Good morning! I was not planning to drop off the blogesphere yesterday but I was in charge of a 5K here in Brainerd and after getting up at 5 am and biking the route to mark it off and then setting up the event with awesome awesome awesome volunteers at 6:30 am and then being there until afternoon…
well lets just say I was shot.
A mid afternoon nap, assembling a new grill for my hubby for his Fathers Day gift, and a visit from my cousin Cheryl made for a nice evening . We used the grill last night too.
As for books that came in the past couple of weeks here is what I have:
I have some fun reading ahead!
When you read the start of this post about the 5k know that I am not a runner. My cousin Jarrod says if you are out and moving and not sitting on the couch yes you are a runner… but really, I don’t think I am.
However, I do want to be.
So that said, today I am starting my half marathon training. My friend Christy and possibly a couple of others I know are planning on doing a half marathon this October. The half marathon has been my goal for this year and frankly between our winter that lasted through April and the rain that took over May – I am way way behind.
I am still doing it.
I am using a plan called 12 Week Half Marathon. I am starting today with the Tuesday schedule – the 3 mile. In fact, I should be on the trail in the next thirty minutes. After that my cousin Cheryl is meeting me to Rollerblade. I will keep you informed here and probably on the Fitness blog I started and have neglected for the past three months 😳
Later this afternoon I am going to listen to audio while working in my hosta garden and then we will probably grill again – gorgeous out today! And then tonight I will do some reading. My day sounds awesome – I hope yours does too. 😀
Good morning! Friday and I find myself anxious, excited, a little nervous… I am working on a 5K in Brainerd for tomorrow morning. I have run 5ks before but never hosted one. I have 119 people signed up and I have been working on ordering t-shirts, lining up volunteers, making lists, raffle items, planning out the route, emails of starting times, breaking into groups of 12-15,finding help to haul things to the event, camera people, learning about event insurance, chatting with the DNR, city of Brainerd and The Arboretum people, answering questions on the phone, by email, and on Facebook…
details details details….
But it is fun and I am learning a lot about this kind of thing so that is cool. 😀
Every Monday in June and July for 13 years the Brainerd Public Library has hosted what they call a Brown Bag event. On each of these Mondays an author speaks from noon to one and people are welcome and encouraged to bring their lunch (thus the name… Brown Bag).
The first Monday in June our author was William Souder, author of On A Farther Shore, The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carlson. 45 people were in attendance.
What is so fascinating about this book about the life and works of Rachel Carlson is that Rachel herself was an author. Having written and published three books on the ocean (she was a marine biologist), it was her fourth book ‘Silent Spring‘ that put her on the map, and on the world’s radar as a force to be reckoned with.
It was in the late 1950’s when Rachel’s friend wrote a letter about the effects that DDT (an aerial pesticide used to kill mosquitoes and keep pests off crops). What was noted in the letter was that this pesticide was killing birds as well. Rachel looking more deeply into the effects of these chemicals, something Rachel had been watching and concerned about since the 1940’s.
When Silent Spring was published in 1962 is created quite an uproar. The book forced the government to take action and the chemical companies were furious. William Souder tells the story behind Rachel’s story. Revealing that while she was a shy woman, she was also a passionate one who made a difference not only in her little corner of the world but beyond.
I really enjoyed listening to William talk about this incredible woman. I always say I like strong female characters – and that does not only go for fiction. I can not wait to have a chance to read this book!
Tuesday evening of this week was our Bookies get together around our review of The Fate Of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb. I am not sure why – but I did forget to take pictures of the food…
So…. picture this:
French onion soup with crunchy garlic bread
chicken breast tenderloin plain, and some with orange sesame sauce served with chicken broccoli rice
a pepperoni pasta salad
cole slaw salad
chocolate cake
rhubarb cake
Some of the foods are out of a meal they had in the book on page 85.
I will tell you more about the book review later, but for now I want to focus after the review. This is our second year doing a favorite book exchange. The rules are:
1. The book should be a favorite of yours
2. You have read the book and LOVED it
3. put a post it note in the inside cover sharing why you loved this book and if you want it back or if it is to keep
4. Wrap up the book.
Then what we did was put the wrapped books on the floor and we each took a turn choosing a book, opening it and hearing why it was the givers favorite book. (That is my favorite part, listening to the given share why they loved a particular book).
