A Friday Fit for a Princess, Part 1

Last Friday after work, Nancy, Nick, Carly H., and I headed to the New York Public Library for the evening. Yeah, yeah, we are a bunch of book-loving nerds, but on this particular night, we had more in mind than just browsing through the New Arrivals section -- we were there for a special event with Meg Cabot to celebrate the publication of the last Princess Diaries book!

Forever Princess, the tenth and final installment in the series, came out on January 6th. And to mark the occasion, Meg made an appearance at the main branch of the NYPL to sign books, answer fan's questions, and talk up her tiara auction. Say what? Yes, a tiara auction.

See, Meg got a bunch of celebrities, authors, and designers to decorate their own customized tiaras, and she's auctioning them off online all this month in order to raise money for teen programs at the New York Public Library. So Meg kicked off last Friday’s event with a photo slideshow to showcase her wares — and she was joined by former Project Runway contender and now famous designer Austin Scarlett, who created one of the tiaras that's on sale.

Both Meg's and Austin’s tiaras were on display onstage:

Austin explained that his tiara is inspired by the literal idea of a princess' diary, so the bottom is designed to look like a book's open pages, and the middle is a quill pen! I should have expected nothing less from a guy who once made a dress out of corn husks!

 

Meg revealed that her tiara is a tribute to Forever Princess; the book takes place in the spring, so Meg went with an outdoorsy, nature theme. So basically it turns out that Meg is not only a talented writer, but she's also an artistically gifted craft maven. As if I weren’t already jealous enough . . .

But I couldn't stay mad at Meg for long, of course! Not only is it hard to be angry at someone who is fundraising for a good cause, but she’s just so bubbly and friendly and funny. Here's a rundown of my favorite moments from the tiara show-and-tell:

Make-Up Tiara:

While Austin described this tiara created by cosmetics guru Bobbi Brown, Meg pantomimed putting blush on her cheeks.

Arctic Fox Tiara:

Because Princess Mia is all about supporting Greenpeace, Meg was excited to announce that for this tiara, artist Karen Kilimnik's goal was to reflect her concern about the environment. But Meg's excitement didn’t stop her from making a funny face as she pointed out that there's a little fox perched on top of the tiara:

Sarah Palin Tiara:

This hilarious tiara — an homage to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin — is courtesy of comedian Mo Rocca. Before going on to the next tiara in the slideshow, Meg said wistfully, "Moving on, although I don't want to . . . I just want to gaze at it." Me too, but unfortunately, I don’t have the moolah required to purchase it for myself — you know, to add to my own huge tiara collection.

Spooky Tiara:

Attention, Goosebumps fans: this tiara was decorated by author R. L. Stine. Gee, I never would have guessed. Austin and Meg described this one as perfect for "the princess of evil." I guess that’s me on a Monday morning.

After the tiara portion of the evening, Meg took questions from the audience — but you'll just have to check back tomorrow to find out all the juicy secrets that Meg revealed. Plus, I'll post all the rest of the photos that we took to remember the night!

— Karen, STACKS Staffer

Comments

[Comment #1]

so cool those pics r cool to and you r so pretty

[Comment #2]

Lov the pics. I hoped you had a great. God Bless you!!!!

[Comment #3]

i love your book so much!!!

[Comment #4]

I love the one with the fox on top. Its so pretty.

[Comment #5]

those pictures are so cool!

[Comment #6]

I like the Sarah Palin tiara. They even have Sarah Palin glasses at the bottom! (Not that I like Sarah Palin!)

[Comment #7]

I think that I loved the pics and the Sarah Palin tiara!!!!

Cokkiesandcream

[Comment #8]

u are the best person in the history of storys

[Comment #9]

I LOVE her books. When I read them I was ROTFL!!!

[Comment #10]

i loved it too i think ur the best story teller ever!