Boston Highlights From The Decorate Book Tour
Hello everyone! As promised, I want to keep you in the loop as I'm on my book tour in the U.S. to let you know where I've been, where I'm going and how each city has received me - so far, so good! One city behind and 5 more to go! Tonight is my event in Chicago at Anthropologie and then I'm off to San Francisco first thing in the morning. It's been a bit of a whirlwind but I am not jet lagged, feel great, and am enjoying each moment of it because the last thing I want to do is return home and have it all be a bit of a blur. So I guess you can say that as much as I possibly can at least, I'm savoring the moments.
photos above by the lovely Kim Lucien
Boston was a joy. I was careful to not invite all of my friends because I thought it was better to get together with them separately, but I did invite 10 or so of my closest and it was so nice to see them again after being away for two years. I also was able to see lots of my Blogging Your Way students - I really loved putting a face to their names. I was able to meet so many people who, up until now, I'd only "known" online and so I think it will help to strengthen these already good friendships now that we've seen one another and know we are the real deal.
Me and Matthew Mead - weeeee!
When I arrived to Anthropologie on Saturday morning, I was greeted by an enthusiastic staff who were all so happy to see me. This instantly put me at ease. My good friend, Boston designer and Decorate contributor, Fernanda Bourlet, was there to greet me as well as she was my special guest for the event. She was going to speak for 5 minutes about mood boards but in the end we ran out of time but I want to thank her for being there with me - the support meant a lot. Fernanda is a very talented and special lady!
After arriving, I was lead upstairs to the area where I'd be doing a mood board demo and they set everything up so beautifully I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like going to a wedding with a buffet of baked goods, mimosas, bottled waters hand decorated with fabrics and a huge bookcase that they decorated with my book and fabrics, swatches, everything I had asked for and much, much more. There was even a huge mood board for me to work on and above it, tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling.
My signing table was on the 1st floor, they wanted me to be more centrally located for that part of my event which was a great idea. The table was gorgeous and completely set up with pens, flowers in an "H" mug, stacks of Decorate, a big poster and more of the tissue paper pom poms suspended overhead that were also upstairs. No detail was overlooked. Even the "rope" used to corral people into line was handmade with fabrics. It was all so impressive.
Photo by: Desha Peacock
Photo by: Amisha Thakkar
Above: Flowers to sent to wish me well on my book event - so sweet - from Rag & Bone Bindery in Providence. VERY nice gesture.
Aside from having a book signing in Anthropologie (a dream come true), I was able to meet so many readers of decor8 and now, Decorate, and I made sure to spend a little time with each person because the last thing I wanted was for someone to stand in line and then be brushed off. I was very happy when people thought to give me their business cards because it helps me later on when I want to keep in touch. I also brought my signing book so while everyone was standing in line, they could sign my guest book while I was signing at the table. When I went home that day, I read each entry and it made me smile to know them all now in a much more personal way.
After my 30 minute presentation, I was going to take a 30 minute break but when I walked downstairs and saw a huge line I knew it was time to meet and greet everyone so I took my seat and started signing. I signed books non-stop from 11:30-1:15 and the event was supposed to end at 12:30! THANK YOU BOSTON! That was an amazing kick off event for me and I'll never, ever forget it. I also have to thank Chronicle Books for getting me over here in the first place and sponsoring this tour along with the generosity of Anthropologie and their creative ideas - I am still blown away by how much thought they put into the event.
For everyone I met - I'm honored that you took the time to come out to meet me on a beautiful Saturday morning when you could have been at the beach! Thank you for taking time to see me and I'm so happy I was able to sign your book. I also want to thank everyone who wanted a photo with me - this may sound funny but it is also a real moment for me when someone asks that. :) Thank you for making this blogger feel like a superstar, it's a nice feeling sometimes - we all need a little love and encouragement.
Ladies who took me out to lunch after the Anthropologie event. I'll post all of their names next week so you can meet them, too! Photo by: Monica Lee.
Embarking on this book tour alone was one of the scariest things I'd ever done. Flying to the states unsure of what would happen at the first event was a challenge for me on all levels but I'm glad I just went for it - my determination to meet as many of you in person as possible paid off and I'll go home next week with the satisfaction of knowing so many more of you than before on a much more personal level.
THANK YOU BOSTON!!!!
(images linked to their sources below, if unlinked, I took them.)