I got my book signed!

Thank you to everyone who crossed their fingers that I would get my book signed. It worked! Last night was amazing! My sister Natalie and I arrived at the Eisemann Center about 15 minutes before it began with our just-purchased hardcover copies of Eat Pray Love. At this point, I was still incredibly doubtful that they would have a book signing for 1,200 people. We walked over to enter the seating area. The lady took our tickets and I asked her if there was going to be a book signing. She said yes and that's when I started hyperventilating. I was thinking, "Are you serious?!" So, we walked to our seats, ROW G - that's right, we were in the SEVENTH row! I kept sitting there thinking and saying, "Natty, can you believe it? I can't believe it! I can't believe that there is going to be a book signing! I mean, my heart is beating so fast!" She kept telling me to calm down.

The Director of the Arts & Letters Live program came out on stage to tell us a little bit about their upcoming events and told us that in our programs we all had notecards on which to write a question for Elizabeth that would be used during the Q&A session. Of course Natty and I were trying to think of the perfect question. She ended up writing "Do you still keep in touch with Richard from Texas and is he here tonight?" Very clever I thought. I wrote "What is the greatest opportunity you've been afforded due to your success?" And then I wrote "P.S. Thank you". The Arts & Letters director then continued to give us a little background on Ms. Gilbert. And then it was time. She walked out on stage, everyone started clapping, and I started to tear up. I was definitely able to control it though. I kept asking Natty how close she thought we were to Elizabeth...like, in yards or feet. She didn't know. I would estimate something like 40 feet, but honestly I am terrible at measurements and I don't really even know how far/close 40 feet is.

Elizabeth's talk was everything I expected. She was funny, she was honest, and she was inspiring. She mentioned that she is currently writing a book about matrimony. Both Natty and I agreed that our favorite part of the talk was when she addressed one of the notecards that asked if she would talk about having children vs. not having children. Elizabeth will be 40 this year and has come to the decision/realization that she will not have children. She made a couple of really good points.

1.) Not having children doesn't define one as being selfish, selfishness defines one as selfish.
2.)The world needs women who don't have children. She called them "sparents" - spare parents.

This really meant alot to me for some reason. I guess because I am already 28 going on 29, and I don't have kids yet. And while I would love a child (or two) someday, I still don't think I will be ready in the next couple of years. I am really enjoying my freedom right now.

When it was time for the book signing, Natty and I rushed out to the lobby. We were about 12th in line. I asked one of the employees if we were allowed to have a picture taken with her. She said Ms. Gilbert had agreed to that but only after everyone had the opportunity to get her book signed. Natty didn't want to wait because the line was really long. I totally understood, but she did agree to run off to the side after she had her book signed to take my picture next to Elizabeth. When it was Natty's turn to get her book signed, I told Ms. Gilbert that it was her birthday, and she wrote "Happy Birthday" in her book. Then of course when it was my turn, I couldn't think of anything to say other than "Hi". So lame of me. I just couldn't get past being starstruck. In the picture, Elizabeth wasn't looking in the direction of the camera, but it was good enough for me. Happy 23rd Birthday, Natty! And thank you to Ms. Gilbert

Elizabeth, here I come!

FINALLY! I get to see and hear and be in the same room as Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the acclaimed Eat Pray Love! She is going to be at the Charles W. Eisemann Center in Richardson, and I am going to see her next week! For those of you who read my post "Attraversiamo", you already know how I feel about this book. It is beautiful. And if I didn't already think the world of Ms. Gilbert, I found a short story online that she had written for the Paris Review back in 1996. It was perfection. I don't know that I have ever related to someone's writing style as much as I do hers. That being said, while I would really like to read a couple of other books she has written, I don't know that they would capture my interest in quite the same way. One is called Pilgrims, a collection of short stories that - come to think of it - I definitely want to read now especially after reading that Paris Review short story. And the other is called Stern Men. It's about a woman who was raised around a bunch of lobsterman - at least that's what I gathered from the few lines I read on Amazon. Anyway, now that I actually read those summaries, I do think I want to read them both. Wonder if I could have them both read before I go see her on Tuesday? Yeah right. I'm not that fast of a reader. But I must ask everyone to cross their fingers for me that we will have the opportunity to get our book signed. I would faint right then and there!