This is such a great time. Now our task is to read the book we have chosen and talk about next month at our annual Queen event and potluck celebration. SO EXCITED!
As for life… I am busy working on the 5k that we are putting on this Saturday morning. I put 10 hours in yesterday and who knows what I will do today to make sure we are ready. Its good fun though – 116 registrants at the time I left work yesterday. Today I will help assemble the swag bags – t-shirt, water bottle – and yes, a book, Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas. 😀
Good morning! What a great night last night! 14 of us were at the Bookies gathering and book review – I am tired, but they are all so fun….. I will talk about that tomorrow – I did not have time to put my pictures together of last night yet and I really want to do that event justice. 😀
Instead, today I thought I would share with you my recent bought with donated books. Our local Brainerd Library had a spring and fall book sale. The books come from discards from the library – but mostly they come from book lovers who donate the books they have read. This has been our largest fundraiser for the library for years as the books are 100% profit to the library and they turn around and sell them at 50 cents a piece which is awesome for book lovers all around. (You may have seen my posts of the sales and waiting outside at the break of dawn!) 😀
Our spring sale is the bigger sale of the two as we gather the books from late August through April. The fall sale being a smaller collection window from mid April through the third week of August. However… I am trying to make that sale a bigger event. 😀 I have been working with our friends group to encourage those who have lots of books at garage sales who do not wish to pack up the left overs to donate them to the library. I even made us little cards to hand out with a phone number on it and if they want – we will even come pick them up.
Yes…. I am trying that hard…LOL
😛
Gail, from the friends Board always had great success with this… each week she tells me how she picked up books from here or there for the fall sale. I however have been getting nada. Nothing. Crickets. I hand out my little card each weekend when I am garage saling, I offer to come and pick up the books… nobody calls.
Until…
last weekend.
I was at a sale that had a lot of books. A LOT of awesome looking great books. When I left the sale I told the ladies running it that if they wanted to donate the leftovers after the sale I would be happy to pick them up. They could even leave them at the end of the driveway I offered. I left my number.
Saturday afternoon I received a call that yes they were done with the sale and while most of the books sold they would love it if I would come and pick up the rest. I told them that I had to be on that end of town in a few hours for a birthday gathering and I would stop by on my way there to gather the books.
Does everyone know I drive a little red jeep? 😀
Boxes upon boxes were left which is AWESOME. And I had to laugh as the lady helped me put them in the jeep, I… assuring her they would fit. And they did.
So yeah….
I drove to my friend’s house with my crock pot of beans on my lap. 😀 People joining the gathering that walked by my vehicle would approach me saying… “Ummm…. Sheila…. are you having a little issue with your love of books?”
As this was on Saturday evening – and the library is not open on Sundays I left all the books in the jeep until Monday afternoon after work. I was not about to move them again… but unloading the jeep was like… clowns coming out of a car….
Wait – there are more books…. still coming…. *cue circus music*
😀
I work today and tonight I may bike ride – I am way behind on riding this year with the long winter and overload of rain. It is supposed to be nice today and I do need to get some miles in 😀
Good morning! Its going to be one of those days… I first typed “goo morning” and then corrected it to say “goof morning”… hopefully this post is not a miss typed mess. 😛
So I shared a little bit on my Day 5 BEA recap about the two Power Readers I met in the elevator of my hotel while I was in New York. (Power Readers…. I love that.. it brings up images of super powers and awesome capes… two things I want 😀 ) There were two ladies I met in the elevator I gave my card to, chatted with, was excited for them and encouraged them to start a blog and come back to BEA next year as bloggers. Now I don’t know if they will do that, but I was super excited yesterday to see I had a comment from them:
My twin and I are the Power Readers from your Day 5: Getting Your Potter on BEA update. We were not disappointed with BEA! Got to meet great authors, got some great reads and met lots and lots of other Power Readers. Already have the date saved for BEA 2014 (thank goodness it’s in NYC again).
