Ok…. so it is not really on a stick. I just said that. In Minnesota our joke about our State Fair each year is that you can get just about anything on a stick. And it is true. You can even get a deep-fried candy bar – on a stick. I do not kid. And BEA dipped in chocolate would be wonderful… but I digress…
BEA was an event that will stay with me forever. My first time to New York. My first encounter with anything bookish that is so big and soooooo amazing. I will try to give it justice in this post and hopefully not leave out anything.
Sunday May 23
I arrived in New York in the morning with Reagan from Miss Remmers Reviews. We taxied to our hotel and were able to turn in our luggage but not check in yet. SO – we did what those in New York do….. we walked. We walked down to Time Square (just a few blocks from our hotel) and down to Central Park which was gorgeous! We walked into the park… and around within the park and upon stepping out of the park we promptly took a right turn instead of a left and walked 30 blocks out of our way. After catching our error – we turned around and walked the 30+ blocks back and then rewarded ourselves with a yummy lunch before finding our way back to the hotel.
Sunday evening Esme (Chocolates and Croissants) rolled into New York and we all went out to eat together and made our introductions.
Monday May 24
We spend the morning and early afternoon checking out New York. Around 3 pm we head to Strand Book Store, home to 18 miles of books. We then stop for frozen Yogurt on our way to the Jefferson Library for the Teen Author Carnival – 30 authors and 3 different categories and panels. This was a lot of fun to listen to the authors and purchase books.
After the event, we stopped at Olive Garden on the way back to our hotel. Since my readers told me I could not go to chain restaurants while in New York we decided that we could cover it up by changing its name….. so we called it Evilo Dengar (Olive Garden in code).
After dinner we asked the hostess how to hail a cab. I asked if we were to stand out in front of it and she laughed and said only if I wanted to be ran over. She came outside with us and taught us how to wave down a cab. That was really funny. The cab driver told us that even though she told us to wave that was touristy and we were to hold our hand out straight as that is how the professionals do it. (Already we are learning so much!)
Tuesday May 25
Up early we went to the Javits Center to sit in on a discussion on the Value Of A Book and panel. Afterward we had seen on Twitter that the Class of 2010 Debut authors were going to be at the Javits Center in the lounge. Reagan, Esme, and I went to see what that was about and I am so glad we did. We were the only ones to show up so we had these authors all to ourselves. They gave us t shirts and swag and we talked to them for over an hour. It was a blast!
After this, Esme decided to go explore and Reagan and I decided to go read in Central Park. We went back to our hotel and changed, grabbed our books and off we went. It was a beautiful day and I finished The Opposite Of Me while in the park.
From there we went back to the hotel, cleaned up and started our walk to the Class of 2010 Author Event. This was a blast! It was many of the same authors we had met this morning, and more. After they shared about their books, we had a chance to buy books and have them signed.
After the signing, we met some other Bloggers and a group of 12 of us went out to dinner. (How super cool is that?) It was so much fun to get to meet a few of the people who’s blogs I read as well as a few that were new to me but I will be sure to check out!
Wednesday May 26
Up at 5 am to go the Javits for the tickets for author signings. Reagan and I went to this, for me mainly just to experience this early excitement. We did well and the line was still short when we got there. (Our hotel was 5 blocks from the Javits so it was within walking distance and the weather was perfect).
After that craziness I grabbed a cup of coffee and hung out in the lounge and waited for the doors to the event floor to open. When they did – seriously look out. I think I was drove by a heard of people to a booth where they slapped a book in my hand and I had to fight my way out of the crowd. (Note to self….next year, stand back until the crowd clears).
It’s hard to explain what this was like – other than to say it is a book lovers paradise. Publishing Houses and authors galore, I tossed my agenda to the wayside and decided just to experience BEA. I met with the Publishers that send me books, talked about upcoming releases, made new connections and picked up books along the way. I mailed one box home before 2 pm when I was to meet with Author, Adriana Trigiani.
I sam not going to go into a lot about the authors tea that I enjoyed with 5 other fabulous bloggers as that is my Wednesday post (stay tuned tomorrow for that one!). I will however let you know it was FABULOUS… and let you have one teaser photo:
After the tea we went back to the Javits where I walked around tired and happy until Reagan was ready to walk back to our hotel. We quickly changed and were off to the Book Blogger Get Together sponsored by Harper Collins – and it was amazing!!!
