I Meet Iowa Girl Eats

Here's my story of when I met Kristin of Iowa Girl Eats.

I was wandering around Trader Joe's after watching Amanda crush her 13.1 for the Des  Moines Half Marathon. I pretty much wander in TJ's because 1) I don't get to shop there enough to know where things are specifically 2) I don't think of TJ's as a real grocery store where you methodically wind your way through each aisle; I think of it as a party store 3)There's a lot of variety in a very small space and stopping to look at everything gets me all nervous if there are others around, which there always is, so I move on quickly. (No, I don't have *twitch* issues.)

So I was making my way down an aisle when I look up to see a very familiar face. I look down quickly. Is that her, Iowa Girl Eats? I think so. Should I say hi? Should I ask if I can have our picture together? No, that's weird. Yes! Do it! What's her name again? Her husband is Ben. I always remember that because I have a Ben and her Ben and my Ben are both sweeties... "Hi! Are... you Iowa Girl Eats?" "Yes." she replies. And I'm literally the weirdest freak fan from that point on. She ask me my name. We talk about why I'm here- which is weird anyway because the Des Moines Half/Marathon take place downtown and Trader Joe's is way out west of Des Moines. I make no sense whatsoever. 

AND I cannot remember her name for the life of me!! I keep thinking back to when she met Curtis Stone and his thick accent contorted her name so that even she didn't know it was her that he was calling! I was trying out Mee-ghan and Kiir-stin in my mind (never having met Curtis Stone myself and only having heard his Aussie accent on Hy-Vee commercials) and they both worked. She could be either Mee-ghan or Kiir-stin!!

Oh, it only gets better. As we chatted, meaning she tried to help me get through a conversation that I clearly was free-falling in, I found out she's doing her Iowa Girl Eats site full-time along with some free-lance writing! I'm in shock! How did I not know this? Here I am, a fan, and I didn't know this aspect and she probably can totally tell and... "Do you mind if we have our picture taken together?" She agrees and I manage to snap one off. 

Look at her. Kristin is as sweet as can be. She really is. And she does well with pictures with fans. I, on the other hand, am very concerned about a) pressing the right button on my phone camera (I just switched to an iPhone, which takes pictures differently than my former Droid phone and more than once I've shut down the picture app- Blake Wharton being a prime example) b) a good self pic that doesn't show my nostrils, but as you can see, makes it look like I have extra folds of skin around my neck which I don't normally have unless I scrunch down my head so that you can't see up my nose, and c) what her name is.

*twitch*

As we wrap up our meet and greet, I wish her best of luck in taking her cooking/writing adventures to bigger and better things. And, awkward fan aside, I really mean it!!  

She goes off in search of the pumpkin ravioli, while I had already decided on the lobster ravioli. I later post our pic on Instagram, stalk her on Facebook and Twitter and generally try to repair any damage to our infantile relationship. My daughter thinks I'm so, like, not cool for this picture, while all my IG friends think it was AWESOME! 

In my defense, I was still in euphoria over watching thousands of runners pound the pavement earlier, had only consumed a banana, a Tanka Wild Stick, a cup of half/half coffee and some water all morning, and slightly bewildered at why TJ's was blaring the Beatles over and over. 

Kristin, I really am a fan. I've made several of your recipes, including the Homemade Chewy Granola Bars (which really is the best homemade granola bar recipe I've tried yet). And your Sweet & Spicy Chili is on my Pinterest board because it's chili... in a mason jar, 'nough said. Thanks for being simply great!

As for you next trip to Trader Joe's: grab some Creamy Toscano Cheese crusted with Cinnamon. Serve it with sliced apples. Yum!