Friday, May 28, 2010

BEA Bloggers in NYC & A Weekend Road Trip

Last night, I went into NYC to meet up with some of my most beloved book blogging friends who were in town for the big Book Expo of America and Book Bloggers Convention. First, I met the sweet and energetic Michelle from the Red Headed Book Child Blog. Darling as can be, you can be assured that her charming and fun blogging voice truly matches her real life personality.

Then I met up with I my book smugglers, Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers. And yes, I am claiming them to be mine and yes, you can love them too. Just visit their blog and you'll see how easy it is to love them. In person? Ana and Thea are smart, gracious, funny, energetic and just as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside. As in whoa baby, so gorgeous.

I also met up with one of my fun, sweet southern girlfriends, super blogger KMont of Lurv a la Mode. So friendly and attentive to what you have to say and really... talking with KMont for the first time in person was like catching up with an old friend. So comfortable. I lurv her. Oh! And Mr. KMont tagged along, too. What a cute couple. Hearts.

I also met Angie of Angieville. By now you may have picked up that Angie is one of my favorite book bloggers ever. She not only has fantastic taste in books, but she's articulate, creative friendly and so sweet. She's all that in person too. And adorable. More love.

I also revved up a few other online acquaintances with Janicu and Lusty Reader. Not only that, but I met several other really great book blogging people like Laura and Heather... as well as Kristen and Anastasia.

I had a really wonderful time meeting these friends face to face for the first time and talking about books and whatever else. What a treat this evening was for me! I think I just soaked them all in and now I'm wishing we could get together all over again so I can savor their company some more. :)

My teen daughter and I are going to a big volleyball tournament over the long weekend--she's playing volleyball and I'm playing cheerleader and photographer. It's being held at a major university about four and a half hours away. We're leaving this afternoon and don't expect to get home until late Monday night. Kind of puts the long in long weekend. I'm bringing four books along in case I have hours of free time as my daughter runs around campus with her teammates when they're not on the court. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn (currently half way through now), Lover Mine by J.R. Ward, Witness In Death by J.D. Robb andEcstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione. Hopefully I'll get some reading in and maybe, if I'm lucky and I can find some wifi, I'll get a post or two up while I'm away, including the May In Death Reading Challenge round up post. If not, look for it on June 1. Either way, have a great weekend!!! :)


What are your plans for the weekend?



19 comments:

  1. I've seen that a lot of people were in NYC for BEA and I've been jealous!

    I love watching volleyball though so have fun with that. I take my niece's to their volleyball tournaments from time to time and it's always a good time. I'm a good cheerleader! =) You'll have good books to read too, an extra bonus!

    Have a great weekend and good luck to your daughter's team.

    Happy Memorial Day on Monday too! =)

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  2. Ooh lucky you! So wish I could have been there. Sounds like a lot of fun.

    Not to much planned this weekend. Probably BBQ and reading. ;)

    Hope you have a good Memorial Day Weekend!

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  3. Hey, so glad you got to go to BEA and the meet-up. Fun. Good luck to your girl this weekend!!!!

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  4. Oh, that sounds like an awesome event Christine and how nice you got to meet all these nice ladies.

    I'm glad you enjoyed such a great time. Good luck at the tournament. Enjoy..

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  5. It sounds as though you had a very good time. Someday I'd love to meet all the wonderful people I've met online. Best of luck and good wishes for your daughter's volleyball tournament! Have a great time!

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  6. So glad you had fun, Christine! Sorry I missed the evening. :( I lurved Mr & Mrs KMont, though. :D

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  7. How awesome! I would love to meet up with those same people!

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  8. I didn't actually go to the Expo or the Book Blogger Convention. I only went in at night to meet a handful of bloggers. I would love to go one year... midweek, midday is tough for me to get away, though. Hopefully I can swing it next year. It sounds like so much fun.

    Rowena... Hi! That's so cool that your daughter plays volleyball, too. It's a fun sport to watch, I think. I admit that I wasn't such a great cheerleader for today's games. It took forever to get her last night--we had so much traffic. I was so exhausted and to top things off the gym was SO freaking hot and stuffy, I couldn't find the energy to be a good cheerleader. I didn't even take pictures either. Actually I took some photos of the campus with my phone. LOL. It's very pretty.

    Have a great weekend, Wena! :)

    Anna... I love BBQ food. Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to fire it up! Especially for those of us who have seasons. I never grill October through May. Have a great weekend! :)

    Carolyn... Thanks for the luck! They need all they can get! They played well... but the competition is fierce!