**Note: I am not giving you all the pics I have – there are too many, I am just giving samples here and plan to do a slideshow yet this week of all my pics.
After this fun meet up I went to dinner with Reagan, Heather (Age 30+ a Lifetime Of Books), and Barbara from Reading Group Choices. We had a blast chatting and chatting and what I thought would be an early night, was not…. and I had a blast.
Thursday, May 27
Reagan had left at 4 am to catch her plane back to Minneapolis as she had a wedding she was in. Late night on Wednesday so did not push myself to get up super early. We got to the convention center around 9 am. Again we separated and off I went to see all the booths I did not the day before. A second box of books was building downstairs in the UPS center with my name on it.
At 2 pm I met Sarah Pekkanen (woo hoo!) when she picked up Kathy (Bermuda Onion) and I for a tour of Simon and Schuster Publishing. This was a great experience and I am not going to go into great details as this is my Thursday post along with the review of Sarah;s book, Opposite Of Me. However, I will share a sneak peek picture:
After the tour we went back to the Center for the Book Blogger Reception from 4 – 6 pm. This was also a lot of fun, more bloggers to meet and the exchanging of business cards was happening left and right. There were also many authors in this reception and I had a wonderful time mingling with them as well. At the end of this event my roomies and I had an invite to dinner with a couple authors and publishers. I also met my two new roomies at this event – Care from Care’s OnLine Book Club and Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness. They were so much fun!
Friday, May 28
The Book Blogger Convention was today and this was so cool. They had a wonderful breakfast set up for us and there was a bit of social time before the convention started.
The convention itself was informative and fun. I wrote a lot of notes and appreciated hearing the different panel speakers share topic discussions such as social justice, marketing, Bloggers and Authors, Integrity and Ethics, and more. This was a great wrap up to the week.
That evening we were invited to join a group of 22 bloggers for dinner and we had excellent food and company!
I can’t describe what this entire event was like. It was bigger and better than I had imagined. The Book Bloggers are an incredible group of people and I enjoyed my time with each of them.
Saturday, May 29
When I booked my trip to New York I had agreed to stay one day extra to do a show with Esme (Chocolates and Croissants). I wish I had a picture of the two of us but I do not. We went to lunch with Carrie and Kim in the late morning before they left. We then went and saw the King Tut exhibit which was really interesting.
After a nap (me) and shopping (Esme) we went out to eat at a wonderful restaurant called Yum Yum. It was Thai food and it was… well… yum yum. Then we went to the show Mama Mia which was a perfect ending to an amazing week.
Thank you to everyone I met during this time in New York. I had so much fun and will probably be floating around my home town for the next several weeks. (Maybe months) 😀
Book Journey 
sounds wonderful! i love that you showed the simon and schuster shelf. when i went to meet my editor (at touchstone simon and schuster) in january i saw my book on a shelf just like this and have wished a million times since that i took a photo. the expo sounds wonderful!
Thanks plumbean – and thanks for not thinking I am a total nut for taking a picture of the unfinished books 😀
The expo was fantastic!
I’m exhausted just reading this! It sounds like you had wonderful time!!!
It was wonderful Sharon – glad to hear from you – I have been meaning to check in and still need to do that.
Oh Shelia ~ it does sound heavenly 🙂 Your face is beaming is every picture! I LOVE NEW YORK! I was able to go with the girls I worked with at my hair salon. We went to the Redken school for a week….LOVED IT! I have to say, I would LOVE to go with a group of book lovers and bloggers though!
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to the next post and more pictures 🙂
Loren if you can make it happen – I highly recommend it! I cant say enough positive things about the book blogging community.
Enjoyed looking at all your wonderful pics, ooing and awwing!
Thanks Natalie 🙂
It was so great to meet you! It was such a whirlwind that I hardly got enough time to chat with people, so I am so glad that you decided to come on Friday night to dinner.
