Book Signing in Beaverdale

 

 

The lovely fall weather served as a backdrop to the Beaverdale Fall Fest.  Alice, the proprietor of Beaverdale Books, hosted a book signing by local authors on Saturday September 19th.  Carol Bodensteiner, “Growing Up Country”, Michael Wellman “Far From Trees”, Ryan Sloth “Sammy Sloth”and Lauren Rice “Iowa Explorer’s Guide” shared a table with Sheryl Van Weelden “Under the Tea Leaves”.  We enjoyed the lovely fall weather, networking with each other about publishing and marketing our books, and signing purchases for the customers.  It was a delightful couple of hours.  Thank you, Alice.

Sheryl's Book Presentation At Sully Community Church April 4, 2009

Photo: Sheryl talking with her 5th grade teacher, Darlene Gates.  Darlene's compassionate care and intellectual challenge in the classroom motivated Sheryl to become a lifetime educator.

Sheryl gave the keynote speech at the Ladies Spring Tea.  Over one hundred women were in attendance:  mothers, daughters and grandmothers.   After a delicious luncheon with the tea , Sheryl shared her faith journey and how Sherry and she wrote Under the Tea Leaves. By sharing her many memories  sipping tea and tea parties with those she loves ages 6- 91, she encouraged all the women to take time to share with those they love. 

Book presentation in December at Meredith Drive Reformed Church

 

This is Sheryl and Sherry providing a presentation to seniors at Sheryl's church Meredith Drive Reformed in Des Moines, Iowa. It was a cold December day but there were a good number of people gathered for lunch and discussion. Sheryl shares tea memories and invites others to do the same.

May 3, Celebrate our women who support us

May 3, from 11 to 1 Mom and I will be at East Village Books sipping Gong Fu tea that Mike and Rusty are generously providing for an event to talk about and celebrate the women who support us along life's journey. Please come and visit with us and bring those women who make a difference for you while you relax and visit at East Village Books. Mom and I will provide a brief presentation to kick off discussion.

We are requesting donations to help Beacon of Life which is a women's shelter in Des Moines that helps women transition back into a functional and productive lives. Please join us and bring anything on the list as it appears here. We look forward to seeing you!

Download needs_list.doc

Our first interview on podcast Conscious Discussions

Here is an interview we had with Lillian Brummet of the podcast Conscious Discussions today. Her show focuses on topics that have to do with the environment, community involvement, and writing. Take a listen here.

February 26, Des Moines Franklin Ave. Library, 1 p.m.

I'm all emotive about it and Mom looks usual fabulous. We're excited about talking with the Friends of Franklin Library on February 26, at 1 p.m. Pat Peterson the locally renowned tea consultant will be on hand to discuss aspects of tea and meditation. Mom and I will share ideas on how to slow down and take time for those relationships that matter most and how tea lends itself to that. Look forward to seeing you at this great venue to help get out of the late winter slump.

photos by Cañas photography

We've been noted as cool!

We're delighted to be featured as the cool book of the day over at Dan Janal's PR Leads site. Take a peak at not just our offering but many of the other books that Dan notes to be cool.

Beaverdale Books a book discussion recap

We had a great turnout and book discussion at Beaverdale Books on Sunday afternoon January 20, to hear Jan Davis of Grounds for Celebration talk about the process of creating tea blends. It turns out that she is the ONLY certified tea blender in the state of Iowa.

As the crowd of about 50 warmed up over cups of tea on this frigid afternoon Mom and I talked about the some of the elements of a blended relationship and what it takes to make them work. We then had some terrific discussion with people about relationships and tea of course.

A big thanks to Beaverdale Books for hosting this afternoon of tea and conversation and Jan for sharing her great information about tea and tea blending!

Jan Davis talks tea.

Sheryl Van Weelden the author

One more book signed and more to go!

We all have conversation and tea.

photos by Cañas photography

January 20, 2008 1 to 3 p.m. at Beaverdale Books

We'll be at Beaverdale Books on January 20, from 1 to 3 pm talking about making time for important people and blending family ties. Jan Davis will also talk about the art of blending when it comes to tea. She is the ONLY Certified tea blender in the state of Iowa. Come sample and learn more about this too.

Beaverdale Books is located at 2629 Beaver Ave. Des Moines, IA  phone:  279-5400

Hope to see you there!

The tough work of love

I am a Public Radio addict. One of my favorite radio programs is called This American Life. It is sort of a quirky and brilliantly written offering that always makes me think.

Recently I was listening to an archived episode written by Alix Spiegel about this couple that decides to adopt a Romanian child only to discover in short time that their new son suffers from attachment disorder. This disorder, they learn, is the result of early years of neglect and lack of human contact while living in the Romanian orphanage. As things progress their son becomes more violent and difficult. Nevertheless they forge through raising him even though it is a huge struggle that threatens their safety and marriage.

The adoptive mother, in particular, simply will not give up trying treatments to help her son. In the end the boy does manage to overcome some of the challenges of the disorder. Alix summarizes her thoughts on this love of the mother who keeps trying no matter what. "If you are a person who actually needs love, really needs love, chances are you are not the type of person who has the wherewithal to create it. Creating love is not for the soft and sentimental among us. Love is a tough business."

In our book Under the Tea Leaves, Mom and I reflect on our choice to blend our family, join our efforts, and commit to the tough work of creating love and relationship. We will share our thoughts and read excerpts from the book and join in discussion with guests over tea on January 20, 2008 1 to 3 p.m. at Beaverdale Books.

photo by indieink, powered by flickr

Jan Davis, certified tea blender and owner of Grounds for Celebration, will present information about the art of blending tea and share samples for guests of this event!