Former First Lady Comes Home to Kick Off International Book Tour


By now, Michelle Obama fans are probably pages deep into her new memoir, “Becoming.”

An international tour for the book kicked off Tuesday in Chicago, where Oprah Winfrey interviewed the former first lady before a packed house at the United Center.

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Everyone was excited to see two of Chicago’s most famous women sit down for an intimate chat. Winfrey said she hadn’t been back in the United Center since her last few TV shows back in 2011.

Obama told the nearly sold out event what life was like in the White House, which she describes as the world’s fanciest hotel.

But from her early days in the White House, she’s always made clear the importance of making sure her two daughters, Sasha and Malia, were still well-adjusted kids, despite living with the formality of the White House.

So they made one simple change early on with the butlers on staff at the White House.

“When we’re having pancakes in the morning, it’s just crazy to have a man with a tuxedo come in,” Obama said. “When you’ve got some little girls at a sleepover, and you’re bringing in some water … so, we cancelled the tuxedos. Wear some polo shirts, and some slacks – unless we did something formal. We just sort of loosened it up a bit.”

Follow Brandis Friedman on Twitter @BrandisFriedman


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