I love love love that they contacted me and that they had a great time! 😀 That is so cool!
Power Readers!
What I did not share with you is that this was not my only Power Reader encounter. Later that last day of the expo I was in the shipping area trying to decide what to do with my half full box of books. If you have been to the expo you know the shipping is a bit spooky and UPS is $39 before they ever even weigh the box, that’s just for the honor of them being there (Thank you thank you UPS *bows low*). So needless to say, I did not want to ship a half empty box home.
Next to me was a girl who I learned her name was Hannah. It was her first year at the expo as a Power Reader and she was gushing about her experience. We started talking about my half empty box and I told her it was fine as I had sent other books home already. Some how we got on the subject of blogging ( go figure!) and I gave her my card and told her she should start a blog and come back next year as a blogger. I told her that if she emailed me, I would help her get going. Shortly after I returned home she emailed me.
Hannah has started a blog that she has coolly called Indiereadergirl0329. Cool right? She has posted a couple of reviews and joined the Monday meme yesterday. She is doing great and we have continued to email and I have encouraged her to start commenting and building a reader base. I would love it if you would take a moment and pop on over to her blog and welcome her. How fun that she has taken this next step! 😀
Tonight is book club and I am uber excited! This is the review of The Fate Of Mercy Alban and we do our secret book exchange for July! I don’t even know what book I am going to bring yet! 😀
Good morning! Happy Saturday ya all! 😀 Today will be my final BEA recap post and I will be tying it in with the Saturday Snapshot post now being done by West Metro Mommy!
BEA: Day 5
Last Saturday was the last day of the book expo in New York and the day that for the last two years they have opened up the expo to Power Readers. What are power readers? They are basically book lovers like fellow bloggers, but without the blog (in most cases). When I got up Saturday morning and went down the elevator to breakfast there were two women in the elevator with me.
“She is going too!” I heard one say to the other. They had seen my BEA Badge I was wearing. I asked if they were at the expo as well and they said just today. Power Readers. I told them they were going to have an amazing time. We exited the elevator and picked up our breakfast. I had brought my lap top and was going to write until Cindy came to join me but the two Power Readers were asking questions and I got caught up in their excitement so I wound up sitting with them. I shared my experience with the expo and as they were both book lovers and twin sisters, I found out, I suggested maybe they start a blog together. They were excited and I gave them my info if they wanted to bounce questions off me.
Once at the expo I had to get my yearly pic behind the info desk. If you recall, two years ago Reagan and I set there to enjoy our coffee prior to the first days opening of the expo and we had about 50 questions. We had a blast answering the questions, we knew all the answers except one, and therefore it has become a yearly thing. That’s how I roll….
Sure enough, Cindy took the picture for me and while I was there I answered three questions. 😀
Chris Matthews Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked Simon & Schuster (November 12, 2013)
Helen Fielding Title TBA Alfred A. Knopf (November 2013)
John Lewis March (Book One) Top Shelf Productions (August 13, 2013) Photo Credit: Eric Etheridge
Diana Gabaldon Written In My Own Heart’s Blood Delacorte Press Hardcover (December 10, 2013) Photo Credit: Elenna Loughlin
I had another Author Breakfast on Saturday. Again I sat with Jill and Candice, and Alison too. As you can see above, this is who was speaking. This was a great group to listen too and we were excited to learn almost first hand that Diana Gabaldon’s series is going to be a movie. She had just found out the night before. That is great news! For me, that means I have work to do as I have not yet read her series. 😛
After the breakfast, I met Alison’s book club members who had come for the Power Reader day. She was going to show them around so I went my merry way thinking I would do more browsing today then picking up books. Uh yeah…. that is not true. The following are a few author signings I went to:
Jamie Ford! Author of Hotel of Bitter and Sweet and has now written another one, Songs of Willow and Frost. SQQQUUEEE!!!! I told him my book club loved his book.
Nancy Horan author of Loving Frank has written a new book, Under The Wide and Starry Sky.
The Harry Potter new book cover unveiling was actually earlier in the week but I forgot to post about it.Not super clear as I had hoped but there it is…
The yearly pic of Alison and I…. not at Harper (we forgot!) but at the Penguin Bash!
