Truth: I met John & Sherry! You guys. It. Was. Awesome. I’d never been to a book signing before this past weekend so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought I’d share my experience and thoughts for other rookie book-signing attendees and for those of you who are planning on hitting up the YHL book tour.
The signing I went to was in Cincinnati at a large book fair called Books by the Banks. There were tons of authors there signing books. Even though the event was kid-friendly and my kids love books, I made arrangements for Layne and Everett to stay with my dad and bonus mom for the day so I could soak it all up. I have to admit. I felt a tinge of mom guilt over not taking them. But I knew they wouldn’t enjoy the lines and waiting. Plus, this was the first out-of-the-house thing I’ve done just for me since Mabrey was born nearly seven months ago.
HH was my right-hand man {as always} and came with me to tend to Mabrey so I could focus on the book-signing. Luckily, Mabrey was in good spirits during the whole event. She loves being around people and having an entire container of Puffs at her disposal didn’t hurt either.
We arrived early and grabbed a bite to eat since we hadn’t been able to throw anything in our mouths during the mad dash out the door that morning. Looking back, we probably should have eaten at our house or packed some snacks as sitting down for only a few minutes put us at the end of a very loooooong line to meet John & Sherry. At this point, HH and I decided it was best for him and Mabrey to grab a few seats for us in the conference room where John & Sherry were going to be speaking and I waited in line.
The line for Young House Love was by far the longest line. In fact, now that I think about it, it was the only line. Any other table, you could walk right up and speak to the author. Even the Novogratz table – which I happened to hit up as well.
Robert told me he liked my bag and I about died but somehow managed to say ‘thank you’ instead. And I knew he was tall. But dude is crazy tall. I barely came up to his shoulder. I’m 5’3″/5’4″ and he’s got a good foot-and-a-half on me. They were both really nice and signed my book. I think I said something about being inspired by their style especially with all those kids around. 7 kids. I. Can’t. Imagine.
Anyhow, back to the YHL line. It was long. Good long. Everyone I met in line was excited to meet John & Sherry and had no problem waiting for their turn. I think that’s a testament to how much YHL readers value John & Sherry’s ways…not over-the-top just down-to-earth, funny and friendly. In fact, I had fun in line. I met some great people. {Hey Kristin & Gauri!} I mean we’re all standing in line for the same thing so obviously we’ve got something in common, right? Why not talk about it?
When it was my turn at the table, it was less about getting my book signed and more about just meeting John & Sherry. To me, it was sort of like meeting a pen pal after a few letters back-and-forth. {Sherry and I have emailed each other for various reasons over the past few years.} I was super nervous. And just like Sherry has admitted to getting sweaty, talkative and weird when she’s nervous, I’ll admit that I get smiley, forgetful and huggy – as in I want to give everyone hugs.
Even other married men. In front of my HH. I swear I hugged Sherry too but somehow all the photos on my phone/camera are of me and John hugging. Is that creepy or what? So I was a creeper and smiled a lot and forgot a lot {I nearly forgot my signed copy of the book at the table!! and my camera bag on floor and totally forgot to formally introduce HH to J & S but they all shook hands so I’m pretty sure they knew who he was anyways. Still, HH kept Mabrey happy that whole time and I couldn’t even keep my wits about me to introduce him. Total failure.} and hugged a lot. I really need to get out more often. I forget how to act in public!
John & Sherry also gave ~45 minute talk in between signing books. If you’re planning on going to one of the book signings where they’ll be speaking, definitely make an effort to hear them out. The room was packed. Standing room only in the back. Yet it felt casual, personal and very YHL. Just like an extension of the blog. They are so funny and it’s a special thing to watch them together. I had a blast.
If you’re thinking of making one of the YHL book tour stops, here are my words of advice:
*Get there early. They sold out of books! I don’t think they/their publisher was expecting that but it didn’t surprise me or other fans in line. A few people speculated that it was because it was the very first stop before the book is officially released on November 6th but I have an inkling that lines are going to be long – good long! – at all the stops before and after the release. John & Sherry were hard core. I saw them take one five-minute break and sign through their lunches {see their plates on their book-less table?}. If that’s not commitment then I don’t know what is.
*Make it a ‘me’ day. Even though the book-signing and talk were totally family-friendly, it was really nice not having all three kids to chase around/take to the bathroom/feed/carry/entertain. I was happy that I made babysitting arrangements for Layne and Everett. If you decide to bring the kid{s}, then bring another adult to tend to them. Thank you, HH.
*Bring snacks. We ended up spending four hours at the book fair. We brought snacks for Mabrey but I wish we would have brought something for ourselves as well. Even a bottle of water, a banana and some crackers would have been nice.
*Talk to people in line. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in line. Why not make the best of an already good situation?
*Be yourself. This goes for what to wear and what to say. I wore something I would wear on any other non-book-signing-day. I didn’t plan anything to say I just said what I was feeling at that moment. “I’m so excited!” was my motto. I saw one fan have John & Sherry sign a white ceramic animal that she smuggled in in her mom’s purse. How genius was that?
Have fun! Oh, and check out page 184. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and absorb the entire book yet. I’m not a flip-through-the-pages-first kinda gal. I have to block out a chunk of time to thoroughly enjoy it in its entirety. But, I’m telling you, you need this book. And I get nothing out of the deal. That’s just me giving you my two cents.
Thanks, John & Sherry, for making my year!
Truth: I experienced my first NFL game live! Well, now, isn’t that quite a broad spectrum of firsts in one weekend?! So the book-signing was Saturday and then somehow Sunday morning we scored awesome club tickets to the Steelers-Bengals game that night. Let’s just say we know people. Or let’s say our friends know people who know people who weren’t using their tickets and were giving them away. Thanks Heather and Dave!
I was leery of going. It meant leaving the boys for a second day in a row and leaving Mabrey for the first time since she was born! But it also meant first date night in eight months!! HH is a huge Steelers fan {which makes me one by marriage} and he had been my baby warrior the day before at the book fair so I couldn’t say no. Plus, I actually enjoy watching football.
Somehow we missed security and walked right up to the field as the Steelers were coming in from warm-ups. HH was pumped. I worried about Mabrey. But the Steelers won and turns out Mabrey was an angel AND drank a bottle. {!} Maybe there’s something to this date night thing after all.
Did you experience any ‘firsts’ this weekend? There was definitely a trade-off to spending so much time away from home this weekend. We didn’t get any projects done and I have a GINORMOUS pile of dirty laundry waiting for me but I’m so glad I said ‘yes!’ to new things.
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
family life, inspiration, kid-friendly