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Know what I did Friday?Ìý I went to the book signing for !

It was fantastic, and I Tweeted the whole thing at #DevotedLA, so it was a blast to hang out with everyone there.

I got to the Grove an hour before the signing, and was amazed by the crowd.Ìý They handle it well there â€� the place is so huge there was still plenty of room for non-signing customers to hang and mingleâ€� but huge swaths of space were swarmed with bodies.Ìý I took a couple pictures, but they don't do it justice.

I of course took a few minutes to sign Barnes and Noble's stock of �

…then hung out until Hilary arrived.

I'd been in contact with her assistant (which is so not even remotely the right title to cover how much he handles and how ridiculously awesome he is, but I'm going with it for want of a better term.Ìý Oh wait â€� how about Consigliere!Ìý Like in the Godfather.Ìý You know, except without all the illegal stuff.Ìý I'm going with that â€� I like it.Ìý Consigliere it is!), but my phone was on WiFi instead of 3G and service was super-spotty.Ìý I knew she was in the building when several people started to squeal, and a small child ran over to her mom and screamed, "I saw her!Ìý She's by the Nooks!Ìý She WAVED to me!!!!"

Off to the Nooks I went.Ìý Hilary had already passed through, but I saw her Consigliere, who rocks.Ìý He was with the Barnes and Noble Bodyguard â€� the guy must have been seven feet tall, solid muscleâ€� with the most hysterically dry sense of humor it has been my pleasure to witness.Ìý I tagged along as Witty Muscle Man (WMM for short) showed Consigliere the signing area, and I was surprised that a couple people in the crowd knew both Consigliere and I by sight, and gave us a shout-out by name.Ìý Clearly, these were fans who knew their cast of characters.

Once Consigliere gave the place a once-over, we vamoosed to the Green Room.Ìý It might be an employee break room when it's not celebrity signing time at Barnes and Noble, but today it was the Green Room.

That's where I met up with Hilary.

Okay, I know â€� she's always beautiful.Ìý But seriously?Ìý Gorgeous.Ìý Off-the-charts.Ìý Pregnancy agrees with her big-time.Ìý Not that she looks pregnant at all; if you didn't know, you wouldn't know.

This, you might imagine, would be a great place to put some kind of fabulous candid green room picture.

You're right� but I didn't take one.

I couldn't.Ìý I was too busy talking her ear off because I hadn't seen her since the baby news, and like everyone who has ever been pregnant, I'm all over pregnancy talk.Ìý I had an OMG-you're-pregnant gift to give her, I wanted to know how she was feeling, if she was excited or nervous, if she was exhausted all the timeâ€� there was a lot to discuss, PLUS she was signing a giant stack of books for Barnes and Noble to have in the store, PLUS it was already about a half hour after the signing was scheduled to start.

Now while I didn't find the time to snap a picture, I did ask her to sign a copy of Devoted for the blog, which she graciously did.Ìý I'm currently at 973 Twitter tweeps, which is amazing, and I thank you.Ìý I want to do a big giveaway when I get to 1000, and the signed Devoted will be a part of it.Ìý I'm thinking a prize pack that includes signed copies of Devoted and Populazziâ€� as well as some other fun stuff I have yet to figure out.Ìý Just a little something to keep in mind.

But back to our story!

By this time, Hilary had to get to her fans.Ìý They'd been waiting a long time; she didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.Ìý Now last year, at the signing, she came out, the photographers went wild, then they were ushered away so they no longer swarmed between her and her fans.

This time they did things a little differently â€� the photographers were completely separate from the actual event.Ìý Hilary was ushered into a photo studio (a.k.a. the stock room with a Barnes and Noble backdrop in place for the occasion), and in two waves the camerapeople came in.

Ever see those movies that take place in the 20′s or 30′s, where the press swarms around a gangster or D.A. as he leaves the courtroom, and they're all clamoring over one another as their flashbulbs pop?Ìý That's what this was like, only in full color, not black and white.

"Look over here, Hilary!"

"Over here now!"

"With the book this time!"

"How are you feeling?Ìý Show us how you're feeling!"

"Big smile this way, Hilary!"

Hilary is a pro.Ìý She was lovely and gracious, posing and smiling, completely accommodating.

I was in awe.Ìý Honestly, if I were four months pregnant, exhausted (Hilary wasn't â€� she's amazing â€� I, however, was always exhausted when I was pregnant), wearing high heels, and had a never-ending strobe of flashbulbs popping in my eyes, I'd have freaked out.Ìý She handled it effortlessly.

