Tea Party

L to R: Rene Holderman, Gail DiRe, Christy MacDanold, Deanna Meyerhoff, Rene Kirkpatrick, Mary Harris, me, Stesha Brandon, Lauren Meyer, Suzanne Perry, Mary Jo Huelsemann, Jane Morck, Patti Johnson

On the one nice day out of the past 180, over a dozen area booksellers joined me at my home for a tea party to celebrate the launch of The Friendship Doll. I brazenly stole the idea from my good friend, Karen Cushman, who had done a similar event to launch her wonderful Alchemy and Meggy Swann (by the way, Karen, when I was walking the cobblestones at the Tower of London, I could certainly identify with Meggy's "wabbling" over those uneven pathways!)

Tea sandwiches and fruit and veggie trays were courtesy of Alexa's Cafe Catering 

and the most beautiful and delicious teapot and tea cup cookies were lovingly baked and decorated by Alison Carchedi of Alison's Sweet Themes (I won't even tell you how many I ate). 

This lovely group of women chatted books, life, music and the Royal Wedding -- not necessarily in that order. I told them a bit about how The Friendship Doll came to be and then we took advantage of the sunshine for a photo opp. 

Imitating the flower girl at the Royal Wedding

It was a fun afternoon and a great way for me to thank these positive and loyal indie booksellers for their support of me and my books. Special thanks to Mr. Random House for sponsoring the afternoon's refreshments!