A day in my life - part one - The Martha Stewart Blog

November 4, 2009

A day in my life - part one

As you know, I live a very busy and varied life. On Monday, I had to make a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend a book signing at a Williams - Sonoma store at the King of Prussia Mall, the largest shopping mall on the east coast of the United States. The book signing was from 11AM to 1PM followed by a delicious lunch at Pod, a trendy Philadelphia restaurant. After eating, we went directly to the Wharton School, where I spoke and gave a Power Point presentation to approximately 500 guests. The topic was: Building the Martha Stewart Brand, followed by a lengthy Q&A from the students. It lasted more than 30 minutes! When the lecture was over, we were whisked away to catch our flight back home.

I spent the evening at my home working on various projects, while watching the World Series, rooting for my favorite team, the New York Yankees. It was then off to bed only to rise early again the next morning and travel to my Manhattan TV studio to arrive at hair and makeup at 8AM. I hope you enjoy these photos from Part One of my long and busy day in Philadelphia. Check out tomorrow's blog and I'll give you a glimpse into Part Two.

: After my early morning exercise, Mary Curran was ready to fix my hair and apply my makeup between mouthfuls of my favorite Uncle Sam’s cereal and fresh fruit.

: My office at home is in my kitchen and here I am checking my morning emails. I have a MacBook Air and a Sony Vaio – I know – I can have it all on one computer, but I prefer the two software platforms side by side.

: Time for my morning indulgence of a deliciously rich cappuccino – I also offer this frothy brew to anyone in the kitchen.

: Ahh! Such thick foam!

: The perfect cappuccino! A great way to start the day!

: Silly Mary!! Got froth?

: Francesca and Sharkey are always sad when they see me packing up to leave. However, it’s only for the day and they are always in good hands.

: Over the weekend, I made a list of garden chores. On my way out, I met up with Shaun, my gardener, about what requires his immediate attention.

: This is Manny, one of my security detail, giving a friendly wave goodbye as we drove out the of gate.

: This is one of the pilots for the day greeting me as I boarded the plane.

: The mandatory pre-flight safety briefing – I have heard all of this thousands of times, but I always pay attention.

: As we took off from Westchester County Airport, the foliage below painted a pretty picture.

: Looking down the Hudson River – That’s the George Washington Bridge with Manhattan on the left and New Jersey on the right.

: All settled in for the 36 minute flight to Philadelphia.

: I enjoy the Ken Ken puzzles – they help to sharpen my mind for the busy day ahead.

: Two vehicles greeted us on the tarmac – Susan Magrino, my publicist, is signaling for everyone to get moving.

: How sad – I always feel so badly when wildlife is hit on the roadway – This is an unfortunate red fox.

: The King of Prussia mall is very nice – lots of great shopping.

: Here I am approaching the Williams – Sonoma. The crowd was lined up and waiting.

: MSLO employees – William Van Roden – with his mother, Dee – and Ellen Morrissey – They happened to be in the area and decided to come to the book signing. I was so happy to see them in Philadelphia, that I invited them to join us for lunch.

: This is Meryl – she made this necklace from Home Depot paint chips and a decorative paper punch.

: Roasted pumpkin soup, found on page 168 of my new Dinner at Home book, was served to the crowd. Everyone loved it.

: The line for the book signing was really long – it seemed to wrap around the entire mall!

: More of the line – everyone was so patient and kind.

: This is Sang Mi and her cute baby, Jeremy.

: ABC’s Nightline was there filming my book signing as part of a TV special.

: Carl is a big fan of the Martha show and he knows how to wear our T-shirt.

: Donna and Ashley – notice that they shoot with a Canon G9? Great camera!

: And look who else came! This is Margy, the mother of Shaun, my gardener.

: Margy’s book – signed by me!

: These yummy coconut cupcakes were provided by Cupcakes Gourmet. www.cupcakesgourmet.com

: We sold over 600 books! That means I signed over 600 books!

: In the back room of the store, the Williams – Sonoma employees left me a message on their blackboard.

: Kate Tyler, and Susan Magrino, and Nicole Sutlif discussing logisitcs.

: Very sweet!

: Mary Beth and her adorable rescue poodle, Irish

: This is Kelly McDade, who was the winner of last year’s USA Today’s Cooking with Martha Contest. I was happy to see her again.

: This little girl was a bit nervous to meet me, but was very happy afterwards.

: What happened to the baby??

: Here he is! I suppose that stack of books weighs more than he does.

: It really never gets old – I love book signings and meeting my fans.

: In addition to the roasted pumpkin soup, hanger steak with caramelized shallots on page 207, was prepared by The Water Works Restaurant in Philadelphia www.thewaterworksrestaurant.com and offered for tasting.