Or, “Sherry and John signed my baby”

So, it’s no secret to Kelly that I’m a big fan of the blog Young House Love. I’ve been reading them for several years now and while everything they do in their house is not always my style, I really appreciate and admire the way they tackle big projects around their house. They always think about ways they can DIY and do things on a budget. I like the bright shiny expensive furniture blogs too, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not my reality right now, so I love reading about how John and Sherry from YHL thrift and Craigslist and paint and redo and mix it all with a bit of IKEA furniture too. Aside from Kelly, they’re my DIY heroes.

So yeah, I’ve gushed about some of their projects to Kelly in the past – “YHL put in a patio in their backyard!” “YHL is renovating their kitchen right now!” “John from YHL is building a deck!” Kelly might have been a little peeved at first about all they accomplish until I copped to the fact that they reno their house and write about it AS THEIR JOBS. Now he’s impressed and possibly a tiny bit jealous that they get to DIY full-time. At least now he has the excuse that he has to work a full-time job as to why all our house projects are in 50-95% stages of completion…

I’ve also gotten a ton of inspiration from their projects for things to do in our own house. Marc’s nursery especially – I loved Clara’s gallery wall and the closet door curtain and did those same things in Marc’s room.

Anyway, all that being said, yesterday Kelly was very happy to drive with Marc and I up to Dallas to go to YHL’s book signing. We got to the store right about when it was supposed to start and got at the back of a VERY long line that wrapped itself through the store and around the parking lot. (We weren’t the end of the line at all either…)

We ended up waiting for 3 hours in the line. We chatted a bunch with Katie, who was in line ahead of us, I chatted a bit about cloth diapers with the ladies (and cute baby!) behind us. Marc and I went down the line and met a bunch of the other babies waiting with their parents too. Marc was really great the whole time. He ate his lunch, he chilled in his stroller, and once in the store, he wandered around with Kelly looking at the pretty things. He also had his first taste of sugar cookie, as I gave him a few nibbles of the YHL cookies they passed out in the line.

John and Sherry were so nice to all their fans. They were unflaggingly cheerful and gracious. But I could imagine that being “on” for so many hours in so many cities could get tiring. So I wanted to make them laugh when it was our turn. Sherry has a well-documented love for decorating with white ceramic animals, and many of her fans have brought her their ceramic items to sign. So when it was my turn, I presented Marc in a white onesie and leggings and said “He’s not ceramic, but he’s pretty white… would you sign my baby?” They laughed and obliged. And now Marc’s onesie says “XO, Sherry and John.” They complimented Marc’s name and signed my book too. Then we got a picture, like so many other fans did as well.

We did get a little video…

It was fun, and a little silly, and it wasn’t until afterwards that I realized in the midst of it, I never did tell them how much I’ve enjoyed reading their blog over the years and how much I admire them for the way they’ve gone about this whole blogging for a living thing. They just rock!