So I basically had to beg my Mom to let me go to this signing, especially since it was last minute and I forgot to ask her and my Dad the day before. I had taken the cab to the city to the Barnes and Noble in Union Square since that’s where Joey’s meet and greet was taking place. I arrived at the site around 8:30ish and there was already a line and a half. I honestly didn’t know how long the line actually was since I was pretty much in the back of the line. Some people showed up after me and let me just say that if you ever go to a book signing and want to be sure you have a wristband and its cold outside, make sure you wear heavy clothes. It was so freezing that day, I was basically shivering and I had two layers on.

As the line started to move more and more around 9:00, I then realized how long the line was and it wrapped around the block twice! And for those of you who don’t live in New York, NYC streets are big and long so for a line to wrap around twice at 8:30 in the morning on Columbus Day, is insane. I remember going to Connor Franta’s signing in April of last year and when I went early in the morning, there weren’t even that many people but I think it’s because Joey is more popular than Connor is but it was insane!

I honestly didn’t think that many people would wait in line that early and there were people of all ages. I was also surprised that there were more girls than boys there but it doesn’t really matter since there were a lot of people, including parents there waiting in line. I was by myself the whole time basically and everyone went with someone but I didn’t mind cause my Dad wasn’t going to be meeting me until later.

I finally made it to the front entrance of the Barnes and Noble around 9:20 and I didn’t get my actual wristband until 9:44am. Now, I’ve done book signings before but I haven’t done one at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square yet. This Barnes and Noble was big and had four floors. Originally, I was going to leave and go to where my Dad works and wait until 3 o’clock until the signing started. But then I saw that people with wristbands were going upstairs so I decided to follow them and see where they went.

When we went upstairs, we got our wristbands marked off and the man that was guarding one of the escalators said that once our wristbands were marked, we couldn’t leave the building but we can roam around and get something to eat from the cafe on the floor we were currently on (which was the third floor) until the signing started.

When I went up to the fourth floor, there were chairs there and there were already a lot of people filled in the chairs (because I was confused as to where to go and what was happening.) So I just choose a chair and sat in it. I didn’t really know what was going on so I put my jackets on the seat to hold it and asked one of the people that were working for the event what we were doing here.

She said that when the meet and greet starts, that they would lead us up row by row to meet Joey. It was very organized to say the least and decided to stay on the fourth floor because I couldn’t really leave since my wristband was marked.

I was starting to get really bored within the second hour of waiting and it was almost 11 o’clock later on and I decided to get something from the cafe downstairs. There was even a line down there and they must have even waited longer than I had because they were still downstairs and all of the seats upstairs were filled. So they had to wait until the meet and greet started and more people were able to go upstairs later on. It was very confusing but I was just glad to have a seat and be able to be inside because I was not going to wait in the cold for all those hours.

When I went to the bathroom in the third hour or so of waiting, the Barnes and Noble people took a photograph of the crowd and everyone was around me saying that they see themselves and I was like ‘Crap, I missed the photo.’ Which I usually never do but I was just upset I wasn’t there to be a part of it because the person sitting next to me got to be in the photo and I couldn’t because I was in the stupid bathroom. 😦

It’s around 1 o’clock or so and everyone is getting excited around me that the meet and greet is starting in about two hours. Some idiots shouted ‘Joey!’ and basically everyone jumped up and looked to see where he was and obviously he wasn’t there yet because the meet and greet wasn’t starting until three. I thought he actually was there, along with everyone else and I honestly felt stupid for believing so.

Then an hour later, someone shouted it again and most of us we’re all getting tired of it and people we’re standing on their chairs to see if he was actually there. The security guards there then said that everyone should not stand in their chairs again very politely and thankfully everyone listened. I wasn’t one of the people to stand up in the chairs since I just thought it was stupid but at this point, there was an hour left or so until Joey arrived.

Fast forward to 3:00 and Joey walked in with his boyfriend, Daniel, around 3:05 and including me, everyone went nuts. It was so awesome and he was vlogging on his camera! I don’t know if I’m really in it since I’m in the way back but hopefully when he uploads it, I might be able to see myself. I also got a video of him entering and speaking a little bit before the meet and greet had started! Warning for headphone users: lower your volumes unless you don’t mind the screams of a hundreds of girls, including myself lol.

They led us up row by row to meet Joey and finally, it was my rows turn and by the stage where he was, there were boxes where we could put gifts in if we had them and there were four boxes. One for paintings/drawings, one for food/drink, one for letters and one for toys. I wrote him a letter during the boring hours of waiting and waiting for three o’clock to arrive. So I drop my letter in the box that was labeled letters and soon enough, it was almost my time to meet him. I had to hold my bag with me but at least they didn’t get the bag in the picture.

When it was finally my turn, he said “Hi!” with open arms and I gave him the biggest hug. I guess when I was nervous so when I smiled in the picture, I looked so gross haha. I said I loved him so much and gave him another hug. I then went off and got my wristband cut off and got a signed book with a note of where to get our photos and then I went back downstairs and had left with my Dad who was waiting outside since they wouldn’t let him upstairs to where I was.

Do you watch Joey’s videos? If so, whats your favorite? Is he your favorite youtuber? Also, if you plan on going to his signings on his tour or one any book signings for your favorite youtuber, be prepared for long, boring hours. But at the end, it is totally worth it.

–Zoe ❤