Laughter and Pearls

On Friday night I went to a reading and book signing for Jen Lancaster.

I heart her.

In case you aren't familiar, she was one of the first (I think) bloggers to turn her internet rantings into a book deal and about 9 years and 7 books later she's still quite a hit. Six of those books are memoirs, with subtitles like "Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office" and "One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie Is Not the Answer." The seventh book is a novel, where the main character buys a horrible fixer upper of a house primarily because it is Jake Ryan's house. Hilarious.

This was the third time I've seen her at the downtown B&N and it was by far the best. I think because she got there 10 minutes early, came up to the mic and said "We aren't officially starting but I'm here, so let's chat. Anyone have any questions?"

Because she's so active on FB and twitter this room full of people was able to jump right in, almost mid-conversation like you would when you are catching up with an old friend. People were asking about her pets, her husband, their latest house projects, and more. She had tweeted earlier in the day a complaint about DC cabs and I asked her to elaborate. I expected the complaint to be that they don't take credit cards but it was more about how the cars are shady ("Cabs are supposed to be yellow, not like riding in the back of your grandfather's car from the 80s") and the weird rules of Virginia cabs picking up fares in the District and that cab fare rates require cabbies to drive around with a bucket of change. It all sounds remarkably boring as I type this, but it was laugh out loud funny in the room.

And laugh out loud funny is exactly what I needed to end this week.

I loved the laughter, I loved how the signing wasn't run like an assembly line on overdrive. Jen took time to pose for photos with everyone who wanted one and spent a couple minutes chatting with each person as they came up to get their book signed. As someone whose love affair with pearls began at age 4 she complimented me on the ones I happened to be wearing and we discussed whether or not women in DC wore pearls. She thanked me for coming out and I thanked her for coming back to DC. I left smiling.

I also left pleased with my strategic parking, at a meter halfway between the B&N and my favorite Chinatown restaurant. I called in a take out order, walked over to get it and headed home to eat yummy food and continue the laughter with Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development, or Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Fruit Loops Are Not for Dinner. 

Happy Weekend to me! And to you too.