Behind the Scenes at the Ranch

Everybody sing with me now…..

Okkkkkkk-la-homa, where the wind comes sweepin down the plains!  Where the wavin’ wheat, Can sure smell sweet, When the wind comes right behind the rain.

I really wanted to burst out with that song on the ranch and you’ll see why when you see the pics.

As you might imagine, I had an absolute blast at our video filming out at Ree’s (The Pioneer Woman) ranch in Oklahoma.  Ree is so down to earth, just a normal mom and woman, whom we can all relate to.  She made us feel so welcome and at home in her Lodge and it was an amazing experience that I feel so blessed to have been a part of.  If you still don’t know who Ree is, let me urge you to get on over and check out her blog.  You may end up being hooked on it like I have been for 3 years now. (Cowboy Josh lives here)

It was a whirlwind trip, but we managed to pack a lot of fun into those 2 days.  First, I met up with Lisa, of BlogHer and Sabrina, with Slice of Lemon at the airport.  Lisa was in charge of keeping us all on task and actually making sure the video got completed.  Sabrina was my fellow blogger and sidekick on this project and was part of the Bed and Bath conversation as well.

You can see from these pics that the ranch is just an amazingly beautiful place.  {insert Oklahoma lyrics again) 🙂 What a backdrop this is, don’t you think?
Ree, Rhoda and Sabrina after the shoot.

Today, I’ll share a little behind the scenes news of our actual filming project and then later I’ll share more about the Lodge.  Yeah, I know you want to hear about that too!  It’s an amazing place and needs a whole post of its own. 🙂

I had never been part of anything like this before, so it was very exciting and fun too.  When we arrived at the ranch, we found our rooms and got settled in.  Shortly, Ree arrived with the fixins’ for homemade pizza, which was a delight to me. I love pizza and will definitely try her recipe for this, since we have TONS of fresh tomatoes and basil right now.  Ree, with help from Sabrina, got the crust all ready for toppings and baking.

Lisa Stone, of Blogher, arranged the flowers that we bought on the way out.  Lisa was very fun to hang out with and I’m so glad I got the chance to meet her in person too. Blogher is a great organization to be a part of. Ree working on that pizza crust and drizzling olive oil that she loves so much. As well as a nice Caesar salad.  Can you say YUM?  It was absolutely delish and I was hungry, so ate plenty. Flowers on the counter. That pizza deserves another look. But, we saved room for her world famous chocolate sheet cake, which I’ve made at home many times now.  Fabulous, that’s the word for this cake! Served up on a pretty turquoise plate, it was to die for.   Ree went back to her house to spend the night with her family (I know, no girl’s slumber party with her, darn it!) and we 3 girls settled in for the night.  I slept great in that bed with the quiet all around.

Next morning, around 8:00 a.m. these 2 arrived, Donna and Elizabeth, to do our hair and makeup.  How fun is that?  That’s a treat I don’t often get either.

One little sidenote.  I had forgotten to pack my hair dryer and there was not one to be found in our group, so since I washed my hair that first night, I ended up having to let it air dry.  And that’s not really a pretty sight.  I have challenging hair, to say the least.  But, Elizabeth did a good job of working with it.  I’m even showing you my bare face before makeup.  I’m a firm believer in makeup, by the way.  Everyone can benefit from the stuff!

She pulled and tugged, working some sense of pretty to it.  Did I mention I have naturally curly hair.  Yep, I do. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my hair my entire life.  Sometimes I love it and sometimes it’s the hate word that comes out. After hair and makeup, it was time to get with the videographer guys.  They were all great to work with and knew what they were doing.  Thank goodness, all we had to do was put on microphones and do what we were told. A little hair touch-up for the problem hair girl. And we were off and running with the video.  I have no idea how it’s all going to come together, so I’m just hoping I do OK on it and don’t look like a complete goober. Back and forth conversation went on with all of us and it flowed very well.  We were just being ourselves, really. We wrapped it up with a little video shoot coming down the hallway. And that was a wrap.  We were all done and it was time to leave.  Boo-hoo.  One more look at the ranch and we packed our bags to come home.  What fun it was.  This will be a great memory for me. A beautiful ranch in Oklahoma and new friends. We saw a few more of these guys on the drive out the gravel road. 

And stared at this guy on the way out too.

As well as these black beauties, who were just trying to stay out of the hot sun.
Thanks again, Ree, it was so much fun.

It will be another week before the video is up and we can all watch it together. 🙂  That will be the last post in this series.  It’s been a lot of fun and I’m happy to have been a part of the bloggers involved.

Head on over to the Putting it All Together page for more on this subject from the other girls who are getting in on the discussion.