Martha Speaks

(Photo by JustJenn.)

Our TiVo is filled with episodes of "The Martha Stewart Show." Our bookcases? Years of Martha Stewart magazine issues. And my go-to gift for Maria remain Martha Stewart books (which there never seem to be a shortage of). Even Blogger Preschooler knows the name of his mommy's idol.

I never thought much of Martha Stewart before i met Maria, but she completely converted me to the pro-Martha camp. By the time Martha went to prison, I was ready to rally in the streets to proclaim her innocence. (Well, not quite. But I still think she got a raw deal... yet it wound up being pretty good for business!)

On Monday, Martha herself visited our 'hood to sign her latest, "Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook," at the Barnes & Noble located inside Glendale's Americana at Brand.

Maria may be an uberfan, but the idea of spending all that time in line for a brief Martha encounter -- especially in the middle of a busy workday -- didn't quite appeal. Fellow bloggers JustJenn and Christine did make the trek, and both seemed to have pretty good brushes with Martha. Both also wound up giving the Domestic Diva notes: Jenn (who took the photo above) handed her a postcard she designed, while Christine gave Martha a hand-written note. She writes:

I know better than to rely on myself to say what I want to say, so while we waited for our group to be called, I wrote Martha a note. My mom did, too.

The actual meeting, of course, went by way too quickly. We handed our notes to Martha, and she seemed to genuinely appreciate them, thanking us like the gracious host she is, before tucking them away.

Then she signed our books and posed for a photo. “I’m so excited!” Mom said with glee. I was too, and that’s why I couldn’t think of a thing to say other than, “Thank you.”

Before I could even try to redeem myself, we were being shuffled aside for the next fans.

My favorite part about it all wasn’t seeing Martha’s perfectly coifed hair and smiling eyes in person or adding one of her gorgeous books to my collection. It was geeking out with my parents all day long about our celebrity studded day.

Jenn happened to overhear Barnes & Noble staffers freaking out over a chair that Martha was supposed to use: "Apparently they had bought the chair especially for her, she had specified that it had to be made of 'hard wood.' Hilarious."