It’s Tuesday afternoon, so it feels like the perfect moment for a little honest overshare. Yesterday the very first copy of our book arrived via FedEx, and I’m still trying to process it. We were grinning like fools—“It’s real! It has pages! It has a cover! It has our names on it!”—but alongside the excitement there’s also a surprising amount of fear.
I’m genuinely nervous. After sharing personal stories here—everything from 14 months of breastfeeding to awkward teenage moments captured on video—I’m comfortable being candid. So I’ll admit it: seeing the physical book made my hands sweaty and my stomach flip. It’s one thing to keep an online DIY diary available for free where edits and updates are easy. It’s another to put work into a book that will exist on shelves and be out there forever.
That permanence is what’s intimidating. The manuscript we finished in 2011 is printed, bound, and soon to be stocked on countless shelves. Unlike a blog post, there’s no quick fix for a stray typo or a sentence that feels off. The book is finished. We worked hard to make it affordable, but people still have to pay for it. That reality makes it feel much bigger and more consequential than a free post online. At 336 pages and 243 projects, it’s like publishing 243 posts at once and not being able to tweak any of them afterward. The scale and finality are what make it scary.
Planning and producing the book was also a massive commitment. We outlined everything over three years, finalized the project list a year and a half in advance, and spent an intense three-week shoot at our house almost a year ago. We remember little of those weeks beyond the blur of work—there wasn’t much time for sleep or proper meals. It was exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure.
The fear shows up in small ways, too. I’ve had nightmares about typos on every page, blank sections, and even a peculiar dream about a magazine copying our projects and publishing them first. My mind can run wild at night, imagining every way this could go wrong. But those nerves come with a silver lining.
The strongest emotions I have right now aren’t just anxiety; they’re gratitude and pride. Not a boastful “look at me” pride, but a quiet realization that we actually did this. We convinced ourselves—and each other—to write and publish a book. We know not everyone will love it, and that’s okay. Blogging taught us you can’t please everyone, and that lesson helps quiet the perfectionist voice that insists anything less than flawless means failure. Imperfection is part of real life, and that’s reflected in our work.
When the jitters get bad, I remind myself that even beloved books have mixed reviews. Some of my favorites have five-star reviews and one-star reviews side by side. That perspective helps me let go of the pressure to be universally adored. On the days I feel overwhelmed, you’ll find me hiding under the covers with Burger, breathing through the nerves. But the excitement about the book tour is a different kind of buzz entirely—I can’t wait to meet readers in person and say thank you for the support.
Speaking of the tour, we’ve added four more signings. You can find general tour information on our book page, but here are the new dates we have so far:
- RIDGEWOOD, NJ: Friday, November 2, 7pm – Bookends, 211 Ridgewood Ave, book signing.
- WASHINGTON, DC: Saturday, December 1, Time TBD – Living Social, 918 F Street, talk, holiday crafting, and book signing.
- RICHMOND, VA: Sunday, December 2, 1pm – Mongrel, 2924 W. Cary Street, book signing.
- CHARLOTTE, NC: Early February – details to be announced.
There’s also serious talk of adding an Atlanta stop while we’re nearby in Charlotte, and other cities like Philadelphia and California are still under consideration. Tour stops depend on scheduling and local partnerships, so we’re doing our best to get to as many places as possible.
Thank you for all the enthusiasm and encouragement during this book journey. It’s a big milestone for us, and your support means everything. We’re stockpiling projects and planning content so the blog will stay active even while we travel through dozens of cities. Expect regular posts, behind-the-scenes makeovers, and more before-and-after features coming soon.
For now, I’ll end this ramble with a sincere thank-you: we’re grateful, nervous, and excited in equal measure. See you on the road—and until then, $herdog out.