Around 1:00 the expo started to wind down. People were closing up their booths, books were no longer plentiful… it was pretty much over. I shipped the last of my books and Cindy and I walked over to where the Potted Potter play was showing to see if we could get tickets. We did, and we picked up the $99 tickets for $49 which was great seats. We went to that at 5 pm and it was a BLAST! We laughed so hard we cried and I HIGHLY recommend that if you love Hatty Potter, you have to see this show. It is 70 minutes of all 7 books. AMAZING!
After the show we walked over to Cake Boss (you just have to when you are in New York!) and picked up a couple of cookies to bring home for Al.
We (Cindy and I) ended the evening by meeting up with Jill, Candice, and Kathy at that Irish Pub I mentioned in my Day 1 post. We were all leaving at different times the next day and it was fun to wrap up the week together.
Ok and now, I hate to do this today but I am done with the BEA posts so please bear with me as I give you… the books I brought home from the expo:
Ok, that is a LONG post and I know… a lot of books. Be sure to come back tomorrow which is my official 4 year Blogiversary where some of these books will be offered in several giveaways in celebration! 😀 (that post will go up right after midnight – central time. )
Have a great Saturday – my day is full… I have a funeral this afternoon and a birthday celebration tonight. In between, I hope to get out in my garden a bit and work on my hostas as – it is NOT raining.
Good morning! It is Friday! That is exciting to me in so many ways! I was supposed to be heading out this afternoon for the MS 150 but sadly my commitments caused me to have to cancel out. I do have one work commitment today – and tomorrow I have a funeral to attend and a birthday celebration. I am bummed about the ride, but as I sit here with a sinus infection coughing and sniffling it is probably for the best. I do love that ride though and have to figure out a way to make it work along with New York and not becoming over committed/ booked.
Today I will talk about the 2nd official day of the expo in New York:
BEA Day 4:
Last Friday, Cindy (roomy) and I woke up early to get ready to go to breakfast at Adriana Trigiani’s home. Yes, you read that right. We were going to her home in Greenwich Village for breakfast at 7:30 am. We walked down the block to another hotel to meet up with Candice and Jill, and the 4 of us took the subway. Note: I never take the Subway in New York, I do not know my way around well enough but when others know their way around I am happy to follow their lead. 😀
We arrived a little early so we sat in a beautiful park in the area.
Far end of the bench: Candice, Cindy, and then Jill closest to this end.
When it was time to go to Adriana’s we joined about 12 other blogger/reviewers at her home. Adriana was gracious as always. She had out lovely china for us to use saying, “What’s the point of having china you do not use, only to die and people saying, well she had a lovely set of china.”
Adrianna is someone I could listen to for hours. For people who have not read her books I say if you listened to her speak, so passionately and witty, you would find yourself wanting to read everything this woman has written. She is an amazing story-teller. What a gift!
About 9:30 am Cindy and I grabbed a taxi back to the Javits. After walking around for about a half hour I wondered over to the autograph area to see who was signing. As I was reading the names I seen one said, “Adriana Trigiani signing 10 – 11 am”. I thought, that can not be right, when I left at 9:30 she still had a good 15 people in her home and she was completely relaxed and chatting away – but sure enough, unless Adriana has a twin, there she was with a long line leading up to her to have books signed.
Amazing.
😛
Friday as you can imagine I was quite wiped out. Before I had gone back to the Javits that morning I had stopped at a little store and picked up an iced coffee and this bag of some sort of grainy chips. After I got the Javits I stared at this bag of chips and thought, seriously, I am not carrying these around. So I put them in my shipping box to keep. 😀 Later, actually not that much later as I was wiped out – I was in the shipping area, people watching and eating those chips. My Facebook and twitter status was something like this:
Is it wrong that I am so tired that I am hanging out in shipping, people watching and eating grain chips?
