Quick note: Tomorrow (Saturday) we’ll be in Dallas at 11am at the West Elm on 5307 East Mockingbird Lane for cookies, cocoa and a book signing (more info on the event page). We’d love to see you there!
We’re back with a book, life and tour update. It’s sooner than we planned—our last update was only a week ago—but so much has happened that we wanted to share the highlights while they’re still fresh. We’ll start with some completely humbling news: our book is an instant New York Times bestseller. We still can’t believe we’re writing that. The official paper listing will appear on 11/25, but we received a sneak peek image and immediately called our parents. Sherry cried a little happy cry and I denied any emotional tearing, though I did get something in my eye. We celebrated and laughed, and then imagined what book number ten might look like.
We’re relatively new to publishing, so lists and rankings still feel mysterious to us, but one thing is crystal clear: we have the best readers. This achievement is all thanks to you—whether you bought a copy, showed up at a signing, or left a kind comment early on. We owe you a giant thank-you and a virtual fist bump. Honestly, it still feels a little dreamlike.
Now for signing highlights from the last week. After flying back from Boston to Richmond, we caught our breath and then headed to our hometown event, “R for the Holidays.” Richmond magazine’s R.Home surprised us by asking us to appear on the Nov/Dec cover, and seeing it displayed at the event was surreal. We’ve written for them in the past and attended their events as guests, so being speakers felt special. The cover photo even featured Beansie—well, a sparkly chihuahua ornament standing in for Burger since we couldn’t wrangle both Burger and Clara for the shot.
While preparing for the event, Sherry had fun decorating built-ins for the shoot, and now she’s already planning to add more holiday touches when we return from tour. At the event we auctioned several DIY pieces from the book to benefit The School of Richmond’s Ballet, which provides dance lessons to children who otherwise couldn’t afford them. We raised $500 for local kids, which felt great. It was also a fun chance to make sure there weren’t any surprises hiding in drawers before the auction—Sherry’s keeping it real as usual.
The evening opened with Adam Roberts talking about turning his blog, The Amateur Gourmet, into a beautiful cookbook. He was brilliant, inspiring and funny. Then we shared seven DIY lessons we’ve learned, many the hard way. We’ll link to a video of our talk when it’s available, but the short version is: we geeked out, we over-shared, and the crowd was wonderful.
Signing time is becoming our favorite part of events. We enjoy meeting readers, taking goofy photos, and chatting about little things like whether Katie Bower has had her baby yet. In Richmond we met longtime fans and new friends, including Hallie, who won a “trip to Richmond” giveaway and brought her mom for a whirlwind weekend. We also met a woman who gets told she looks like Meryl Streep so often she has a Meryl reference on her license plate—naturally we posed for a photo as if we’d met the actress herself.
Readers brought thoughtful and creative gifts: a Justin Timberlake bobblehead passed along as an inside joke, Sugar cookies shaped like Burger, and a sparkly portrait. We auctioned desks, chairs, a bookshelf, a mirror, and a rug, and it all supported a great cause. After Richmond we flew to Chicago the next day.
In Chicago we squeezed in some blog work and stopped by a familiar home featured on the Making It Lovely blog. It was thrilling—and a little nerve-wracking—to photograph a space that’s already been captured so beautifully. We also took a tourist photo at Cloud Gate, the “bean” sculpture, because who can resist a shiny bean?
The line formed early at the Lincoln Park West Elm, and hats off to Christina, who drove overnight from St. Louis and camped out from 5:30am. Readers stayed through a surprise thunderstorm to enjoy warm cocoa and cookies. Highlights included a bride sending a greeting from her hairdresser while getting ready, a handcrafted horse puzzle made by a high school shop teacher, and a gorgeous handbound book of Clara’s photo project from Week 1 through Month 29—so thoughtful it made Sherry cry. One couple even used our book for a marriage proposal at the bean before coming to the signing to tell us their story.
After Chicago we flew back to Richmond and then took an early morning international flight to Toronto. We admired the CN Tower from below, visited the gift shop for moose souvenirs, and enjoyed a great hotel stay that we’ll feature in a future “hotel crash” post. At the Toronto West Elm signing we met generous fans who brought maple donuts and a gorgeous worm watercolor for Clara. We even had our first FaceTime guest during a signing, which was a fun surprise.
While in Toronto we were invited to appear on Global TV’s The Morning Show with about 20 hours’ notice. We were nervous—this was our first live national-style TV segment—and some of our props didn’t arrive as planned, so we improvised with items borrowed from West Elm and a few grocery-store finds. It all came together backstage just before we went on air.
As this whirlwind week wraps up, we’re filled with gratitude. Without you there would be no book, no signings, and none of this surreal joy. We’ll finish this leg of the tour in Dallas tomorrow, and in the coming weeks we’ll share stops from Minneapolis and Houston. Thank you for supporting us, for coming out, and for being part of this adventure. We’re having a blast and truly appreciate every single one of you.
Psst—If you can’t attend a signing but would like a signed copy, a local Richmond bookstore called Fountain Books is shipping autographed copies. Inquire with Fountain Books for details on ordering an autographed copy.