Thanks Nicole – it was great to meet you too! Loved the dinner get together – it was a wonderful finish to the week!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us Sheila! I would have loved to go to see Mamma Mia with you and Esme if I were there. Maybe next year!
Ok Jo Jo – I am holding you to that 😀
Glad you had such a blast!!
I think I would have gone shopping with Esme, shopping in NYC sounds so exciting!!
Esme had a ton of fun finding the unique little shops and great eats. I bet she will have some fun posts about her experience Vicki 🙂
It was great to meet you at breakfast 🙂 Glad to see you had such an awesome time!
Thank you Wendy – it was wonderful meeting you too!
Sounds like you had so much fun!
Zia I did! I really did! 😀
Looks like an exhausting but totally worth it trip!
I am still a bit tired chewdigest but moving ahead – and still smiling 🙂
Mmm books and yogurt. I’m heartily jealous. I’d love to read in the park…or on a beach or anywhere other than my house!
Andrea I love reading in new places and now that book will forever remind me of Central Park. 🙂
I love your recap on a stick! Meeting you was a highlight of my BEA/BBC week, truly a pleasure.
Thanks you Alison! What a sweet thing to say! I really enjoyed talking with you at the Blogger Celebration Meet Up! 🙂
Wow! Sounds amazing … and like you got to do so much in your relatively short time there! Isn’t Central Park just amazing!! I hope to be able to attend BEA next year and maybe I’ll get to meet you. Looking forward to seeing more about your trip there … especially all those author visits!
Jenners that would be awesome! I hope you can come nextt year! I am hoping to do a slide show in the morning meanderings.
Sheila, Sheila, Sheila…Olive Garden? I’m so disappointed – how can I live vicariously through you? ha ha, just teasing. At least you ended the week with Thai – that sounds good! I’ll just have to coach you on NY restaurants next time.
Seriously, the week sounds heavenly!! Meeting with all those authors and meeting fellow bloggers in person. Wow, what an amazing experience! Lucky you.
And wasn’t Mama Lia awesome?? That’s the show my mom and I saw last fall. I really loved it – a feel-good show!
Glad you had such a wonderful time – sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though I hope it won’t be! Thanks for sharing it with us –
Sue
No Sue, not Olive Garden – Evilo Dengar! LOL 😀
The Thai was awesome and I will surely go there again.
Yes totally loved mama Mia – we had great seats – 6th row center – way to go Esme for getting the seats ahead of time. 🙂
WOW! So much fun:) I loved reading about it. Thanks so much for sharing with us. It must have been so exciting being around so many books, authors and book lovers. It sounds like it is something you need more time to digest:) I sure hope I can go next year:)
Bobbie it is beyond my imagination. To think a year ago I did not know such events existed. 🙂
Great recap! You managed to be waaay more concise than I can hope to be. LOL. Wish I woulda had a few of those handy tips on cab hailing for the un-touristy.
I definitely was *not* expecting the big crowd crush on Wednesday morning. About half in a fog, I was like “Hey, there’s Harper Collins. I’ll go check it out!” And after that, I was just being pushed along by an immense wave of people having books pushed into their (and my….) hands. I liked that Thursday was a little bit slower paced, or else, I at least learned to deal with it better!
Anywho, I’m rambling. It was great meeting you (I say, again). Glad to hear you had such a great time – I definitely did, too! =)
Megan it was so wonderful to meet you too! I am trying to get around and see the recaps and I have yet to go through the business cards but I want to do that too 😀
Ack! I commented earlier, but apparently my comment disappeared! I’m glad I realized that!
It was great to meet you this week and I absolutely love all these pictures! I’ve been collecting pictures. 😀
Amanda I am so glad you stopped back 🙂 It was a blast meeting you too and help yourself to any of the pics! 🙂
PS – In TX, we can get anything fried – Coke, butter, you name it. And I completely understand what you mean by “on a stick” because Wisconsin was the same way!!
LOL Amanda…. isnt that the funniest thing? Coke? I cant even imagine how you do that! 🙂
What an awesome week! It sounds like there was hardly time for sleeping or reading!
Thanks Helen- there was no serious sleep or reading but I am making up for it now 😀
You’re not at all detail-oriented are you. I am so impressed that you mentioned Simon and Schuster…. hee hee. THANKS for the fab recap!
