Big Girl & her "Buddy"

Yesterday I saw a little blurb in our local paper about the "Cake Boss," Buddy Valastro. Big Girl is a fan of his cake making, and we already knew he was coming on "tour" to a local venue to talk about baking and family and what not. The tickets were pricey, so I opted out, but yesterday's blurb mentioned that on his way to this show, he was stopping at a little bookstore to sign some cookbooks.

It was about a half hour or less from my house, in a pretty remote area, so I figured it might be a chance for Big Girl to meet him in person. We hopped in the car and arrived 30 minutes early for the signing, securing the 25th spot in line. We picked out one of his books -- the baking one, of course -- and waited. The time passed pretty quickly, Mr. Valastro arrived in a Lincoln Navigator, and we inched forward to the table.

Finally it was Big Girl's turn. She was very shy, but he was so nice, so sweet, greeting her with a "Hello, Beautiful!" and making conversation. I told him he was very inspiring to her, and he said he loved that. He got up for a hug and pic:

He wished us a "Happy Christmas" before we left the table. Such a lovely man! Very, very sweet.

So -- mission completed! -- we checked this off Big Girl's Bucket List. Next up? A visit to Carlo's Bakery in New Jersey. She has already requested that for her birthday day trip next summer.

P.S. The cookbook rocks! We found several recipes that we will be making for Christmas!