Be sure to head over to Mike the Fanboy today to check out my latest article, about Rehab Addict star Nicole Curtis’ recent book signing at Cost Plus World Market.
Tag: celebrity book signings
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The Jennifer Grant “Good Stuff” Book Signing
Back on Thursday, May 26th (I told you I am way behind in my reporting!
), Vroman’s Bookstore welcomed Jennifer Grant for a signing and discussion of her new book Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant which chronicles the actress’ experiences being raised by one of the most iconic movie stars of all time. And while most of the people attending the event were fans of Jennifer’s famous father, I have been a long-time fan of Jennifer herself, ever since she appeared as Steve Sander’s (aka Ian Ziering’s) longtime girlfriend Celeste Lundy during Seasons 3 and 4 of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210.
Jennifer also made an appearance as Nina Bookbinder, the girl Chandler Bing (aka Matthew Perry) couldn’t fire, in the Season 1 episode of Friends titled “The One With Two Parts: Part I”. But I digress.
Because I have never actually seen a Cary Grant movie, before attending the reading I did not have much interest in reading Good Stuff. My only reason for going to the event was to meet and, of course, get a photograph with Jennifer. But, let me tell you, all of that changed as soon as I started looking through the memoir. As I have mentioned before, I am just slightly anal, so I arrived at the signing about 3 hours early. Well, not only did those three hours ensure me a front row seat, but they also gave me time to peruse through the book and I was immediately mesmerized. Cary Grant was not only an amazing man, but an amazing father! He retired in 1966, the same year that Jennifer was born, so that he could devote all of his time to being a dad. Because Jennifer’s mother, Dyan Cannon (whom the actress is the spitting image of!), was at the height of her career at the time and often on location filming movies for months on end, most of Jennifer’s childhood was spent with her father. And Cary wanted to document his only child’s early years as best he could. Not only did he save and catalogue ever single letter ever exchanged between the two and every single photograph ever taken of them, but he also made hundreds upon hundreds of audio recordings of their time together, many of which are transcribed in the book. Sweetest of all, though, was the fact that, on the mornings when Jennifer was not staying with him, Cary would wait along the sidewalk of her bus route just to wave to her as her bus passed by on the way to school.
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The event began right on time and I just about died when I caught my first glimpse of Jennifer as she looks almost exactly the same today as she did eighteen years ago when she was on 90210. Jennifer started out the evening by reading a few passages from her book and I have to say that she is a fabulous writer and a fabulous speaker. Her voice has an almost lyrical quality to it and I was absolutely mesmerized listening to her. I was completely shocked, though, when she adopted a British accent to read her father’s words! Prior to that evening, I was unaware that Cary Grant was British!
Jennifer then opened up the session to questions from the audience and, even though A LOT were asked, for once they were actually well-crafted. I should explain here, to those who do not regularly attend book signings and television screenings, that people at these events usually ask the most asinine questions imaginable and it absolutely drives me mad! If you have the chance to ask a question of an actor, author, or director, make it a good one, people! And, for the love of God, do NOT ask the celebrity to get you a role in a movie or TV show! And yes, that has been asked at almost EVERY SINGLE EVENT I have ever attended! Most of the questions asked of Jennifer, though, were about what it was like to grow up with such a famous father. In answer to those questions, Jennifer told numerous anecdotes and, as amazing as it may sound, it seems she had a very normal childhood. The two often squabbled about Jennifer’s choice in music and boys, they took frequent outings to the Fox Hills Mall – one of Cary’s favorite haunts – and played regular family games of Trivial Pursuit. She said she never viewed Cary as a celebrity, but, while she knew he was special and certainly different than her friends’ fathers, to her he was always just “Dad”.
When it came time for the signing portion of the reading, the Vroman’s coordinator asked Jennifer if she would be willing to take posed photographs with those in attendance, to which the actress gave a puzzled look and said, “Of course I will!”, as if she could not figure out why anyone wouldn’t take a picture with their fans. LOVE IT!
