pieces of her story on her blog and it sounded really intriguing.

I swallowed this book in one gulp. I may still have pieces of it stuck in my throat. And I will say, with only a tad of embarrassment, that this is the most wonderfully romantic story I have ever read. It is also funny. Because Ree Drummond is a great writer, and she is genuine, and she is delightfully human. Ok, so maybe she mentions his starched shirts one too many times. She can be forgiven because each chapter leaves you with a cliffhanger and you just have to keep turning the page. And though thankfully it has a happy ending, their story is not without its challenges.

When I finished this book I had to know MORE. I wanted to see pictures of her kids, her ranch, Marlboro Man, her. I spent a lot of time reading her blog, which goes back to 2006 and showcases her stunning photography.  I wanted to know about every corner of her life and I wanted her to be my girlfriend. I requested her cookbook, and though it contains a lot of meat-and-potatoes recipes (she cooks for cowboys, after all), it is the cookbook that shows us more about her life on the ranch. Did I mention that it is an absolutely beautifully designed book? I plan to savor it and go through it one page at a time.

So now you know about my new love. I'll be busy for awhile. Stalking. A redhead in Oklahoma.