So this past weekend I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with John and Sherry Petersik from Young House Love and Robert and Cortney Novogratz from Home by Novogratz. Okay, well maybe it was at the Books by the Banks festival that has been going on for several years that we never knew about before – and we live less than an hour away! So, it was time for a little adventure. In a nutshell, it was awesome. But also rather eye-opening- in a way I completely didn’t expect.
I’ve never been to a book festival before, and this one was really cool – many local authors! And of course my wonderful husband was extremely interested in looking around too, especially because his book was released only a month ago (check it out – he’s gotten great reviews!) . In any case, we had absolutely no idea how crowded the festival would be (it was basically in a giant room in a convention center), mostly all waiting to see John and Sherry. So we quickly abandoned the book signing line and I went inside another giant room to hear them talk. They talked for about 45 minutes about their book and design process, etc. and they both are really cute and exactly in person how they are on their blog. Afterwards, I went back outside and rejoined the long line for their book signing. I stood there for a few minutes (there were already rumblings that the book was sold out – it’s only available now for pre-order from bookstores), and pondered.
Well in the initial panic to get a seat for John and Sherry’s talk, I quickly passed by a table with two people sitting at it with a book, Home by Novogratz on display. Wait…are those the Novogratzes?! And then I thought (while still on line for John and Sherry), wasn’t their talk right now? So after meeting back up with Carl, we decided to just go listen! Well here’s the surprising part of my day. Their talk was completely life-changing for me and has really re-shaped how I think about design. Yeah. Needless to say after their talk, we went back to their table, had them sign a book to us (a splurge I didn’t plan on, but oh so worth it) , talked to them for a few minutes, and then we were happily on our way! Of course the line for John and Sherry was still longer than ever, so I figured I would be content at that point to just take a few pictures of them and ask for their book for Christmas instead. Funny how you think your day will turn out one way, and then it’s completely opposite of what you thought!
So, what was revolutionary about what Robert and Cortney said? Stay tuned – more to come!
6 comments :
How exciting for you to meet those folks! Enjoying the BYW class and hope you are too!
Ha, yes I am enjoying the class too! Yes, it was a very exciting day, and kind of surreal. Plus they were in a room full of other published authors too, all with their books, ready to discuss their ideas and dreams, so overall it was a very inspiring place!
Wow, that sound like so much fun! Don’t you love it when people you know from the media surprise you by being even more awesome in real life? (I somehow always expect it to be the other way.) Looking forward to reading your recap!
Chedva recently posted..Looking Back: 5 Design Trends of 2012 – Revisited
Hi Chedva! It really was quite amazing. I’ve never really met anyone famous before, but I guess what struck me the most is how normal they all seemed. Like people! You’re right though, I think we all expect something else, something different – like they might be mean in person or not who we thought they were. So it was all rather refreshing since they were all nice, nice, nice!
how inspiring is it to meet people you admire and be in a room filled with like minded people? Nothing beats it. Here from BYW!
Jaclyn recently posted..Sydney ABCD Meet-Up: Let’s Talk About Instagram
Hi Jaclyn! It sure is inspiring. It just made me feel like if they could choose to do what they love, so could I! Seems like such a simple concept, but when you talk to people who have done it, you lose perspective (in a good way), and think, let’s go for it (instead of listening to the chatter inside my head saying no).