Picture Post- Diana Peterfreund signing

Warning: There are a TON of parenthetical asides here. You have been warned.

So I originally wasn't going to be able to go to this signing because of my lack of funds. But then my roomie ended up needing to go up to DC on the exact same day as the signing, so we just worked out a plan of action. We got up early and I drove up to Tysons Corner where the signing was being held. My roomie and her bf went to Chipotle for lunch, and then I took them to the metro so they could go to their thing in DC for the afternoon. I had to explain the whole system to them and everything which took a bit of time and then having to find a parking space back at Tysons proved difficult. I ended up being 15 minutes late to the signing, but Diana was so sweet and had had her mother (I think?) asking tons of questions so that the signing could be prolonged until I showed up since she knew I'd be coming by.

The cool thing was that as soon as I entered B&N (on the ground floor, the signing was on the second floor), they were playing this really fast instrumental piece and it so fit my "Must find Diana!" mindset and frantic nature. It was the most amazing two minutes of my life. So anyway, I grabbed a seat and Diana answered a few more questions and then the signing began. I got in line toward the end and waited around to get to Diana. The woman in front of me had her baby with her and Diana introduced us to each other since we're both bloggers. I had never heard of Alexa, who runs the Not Enough Bookshelves blog, but the next day, I found her blog and started following her. Which was good since I hadn't spelled out my blog name and she was using a different spelling. I love finding new blogs! :)

After Alexa went off, I had my little chat with Diana while she signed my book (which was actually Karin's copy since my copy had gotten lost in the mail when she tried to send it back- isn't Karin so sweet?) and a mother who was sitting in the front row with her daughter asked if I wanted a picture with Diana, which I did. So I gave her my camera and showed her how to use it, and we got the picture you see below! Thanks mysterious Diana fan!



Diana and I chatted with Emily (I think that's her name?) who put together the event (and also the Elizabeth Scott/Claudia Gray event) while she signed many copies of Rampant. It was quite fun, though Emily now knows the title of the Rampant sequel, which Diana refused to tell me since I am on the internetz and would tell everyone, lol (btw, Diana also knows the title of the 4th Gallagher Girls book, which she deems is the best one yet). Once Diana finished, we walked off together and I assumed we'd part ways since I figured she had to get home since it was her husband's birthday. But she suggested that we grab some lunch, so we went to the food court and got some McDonald's. Now, Diana was EXTREMELY sweet and actually bought my meal for me (she says it's the Italian in her, who wants to make sure everyone's fed) since she knew I was poor (though my dad had just put money in my account so I was all ready to pay for my own meal) and also thought I wasn't eating (one of the first things out of her mouth once the signing was over was "Are you eating?") even though I was. My roomie would never let me starve.

The McDonald's ordering process became an ordeal because Diana was just getting an order of fries and a drink, whereas I was getting a full meal, so the Hispanic lady was a bit confused when Diana was ordering since she thought we were asking for just the meal (10-piece McNuggets, btw- mmmmm). Finally, we got everything straightened out and then the lady sneezed into her hand and wandered off. Diana and I looked at each other and were like "Great. She sneezed and is now getting our food. We are going to contract swine flu now." But as it turned out, she was going over to the sink to wash her hands with soap. Yay sanitation!

We got our food and Diana had some trouble with the ketchup machine (because it was squirting out BBQ sauce or something that wasn't ketchup). THEN we sat down and my straw was all effed up. It was slightly warped and one end was like closed up. I tried to fix it, and Diana saw my efforts and was so sweet and got up to get me a new straw. After all that, we started eating and it was glorious (though the fries could've been a bit better). We chatted about a lot of different things, but it all tied in to our lives. Diana told me about growing up in Florida, living in NYC, being at Yale, moving to DC. She told me a little about her parents and how they like to overdo things, such as how they were planning a party for the release of Rampant. Diana had been talking to them and just said "I think it'd be great if we just got some pizzas and (insert something Roman here since I can't remember what she said). That's all we need." And her parents ended up making a bunch of Italian food, gelato, and like a ton of Roman items, and basically making it like Little Italy in your house.

Anyway, it was a ton of fun having a quick bite with Diana. She is so funny, kind and nice and I was quite surprised that she wanted to have lunch with me so we'd have a chance to sit and chat for a little while. It was a fantastic afternoon and one I'll never forget (I might forget details though because I am prone to that).


Picture- Me with Diana. Note her made-of-awesome shirt.