I did leave the Javitz for a while to go relax at our hotel room and catch a break. At 4 pm that afternoon I had a ticket to the narrators tea, but I also had an rsvp in to go with a group of bloggers to have cocktails with Dorothy Benton Frank. I tried (and failed) to do both. Since Dorothy’s event went from 3:15 – 6 pm, I thought I could do the first half of the authors tea, leave there by 4:30, catch a taxi and catch up with the rest by 5:00, hang out until 5:45 or so and then catch up with Cindy at the Random House Canada get together.
Yeah… that didn’t work. At 4:30 when I left to catch the taxi I started by the Javits and could not catch a cab. I moved around to other blocks eventually winding up by my hotel. I tried until I was hot and tired at 5:30 and then I called the wonderful ladies who had sat this gathering up apologizing for my lack or appearance and then caught up with Cindy to go to her invite. Sadly, I could not do it all. 😦
Cindy and I were at the Random House get together for a little over an hour. They had lovely horduerves and she and I were able just to relax and talk and that was nice as we were both tired out. We ended out evening by going over to Chipolte which Cindy had never had before and I told her it was a must!
That was out Friday. Back in the hotel we were asleep in no time. 😀
Today, this morning I am going garage sailing. YAY!!! Then I have a meeting, and this afternoon a friend of mine and her daughter our coming over to help me open up my BEA boxes. (You may remember Camryn, she wrote YA reviews for me last summer 😀 )Then I will spend my later afternoon organizing the books. All of which, as us book lovers know – is so much fun. 😀
Good morning! It is Thursday and looks like it is going to rain – but is not raining. Looking at the forecast, it calls for rain, tomorrow no rain, and then this weekend… RAIN.
😯
So, we will talk about better things…
BEA Day 3
Last Thursday was the first day of BEA. Wednesday was the conference, but the actual expo did not open until Thursday morning and I did things a bit differently this year. For instance, in past years I have walked to the Javits about 7 am grabbing a coffee along the way at a Mr. Donut. Then I would people watch (occasionally behind the info booth – but that is another story coming up in a couple of days). This time, I had bought the author breakfast tickets. This would be my first time checking these out. Rumor had it that you would have the authors books waiting for you on your chair when you went in and then each of the authors would talk about their upcoming book.
This Thursday morning breakfast was as you can see above, Chelsea Handler, Ishmael Beah, Doris Goodwin, and Wally Lamb. I have read Ishmael and Wally before.
When we entered, I was hanging out with Jill (Rhapsody in Books) and Candice (Beth Fish Reads), there was Wally’s new book on our chairs, an insert for Ishmaels upcoming book, and a postcard about Chelsea’s. I was a little disappointed we did not get Ishmael’s full book and Doris’s would have been great too – I probably would not read Chelsea’s, but it was fine – for $27 it still was fun to hear them all talk about their books, Chelsea was funny, Ishmael deep, and Wally really has a quick wit that I enjoyed – playfully poking at Chelsea.
After the breakfast the Expo was in full swing. By this time I had caught up with Alison (Alison’s Book Marks ) and we walked the floor touching base with publishing houses that we work with, and picking up a few books along the way. We did this for hours. And eventually made our way over to where the Autograph signing are was. This is is where there are about 25 lines of authors signing their books. You can find a line for an author whose book you would like and have it signed.
I seen one author with no one in their line. This is not unusual, sometimes when they are at the end of their signing hour everyone has gone through. I looked at the cover of the book that was being held up and nodded at Alison, “I am going to go and check out this book.” Alison said she would come as well.
When we made it to the author, I asked her if it was her first book, “No,” she said, it was her third. As we made small talk she opened the book cover and asked who she should write it too. Now – normally I juts have them sign it unless I know the author, but for some reason I held up my badge and said, “make it out to Sheila.” That is when I noticed, in a small paragraph on the inside page it said,
Short stories and essays of erotica.
😯
Now, if you know me… this is not my genre or choice at all. But – here I am, about to get my name signed on her book and there was nothing I could do but smile and think, “oh no, Alison is behind me.” Then Alison has her turn and I wait for her. Gracious as always, Alison asks the author what her book is about and the author proceeds to tell her. Alison does not miss a beat, has her book signed (not autographed) and we make our way out of the line. We are not making eye contact at this point. Once out of the line, and out of ear shot, I turn to Alison…. “I am so sorry…. I owe you for that one.” We both laughed….well…. it makes for a funny memory.
