Yesterday afternoon was one of the highlights of my Spring. It was about 10am when my train arrived at Penn Station and I found myself walking through the city, passing time until an event later in the day.

Since I watch the final hour of The Today Show whenever I am home, my mind immediately went to stopping by the studio to see what was going on. You know, be one of those fans outside of the studio and in the background of all of Hoda & Kathie Lee’s shots. Ha. Well, I got side tracked. I never found my way to that area as I stumbled upon a sign at the NBC Experience Store promoting an autograph signing taking place in just three short hours. Tia Mowry, who we all love from Sister, Sister had tweeted about an autograph signing in the city earlier this week. I didn’t really pay much attention to the details because I did not want to be let down if the setting was far and the timing overlapped with the reason why I was in the city to begin with. But when I saw that sign and put the pieces together, I went straight to the staff and security to ask questions. Do your events typically start on time? How crazy are the lines? How much is the book? I received satisfying answers, so I bought Mowry’s book, Oh Baby!, hopped in line (I was about seventh in line) and waited.

I had no idea that Mowry’s book was about pregnancy until I picked it up. If anyone I knew saw me with a book titled, Oh! Baby!: Pregnancy Tales And Advice from One Hot Mama to Another, no matter who the author, they would be stupefied. It’s no secret that I was never that kid who dreamed of being A) married and B) married with kids (or a kid, period). I’m just not there. But it is Tia Mowry and I do love to read, so I chuckled to myself as I made my way to the register to purchase the book. I started reading the book in line and was immediately hooked. I made it to chapter 4 (there are 12 chapters in all) before the signing began. There are quite a few handfuls of fun tidbits from Tia’s pregnancy journey that Tia & Tamera (Style Network) did not show plus an abundant amount of tips (organized wonderfully) that expectant mothers will cherish and even people like me, family/friends of those expecting will see in a new light. From any angle, there’s something to learn here and I knew that would be the case, which is why I was not at all hesitant to purchase and read this. Thanks for shedding the light and doing so in such an entertaining way! Best of all, at 232 pages, this is a quick read. Even a slow reader who is multi-tasking could finish this within six hours, I’d say. Who doesn’t love a day read?

Props to the NBC Experience Store for having such a FRIENDLY staff and security crew and letting the fans actually soak in the moment with the talent. One of the reasons why I don’t often go to signings is because far too often, the staff and security are super aggressive and there is usually a “you can take photos of _____ but you can’t take a photo with them” rule. You see, I’m more of a photo snob than I am an autograph person, so that doesn’t really work for me. Time management, that’s all I’m saying. Anyway, with time to spare and having never been to a signing at the NBC Experience Store, I was open to learning how they best conduct these things. Happy to say that I will gladly go to more signings here after this experience. I took a handful of photos and when it was time to take a photo with Tia, one of the staff members was there to take the photo for you on your camera/phone/etc. How nice!

I didn’t want to bring up Sister, Sister (even though that’s why we were all there, really) because I’m sure she hears praises for her work back then every day. The same may now be said for Tia & Tamera and The Game, so my brain zeroed in on her film, Seventeen Again which I watched over and over and over and over again over the years, years ago. I don’t know why I don’t own the DVD but I’m kind of glad that I don’t because I know that it would be a time-suck. I seriously could crack up along to that movie all day every day. I’m sure if I played the movie right now, I’d still know all of the dialogue, body language/mannerisms of all of the characters, etc.. You get my point. So I told Tia that I loved her in Seventeen Again and then she brought up Twitches which, Oh my God, I love too! (We all know that my favorite show of all time is Charmed and I love me a good witch show/movie). She said that Twitches was one of her favorite things to work on, because who doesn’t want to play a witch with their sister? Something along those lines. I was just so excited that I was talking to her about Seventeen Again and witches. I dreamed of the day! I’m so not kidding.

I wanted to say, “Outie 2000,” part of a line from Seventeen Again, but I didn’t want to be too much of a fan girl, especially if she didn’t recognize the line and I was left standing there like an idiot. Ha. The whole one on one time couldn’t have been more than two minutes but it was a long two minutes and the best two minutes of this entire week! I really don’t know why but there’s just something about seeing someone in person who you’ve seen on the small screen all of your life that’s so incredibly exciting. To be able to say “Thank you” and “I love your work” in person, it may seem like a small thing but those few words really mean, “Thank you so much for working fifteen, twenty hours on set practically everyday for months on end to make me escape for a half hour/hour of my day and just laugh and relax (and be enlightened…because under every laugh, there’s a message).” That exchange of gratitude, it’s not to be taken lightly. Anyway, long story short, I had a great time at the signing and learned quite a few things about pregnancy in my reading (my oh my, the things they don’t tell you!) that have really made me even more understanding of and compassionate to the preggers journey. So thanks Tia Mowry for an unforgettable signing and thought provoking book!

Oh! Baby!: Pregnancy Tales And Advice from One Hot Mama to Another by Tia Mowry with Sheryl Berk is in stores now.