PW Weekend: the Lodge

This past weekend I hung out in Oklahoma with The Pioneer Woman herself, 7 other lovely lady guests, and a whole hoot-dang of other people, including the basset hound Charlie.

Yes, I realize I just included him in the list of ‘people.’

I keep asking myself, did it really happen?

The over 700 pictures on my camera say: it did.

I still have a feeling of disbelief as I look at these.

I’m telling you up front, I need to process this in tidbits. We’re going to start small: with our arrival at the Lodge Friday night. Other tidbits will include Charlie, the cats, feeding the wild horses, chocolate and cookie decorating lessons, all the lovely ladies I met, and of course Ree herself. The red headed, sweet, funny, blogging machine. And I mean ‘machine’ in the kindest, most admiring way possible.

Let’s just take this step by step–it all started with a white limo at the Tulsa airport.

Serge was our driver.

As we wended our way along dusty country roads, I suddenly realized how big the sky actually is. Chicago likes to cover up her celestial nudity using things like skyscrapers, trees, and generally cityscapes. Oklahoma just lets it all hang out–she ain’t hidin’ nothin.’

See? I even picked up a fun new accent!

Anyway, we arrived at the Lodge as the sun was starting to set.

Two kitty cats greeted us. They smelled a little funny and needed a bath, but they were the cuddliest creatures you can imagine. If you made so much as eye contact, they started purring up a storm.

We arrived at the same time as friends Jennifer and Ann. Ann kept saying “I’m freaking out!” over and over again, her absolutely infectious laugh ringing out loud and clear.

Ree had left us a note on one of the counters welcoming us.

“I’m freaking out!” said Ann.

My Mom and I got the bedroom at the end of the hall. It was gwaahgeous.

Hello, Mr. California King. Helllooooo scrumptious gift bag from Chefs Catalog.

I think we may become close friends on this trip.

Each of the four fabulous bedrooms had its own bathroom. Somehow we ended up with the most deluxe of the four.

I quickly made a date with the bathtub. “You and me, Saturday night, with a glass of wine, OK?” I whispered.

It was a magnificent experience–more about that later.

The hand lotions were soooo nice and scenty.

Once we had settled in, we scampered back up the hallway towards the main living area.

As we guests hung around getting comfortable, getting to know each other, getting used to our surroundings, and photographing the sunset, I floated around in my happy place feeling a little like Goldilocks.

We explored the pantry.

Christy from Colorado climbed the ladder. Hi Christy! You were such fun to be around!

. . . and the laundry room.

I just had to show you because–guess what–Ree and I totally have the same trash can, like!

I think it’s a sign. It either means we’re bound to be BFF’s fohevah-evah–or maybe that we both shop at Target.

I choose the BFF’s interpretation. Just let me live in my fantasty world a little longer. Please?

The crowning jewel of the Lodge, though, is the kitchen.

The countertops of poured cement . . .

. . . the funky metal bar stools and fantastic ‘island’ perfect for the cooking demonstrations the next day . . .

. . . the huge stoves and ovens . . .

Even the paper towel holder had character!

Très Old West.

Monday I am going to be doing a little expose on Charlie the basset hound. His droopy eyes, his saggy persona, and his vicious temper compel me.

Happy weekend everyone!