As the day went on I did wind up with a box worthy of books and took my books to the US post office where it was must more reasonable to ship books home. What would have cost $56.00+ at the expo USP, cost me $17.95 at the post office. I do this every year and my post office boxes always beat and UPS boxes I ship to my door. Same is true this year, the post office boxes are here. I hope UPS arrives today.
We had a full evening schedule this day. Alison and I headed back to our hotels around 3 pm. I cleaned up, changed and was out the door by 4:20 pm for our 5:00 pm gathering at Simon and Schuster. I was so excited as my great friend Sarah Pekkanen was going to be there as well as other authors. It was a lot of fun, the usual blogger friends I hang out with were there and we chatted away for about an hour.
Then… Alison and I grabbed a taxi and went to Workman Publishing’s open house. We had never been there before but had heard it was crazy busy and amazing. Yes it was. We went up the elevator and it was so crowded we could hardly get off the elevator. Completely insane!
Workman Publishing party
I made my way to a safe “non trampling” corner and talked for about 20 minutes with a book store owner from Wisconsin. He was baffled that us bloggers do what we do without being paid. I told him the expo was my yearly reward (oh yeah, plus lots of great reading!) 😀
Next stop – Penguin Publishing. My roomy Cindy was already there having secured one of the only tables available. Nice! This was a blast as always! I was able to catch up with many bloggers, meet a few authors and had an amazing conversation with author Sue Grafton and her husband who gave me her email to talk to her about writing. (There are moments each year at the expo I have to say…. this is not my life.) 😀
Sue Grafton and I
After the AWESOME (did I mention it was awesome?) Penguin Bash, Alison and I had one more commitment. We had been invited to the City Of Bones party, in celebration of Cassandra Clare’s book being made into a movie. It was AWESOME!!! We went in not knowing what to expect but the venue was one of the best I have been in, in my 4 years of BEA attending.
Beautiful Venue!
Let me just say it was pretty amazing. We had a great time, and we were able to hang out a bit with Cassandra Clare!
Yup, that is me with Cassandra Clare!
They also had a signature drink, a blood orange jalapeno margarita. I know, right? But yes, I had to try it and it was….ok.
There were rumors that John Green was going to make an appearance and that was enough for Alison and I to hang out in that case, although we never seen him. We left around 10:15 or so, tired but happy.
So that was last Thursday. Today I work, hope my UPS boxes arrive today (I have a connection at the local UPS so they will call if they see them), I also have a friend’s birthday dinner tonight so life…. is never dull. 😀
Good morning! Ready to talk about day 2 in New York at the expo? I am!
Day 2: BEA
On Wednesday of last week my room-mate Cindy and I woke up and had a little breakfast at our hotel, the Hampton Inn. I was heading to the Blogger Conference at the Javits and she was going to come along to get her badge and then go shopping for the day. The badge is your ticket to all things BEA. I have all of mine from the past 4 years.
At the blogger con I went down to the area where they would be holding the conference and got in the line. I was talking with a fellow blogger in line when I introduced myself and she started laughing. It was Elizabeth from Silver’s Reviews. She frequents Book Journey and had recently sent me an email saying she hoped we ran into each other at BEA, but as big as it, probably not. Here we were in line next to each other and we sat together at the Blogger Con.
The Con was ok for me. We sat with a great group at our table including two authors and Danielle from There’s A Book. Our main speaker was Will Schwalbe author of End Of Your Life Book Club and he did a wonderful job. He talked about the role of bloggers and how much he believes they mean to the book industry. He also spoke to the importance of the question. “What Are You Reading” which gave me a couple of ideas for tweaking the Monday What Are You Reading meme as we go into fall. Stay tuned… I think it will be exciting.
After Will (Will… like I know him 😀 ) We had opportunities to break into either adult book blogger or YA book blogger sessions. I review both, but decided to stay with the adult book blogger session. For me, it was a lot of repeat of what we have talked through before: online presence, handling negative comments/feedback, accepting reviews… two of the three bloggers on the stage had spoken at a past Blogger conference, which many in attendance may not have known. I think if you were new to the Blogger Con this would be valuable. I however wish I would have went to the YA sessions just to hear different speakers. It was good, just nothing new for me.
