Meeting My Best Friends

Holy cannoli, I met my best friends!!! (You think I’m joking, but I’m not. Ha!)

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time at all, you know that I love me some Young House Love.  Favorite blog ever! John and Sherry Petersik inspired me to start blogging.  They’re my heroes.  My best friends.  Is this getting creepy? Moving on…

I just think their story is so inspiring and love the way they present home diy-ing on their blog.  And since I’m a regular reader, I feel like I know all of this information about their lives.  It’s kind of an odd stalker-ish position to be in.  But such is the case of blogs.  Ha!

Last year for my birthday, Timothy thought about arranging some kind of meeting.  Remember that?  Bless his heart.  BUT.  Believe it or not, the boy made it happen this year for my birthday!  Um yeah, best birthday present ever!  Their new book is about to be released and their first book signing was held just a few hours from our town this past Saturday in Cincinnati.

So I got to meet them, get a copy of their book before it was released, and get it signed!  Oh that was just too much excitement for me to handle.

The line to meet them wrapped around the entire building – madness!  All the while I was standing in line I kept telling myself to just be cool.  Don’t flip out.  Don’t start screaming like a crazy sports fan.  But then I started talking to some of the people in line around me and we started discussing John and Sherry on a first name basis like we were all bffs.  We were all giddy.  So I decided coolness was overrated.  I’m going to let my fan flag fly high.

Timothy ran up to the table and pulled books for my new friend (hi!!!) and I.  We were afraid they would run out before we got there.

When it was my turn to get my book signed and meet my best friends, I got so excited that I don’t even really know what I said.  Probably something super cool and collected.  Later Timothy told me that he couldn’t even understand me because I was talking so fast and high-pitched.  So I’m sure the Petersiks thought I was a whacko.  But she did say I was a “cute little thing” and she loved my sweater.  See?  Best friends.

After they spent nearly an hour signing books, they gave a 45 minute talk about their book/blog/decorating lessons learned.  It was fabulous!  They are just as good speakers as they are writers.

Timothy and I really enjoyed their session.  They were so positive and encouraging.  They seriously made me feel like I could go home and build a deck or something outrageous, and it would be the best thing ever.

So for any of you who have been on the fence about pre-ordering their book, DO IT!  It’s absolutely wonderful.  I read the entire thing that day.

After meeting my best friends, Timothy had a fun day planned in Cincinnati.  We went to the City Flea, which was this gigantic flea market full of vintage and handmade goods held in an abandoned warehouse.

Yeah, I kept this cheesy smile on pretty much all day.  We spent nearly an hour wandering through the booths and admiring everything.  It was such a fun atmosphere!

The DJ kept playing the most random assortment of music, hipsters were scouring all the flannel, knitters were selling huge cowls, and there was even a little boy selling shirts with his line drawings on them.  Adorable!

There was a line of food trucks parked right outside the flea.  Timothy and I were pumped because we have never eaten from a food truck. (We live in a city of 600 people, what can I say?)  So much fun!

We drove around Cincinnati for awhile after that.  There are so many vintage shops downtown!  I finally conquered my fear of buying smelly vintage clothes and bought a couple really cute things.

Then for dinner we ate at Abigail Street.  Yum to the eeee.  I would definitely put this restaurant in  my top five.  Delicious!  The decor was a mix of wood, industrial pipes, and gray leather.  I loved it!

All in all, it was such a wonderful day.  But the highlight, of course, was meeting John and Sherry.  I told Timothy that the Petersiks were to me what Michael Jordan was to him.  So he pretty much rocked this birthday out.

What about you guys?  Have any of you pre-ordered the book?  Or were any of you at the book signing this past Saturday or plan to go to one in the future?  Have any of you been to the City Flea in Cincinnati?  Do tell!

~Whitney