When it was my turn to meet Jennifer, I told her what a huge fan I had been of Beverly Hills, 90210 and she said that the show was actually the very first acting job she had ever had and was one of the best experiences of her life. She told me that all of the actors were extremely nice and welcoming and that she looks back on that time with incredible fondness. She took quite a bit of time to chat with me and I even got to tell her about my experiences as an extra in the final episode of the series and that the 90210 theme song was still the ringtone on my cell phone.
Jennifer was so abundantly sweet and warm, it was almost unbelievable.
As I was leaving Vroman’s, I opened the book to read what Jennifer had signed and almost died over her inscription. It reads, “To Lindsay, Thank you for watching 90210 – your smile is infectious. Jennifer Grant” OMG nicest inscription EVER! Especially considering that so many celebrities will not even personalize books at their signings! Meeting Jennifer was such an incredible experience and I love her even more now than I did before! And while I have not started to officially read Good Stuff yet, it is the next book on my “To Read” list and after I do so, I will most definitely be stalking the many locations mentioned in it.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: You can purchase a copy of Jennifer Grant’s book, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant, here. Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the store’s official website here. And you can check out Vroman’s upcoming author events here.
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Alicia Silverstone’s “The Kind Diet” Book Signing
This past Wednesday night I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to my favorite local bookstore, Vroman’s (which coincidentally just appeared in the most recent episode of Modern Family, but more on that later), to attend the book signing and discussion for Alicia Silverstone’s new lifestyle tome The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. Even though I am not in any way, shape, or form a vegan, I was absolutely DYING to attend the book signing because, as I have mentioned a few times before on this blog, not only is Clueless one of my all-time favorite movies, but Alicia and I happened to grow up in the same hometown – San Mateo, California – so I have always had a very special place in my heart for the actress. Because I am a diabetic and on a very strict, virtually no-carbohydrate diet, though, and because most vegan diets that I have read about tend to favor carbs, I was not actually interested in purchasing a copy of Alicia’s book for myself. But my good friend Nat, who actually attended San Mateo High School – Alicia’s alma mater – is a vegan and she absolutely LOVES Alicia’s book – and her lifestyle blog, The Kind Life – so I decided I would purchase a copy for her as a little “just because” present. Which is how the GC and I found ourselves heading over to Vroman’s at about 5 p.m. this past Wednesday night. And, as always, before the event got started, I sent him outside to snap some photographs of Alicia when she arrived.
The signing began right on time, at 7 p.m., but for some reason it was VERY strictly monitored. No photographs WHATSOEVER were allowed during the event – not when Alicia walked into the room, not during the discussion session, and not while standing in line waiting to have our books signed. We were told shortly before her arrival that each guest would be allowed one – and only one – posed photograph with Alicia (which I could NOT have been more excited about as most celebs will not actually pose for pictures during a signing), but otherwise photographs of any kind would not be allowed. To enforce this, two quite burly Pasadena policemen were on site and they threatened to remove anyone who was even spotted with a camera in their hands during the event! So I was extremely thankful that the GC had managed to snap some photographs of Alicia outside of the store.