We were then on lunch break and I went with Elizabeth to grab something to eat before I left the con. I had a headache all morning and think I was dehydrated from the long travel day. I left and went back to our room to lay down for a bit. I then connected with Alison (Alisons Book Marks) to see if she was going to the 5 pm Harper Collins invite. She was and I told her I would meet her there.
I can never judge taxi time. I was in a taxi by 4:30 and thought I was a rock star. I text Alison to tell her that I was in the taxi and on my way. She text back that she was already there. Buggers. 😛 As it was, with traffic and well, New York, I arrived at 5:10 pm, just in time to get in line for delicious cheese, grapes, and crackers. I walked into the conference area where everyone was already seated and chatting away. Alison had a spot next to her and it was great to see her. She is my go to blogger buddy at BEA and we try to synchronize our schedules. When we then went around to quickly introduce ourselves, it was fun when they got to me to see the bloggers I love to see each year pop their heads up and wave: Kathy (Bermuda Onion), Julie (Booking Mama), Candice (Beth Fish Reads), Nicole (Linus’s Blanket), Jennifer (Jenns Bookshelves) and Gail. They had not noticed me come in late so were surprised when I said my name and blog.
This was a wonderful event. Many of the editors spoke about the books that were each piled in front of our spots we sat at. Books, glorious books that were now ours. As they talked about each one I found myself wanting to tear into them right then. As it was, we had a surprise appearance from author Joshilyn Jackson, and while the other books were put in boxes to graciously ship to us (thank you Harper Collins!), Joshilyn’s new book made its way into my book bag I was carrying, and later into my carry on for the plane ride home.
After this amazing event we went to the Harper Collins party which is always a blast. Alison and I have a tradition of having our picture taken at this event as this is where we met 4 years ago. We had such a blast at this event as well. Cocktails and horduerves, bloggers and authors galore. I finally seen Jill (Rhapsody in Books), she is so fun. As Alison and I were chatting catching up on what our kids were up to and life, in walks Adriana Trigiani and lets just say that woman’s personality fills a room with joy.
I adore this woman!
I think I talked to Adriana for about 15 minutes, then Wally Lamb (I know right?), and Joshilyn Jackson as well who I told that I had listened to all her books on audio as I love her narration and she told me I was her best friend. Then when she seen Adriana those two were super excited to chat but she looked back at me and said, “just because I am all excited about Adriana, you and I are still best buds.” LOL
I mingled and made my way to Cindy who had found a place to sit and as we were collecting ourselves to call it an evening I seen Stephanie Evanovich. Stephanie (I believe) is the niece of Janet Evanovich, and the author of (I know) Big Girl Panties…. which I need to read as I hear it is fantastic.
Stephanie Evanovich! What fun!
Alison, Cindy, and I had another Blogger Bash to attend after Harper Collins but decided that after we made it through town by taxi and got there we would probably leave in a half hour and need another taxi – so tired, Cindy and I walked back to our hotel.
Once in the hotel I was changing in the bathroom when I yelled out “OH NO!” Cindy thought something terrible had happened and yelled back. “Are you ok?” I came out of the bathroom all crestfallen…. “We forgot the annual picture at Harper!” I cried. I text Alison to let her know that we had indeed forgot to have our picture taken and I was hoping we could still be friends. 😀
She replied… “We will see.” 😛
So that is day two. I must get ready for work now. No boxes arrived at my house yesterday so I am hoping for today. It is STILL RAINING here in Minnesota. My grass… is really really green.
Good morning. Happy Tuesday. I am writing this early this morning. 5:30 to be exact. I stayed up late watching Little House On The Prairie episodes (thanks to Confessions of a Prairie Bitch) and admit I wasn’t sure I could get into the show again as I had as a child but find myself being pulled into the early days of the Little House.
