Both Debbie and I had a great time on our mini – west coast book tour for The BUST D.I.Y. Guide to Life, it’s always a pleasure to meet BUST readers on the road! Here are a few highlights from the trip.
1st stop Seattle
Debbie took the train from NY, and I flew in to Seattle and got to see some old friends, including Dave, Annabel, Heather, Emily, Mark, Steve, Kelly and (fab advertiser) Sandy Glaze of Sin In Linen. I was psyched to get a tour of the fabulous orange walls at the Sub Pop office from Kate (last time I visited the Sub Pop office was in ye olden days of Grunge 1993 maybe? when they were in a different location). Then it was off to see Steve and the fine folks at World Famous who let me borrow their computer for a few (so I could proof the Dec/Jan issue – my work never ends people), thanks dudes! Our reading at the University Bookstore was fun, Jenny Rose Ryan (who is responsible for a large part of the book) came with her adorable family, and we had dinner at the fabulous Walrus and the Carpenter with Meghan from Notmartha.org and Caroline Zwick from Dangerous Chunky.
Jenny Rose Ryan and family!
at the University book store
I love oysters! (the Walrus and the Carpenter)
2nd Stop: San Francisco
The next morning we had an early wake up to board the overnight train (Debbie loves trains!) to San Francisco, and I got to experience bunk beds for the first time in many years. When we arrived in SF, it was cloudy but we roamed around down by Fort Mason, had a nice birthday lunch for Debbie at Greens, and looked at the sea lions at pier 39.
That evening was really fun, we visited a cool craft store in the Mission, called Princess Animal, and crafted snow globes with a gaggle of gals. Kathy, who owns Princess Animal, was a great hostess, there was wine, stimulating conversation, and we got to meet some new friends.
The next day we wandered and shopped in the Mission, hit up a bunch of stores on Valencia, including the Pirate Shop and Paxton Gate, Therapy, and had amazing ice cream at Humphry Slocombe. That evening we headed over to Books Inc. for a signing. The crowd was not huge, but we met some great folks, and since we were near the children’s section, a few future BUST readers (ie. 10 year old girls) who lead the Q+A fearlessly and told us that their moms were “huuuge crafters” very cute. No visit to SF is complete without a drink at the only Tikki bar that I know of in the world with an indoor lake and a band that comes in on a raft to sing 70’s soft rock songs, yes I’m talking about the Tonga Room.
the view from our room at the Fairmont – not too shabby!
can you see the sleepy sea lions? so cute!
There’s Kathy from Princess Animal on the left. (everyone has the same glasses!)
Makin’ snow globes!
It’s Jennifer from Veg News!
Pina Colada at the Tonga Room
3rd stop: Portlandia
The next morning, we got up at the ass crack of dawn to fly to Portland, where we went directly to the amazing book store, Powells, I’m not exaggerating when I say that it is a MECCA of books, they really have everything. Literally. After our reading, we hung out with the fabulous Susan Beal (another long time BUST contributor) and checked out an adorable craft store, Crafty Wonderland, where I bought, among other things, some cute underpants that say “Home of the Beaver” on them – with log illustration, natch. After that we had a small reception at the Ace Hotel, and got to meet some cool Portland ladies. I did notice two prominent themes with the restaurants and cafe’s we went to: MASON JARS and record players in the coffee shops! Look out Brooklyn.
It was a whirlwind, and now we are back “crafting” the Feb/March issue of BUST, and getting ready for our huge Craftacular here in NYC on Dec 10th and 11th , where we’ll be signing books too (the BUST book kind of makes the PERFECT gift, I ya know what I’m saying? That and a subscription, natch).
We do have two local events coming up that we hope you come to.
This Saturday, Nov. 17 we’ll be heading the Crafternoon at the New York Public Library at 2pm. Stephen A Schwartzman building, 11 W. 40th St. New York, NY
December 7th, we’ll be doing a talk and book signing at Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street New York, NY 10002 at 7pm
