In the world of blogs, John and Sherry of Young House Love could be considered celebrities. Blogebrities? Blobrities? Superstars. Their DIY/decor/house-stuff blog receives over FIVE MILLION hits per month. So you probably should already know about them and if not, get on the gravy train already! They have a young daughter, a sometimes-energetic chihuahua and an endearing way of writing their posts that appeals to readers of all ages and genders. You’ve seen them mentioned on my blog before for their Pinterest Challenges (summer edition and winter edition) and if you follow me on Instagram (@alannaface) you know I pre-ordered their first book and recently went to the book signing in Palo Alto, CA.

Guys, I’m trying not to sound like a superfan right now, I swear. But I was so excited to meet folks whose life and DIY projects (and some other subjects for good measure) I’ve been reading about for the past few years. On Sunday my husband — the most wonderful, caring, tolerant husband ever– and I headed out to get to the book signing which was only 20 minutes from where we live. We got there an hour before the signing and there were only about 30ish people in line. I can tell you the line very quickly grew and was around the block an hour later.

I’ve never been to a book signing before but I’m pretty sure we were spoiled by this one. Hosted by a upscale home decor shop, West Elm, there were waiters coming down the line with sweets and the world’s most adorable chocolate milkshakes.

When the doors opened at 11am the line moved into the store and we waited for about another hour. While my husband focused on listening to tunes, I met another blogger, Kelly of My Friend Kelly, and Erin and her husband (Instagram @twinsmum11) both of whom traveled from the Sacramento area which is a couple hours away for the signing!

Once inside, the ubiquitous Young House Love cookies appeared– a version of these cookies have been at every one of their West Elm book tour stops created by a local baker. I promise I didn’t take two, I took a giant blue house and Kelly took the heart so we could snap a picture!

Even the husband approved of these gussied up sugar cookies while waiting in the pillow section of West Elm.

After passing some lamps, the dining area, the terrarium and then the ceramic animal sections of West Elm, we were finally in sight of the authors. Finally! I had no idea what I was going to say to them so I asked my husband — who was going to be on picture duty– what I should say. He told me, “Just don’t pull a Jodie Foster.” Good call. That’s why I brought him along.

When it was finally my turn to give them my book I told them I wasn’t going to pull a Jodie Foster and they both perked right up and played along. I think they expected me to make a big announcement that I don’t actually make and then I sort of make it…. And then it was my turn to grab a picture with them. I inserted myself between them and told them I would just “lurk” in the background between them. They may have been scared. But I got my picture!

And then it was over. I mean, I saw Sherry’s pinned back bangs (which have been mentioned about a million times by other blog readers) and I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. But I did want to point one other thing out… they had one of the ceramic animals from the store on the table:

I was curious if someone had been moving through the line and just was like, “Here I grabbed this turtle for you!” or what. Hmmm.

After getting the book signed and a shot with them it was our turn to sign their guest book. Below is a shot of Erin (with her husband behind her) signing the book while Kelly waits off to the right. Also happening in this picture, sort of behind her husband are where John and Sherry were sitting. The guy in the blue sweater is a store employee and all those googly eyed smiling people to the left are the folks who are enchanted with the authors and waiting for their books to be signed. Guess it wasn’t just me.

Not sure how another book signing could beat this experience which was all around exciting and fun and wonderful. It was a total of two hours from start to finish but I met some cool people in line and had a brief encounter with some folks who are awesome authors. I will definitely continue to be a fan and reader of Young House Love and I can’t wait to get started on some of the projects in their book.

Have you ever been to a book signing before? How about met someone you’ve been looking forward to meeting and then had verbal diarrhea when you finally met them? Yeah, me too.