F&F at B&N in Layton

So…I am updating the look of this website. I like doing this about as much as I like decorating my house: one on a scale of one to ten.

What I *do* like doing is what happened on Friday night–a booksigning at a stores with completely fun staff  (who liked my boots) and where cool people showed up and talked to me, long lost friends appeared, family came and hugged me, and some people even bought books. !!!

On Friday I was at the Barnes and Noble in Layton, Utah. My mom and I went together (I’m so glad she could go!) and we had a hearty dinner at Arby’s (have I ever mentioned my complete addiction to horseradish sauce? It’s unnatural.)

Proof!

The B&N staff seated me at a table near the front door. It was Friday-Night-Date-Night with lots of foot traffic, and sharing my table was the lovely and amazing Lisa Mangum with her new book After Hello. It was fun to see her again. We met last February at the ANWA Conference, where I learned that Lisa is a fellow Disneyland devotee, so I knew we could be friends. I just read her first book, The Hourglass Door, a few weeks ago–in fact I listened to it on CD read in Lisa’s voice, so it was like I painted my daughters’ room with Lisa, actually.

The coolest part was getting to see family and friends, though. The minute I arrived, who should appear but Elsie Park, my lovely and creative author friend with her darling blue-eyed baby. Elsie writes medieval stories, but she’s also a beautiful mother and home-maker. I admire that so much.

As for family, besides mi madre, my favorite cousin Kara came in with her three cute little girls, and my three favorite Aunts–Mary and Kass and Lora–came. And my favorite cousin Chris came with his wife Natalie. He claims Buck from Big in Japan is based on him. My other favorite cousin Cody’s wife Mary came in with her kids, too. They disappeared into the belly of the store and looked for kid books. She is training them well!

Then I got to see an old friend Ron, who brought his wife and three kids. Ron and I worked together on a campaign (oh my goodness!) TWENTY years ago this fall. It was so totally fun to see him and catch up and see his kids and … yeah. Great! So fun!

And then my friend from ANWA, Andrea came in with her sister-in-law. Andrea was with me at the ANWA retreat at this old church converted into a cabin in the desert in Arizona on the retreat week when I wrote the first chapter of Big in Japan. She was with Buck at the beginning!

Totally way lots more fun than redesigning a blog. Thanks for going with me, Mom!

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  1. » TKE in SLC: Best Case Scenario Jennifer Griffith

    […] after Friday night’s friends-and-family bash at the Barnes and Noble in Layton, I was still a nervous wreck about going to Salt Lake City for the signing at The King’s […]

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