Meeting Jen Lancaster

Last Friday I took a trip two years in the making. I boarded a metro train bound for the city and met up with a friend. After a delightful dinner of tapas and sangria and a quick stop for cupcakes we made our way to the Jen Lancaster, Pretty in Plaid, book signing.

Awww... look at the cute crazy stalker fangirrrl.

I know you are already like, "Uh, what is the big deal? She's just some author. What are you some crazy stalker fan or something?" Well, I could be. I did after all wear lime green pants, a pink polo and pearls. And the above mentioned cupcakes. Divine, by the way. So while I could be construed as crazy stalker fangirl (hmm.. despite the lime green pants and pearls I'm really more of a fangirrrl, anyways...) it is more that Lancaster's first book came to me at just the right moment. Let's go back three years, shall we?

There I was all post-partumy and on my first outing after having TD. I was standing in Borders humor section figuring, "Why the F not. I could use some as long as it's not the Jeff Foxworthy variety." And there it was, Bitter is the New Black, Lancaster's first book and I thought, "I'm bitter..." I picked it up and began to read while pushing a colicky TD. I couldn't stop laughing and relating. When I was done with the book I wanted more. I quickly discovered her blog, Jennsylvania. While I had a live journal back in 2003 and a pregnancy/family-only blog, I never thought of blogging on the scale that Lancaster was doing. I had never read any one's blog either. Suddenly, I had a fever. A fever that could only be quenched with more... blogging.

And there you have it. I created The Mummy Chronicles, quit my day job and now I'm a writer, reviewer, consultant extraordinaire! I really believe that I have Lancaster to thank for that in some way. She inspired me to do something I didn't think I could and kept me laughing throughout. Meeting her for the first time (despite two years of trying and missing book signings) was a real highlight for me. Even if I couldn't get up the nerve to do more than shove cupcakes at her, grin stupidly and squat beside her with the brilliant line of, "Wow. I feel really tiny squatting down here." I iz wicked brilliant writer, no?

I'm hosting a few giveaways at MPR this week- check them out here! There's a silver pendant and more!