Hot Mess Haller Moment: Marginal vs. Magical

Last week, I shared what a magical experience I had at the Nantucket Book Festival. Being included in the Local Author Showcase was such an honor, and I wanted to make sure the organizer knew how grateful I was.

Now enters this week's Hot Mess Haller Moment.

On Monday, still exhausted from the weekend but determined not to forget, I sat down to send the organizer a thank-you email. My brain was already overloaded with to-dos, so I figured I'd send it while it was fresh in my mind.

Here's what I wrote:

"Barbara,

 I wanted to say thank you again for having me as a part of the Nantucket Book Fest Author Showcase. It was a marginal weekend. I loved sharing space with so many other creatives..."

Wait.

Marginal?

I meant to write magical.

Somewhere between my fingers, autocorrect, and my apparently unreliable proofreading skills, magical became marginal. The worst part? I proofread the email and my brain still saw "magical." It wasn't until I hit send that I realized I'd essentially thanked the organizer for a mediocre weekend.

I frantically reached for the "unsend" button, but it disappeared before I could click it.

So I immediately sent a follow-up:

"OMG! I am such a mess. It should have said magical weekend, not marginal. I think I need more sleep. My apologies. It was a MAGICAL weekend!!!"

Then I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

No reply.

Naturally, my brain decided this meant I had ruined my chances of ever being invited back.

By Thursday, I had fully entered overthinking territory and decided the logical next step was to text her. Because if you're going to be awkward, why not commit?

A few hours later, she hearted the message.

That's it. No commentary. No mention of my email disaster.

Just a heart ❤️

So I'm choosing to believe she laughed, extended me grace, and hopefully doesn't think I'm the most incompetent author on the planet.

At least that's the story I'm telling myself.

Here's hoping I get invited back next year.

And if I do, I promise my thank-you note will be thoroughly spell-checked.

Probably🤦🏻‍♀️

(If you've ever had a cringe incident like this, you know the kind that you lie in bed at night before going to sleep thinking "OMG, I can't believe I did that?" Reply to this post and share, I'd love to hear about your hot mess moment. We all have them!)