A Visit Home

My mom is an amazing human being.  I would not have started my children’s clothing company had it not been for the fact that she designed children’s wear herself, from our basement, for nearly 15 years–giving me the vision that it was possible to combine work and family seamlessly.  She has been my biggest advocate and my biggest challenger, always reminding me that I can do anything and that she expects nothing less than for me to live my life with vision and passion.  It’s an astonishing gift to offer me, and I am grateful more and more the older I get that she has been so certain that my sisters and I are awesome people with intelligence and talent and love to share with the world.

The next two days, I am the beneficiary of my mother’s long-standing connections in my hometown of Montgomery, AL: she has gone all out and set up a mini-press junket for me this Wednesday and Thursday, complete with two book signings, a radio interview and a newspaper piece.  It all sounds very professional and legit and exciting, and I have to keep pinching myself that this is me and that I really wrote a book.  And then I realize how much trouble my mother went to in order to put these events all together, and I get a little verklempt.  I feel such a sense of safety and connection to feel that loyalty and pride coming from my mom.

Montgomery is not a big city.  It’s the capital of Alabama, but anyone who’s been there can tell you that (1) it’s a small town no matter what the population may be and (2) everybody knows everybody.  We moved there when I was four, and my mom has lived there ever since.  She worked for the Montgomery Ballet for years, then created her clothing line which she sold in women’s homes via trunk show before such a thing was commonplace, and now she’s with the Alabama Society of CPAs (which is actually a lot funner than it sounds).  Add that to the fact that she and I look exactly alike (to the point that I get stopped in shopping malls by strangers who ask if I’m her daughter and told to pass on their regards to my mom), and it’s hard to go anywhere in Montgomery and not know someone who knows and loves my mom.

She has turned her charm on and called out all the cool kids to come and support my book, and I’m feeling like a woman who sees how fortunate she is every single time I turn around.  If you’re in Alabama or anywhere near by, I’d love if you came out and visit at the book signing tonight–I’d love to have a good turnout for my mom, who went to all this trouble, and who would like nothing more than to throw me a nice party.

Hoping to see you soon!

Book signing TODAY, Wednesday September 29, from 4 to 6 pm

Capitol Book and News

1140 Fairview Ave

Montgomery, AL 36106