One week ago, I had the best night! Joy the Baker was in Austin at BookPeople to talk about her cookbook and sign books. I was so pumped! Joy is one of my favorite food bloggers. Her podcast that she & Tracy do is hilarious as well!
Jessica & I…picture from FoodFash
So, as typical food bloggers do, I turned to Twitter to make plans. Jessica, Kristin and I decided to meet up for the book signing and go out for drinks afterward. As we were waiting for Joy to arrive, we ventured into fantasy land….
“What if Joy came out to drinks with us afterward?”
“What are you going to say when you meet her?”
“I have to think of something witty.”
“Wait, so what if she actually DID come out with us?”
“Should we ask? Hmmm, how do we ask? Where would be a good place to go so she’ll want to come?”
Joy & I
After Joy’s talk and Q&A, it was go time to line up to have our books signed. Kristin and I both invited her for drinks at Contigo after she was done. We threw in that we were food bloggers, so ya know….she’d know we were good people. :)
We settled in at Contigo and started chatting. I had no real reason to think Joy would come to Contigo. She’s tired! She just had to sign a bunch of books and make small talk with strangers.
But you guys….she came! I was OVER.THE.MOON! i seriously got to chat with Joy for over an hour over gin drinks. She was so gracious and lovely and answered my non-stop questions with patience. Such class that Joy the Baker!
And so, in sharing my glee with you…
I’m giving away a copy of the Joy the Baker Cookbook! You WILL want this cookbook. Hello….Coffee Bacon, Baked Chili Cheese Fries, Carrot Cake Pancakes, Chocolate Malt Bread Pudding, & Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies….just to name a few.
To enter: Leave a comment!! It came be about anything. Have you met food bloggers in person before? Did you act like a star-struck fool like me or did you keep it together??
Contest ends Friday night at 11 pm.
Winner will be drawn on Saturday morning.
***edited: Contest has ended. Congrats to the winner: Maureen!
That is amazing! Maybe my dreams of getting Pioneer Woman to come with me to The Salt Lick are not that far fetched.
I would have definitely been star-struck. Joy the Baker is the tops.
Oh Kristin, I hear you about Pioneer Woman too! She came to Wichita for a book signing just a few weeks after I’d moved to Austin. I was so bummed to miss it! But spending time with Joy more than made up for it!
This is the cutest post! It makes me soooo sorry I missed the evening. If I had a blogger crush, I think it would be over David Leite at Leite’s Culinaria. He is hilarious.
Maggie–Joy would have ADORED you, much like we all do!!!!!
I’ll have to check out Leite’s Culinaria. My favorite food bloggers are funny ones!!
Fun! That’s so cool that she came out for drinks! I’ve met you before, but it was BEFORE you became a food blogger. I might just nerd out if we were to hang out now.
You’re hilarious! I’d pick your brain over where you find all that cool home decor & fashion stuff to blog about! Every time, I read your blog you make me want to go shopping.
That. Is. Awesome! How exciting! You are currently the only food blogger that I know & have met. I have to admit that I had not heard about her before your blog, but now I’ve got to check her out. Plus some of the recipes you mentioned sound AMAZING!
Yes, she has great recipes! Also…I should be back in Wichita for a visit at the end of July, I think. We’ll have to catch up!
So cute! Very glad we were able to finally meet at well
For sure, had such a fun time!!!
Cool post! I have never met a famous food blogger in person, but I suspect I have been around some since I saw them tweeting furiously through the meal.
Hey lady! So glad you had fun! I can hear you squealing with excitement
I was not familiar with Joy before you had started posting about her, but she sounds awesome, as do her recipes. And of course I wonder: what’s the tattoo on her shoulder?
She has several tattoos! You guys would definitely bond over that topic.
How cool. I’m doing the happy dance for you:) I was turned into a giddy school girl when I met Fabio from Top Chef. I told him that I loved him. Seriously… how embarrassing!
Ahhh!!! That is so totally freaking cool!!! What a great experience to meet her like that!
Awesome! How exciting! I never met food bloggers in person: so cute, Joy the Baker is the tops!
Agreed! She is!
I’ve never met a food blogger before but just getting a DM from one of my faves on twitter was enough to make me star struck!!! You are SO lucky!! Not only did you meet an amazing one but JOY?!?! That’s just awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing your experience and hosting this giveaway!! This one’s been on my wish list for a while!!
thanks for this giveaway!
I have not met a food blogger but I have met once at a luncheon Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa). I would love to meet a number of the people behind the food blogs that I read.
Oh man, I would love to meet Ina! And Jeffery, ha!
Just goes to show it was good that you bravely invited her for drinks! Good job! I would also love to meet Joy, what a personality! Thanks for the giveaway!
P.S. Frankly, it would be fun meeting YOU in person!
Ah you’re so sweet!!!
Yay! What a fun night! Thanks for organizing us on twitter and also to Kristin for having a pair to ask Joy out.