Alicia, who is currently pregnant, was ABSOLUTELY adorable in person and much taller than I had expected her to be, although she was wearing some fairly tall heels. She walked directly to the podium upon arrival, introduced herself, and started speaking about why she decided to write The Kind Diet, which was an extremely surreal moment for me as it was like watching the Haitian immigrant debate scene from Clueless (pictured above) come alive before my very eyes. I kept having to pinch myself to make sure that it was all really happening and that I wasn’t actually at home sitting in front of my television set. I have to say that in person, Alicia reminded me A LOT of Cher, her Clueless alter-ego. In real life, Alicia has the same mannerisms, facial expressions, and vocal tendencies that I had grown so familiar with from watching the movie over and over again. And I can honestly say that I love Alicia even more now than I did before. The actress came off as extremely charming, warm, genuine, and sweet. She was also poised, well-read, and wildly knowledgeable about veganism, holistic medicine, and healthy nutrition. I was riveted listening to her and, while not a vegan, found myself agreeing whole-heartedly with the vast majority of what she had to say. She also handled herself incredibly well when one of the audience members asked her an asinine question about veganism and pregnancy, in which he tried to make Alicia look bad. (Honestly, if you don’t agree with her lifestyle and are not a fan of hers, then why come to the event????) Alicia responded to him, though, with honesty, wit, and a bit of snarkiness and ended up making him look like a complete and total moron. As we left the event, I found myself wondering how she managed to do that! I cannot tell you how much I would love to be able to tell a rude person off without breaking my cool and all the while seeming poised and charming. But I digress. I was most surprised to hear Alicia speak about diabetes and veganism. As it turns out, her diet does not favor carbohydrates at all and is actually very similar to the diet I am currently on, so it looks like I am now going to have to buy a copy of the book for myself!
After Alicia’s speech, which lasted about thirty minutes, we all lined up to meet the actress. Alicia really took her time with all of her fans and seemed to have an incredibly warm and open personality. And, as promised, every guest got to pose for a photograph with her, which I was absolutely floored about!
Nat’s signed book is pictured above.
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Alicia’s inscription reads, “Dear Natalie, Thank you for loving the book! <3, Alicia Silverstone”.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, fave show Modern Family recently did some filming on location at Vroman’s Bookstore. The final scene of the Season 2 episode titled “Two Monkeys and a Panda”, in which Mitchell Pritchett (aka Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron Tucker (aka Eric Stonestreet) peruse various books on parenting, took place near the store’s Current Event’s section.
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can check out the store’s upcoming signings here. You can purchase Alicia Silverstone’s book The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet here. You can visit Alicia’s lifestyle blog, The Kind Life, here. And you can check out future L.A.-area book signings and other celebrity events on my Upcoming Celebrity Events page here.
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The Shannen Doherty “Badass” Book Signing
This past Tuesday night, the Grim Cheaper, fellow stalker Erika, and I all headed out to the Grove Shopping Center in Los Angeles to attend the Shannen Doherty Badass book signing and, as you can probably well imagine, I could NOT have been more excited about it! As I was telling the GC on our drive over there, I can count the number of celebrities that I would absolutely DIE to meet on one hand and Shannen is in the top three of that list – and has been for the past twenty years. Number one and number two are, of course, Jennifer Aniston and Michael Buble. And while I know that Beverly Hills, 90210 has been off the air for more than a decade now and that Shannen left the show way back in 1994,for whatever reason, Brenda Walsh has left a permanent footprint on my heart and she is still my very favorite television character of all time. I’m sure that when I’m in my nineties, I’ll still be watching my DVDs of the series and shaking my cane at the television set in anger every time Kelly Taylor does something mean to Brenda.
So, when I found out that I would have the opportunity to meet my teenage idol, it was almost more than I could bear! As you can see in the above photograph, I even made a “Team Brenda” shirt for the occasion. [ad]
When we arrived at the signing, we were given the informational sheet pictured above and I just about had a heart attack upon reading the words, “Posed photography WILL BE allowed.” I absolutely could NOT believe it as I am quickly discovering that the vast majority of celebrities, sadly, do not pose for photographs at signings. I was also floored when I found out that Shannen would be personalizing books because Raquel Welch had refused to do so when I went to her book signing back in April and I’m still kind of ticked off about it. So, needless to say, once I found out that I would be able to get a photograph with my girl AND a personalized autograph, I was beyond, BEYOND excited. I literally had butterflies in my stomach the entire time I was waiting in line!
And then when Shannen came out I just about died!! She looked absolutely STUNNING! She’s tiny in person, probably about 5’2”, and in FABULOUS shape – her arms are to die for! It’s amazing to me that she is almost forty years old ‘cause she definitely does not look it. I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her outfit, too. It was classy, simple, and understated. Very Jen Aniston!
