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Nora Roberts's |
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Turn the Page Bookstore Cafe
Saturday, March 29, 2003
The drive down from Philadelphia to Boonsboro was cloudy with lots of rainy patches. When we--Mama Jean, JB, Mary, & Suz--arrived in Boonsboro around 12:30, the sun was shining and it was hot. A perfect day!
We stopped at the sign that says "Welcome to Boonsboro--Home of the Warriors." We had a slight change to make there. LOL (See photos!)
There were several people milling about on the porch and on the sidewalk. I saw several familiar faces.
Carla (lighthouse) came over and I gave her a big hug. There was Elaine (blue iceberg), Phyllis (little ghost), Arlene (shoot, Arlene....what's your avatar??), Teresa (cat on a blanket), Carol P (spinning rainbow), Edith (appleheart), and Jewells (big 'ol dog with outstretched arms). I hope I'm not forgetting anyone's name. Please correct me!
Stacie came out of the store to hug and chat. We had just missed seeing Princess Kayla. She went home to take a nap. It's hard to be a princess you know!
Then Nora came outside and we chatted about Ireland, Asaro's, and the tour. Nora looked fab in a kiki little outfit. I don't have my pictures yet and the memory ain't what it used to be so I hope I get this right for the fashion conscious out there. I think Nora was wearing brown slacks, a light brown/beigey sweater top deal and a brown vest. The shoes are escaping me, but I'm sure they were stylin'.
One o'clock crept up so Nora had to go inside and start signing.
Mary went inside to get our tickets. We were numbers 137, 138, 139, & 140. So since we had some time we strolled down the block to Asaro's for lunch.
The place looks really great. They've painted the inside recently so it's all fresh and open looking. The Jeans, Mary, and I split a pizza. It was yummy!
While in Asaro's we saw Carol P and her sisters having lunch. There were a few other ADWOFFers there too. Dawn from Rochester (waving froggie), Tami (the cute widdle kitty), and Blav132 (142? I forget the rest of your number; I'm sorry!--I recognize your name, but I can't remember the avatar. Damn this feeble memory of mine!) all came over to introduce themselves. It was great! I loved seeing them! Also Deb (the beautiful flower with pink leaves) introduced herself. I'm so glad you all came over to say hi. I love seeing ADWOFFers in person.
I also ran into Pammy (Nitany Lion) in Asaro's. She's doing peachy keen.
While eating our pizza JB looked out the window and said, "It's POURING outside!" Sure enough, the rain was coming down in drops as big as beach balls. We just stayed inside and enjoyed our lunch. After about 20 minutes or so, the rain stopped, the skies cleared and the sun was out again.
We traveled back to TTP about 2 o'clock I suppose. BW was kind enough to let JB and Mama Jean sit inside on the couch. Mama Jean went up into the store to get her books because she was afraid of them running out. So I kept her spot on the comfy sofa. When she came back down, I went through the store to get my books. I love browsing through the bookstore, but there were a lot of people there so it was kindda hard to wander.
One of the neat things I like about TTP is the wall where they have all the author pictures hanging up. It's really cool. So many sweet and friendly faces smiling at you. There's Patricia Gaffney, Lisa Scottoline, Mary Kay McCommas and Ruthiebabe just to name a few.
The hardworking TTP gals rang up my order. I think Sophie is the one girl's name, but I can't remember the other one. They said they'd gone through about 40 cases of BIRTHRIGHT already. I think she said there's 12 to a case. I could be off on that though. But in all, BIRTHRIGHT and PORTRAIT IN DEATH were selling like, well, like Nora Roberts novels! LOL
Elaine flagged me on my way out to see if I could do dinner with them. I said, "Thanks for asking, but we're heading up to Danville to see Sue who had to work all day." So, I want to hear dinner details from those of you who went.
I meandered my way out of the store and through the porch where the crowd was a little congested. I went back inside the "new" part of the store to check on JB and Mama Jean. Then I browsed the shirt rack they had placed in the middle of the store. I found a BIRTHRIGHT tour T-shirt so I got one of them. It's a khaki color, the tour cities are listed on the back and on the front it says: "NORA ROBERTS" in red. And in a dark mustard color it says: "digs up old secrets and tests the boundaries of family and love in BIRTHRIGHT (that's in red too). And then there's some swishy blue lines. Sorta like a painter made a loose "s" shape with his brush.
Mama Jean and JB got the khaki TTP shirts. There were also really cool TTP bags that were grey with dark green trim. Stacie and Sarah were manning the register in this area so I went over to pay for our shirts.
Mary and I hung outside for a bit soaking up some sunshine. Mary had walked down to the creamery earlier to get some ice-cream. She ran into this group of about 20 women all wearing red hats and purple shirts. Mary asked them who they were. They said they were from the "Red Hat Society." The requirements are to be over 50 and have fun. LOL They wear red hats and purple shirts. They don't collect dues or do fund raisers. They just enjoy life! I think Mary said this summer they're going on a cruise. There are chapters all over. One of the authors signing at TTP is a member of their group so they all showed up to surprise her.
Around 3:00, it was our turn in line. Sarah came over to take a picture of the four of us with Nora. Then Sarah and I chatted a bit. We decided to bikini Jell-O wrestle to see who wins Jason.
Nora signed my books. I gave her a tour care package. She peeked inside and I told her, "Don't worry, you're Raisinets are in there." LOL Then I gave her a big hug and wished her a great and safe tour.
As we all chugged out of TTP we said goodbye to BW, Stacie, and Sarah. I told Sarah to give Jason a big kiss for me. The boy was no where to be found. I wonder where he was?
The Jeans, Mary, and I got on the road again around 3:30-ish. We called Sue to tell her we were leaving. She gave us directions up to Danville. Sadly, the rain started up again so our drive was a little wet.
We took the long way getting back to the main highway because after driving about a half an hour I saw a sign that said "Boonsboro, next exit." And I turned to JB and said, "Didn't we just come from there?!" LOL
As we got closer to Danville, JB and I both forgot which way we had to go at this one exit so I called Sue. Well, we didn't realize how close we were and I'm shouting at Sue over the phone, "Which way do we go?! East or West?" And Sue is saying, "You guys are only there?!" And I'm getting hysterical and saying, "Which way do we go? East or West?! Hurry up!" We literally had to stop at the off ramp so we wouldn't miss our exit. LOL
We hooked up with Sue around 7 o'clock in Danville. We had some dinner and then the Jeans, Mary, and I had to get back to Philly. So we bid adieu and off we went. It was still raining and it stayed with us pretty much all the way home. Maybe around Allentown it had cleared up.
All in all, it was a WONDERFUL day. I can't wait to go back at the end of April!
ADWOFF > NORA'S TOURS > BIRTHRIGHT TOUR > TTP > Suz's Report
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