Giada

Evelyn loves to cook. She is learning how to do more in the kitchen as she grows and enjoys it so much. She is also a big fan of Giada DeLaurentiis, a famous TV chef. My kids don't watch a lot of TV, but 2 or 3 times a week Evelyn and I will watch 30 minutes of Giada together snuggling on the couch while Matthew naps. I am not sure who enjoys that more...😀

Well... when I heard that Giada was coming to Portland for a book signing to promote her new cookbook, I knew I had to take Evelyn to meet her! She was beyond excited, counting down the days until "the big day".

The day of the signing, we got down there TWO AND A HALF hours prior to the 4pm signing. I was hoping we could be one of the first people in line and be able get home before 5:30 so Evelyn could make it to AWANA. I was not sure how well Evelyn would do waiting for that long, but we packed a bag of fun stuff to pass the time and set off. Needless to say, she was a ROCKSTAR! We were about 20th in line and had fun hanging out, reading, talking and being thankful that it wasn't raining! She didn't complain once and didn't ask "how much longer?" as much as I thought she would! The nice people at Williams Sonoma on 23rd also brought us samples of Giada's recipe's, which was a fun treat too. When it was finally time, and the line started moving, Evelyn go SUPER excited, giggling and jumping up and down. It was pretty cute.


Evelyn had brought Giada two things: a large lemon and a picture of a lemon she had drawn (if you don't know, Giada LOVES lemons and uses them in a lot of her cooking). Giada said hi to Evelyn and when Evelyn said hi back and handed Giada her gifts, Giada and everyone surrounding us said a collective "awwwwwww"! Giada thought that was the sweetest and chatted with my girl for a bit. She asked Evelyn what she liked to cook and pointed out her daughter's favorite recipes in the cookbook (Jade is 4). Evelyn wasn't shy and talked well. It was the sweetest moment. The smile and joy that exuded from Evelyn was absolutely priceless... a moment I won't forget for sure.


Ok.. pictures. You want pictures. Well.. sadly... I don't have many. There were very specific rules about cameras. One of which was NO flash. And things were so rushed. AND I was taking the whole experience watching Evelyn. Therefore, ALL of my pictures turned out blurry!   I was so sad. BUT.. because my sweet girl captured so many people's attention, we had two pictures of us up on the Williams Sonoma facebook page!!! "I'm on the internet!!", Evelyn squealed, so proud and excited! 😂

Here are the pics I took and ones from the Willams Sonoma website.

 Waiting patiently...

Love her to bits!

Williams and Sonoma photo with Evelyn and I in line.. it was SO long and wrapped around the building quite a ways.

Next in line.... SO excited!!

Her shining moment.. they were talking to the WS manager!

She was SO nice.. and SO tiny!! It was a treat to meet her!

Since there were hundreds of other people waiting for the same opportunity we had, it was time for us to go. I am not sure if Evelyn stopped smiling the rest of the day!! "That was one of the best days of my life!" she said on the way home.

Mine, too, sweetie. Mine, too.