Oh, and she was also wearing Christian Louboutin high heels! Love it!
Shannen started out the signing by posing for a few minutes for the paparazzi who had been invited to the event. I am not sure f it was Barnes & Noble or Shannen’s people who actually invited the paparazzi, but I would like to go on the record here and state that it was a FABULOUS idea! Because they were allowed to stand at the front and take pictures for the first five minutes of the signing, the photogs were not pushy or obnoxious and once they got their shots, they left. It was all pretty painless and, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, the perfect way to handle things. When I went to the Tori Spelling book signing at Vroman’s back in July, the paparazzi were chasing Tori through the parking lot and absolutely swarming her and the fans. It was all very chaotic and after seeing how differently the paparazzi behaved at Shannen’s signing, I am convinced that allowing them inside is the way to go.
Because Erika, the GC, and I were in the middle section of the line, we got to watch Shannen interact with quite a few people while we waited and – and I honestly cannot say this enough! – she was SO incredibly nice! She took her time with people, engaged them in conversation, and seemed genuinely happy to be speaking with her fans. I know there are those out there who will say that she’s an actress and that the whole thing was simply an act, but I did not get that impression AT ALL. Shannen seemed INCREDIBLY genuine. I know that SD got a bad rap while on 90210, but in my heart of hearts (and after my bad experience meeting Jennie Garth a few years back), I just do not believe the hype. Something in my gut told me she was going to be a sweetheart and, as it turned out, she was! I’ve read in countless interviews that Shannen is a very honest, upfront person and that she doesn’t take any guff off of anyone (which also describes me to a T, actually), and while there are those who equate honesty and strength with meanness, I can honestly say that, in person, Shannen came across as bubbly, warm, and genuine. If it’s at all possible I love her even more now than I did before.
When I finally got up to the front of the line, I was literally shaking I was so darn excited! And Shannen noticed my “Team Brenda” shirt immediately which was so incredibly cool.
When she started signing my book, I told her how much I had adored her for the past twenty years and that she was in my top three list of celebrities that I’d do just about anything to meet.
The picture above is her reaction to that statement. She was truly shocked and touched that she was in my top three and promptly asked who the other two were. When I told her Jen Aniston and Michael Buble, she said that she was happy she was in good company. Then I told her that I had been to the MB concert the previous night (which I will be blogging about soon, I am just waiting on some pictures from my dad) and she asked if I had gotten to meet him. When I told her no, she said jokingly, “That bastard!”
She then asked if I had ever met Jen before and when I told her that I had, she said, “Isn’t she such a sweetheart?” LOVE IT! Shannen then told me that I should have played Kelly Taylor on 90210 since I kind of have the same hair as Jennie Garth, to which I said, “And then we could have become best friends!” 
And here you have it! The photograph that I’ve been waiting over twenty years to take! Me and Shannen Doherty! Sigh!
Pictured above is what Shannen signed in my book. It reads, “Lindsay, So honored I’m in your top 3! <3 Shannen Doherty” So cute!
Fellow stalker Erika was actually lucky enough to have met and taken a picture with Shannen last year while at a restaurant in Malibu, so she printed up an 8 x 10 copy of the photograph they had taken together in the hopes that Shannen would sign it. Shannen’s reaction upon being shown the photo, which you can see above, was absolutely priceless. So incredibly cute! She even remembered meeting Erika and taking the picture with her! And not only did she sign the picture, but Erika had actually printed out three copies of it just in case one got ruined while en route to the signing and Shannen signed ALL THREE!
Erika’s pic with Shannen also turned out fabulous.
All in all it was an ABSOLUTELY fabulous night and Shannen could NOT have been nicer! She and David Caruso are without a doubt the two nicest, friendliest celebrities I have EVER met in my ENTIRE life!
