Martha Monday--A trip down memory lane

Last year on May Day, I met Martha. As in, face-to-face.  It was awesome.  Relive it with me, my dears.

*************************************************

Happy May Day to all! It certainly was a wonderful May Day for me...I met Martha Stewart at her book signing at State Street Macy's.

I headed over to Macy's at 10:18am. For those of you not in the Chicago area, yes, they still have the Marshall Field's sign on the sides of the building.

They had displays of housewares from the Martha Stewart collection everywhere, along with copies of the two books she would sign, Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts and Martha Stewart's Cooking School.

I headed up to the 6th floor for the three hour wait. Really, it went by quickly for a few reasons:

1. I got to sit on a bed made up with Martha Stewart linens. (this is the bed across the walkway)

2. Macy's staff passed out bottled water and cookies. The sugar cookies and chocolate/molasses cookies were Martha's recipes, of course.

3. I tweeted every 30 minutes or so. See the rundown here.

4. I waited with some very cool Martha fans: Kim, Sarah and Ryan. Shout out! (And to Kim: thanks for taking all the pictures of me with Martha.)

Just before 1pm, Martha arrived and the book signing began right on time. Because I was in 25th place or so in the line, it went very quickly. Here's Martha as I'm waiting for my turn with her.


Finally, I had arrived! Martha was very sweet and signed both of my books. I chatted with her about the International Antiques Fair (I didn't mention the flubbed up ChiTrib contest)...

...told her that I was a HUGE fan, and then....

...I gave her the business card for my blog. Actually, I had put it in one of the books so she'd see it when she was signing it. I told her that TMI is all about what happens when a regular woman is inspired to become a domestic diva.

Sometimes, I told Martha, the crafts and cooking and everything all work out nicely.

Other times, I explained, it doesn't work out so well, but those mishaps are comedic gold in my house. That got a laugh.

So, to my dear loyal readers, I finally did it. I met Martha face-to-face, and I managed not to make a fool of myself or scare her into calling security. For my new readers, welcome! I hope you enjoy reading about my wacky attempts to become more "Martha" and less "sleep-deprived, over-worked, trying-to-hold-it-all-together, somewhat-perfectionist suburban Mom."

And Martha, if you are reading...it was super awesome to meet you, and I hope you stick around. The Martha Initiative is just getting started!