Post-press, it was off to the signing!Ìý Hilary took her place behind a desk, I settled myself in quite possibly the comfiest chair in the world, Consigliere shot pictures, WMM stood to the side and looked menacingâ€� we were set!

I am always blown away by the dedication of Hilary's fans.Ìý Many people in line had been there all day; those further back in line would wait for several hours even after the event started.Ìý No one complained; they were all just thrilled to be there.

For her part, Hilary again impressed me with her eagerness to make a real, personal connection with everyone there.Ìý She genuinely loves and appreciates her fans, and always took time to listen to their stories, have a conversation, and as much as she could in the limited time, really get to know each person.

I loved hearing people's stories: the girl who came with a Little Lizzie doll from and had been a fan since she was ten years old; the friends who met at a Hilary Duff concert ages ago, and had been getting together for Hilary events ever since; the young girl who squealed, "I wanna be just like you when I grow up!", then added as she was about to run off with her signed book, "And you're SO pretty!"

It was incredible.Ìý And I was honored to get my own face time with some of the fans.

It started when the people I was sitting with (friends of Hilary's â€� loved them!) and I noticed a girl showing something to Hilary.Ìý Something on her wrist.Ìý It seemed to get lots of attention â€� Hilary exclaimed, Consigliere snapped picturesâ€� the curiosity was killing us.Ìý So when the girl finished with Hilary and was about to leave the signing area, we flagged her over to ask â€� what was on her wrist?

It was a tattoo.Ìý "HD."Ìý Hilary herself had apparently signed her initials there, and the girl (Tristan â€� she Tweeted me and left a comment here so I now know her name) had them tattooed permanently in place.Ìý It gave her strength, Tristan said, when things got hard â€� she could just touch the tattoo and feel better about things.

That's some serious dedication.Ìý There are many artists out there I respect; I can't think of any whose initials I'd carve onto my body.

Soon after she left, Cedric stopped by.Ìý He had come fully prepared with both Elixir and ¶Ù±ð±¹´Ç³Ù±ð»å.Ìý Once Hilary signed them, he popped over to ask if I'd add my name on the books as well.Ìý We chatted about the series and about Populazzi, then he took the picture below, for which I was convinced the neck of my shirt was hanging open in some kind of terrible wardrobe-malfunctioning way.Ìý Thankfully, Cedric was kind enough to send the picture along on Twitter.Ìý As you can see, all is in its proper place.Ìý Big sigh of relief.Ìý Thanks, Cedric â€� great talking to you!

I also chatted with Blaise, who had been told by to come over and say hello, so of course she listened â€� clearly you don't mess with Dallas.Ìý Then there were the two girls who want to be writers, one of whom was totally motivated and wanted advice on the best ways to move forward with her stories.

It was all stupendous� but after three hours I was starting to see double, and I knew it wouldn't be long before I curled up in my very comfy chair and fell fast asleep.

I looked over at Hilary, bright-eyed and energized, eager to meet a still-quite-long line of her fans.

I wished I had a hat so I could tip it to her.

I'd intended to stay until the end, I really hadâ€� but if I wanted to stay awake on the drive home, I knew I had to go.Ìý I punched in my last #DevotedLA Tweet, hopped over to the desk to give Hilary a hug goodbye, and took off, thrilled to have witnessed another incredible signing.

Oh â€� one thing I forgot to mention.Ìý When we were all back in the green room, Consigliere gave me something very cool: an official Hilary Duff Sharpie.Ìý You can sort of see it in the picture â€� her signature is on it.

I used it to sign books for those people who stopped by my comfy chair, and when I showed it to one fan, she asked, "Can I have it?"Ìý While I was impressed by how forthright she was about it, my reaction at the time was, "Sorry, I only have the one!"

Then I realized� sure, I might only have one, but why does that mean I can't give it away?

So here goes.Ìý Everyone who leaves a comment on this post will be entered in a random drawing (via random.org) to win the Sharpie.Ìý I'll choose a winner on Friday.Ìý I'm cool with international entries, too.

And if you can, please spread the word about following on Twitter � 27 more Tweeps and I'll run the giveaway for the signed-by-Hilary copy of Devoted, a signed copy of Populazzi, and as-yet-to-be-decided additional funnery!

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