On a Brenda Walsh side note – Jack, the owner of the real life Walsh house, recently gave me the 90210 keepsake to end all 90210 keepsakes! When it was originally decided that filming would take place at his house, producers came around and changed a few things on the property, most notably adding the famous Walsh basketball hoop to the front of the garage. Another change they made, though, was to swap out many of the home’s windows with new ones, including three in the room that was supposed to belong to Brenda. Those windows remained on Jack’s house for the following twenty years, until this past Fall when he had some of them replaced, including all of the ones in Brenda’s room. He subsequently gave the former windows to his brother to use for scrap wood, which I just about died upon hearing. Scrap wood????? Really?????? As fate would have it, though, one window got left behind in his garage and he offered it to me! As you can imagine I just about had a heart attack over that one! As you can also imagine, because it is a rather large window, the GC was not AT ALL happy when I came walking in our front door with it! We ended up hanging it behind our bed, though, and it looks fabulous! Even the GC now loves it as he thinks it gives our bedroom a “New York” feel. Every time I walk into my bedroom now, I can’t help but pinch myself upon seeing it! I mean, I’ve got Brenda Walsh’s window hanging in my bedroom! I honestly think I can die a happy woman now!
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: You can purchase “Badass” by clicking here. You can find out about upcoming events at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore at the Grove by clicking here or on my Upcoming Celebrity Events page here.
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The Tori Spelling “uncharted terriTORI” Book Signing
This past Monday night, former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori Spelling made an appearance at my favorite bookstore Vroman’s to do a signing of her most recent memoir, uncharted terriTORI. And even though I live very close to Vroman’s, I am sad to say that I almost didn’t attend the event. The sad truth is that I have yet to catch up on all of my wedding planning duties, or even my emails for that matter, ever since returning home from the Mayo Clinic with my dad this past May. So, needless to say I’m feeling just a wee-bit stressed out at the moment. I finally came to my senses, though, early Monday morning and realized that there was NO WAY in heck I could miss that signing! I mean, HELLO, I was like the biggest Beverly Hills, 90210 fan ON EARTH back in high school! Meeting the former Miss Donna Martin was just too big of an opportunity to pass up. So, this past Monday night at 6 p.m., I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to Vroman’s to do some Tori Spelling stalking. Amazingly enough, when we first arrived there weren’t all that many people in line – I’d guess about 50 or so. And by the time 7 o’clock rolled around, only about a hundred more had shown up, which was shocking to me. I thought 90210 fans were die hards!
Because my fiancé has become quite obsessed with cameras as of late, he parked himself out in back of Vroman’s Bookstore with the three paparazzi who were on duty, which was perfect for me because it meant that while he was in position to snap the above photographs of Tori arriving on the scene, I got to hold my place in line. I must say he did a great job with the photos, too! They almost look like actual paparazzi shots! 😉 And while Tori looks painfully thin in the above photographs, she really didn’t look that way in person. She is definitely tiny, but I thought she actually looked quite healthy. And I also have to say that not only did Tori arrive to the event on time, but she was even a few minutes early! So not a diva! Love it!
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We had been told beforehand that Tori would gladly pose for photographs with her fans, which was awesome being that some stars at signings won’t allow people to take any sort of photographs at all. Again, love it! I have to say that Tori is VERY cute in person, much different than she appears on television or in pictures. She is also incredibly sweet. The girl ahead of me in line is one of Tori’s Twitter followers and, while we were waiting, she told me that she had, on occasion, Twittered back and forth with the star. Before the signing, she had Twittered Tori to let her know that she would be in attendance and that she would be wearing a yellow skirt. Well, sure enough, as soon as the girl walked up to meet Tori, the star looked at the yellow skirt and said, “Oh my gosh! You’re my Twitter friend!” Then, when the girl left, Tori said, “Thanks so much for Twittering with me.” So incredibly sweet! When it was my turn at the front of the line, Tori stuck out her hand and introduced herself, which the Grim Cheaper managed to get a photo of. Yay! (Those are the “Guncles”, aka the “Gay Uncles” – Tori’s good friends Bill Horn and Scout Masterson – who came along for the signing sitting next to her in the above pic.)
