Happy Friday! A few quick updates to start:
- If you’re trying to order our book and you see “sold out” or a “1–2 month wait” message on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other retailers, don’t worry — thousands of copies are en route to warehouses now. They should be entered into the systems in a few days and available for immediate shipping soon, so check back; they should arrive before Christmas.
- Tomorrow we’ll be in DC for LivingSocial events at 918 F Street. These are pre-ticketed events, so if you reserved a spot we can’t wait to see you! Then Sunday we’ll be back in Richmond for a free signing at Mongrel in Carytown at 1pm.
- You guys are hilarious. We love reading your comments — there are hundreds of them and they crack us up.
It’s been two weeks since our last update, so here’s another long tour recap. We’ve finally caught our breath after the busiest stretch yet. Between our Boston stop on November 7th and Dallas on November 18th we hit six cities across two countries, took ten flights, and spent six nights away from Clara and Burger (they were much happier at home with my parents than on those flights). We also sampled a ridiculous number of cookies, thanks to the tasty treats at each West Elm event.
Our previous recap ended in Toronto, and from there we flew to Minneapolis. We were eager to explore but our schedule left little free time, so most of our Minneapolis experience was the event itself. Still, the Twin Cities crowd was warm and funny and made the evening memorable.
As with other West Elm events, the staff — the “Elmers” — were fantastic, and the attendees were kind and patient. We recognized a few familiar faces from blogs we’ve featured before, which is always fun because it lets us match people to rooms we’ve written about. And yes, we apparently need to work on varying our photo poses.
We met Sarah, who once sent us a photo of her frame wall and later brought a copy of the book for us to sign. She also shared a follow-up photo with her now-signed copy. We collected a bunch of great moments at the stop, including a birthday sing-along that doubled back into some name confusion — a funny little moment that ended up working out.
We’ve done plenty of unique inscriptions, but one of the oddest involved writing a cheeky line in someone’s book — you’d have to read their write-up to get the context, but it wasn’t gross; I was just following directions.
One highlight: West Elm asked us to sign the leg of a parson’s table that they auctioned off that night, raising $170 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It felt great to be part of that local act of generosity.
After Minneapolis we flew to Houston. Again, time to explore was limited, but we squeezed in Tex-Mex, an event, and a surprise birthday celebration. The thoughtful gesture from fans — a special display and cupcakes — made my 31st birthday feel extra special, even if the trick candles thwarted my attempt to blow them all out.
At our events we encountered some hilarious moments and fantastic fans. One couple recreated a sketch from our book with such enthusiasm that it ended up delightfully silly. Another attendee’s request for a funny photo resulted in a marker mishap that left a large red dot on her neck — one of those perfectly imperfect moments.
We also received thoughtful gifts, like two small canvases painted with matching cows. We hung them in Clara’s room and she adores them.
Dallas was our final stop on this leg of the tour. We stayed at the new Omni downtown, which was impressive — there was even a TV built into the bathroom mirror. We made time for a Skype call with Clara, which was a sweet moment in the middle of the craziness. Seeing her present me with a birthday balloon was worth the hectic schedule.
We explored a little of Dallas, including the West End and the JFK Memorial Plaza, and indulged in more Tex-Mex. We also found a novelty machine that supposedly determines your “Guide to Romance,” and despite the randomness of the device, we both got the exact same result — a funny coincidence.
At the Dallas West Elm event we met plenty of creative and devoted fans. Some people brought relics like old t-shirts, others arrived straight from a 5K race wearing their race tees, and a few came prepared with unusual signing requests. One young man brought a Harry Potter book for me to sign, which felt like a funny crossover moment. Another mom invited Sherry to sign her baby’s onesie (she carefully pulled the onesie out to avoid marking the baby directly), and the baby was a trooper.
Our Saturday Dallas event ran long — over four hours — but we made our evening flight home and by late that night we were back in Richmond, reunited with our sleeping little one and an energetic Burger. Since then we’ve had more signings in DC and have a couple more coming up this weekend, so the tour continues.
One final note: in the first month after our book launched, together we raised over $1,200 for charity — donations to St. Jude through West Elm events and a local children’s charity via auctioned projects here in Richmond. We’re so grateful to everyone who participated and helped make that possible.
Thanks to everyone who has made the tour so special — the event hosts, the drivers who got us around, and all of you who came out, brought thoughtful cards and treats, and shared laughs with us. It’s been a whirlwind: exhausting at times, but overwhelmingly rewarding to meet so many kind and hilarious people. And just so it’s clear for future events — yes, we’ll sign your baby, your Harry Potter book, or write something silly in your copy. Glad that’s settled.