When life gives you lemons...you should totally have a party!

There are 3 words that come to mind when I think of this past week.

Dream. Come. True.

For four years Valerie and I have poured our hearts into our book, The Ex-Wives’ Guide to Divorce. After years of writing, editing, victories, set- backs, and everything in between, we finally held the finished product in our hands. On Tuesday, August 18^th the Ex-Wives’ Guide to Divorce was officially released to the entire world. Clearly this called for a celebration.

We met in the Barnes and Noble parking lot, popped a bottle of champagne (side note:  Valerie almost blinded me as the cork went flying into the air and proceeded to hit a parked car), and toasted each other with a matching set of kiddie cups. Thanks to iPhone video we can relive this hilarious memory as often  as we’d like.

Our adventure in Barnes and Noble that day was surreal- thank you Nicole for snapping these shots of us!

Hello, Barnes & Noble...here we come!

Visualizing (and crossing our fingers!) we will be on the BEST SELLERS shelf soon!

 

The celebration continued on Thursday at our official launch party, because if you know Valerie and I you know we will ALWAYS find a reason to throw a party. 

The theme? Turning lemons into lemonade!

Thanks to Valerie’s INCREDIBLE AMAZING AND CRAZY GENEROUS FRIENDS (I really could go on and on about how awesome they are), we were able to host an over-the-top launch party at Naylor Hall in downtown Roswell. I have goosebumps just thinking about the time, money, and HEART that went into this party. Sunny, there are absolutely no words to describe how thankful we are for you and your generous gift. We are forever grateful to you.

Beautiful Venue? Check! (Sunny and the Naylor Hall crew…THANK YOU!)

Valerie and Sunny sporting their super cute lemon aprons

Open Bar? Check! (Thanks to Sunny we even had a signature Ex-Wives’ cocktail… pink lemonade with a twist, of course)

Awesome Bartender with a heavy hand? Check! (Thanks Brandon)

DJ? Check! (Thank you Hal Mealor from Halcodj.com)

Gorgeous (and delicious) Cake? Check! (Thank you Sweet Caroline’s Cakes)

 

Yes that is a CAKE! Amazing, huh?

Professional Photographer to save us from only having iPhone pics? Check! (Thank you Nicole from Nicole Stephens Photography)

Note: the pillows in the background say "Happily Ever After"...we couldn't agree more!

Yep, we even gave away sunglasses...because girlfriend, your future is BRIGHT!

 We had a beautiful party but the truth is this: without YOU this party would have meant nothing.

You, our readers, our fans, our biggest supporters…Our friends who drove hours and hours, hopped on planes, paid babysitters, left work early, dragged your kids along because your sitters cancelled, rearranged your entire day just so you could be there for us, showed up early to help set up (ASHLEY!), and stayed until the last piece of trash was picked up…YOU, our friends who have supported us from the very beginning, breathing belief into our dream and encouraging us when we wanted to give up. YOU, our friends who have loved us unconditionally no matter how crazy we get, no matter how close to the cliff we get, you always seem to walk us off. YOU, our friends, who finally stopped asking, “So when’s the book coming out?” because you knew it was eventually going to happen and TODAY WAS FINALLY THAT DAY.

Thank YOU for celebrating this victory with us. It meant the world to us to have all of you there, and for those that weren’t able to make it, we know you were there in spirit.

Toward the end of the evening Valerie and I grabbed the mic and dedicated a toast to our guests. We also took a minute to honor, compliment, and thank each other. Valerie’s words filled my heart with love, and in that moment it hit me like a ton of bricks. God had placed this woman in my path for such a specific purpose. Yes, we had both been dealt a serious bag of lemons, but instead of wallowing in the sour we came together and made some seriously sweet lemonade. As I stood next to her I did my best to hold back the tears. Because although part of me felt like this day was symbolic of an “end”, I know in my heart this is just the beginning.

So today we raise our glasses, filled to the brim with sweet lemonade, and toast each other. To the good, the bad, and the really sour lemons…the Ex-Wives’ adventure has just begun.

xoxo Holiday