Tori seemed genuinely sweet and took time to chat with each and every fan who was getting a book signed. It was definitely a more personal experience than most of the other signings I’ve been to. I told her that I absolutely LOVED her haircut and she was like, “Oh really, you think? I’m not so sure about it.” 🙂 She was also laughing over my fiancé’s camera, as when he was taking the above photographs he had the shutter on a super-fast speed which allowed him to snap six pictures per second. I explained to her that he was doing that in case I blinked in one of the pictures and she said that she suffers from the very same problem of blinking in photographs. All in all, I am SO glad that I went to the signing and, looking back, can’t even believe that I was thinking about skipping it. If you are at all a fan of Tori or 90210, I HIGHLY recommend attending one of her book signings!
And not only did Tori sign the book, but so did the Guncles. Love it!
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit their events page here. And you can purchase uncharted terriTORI by clicking here.
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Raquel Welch’s “Beyond The Cleavage” Book Signing
Ever since my mom found out that actress and 1960’s/1970’s sex symbol Raquel Welch was scheduled to do a book signing for her new tome Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on the evening of April 22nd, she became absolutely obsessed with attending the event. And, even though I wasn’t exactly sure who Raquel Welch was (at first I actually thought she was one of the original Charlie’s Angels!), I agreed to accompany her. Unfortunately though, because my father was in the hospital for most of this past week, my mom wound up not being able to attend the signing. My entire family is pretty much spent – both emotionally and physically – at the current moment, but we are heading back to Minnesota to enroll my dad in the Mayo Clinic in a few weeks and hopefully the doctors there will be able to figure out what is wrong with him and restore some normalcy to our lives. But I digress. Even though my dad had been released from the hospital and was back at home on Thursday night, my mom said that she just didn’t have the energy to attend the signing, so, since I live pretty close to Vroman’s, I told her I’d go in her place. I dragged the Grim Cheaper along with me, which is how, this past Thursday night, two very unlikely fans found ourselves sitting at Vroman’s Bookstore amidst about 150 Raquel Welch enthusiasts, waiting to meet the raven-haired icon.
I expected Raquel’s signing to be absolutely jam-packed, but when I arrived an hour and a half prior to its starting time, there were only about 15 people in the audience. As the minutes ticked away, though, more and more fans showed up, but there were still far less people in attendance than I had originally anticipated. By my estimation, there were only about 150 fans in the audience by the time 7 o’clock rolled around. Before Raquel made her appearance, one of the Vroman’s staff members explained the rules of the evening. Now, I’ve been to quite a few book signings in the past and this was the first time that rules had ever been established beforehand. The staffer explained that no photographs of the star were to be taken when she entered the room nor while she was speaking and that the only time pictures would be allowed was during the actual book signing. She also stipulated that Raquel would not be posing for ANY photographs with the fans, nor would she be personalizing the books, which I thought was pretty ludicrous. At all of the book signings I’ve ever been to, the authors have ALWAYS personalized their books. I mean, what is the point of getting it signed, otherwise? It is also pretty rare that an author won’t pose for photographs with their fans. I mean, if someone is going to shell out $28 plus tax to pay for a book and then wait upwards of two hours to get it signed, I really feel that the very least a star can do is personalize it and pose for a quick photograph. The restrictions were pretty maddening and led me to believe that Raquel would be a full-on Di-va with a capital “D”.
Which, I am happy to report, actually couldn’t have been further from the truth! The event started right on time and Raquel walked into the room promptly at 7 p.m. We were told she had actually arrived at Vroman’s thirty minutes early, which, in and of itself, is a non-diva maneuver. And I have to say that she was absolutely BEAUTIFUL in person! Like AMAZINGLY beautiful! I wasn’t expecting her to be quite so luminous. Raquel’s not nearly as short as I expected her to be, either – she was about my height, 5’4” but my fiancé said she was wearing pretty tall heels, so she very well could be significantly shorter when wearing flats. She was also extremely friendly and warm and waved and said hello to all of the people she walked by while making her way to the front table.