    Lea... Hi! :) It was very fun to meet these lovely ladies. I was lucky to have the opportunity.
    Thanks for the volleyball luck! You have a nice weekend, too, Lea.

    Brandy... It is very fun meeting your online friends in person. I'm lucky I live near such a major city... there always seems to be something going on during the year to pull people in from all over the country and world.

    I hope you and your family are having a fun weekend. Are you giving your kids off from school on Monday? ;)

    Hilcia... It was fun, but I did miss you! I'm glad you were at least able to meet Mr. & Mrs. KMont earlier in the week.

    Marg... It was very awesome. Another plus for living where I do... there's always something big going on in NYC to draw people in from all over the world. :)

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  9. NYC sounds like a great time. Good luck to your girl with the volleyball tournament. :)

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  10. Christine, I was so very excited to meet you as well. Thanks for making me sound so darn great!

    Next time, we will make more time, I promise.

    Hugs,
    Michelle

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  11. Isn't it just the bees knees meeting fellow bloggers??? There's nothing like spending hours with like-minded romance fans.

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  12. Christine!! Thank you so much for coming to see us - we absolutely loved meeting you in person and it was definitely one of the highlihgts of our trip!!!!

    *hugs*

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  13. Christine! *hugs* It was so so so awesome meeting you in person - we were scared that you might not be able to make it, but then you did and how AWESOME it was to chat over crabcakes and weird fried macaroni lollipops! Hee.

    Meeting you was one of the best parts of the whole shebang - and I cannot wait to see you again soon. Right? :) Have fun with the volleyball tournament with your daughter! S-I-D, S-I-D, S-I-D-E-O-U-T! Ok. I had two coffees this morning. And I love volleyball, I played in HS too :) Annnnnd, I'll shut up now. Love ya dude, and happy memorial day!

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  14. Cool, lucky you!! What did you guys do? LOL.

    Did your daughter's team win?

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  15. Sounds like an amazing evening in NYC! WOW!

    I hope the volleyball tournament went well and you snuck in some reading time :) I'm interested in what you think of Lover Mine :)

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  16. Aw, it was delightful getting to finally meet you as well. I really wish we'd had more time to talk. :( *hugs*

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  17. Apparently, all the luck you have all been sending for my daughter's volleyball team wasn't enough. They didn't do so well. But it was a fantastic experience and a lot of fun, so that's what's important. Although a few more wins would have been nice... ;p

    Leslie... NYC was great! I hope we get to meet someday, too. Are you considering RT in 2011? I think it's in NYC?

    Michelle... I didn't make you so darned great, you ARE. Am already looking forward to next time! *hugs* :)

    Kristie... YES! It is most definitely the bees knees meeting fellow bloggers! Book loving blogging people just get each other. It's a mindset.

    Ana... I loved meeting you, too, and can't wait to do it again sometime soon. By the way, I think I failed to compliment you on your haircut the other night. It's very becoming on you! *hugs* :)

    Thea... *hugs* It was VERY awesome to meet--I'm so glad I didn't miss it--and chat over interesting food. LOL. Those friend macaroni and cheese lollipops were very weird, but did you notice how there were none left? ;)

    I should have known you played volleyball in high school. I don't know why... but it totally fits you. I bet you're a fantastic cheerleader. You may have to come to some games with me next season so I can take notes from you! And maybe you can teach me all those referee hand signals. Sheesh. LOL!

    nath... We met at a very chic and sassy restaurant for food and drink and fun conversation. I couldn't swing attending the expo this year because it was midweek and during the day, but I was thrilled to be able to meet up with some cool bloggers at the restaurant.

    Daughter's team didn't do so hot. I won't embarrass them and post their record. :| They put up good fights though and were maybe only slaughtered once. There's always next year... and perhaps a better volleyball club to join. LOL.

    orannia... It was a great night in NYC with those lovely ladies. I hardly read over the weekend. The LONG drive out there, getting up at 5:30 am every morning, and the heat had me falling asleep every night before 11 pm! I'll try to make up for lost time this week. :)

    Angie... I wish we had more time to talk, too. Hopefully I'll be able to manage to go to next year's Book Expo and we can have more time together. :)

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  18. I learned much more at BEA this year than in the past. That's because the eBook coverage, exhibits and panels covered the whole spectrum.

    But for the most fun I chalk that up to the book blogger reception. A room filled with talented, intelligent book lovers. it doesn't get better than that.

    Except perhaps for the fact I made many new friends and acquaintances.

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  19. It sounds like you had such a good time. That's awesome that you got to meet all of those book bloggers - and Ana and Thea at the same time? Wow! :) Lucky girl.

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