It’s fun to be in a city with so many bloggers and I’m so happy that you’re one of them!
p.s. Hooray for your first giveaway! (but pick someone else if my comment is randomly chosen!)
I’m so glad you’re one too!!! Let me know if you have time to hang out again before you go to NY!
I would LOVE to meet Joy! She sounds like so much fun and I love her recipes!
I would love to meet Joy!
I’ve never met a food blogger in person before! Ahh there are so many I’d like to meet. I’d like to think I could remain classy, but I’m sure I’d be starstruck.
Joy, come to Malaysia! If that’s not too far
Joy is so awesome!!! I want to take her home with me and be her best friend lol
Believe me, I had to bite my tongue to not tell her that I thought we’d be friends if we lived in the same city!
You’re so lucky to have met her! I’ve never met a food blogger but I’d love to meet @joythebaker @smittenkitchen or @bitemebook one day!
Oh I have that Bite Me cookbook too!
What a great story! How sweet that she met you for drinks after all.
I moved from Austin to Tokyo last year. I definitely don’t regret the move, but I SO miss TexMex and other Austin foods. (No such thing as jalapeños here, and limes are $3 each!) I have made some of the recipes from Joy’s website and adapted them to my Japanese kitchen. Her black sesame and soy sauce cookies were a hit at my workplace!
i’ve met blog peoples in person. usually i’m pretty chill – they’re just people, after all
Ah I wish I would have played it cooler.
I haven’t ever met a blogger! Although I did see a blogger (who blogged about recipes, restaurants, filming and knitting) at one of my fave restaurants and was too shy to say anything. Instead – I tweeted that I saw her! Hah. And she tweeted back saying I should’ve said something.
I’ve done that too! It’s hard to know if you’re invading their space or not.
That is amazing. Was she just as fun + witty as on her blog?
Super cool. I have her cookbook and it’s the bee’s knees. Except I totally burnt the choc granola. Still tasty.
Bree-she totally is!
Wow. So jealous. Congrats on the convo w/ drinks with the real deal.
I loved meeting a ton of food bloggers at BlogHer Food in Seattle! We have so much in common. But I was still a little star struck.
I can’t wait for BlogHer Food in Austin next year!
I haven’t met any bloggers, I just recently started blogging myself and looking for new blogs and recipes to try. Darla at Bakingdom was my inspiration to start though and I’d love to meet her one day!
Darla’s awesome!! Congrats on starting the new blog! I’m going to head over & check it out!!
Joy makes some things vegan, which would be super helpful to me as a new convert. That, and she mentioned in one of her posts baking while blaring Fiona Apple was her go to stress relief … hooray for a kindred spirit
Fiona Apple is coming to Austin soon for Austin City Limits. I’m thinking of going! I loveddddddd that Criminal CD.
Me too! I hope you get to go
I’m just getting into the food blogging community and haven’t met any of the bloggers I follow. I’m going to the Food Buzz conference in September, so I can’t wait. Just came across your blog too! I love it all
I want so bad to go to FoodBuzz too!! Just not sure about hotel/airfare, etc! Hopefully you come to Austin next June for BlogHer Food 2013!!
oh julie! Love. LOVE your site. I wish I would have stumbled on it earlier when I was looking for a good beach read… I am way jealous that you got to meet and drink with Joy! so adorbs.
Ah you’re so sweet!! I definitely always blog about books I’m reading & always looking for good recommendations. I just started reading Gone Girl last night.
No, I’ve never met a food blogger in real life, but boy I sure stalk them online! I love food blogs!
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
I totally am an online stalker too!!
I would have done the same thing. That is after I stopped turning three shades of red from being nervous. I wish Joy would come to Boston! thanks for the give away!
I hope she was as lovely in person as she is on her blog!
That is so awesome!! I love that she came!! She is just a regular person, but still, I would have been so nervous. Glad you guys had fun!
I love Joy’s food blog and her style. I haven’t had a chance to go out to one of her events, but someday!
The only food person I have met is thanks to you, Julie ~ Pioneer Woman! Thanks for getting the tickets! I know I still need to post those pictures!
Is it bad that I secretly wish I were a food blogger?! I love trying out new recipes and love cookbooks – dream of the day I have more time to play in the kitchen!
Jill–you should do it!!
I think Julie should write a cookbook.
that was nice to know about.http://www.plactual.com
i like your post. great stuff and new ideas. so keep it up.http://www.cantoneira.com
I’d love to win this one. I tested the chili cheese fries, and the Bourbon Banana Bread for the Leite’s Culinaria site and both were fantastic. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting a blogger in person but I’m sure I’d be star struck like you said.
So bummed I missed this! Loved the photos though, you are so lucky to not only meet her but get to have a two hour chat with her! Love it. That totally makes up for missing Ree right? Totally.
It totes does!
Great pictures! I have met celebrities before and have not reacted, but I think if I saw one of my favorite food bloggers, I would definitely FREAK!
Never met a food blogger, but stood in line to get Lidia Bastianich’s signature a cookbook in Williams Sonoma last fall. She was such a sweetie!