And even though the Vroman’s staff had forewarned the fans that if anyone took a picture of Raquel while she was speaking, they would be asked to leave and their cameras possibly confiscated, THOUSANDS of flashbulbs went off as soon as she entered the room. You can see how bright the camera lights were in the above photograph. And they pretty much didn’t stop going off the entire time!
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Raquel gave a very brief speech prior to signing her books, in which she stated that she has long been a fan of Vroman’s Bookstore because it’s an “old girl” like herself (the place was founded in 1894) and that it’s still going strong, which is also much like herself. She even called the place the “book lovers’ book store”, which just about made me want to swoon as I, too, absolutely LOVE Vroman’s. She talked about how much respect she has for writers now that she has completed a book, as it was very grueling work. Tell me about it, honey! 😉 Raquel was extremely vivacious and charming during her speech and not AT ALL the diva I was expecting her to be after hearing her restrictive book signing policies. Which brings me to a point. Sadly, many of the people in attendance Thursday night were . . . well, to put it in plain language, creepy. One man was wearing pajamas – not kidding – and quite a few others had on ripped-up, dirty sweatpants, disheveled hair, and looked as if they had rolled out of bed about two minutes prior to the event. The guy behind me in line reeked of cigarette smoke and kept making odd grunting noises the closer he got to Raquel. Seeing the myriad of oddball fans made me wonder if the icon was refusing to take posed photographs for her own protection. I’ll never know for sure, but the whole thing made me sad. Note to fans – if you are going to meet someone you admire at a signing, don’t wear pajamas or ripped-up sweatpants, run a comb through your hair, and, at the very least, take a shower! I mean would you want to meet and pose for a picture with someone who had done anything less? Gross!
After Raquel’s speech, the signing began. Because I had gotten there so early, I was the fifteenth person in line and didn’t have to wait long to get my mom’s book signed.
The whole event got kind of crazy as soon as she started signing books, though, and about thirty people rushed right up to the front table and began snapping photographs. Book signings are usually pretty calm events, so I was surprised when this one incited such hysteria! It was pretty funny to watch.
I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the front of the line and Raquel stuck out her hand for me to shake! She was SUPER friendly and, as I said before, very warm. I think she got slightly offended, though, when I told her that the book was for my mom, who was a huge fan of hers. Ah well.
I am also very happy to report that Raquel did (sort of) pose for pictures with those fans who had someone accompanying them who could stand off to the side and snap a quick pic while she was signing their book. My fiancé has a camera with a speed-burst shutter, which means that he can take a multitude of photographs in the space of one second, which he did while I was standing with Raquel. Unfortunately though, the two of us couldn’t quite seem to get it together in any of the photographs and we were never looking in the same place at the same time. LOL But at least I got a picture with her . . .
. . . and a book signed for my mom. As you can see, though, Raquel did not personalize it, which I thought was pretty darn janky. 🙁 Ironically enough, the woman sitting next to me during the event actually told me that it was better not to have my book personalized. That way when I die, my family can sell it on eBay for a profit, whereas a book endorsed to “Lindsay” would be worthless. NO JOKE – she actually said that! LOL
When we left Vroman’s after the event had ended, we spotted Raquel’s limo waiting in the parking lot, so, of course, I just had to take a picture with it. 🙂 All in all, the evening was a great experience, despite all of the ridiculous rules put in place prior to Raquel’s arrival. I had a blast meeting the icon and seeing how friendly, upbeat, and BEAUTIFUL she is in person. My mom may have been the family’s sole Raquel fan prior to Thursday night, but now there is definitely a second one. 🙂
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can check out their upcoming celebrity and author events here. And you can purchase Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage here.
