WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!

Once again, Williams Sonoma was having a book signing today. It was Ina Garten or better known as The Barefoot Contessa!

I was so excited because I really love her show and have all of her cookbooks.



I have been to several book signings at William Sonoma and they have all been the same. You get there hours early and wait. Then the line starts to move and the excitement builds. Slowly you make your way to the front of the line and then you hand your book over.

They ask you who you would like to personalize the book to and you hand over your camera so you can get a picture with the author.

You only get a short time with the author but still it is enough time to say hi, tell them how much you admire them and have them thank you for coming and buying their book.



Well, that wasn't how Ina Garten does things!

She would NOT personalize any book. She signed her name and that was it! She would NOT take a photo with you. You could have them click a picture of you standing there but since you couldn't stand very close to her, you would not get a good photo.

Plus she wouldn't look up. She just kept her head down, signed the book and took the next one.

She didn't say hi. She didn't say thank you. She didn't say anything! It was as if you were not even there.



I had four books that I had her sign. They cost $35.00 each. Yet you could buy them at Costco or Target for less then 1/2 that cost.

To me, it was worth it to get her to personalize the books so I could give them as gifts to my friends that enjoy her show. Little did I know she was going to be so rude.

You would think that with paying the extra cost and waiting for hours she would at least say thank you to her fans.

I know this was not how Williams Sonoma normally handles the book signings so, it has to be Ina Garten that set the rules.

She didn't even have as many people in line as some of the other signings I've been to, so I couldn't even write it off as maybe it was because there were so many people.

I lost a lot of my admiration for her today. I wish I would have just purchased my books some place else....if at all.

Yes, it was a BIG disappointment today. Oh well, at least I got a few gifts.

BOOK SIGNING WITH THOMAS KELLER

My nephew, John, is an executive chef and loves cooking and eating fancy foods. He enjoys going to restaurants of well known chefs and trying different recipes from their cook books.

Thomas Keller is one of the chefs he admires and so we my sister, Patty, saw he was going to be doing a book signing for his newly released Cook Book, she thought it would make a great gift for John's upcoming birthday.

She was going to busy and unable to go though so she asked if I would go get the book and get it signed. Since I wasn't doing anything I told her I would go.

It was just up the street at South Coast Plaza and I figured it would only take a few minutes of time. So off I went.


The signing was at Williams Sonoma. I love that store! I figured that while I was there I could do a little Christmas shopping myself.

I found the book and went to purchase a copy. Only I was told that all the books on display were already purchased and being held for the people who bought them. They were not sure if there were any more copies inside or not.

What! I never dreamed this guy was so popular. So I quickly went inside and found one of the few copies still for sell. I paid for it and then went to get in line to have it signed.

I was shocked to see the line of people waiting went all through out the mall! I couldn't even find the end of the line.

So much for this being a quick stop. I knew I was going to be there for a long time.

I found the end of the line and took my place. Quickly I was no longer the last person and people kept coming and coming, lining up in back of me.

I love to watch the Food Network and knew several of these top chefs but if it had not been for my newphew telling me about Thomas Keller I wouldn't have any idea who he was. After all, he is NOT on the Food Network.

He will be on Top Chef next week though.

So, I just couldn't get over how many people knew who he was and would pay $50.00 for his cookbook then stand in line for hours to get him to sign it.

Once people got their book or books signed they came out of the stores happy as lark.

The line moved slowly. In fact it took me 3 1/2 hours to get the book signed.

But, I finally made it!

There he is! Thomas Keller signing the book for John.

He was very nice and not only required each customer to be introduced to him by name so he could acknowledge them, he also stood so he could take a photo with each person.

He had to be super tired! I know I was. He still had about two more hours to sign books too! Poor guy.

I'm sure John will be thrilled to get his gift from Patty and I was happy I got to help her out.

I met some really fun people while standing in line and we told stories and had lots of laughs while we waited.

Have you ever waited in line to have someone you admire sign a book? If so, who was it?

Speaking of cook books, don't forget to sign up for my Cook Book Give Away. You still have time to do so. Just scroll down and leave a comment on that post.