My Day With INA GARTEN!!!

  

Our day started bright, and early Tuesday morning!! That was the day I got to go, and see Ina Garten!!!

We left at 7:30 in the morning because we were going to be in commute traffic. We arrived at 10:00am at Santana Row shopping outdoor mall in San Jose, California. 

The book signing was held at Sur La Table…..

There were already people lined up, having coffee, and sitting in chairs waiting for Ina to arrive at 12:00.

I would guess that we were some of the first 100 people there. 

After about a half an hour we were so glad that we came early. The line grew, and grew! It went down the block, and eventually it went up the length of another block……..

There were people of all ages, young, thirty-something's, my age, and even people in their eighties. Ina transcends all age groups.

The employees at Sur La Table were warm, and friendly They brought out trays of espressos for the crowd…..



I thought that was such a nice touch, but wait! There is more! Then they brought out trays of mini muffins and breads……..


We were beyond excited to be here so the wait went by quickly.

We visited and looked at our new cookbooks…..

All of the sudden the line started moving, the excitement level began to rise. It was happening!! We were about to go inside and see Ina Garten in person……….

There she is!!! I became like a star-struck teenager.  I was amazed at how young she looked in person. She is such a pretty lady, and her warmth radiates from within.

She had her work partner Barbara, and her neighbor helping her. There was also a body guard that made his presence known.

Barbara was warm and friendly as she took my cookbook and handed it to  Ina’s neighbor who opened it to the page that Ina would be signing it on. 

Then it happened…… 

I had planned exactly what I was going to say to her. Of course that went right out the window as soon as she made eye contact with me,smiled warmly, and said,

“Thank your for waiting!”

 

Are you serious? Of course I would wait all day to see you!! No, I did not say that, but that is what was going on in my head.

I finally uttered a few words….. “Thank YOU for making entertaining so much easier for me!”

She was still looking at me and……

....She said, “You are welcome.”

  

Then with a cute little lean of her head she said, 

“It is hard sometimes isn’t it?”

I said, “Yes, but it’s a good hard!” Omgosh, did that make sense?

She smiled graciously, signed my book, and off I went with my friend like two happy teenagers that had just seen their teen idle.

I think we floated out of the store, seriously.

We left to go and have a lovely lunch at the Left Bank restaurant, which was so fun because the menu was in French, and English. Many of the dishes were like what we saw at many of the cafes while we were in Paris.

After lunch we walked by Sur La Table, and she was still there signing her books for fans. We went right back in, and took the opportunity to take a few more pictures.

She made eye contact with me again, as if to say, “Oh, you came back, how nice!” I clicked away, and enjoyed every single minute.

Some of them are a bit blurry because there was a lot of movement going on, but I can look at these blurry pictures, and remember the day that I met and talked to Ina Garten…

♪♫♪♫Someone’s in the kitchen with Ina,♪♫♪ someone’s in the kitchen I know, oh ,oh, oh ♪♫♪♫

BTW:

You can purchase Ina’s new cookbook, "Fool Proof," with her autograph here!

Ina has a Facebook page, here!

Her blog, Barefoot Contessa, here!