Chick Lit - Stalker Style Part 2 May 25, 2008

Click HERE to see picture of Me and Jen at her Booksigning

I’m so excited to tell you all about my visit with THE JEN LANCASTER. It was actually more like a book signing- less like a sit down visit with food and beverage. My husband came home early from work to watch the kiddos so that I could get to the Such a Pretty Fat book signing. I had never been to this particular bookstore before so pretending to be the Girl Scout [that I never was] I prepared myself with snack, bottled water and the all important MAPQUEST directions. I was on the phone with my sister while driving there. I was sure that I had passed it, knowing that I hadn’t even entered the correct city yet. It always stresses me out to go somewhere new when I am in a time crunch. I almost passed it up but in true JEN style I cut off 3 lanes of traffic and squealed into the parking lot just in time. Once inside I assessed the situation to see how long I had to browse the bookstore before settling into a cozy [hard, cold, metal] chair. I purchased my book for her to sign and I sat down next to a group of rowdies. They had brought wine in colored water bottles [very clever, indeed]. How do I know it was wine? Well, they were passing it around like it was holy water and I have a nose like a DOG! I was surrounded by shiny, happy people [a la R.E.M.]. I opened my book to get a sampling of what was to come and got about 3 pages in and the event started. Jessica [one of the bookstore employees] walked out on stage to introduce JEN and then it was time for her reading. I’m not sure what part of the book she was reading from, but it was so funny - laugh out loud funny. It added so much to the words to hear them actually come from her mouth. I loved every minute. She also did question and answer time. She is obviously a gifted and talented writer, and is just as quick-witted and humorous in person. The book store was set up in such a way that the reading/question and answer time was on one side and we had to walk to the other side for the actual book signing. As we were walking towards the signing area, she was walking right next to me - not more than a foot away from me. Let me just say that I too am normally fairly quick-witted and humorous and all I could come up with to say was “wow, I’m standing really close to you!” How embarrassing!!! Luckily, she just laughed it off. I must have been having a low blood sugar moment. After walking clear across the store, I realized I had forgotten my camera, so I ran out to my car. I had to have my picture taken with her!!! When I came back, I was in the very back of the line. I was not in a hurry, so I thought I may as well enjoy myself. I never meet a stranger so I was happy to get to know my fellow Jen-fans. I got to know two gals named Darci and Amy. They both each have one daughter and we were instantly able to bond over our love of all things Jen and had a lot in common since we were all moms. Darci indulged me while I asked her 101 questions about her work, life etc… Also, we both have a love of Louis Vuitton. Amy gave us the scoop on having a new child and all that entailed [little sleep, crying and lots of breastfeeding]. We were absolutely giddy by the time we reached the head of the line. We each had our picture taken with Jen and she signed our books. I gave her my gift [monogrammed duffel and towels] so she could be chic and stylish at the gym. It was a great experience! We never got to meet one-on-one for a cup of coffee but I will cherish my photo with her—FOREVER!