As I had planned, today will be the first of several days of Book Expo recap. I love these recaps as I can go back and look at them each year and suspect these recaps will some be valuable proof when I am elderly and my grand kids or great grand kids think I could never have done anything crazy or amazing… it will then be time to dust off the old blog and show them…. I knew how to kick it once in a while. 😀
New York – Day 1
I arrived in New York exactly one week ago today. It was Tuesday. I woke up in my Minneapolis hotel at 3:00 am and caught the 4:00 am shuttle to catch my 5:40 am flight. Yes, I like early flights. If I am going somewhere, I hate to put it off, so I go as early as possible. I get to the airport and through security and get a COFFEE. Once boarded and the plane is in the air, the beverage service comes around and as I put my tray table down to get some water, I dump my coffee cup I am so carefully (or not) balancing in my hand and proceed to pour coffee on to my right pant leg. The coffee has cooled, that is not an issue – however it has left a lovely brownish stain on my jean capris. *sigh* I dab at it with my napkin and my water that I wanted to drink but am now using for cleaning myself up.
After we land in Atlanta I proceed to go into the lady’s room and do a little better job at cleaning up my pants. I have time so I go and relax in a sunny window by my departure gate and continue reading the book I had brought along while snacking on dark chocolate covered pretzels from my carry on. After a while I consider using the lady’s room before we board (I hate having to use plane bathrooms) and as I get up I notice that one of the chocolate pretzels has landed on my pants, in the same area as I had earlier cleaned up coffee and has melted into a gooey chocolatey mess.
Seriously?
I arrive in New York (after my two + hour layover in Atlanta) at approximately 1:45 pm. It is raining. I am bummed… Minnesota has rained every day for three weeks. I really really could do without the rain. I text my roommate for the week Cindy to tell her I have landed and on my way to find a taxi. Once outside with all luggage intact I see a bus that is $13 one way and will drop me off at Port Authority, approximately 3 blocks from my hotel. What a deal! A taxi usually costs me about $45 to go to the hotel. I purchase the ticket and board the bus and after we sit for about 25 minutes or so we go. We have a couple stops on the way and eventually (not sure what time it was but my guess would be 2:45 ish…. I arrive at Port Authority where I am plopped in the rain with carry on and luggage and told to go “3 blocks that a way” and I will be at my hotel.
Now, it takes me a little while to get oriented and landing in Port Authority I exited out a door and started walking looking for my hotel on 39th. After about 2o minutes of walking in the rain and being on what I think is the right block but I am sooooo unsure, frustrated and WET I text Cindy this message:
I am wet and I think lost. I am standing under an awning staring across the street at an Irish Pub thinking it might be a nice place to stay for the week. I shall live there and eat and drink there. It looks warm and dry… all thinks I am not.
At this point I discover I am about 1/2 a block from my hotel. Cindy asks if I want to go to Serendipity and I ask what it is and does it have to do with food as my mid morning chocolate covered pretzel snack has long been gone and I am sooooo HUNGRY. Yes, she assures me it has food and the famous frozen hot chocolate. I am in. We met up with Kate and Pam. They were fun to chat with while we hung out in a line to get in to Serendipity.
Serendipity was part of the filming of the 2001 John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale movie with the same title, Serendipity.
Once seated we proceeded to order and the 4 of us each ordered the frozen hot chocolate. And it arrived….
Yup. None of us finished it. It was good but LARGE and between the ice cream and the warmth of the cocoa and bits of chocolate and orange it was very filling. My advice, if you go, share one. 😀
Later that evening Cindy and I walked from our hotel to Yum Yum, my favorite New York restaurant (as of this writing). It is Thai food and so good. For $16.95 you get choice of an appetizer, soup or salad, a main course, and green tea ice cream for dessert. It is tasty.
This Irish Pub will come up later in the week as well.
After that we returned to out hotel for the night. I was tired and Wednesday would be the Blogger conference and the Harper Collins Party. And that… will be what I share tomorrow. 😀
Yesterday afternoon the first box of books I sent home arrived. I suspect the rest will follow either today or tomorrow. I have not opened the box yet, I like to wait until they are all in house before I dive in. It is another rainy day here in Minnesota. I plan to work and then hit the gym later this afternoon.
Book Journey 