Lauren Willig Book Signing

So I told you about going to Chicago the other day for a book signing- Remember the Creepy Train Guy (I think I should start tagging those entries "creepy guy")? That was so long I didn’t get a chance to tell you about why I was actually in Chicago.
So…
One of my favorite living authors is named Lauren Willig. She writes spoofs of Baroness Orczy’s League of the Scarlett Pimpernel books, that are sort of sequels with a modern frame story. They are FANTASTIC and you should totally read them. Actually I’m going to post y review of her first book here in a few days just so you can see how much I liked them. Anyway…
I had met her once before about a year and half ago, and this is how cool she is. She was at a conference and she thought that the book signing portion of the day was open to everyone not just conference attendees, which turned out to be not true. So she spent her scheduled break in a hotel lobby hanging out with fans, signing books (and since there were only like six of us giving us amazing spoilers!) So when I found out she would be in Chicago again, I promptly took the day off so I could go see her again.
It was great, there were way more of us this time, so it was less intimate, but still very cool. She read us an intro to her new book that the publisher made her take out (because they thought it sounded to serious, but none of us thought it was at all serious, so…), she answered questions, and gave us a few minor spoilers then she signed books. So now all of my copies of her books are signed, and I got another Christmas present checked off my list.
Afterwards Kristin and I went to dinner at the restaurant we’d been planning on going to BEFORE but were unable to since I missed my train. The food was AMAZING and the prices were absotlutely astonishing (in the good way). As in we split a carafe of Sangria (wine and brandy poured over ice and fruit), Kristin had linguine and clams, I had wild boar ragu (yes you read that correctly, I ate boar for dinner), and we split chocolate fondue for dessert. Mind you this was all at a restaurant in downtown Chicago (on State St) that was so nice, there was a bathroom attendant. Our total bill (not including tip) was only $45!!
Now enjoy the pictures I took that night (I’m the one in the black and white cityscape tee, Kristin is in blue lace, and Lauren Willis is in the amazing red dress.