Care – LOL (I had to look it up to spell it right!) You made me laugh – thanks Roomie!
All I can say, Sheila, is Double Wow!! It’s certainly a good thing that you’ve been doing all those workouts and bicycling, etc., as I think walking all those blocks in and around the park, etc., would be major if you weren’t in shape.
Looking forward to the rest of the posts.
Laurel we had so much fun! 😀
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your week was filled with so many wonderful moments! I’m so thrilled to know that your roomies were great and you all looked like you were enjoying the moment. It was also wonderful that the weather was fantastic for you!!!
Staci thanks – we did have a lot of fun and I had great roomies! The weather was so beautiful!
Great recap! Love hearing about everyone’s BEA adventures! I heard that the morning rush was a little scary, so glad I missed it. Looking forward to hearing all about your wonderful tea! 🙂
Terri – it was scary – I was kind of hanging out so got caught in it but next time think I will wonder in a bit later or go sit somewhere with a book until the coast is clear! 😀
Great summary of the week. What were the two words we saw at King Tut that we were going to look up? Caratouche I think was one and I cannot remember the other. On Sunday they had an amazing market on the Upper West Side going on-combo, farmer’s market, flea market and ethnic food. I ate so much.
Oh Esme now that is going to bug me…. 🙂 I cant remember what the word was. Wasn’t that a great exhibit though? Good idea to go see that!
Looks like you had a happy, fabulous time Sheila! Thanks for sharing the info with the rest of us.
Sure Martha 🙂
I’m glad you had such a wonderful time. It looks like a lot of fun.
It really was Ryan 😀
WOW! That was as good as being there! Thanks! I loved the pictures of you reading in the park.
Thanks Jill!
Now I feel like I’ve visited NY ! Thanks loads for sharing your experience, especially that video…….Central Park looked beautiful and seeing so many authors and so many books made me dizzy. That dinner is really delicious. However, no picture according to me was better than you and the Strand with all those books.Just waiting to hear about those book reviews but do take your time, NY is not that easy to forget. Thanks yet once again !
LOL Fiza – I think the Strand Pic will be my new Facebook profile 🙂
what a fun recap! looks like you had a great time. maybe next year we can meet at the conference.
monica
Monica that would be wonderful!
This is SO awesome! Thanks for linking up. I absolutely love walking in NYC as well. You’re right. You did it like a local. And the Strand is totally awesome as well. And I loved Mamma Mia.
Yes, I love NY, but I did love NY BEA/BookBloggerCon style even more!!
Thanks for linking up and feel free to link your 2nd post up as well.
Jennifer BEA/BBC was beyond what I could have hoped for. I am hoping to give people a glimpse of the experience but when I read other peoples recaps I am like “oh, I should have captured that too!” LOL
Well, you sound like you had a beyond fabulous time! Every day seems full and fun!
Thanks for sharing your memories!
Thanks Carrie – we did so much in the days that we had there! 🙂
Wow! You had such an amazing time out there! I sure feel like I missed a lot. Looking forward to more pics.. Amazing!! 🙂
I really did Aths, I feel bad for everyone here that asks me about it because I just start rambling all excited like 😀
Sounds like an amazing time. I’ve enjoyed reading all the recaps, especially yours on a stick.
Thanks Janelle 😀
I know it’s a really minor part of your trip (and your post), but I loved your story about learning how to hail a cab! You had me laughing at that point! 😀
It was funny Hannah – it was even better when the cab driver gave us advice as well. 😀
I know, I know! I’m so glad you shared that part of your trip. :p
Oh! You got to meet Rhonda Hayter (The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams was one of my favorites this year!), she is fabulous, isn’t she?! So nice and just a great person!
What a fantastic week! I can’t wait to join everyone next year!
Rhanda did rock The1stDaughter! She was fun to chat with. I havent read the book yet but I hope to soon!
Wow! Looks like you had an incredible week! Thanks for taking those of us not in New York along for the ride 🙂
Sure stacybuck 😀
Looks like you had a blast! It’s too bad I didn’t get a chance to meet you, though.
–Anna
I know Anna! Are you going next year?
Hopefully!
–Anna