NYC/BEA 2014 Highlights
Hi everyone! I know everyone has written their own BEA recaps by now, and I kind of put mine off, so I thought instead of writing a full-blown recap, I’d just share some of my highlights!
NYC, I love you.
Monday
My husband and I got into NYC on Monday, and the best part of that day was going to Comedy Cellar. We went last year, and Aziz Ansari showed up randomly and did a set. And this year, Judd Apatow showed up and did a set! If you get a chance, I highly recommend checking out Comedy Cellar!
Tuesday
There were a few great things that happened on Tuesday. The first being, I finally met my BBFFL (Best Blogger Friend For Life), Jessie from Jessie Marie Reads! The hubs and I picked her up at Penn Station and it was so surreal to finally meet her after talking to her online and through texts for over 2 years!
We also went to the NYC library and that was really cool. I wanted to go there last year but it didn’t happen. And this year we just kind of stumbled upon it! We also had a drink in our first Irish pub of the trip.
And then we went to Barbuto, a really fantastic, casual restaurant by chef Jonathan Waxman. Thanks to Christina from Allodoxophobia for her post about where to eat in NYC–I used her recommendations both this year and last year, and she hasn’t failed me yet!
Wednesday: Blogger Con
Blogger Con was pretty cool, although a lot of the info seemed to overlap, and many of the tips and tricks were things I already knew. And I didn’t go to that infamous panel at the end of the day, but I heard about it… But at the Blogger Con I did get to see lots of old blogger friends, as well as meet some bloggers IRL, and I enjoyed Maureen Johnson’s keynote speech!
Me and Jessie at the Blogger Con
Photo credit: Steph
Jessica from A Midsummer Night’s Read
and me at the Blogger Con
That evening, the hubs, Jessie, Kate from Midnight Book Girl, and I went to Scallywags, our 2nd Irish Pub of the trip, and had a fun dinner.
Thursday: BEA Day 1
Thursday before BEA, I finally got to meet one of my best blogger friends, Kim from On the Wings of Books! I’m really sad I didn’t get a picture of the two of us, though.
The highlight of that day at BEA was the Harlequin Teen in-booth signing, although I totally embarrassed myself while talking to Jennifer L. Armentrout. It’s something I cringe at every time I think of it, so I think I’m just not going to think about it again. Okay? Glad you guys understand. ;)
That night, Jessie and the hubs and I went to the Bloggers Recommend Happy Hour at another Irish pub (our 3rd Irish pub this trip), and we got to meet several other bloggers, as well as some publishing contacts and an audiobook narrator. Thanks so much to Bloggers Recommend for putting that on and allowing us to come and meet everyone!
Friday: BEA Day 2
Friday morning I didn’t feel very well, but I still had to get in line for Tony DiTerlizzi’s signing. That was one of my musts. While in line, I got a little dizzy, so after getting my copy of The Search for WondLa signed, I sat down and had some breakfast. But I still wasn’t feeling very well so I went back to my hotel.
After a while I was feeling better, and I’m really glad I was, because I had the Scott Westerfeld in-booth signing to get to. That was my absolute number 1 must at BEA. So even though I wasn’t having the best day, it was really awesome to meet Scott Westerfeld and Tony DiTerlizzi.
Kim also surprised me with a copy of Landline that she scored for me while I was resting in the hotel! Thanks again, Kim!
Then we had the BEA Book Blogger Picnic, which was fantastic, other than a little rain in the middle. You can see my post about the picnic here, complete with a list of all the attendees. Afterwards the hubs and I went to yet another Irish pub (4th one of the trip) with some of the bloggers from the picnic. It was actually McGee’s, the one that was the inspiration for MacLaren’s on How I Met Your Mother.
The 4 organizers of the picnic: me, Jen,
Also, when Jessie and I returned to our hotel after BEA, but before the picnic, I saw this guy in the elevator who looked familiar. And I realized it was Luke Adams, a previous contestant on The Amazing Race. So I told the hubs, because he and I LOVE The Amazing Race. We were curious if his appearance in NYC had anything to do with the show, so I checked on Twitter, and it turned out that Luke was in town because they were having the kickoff for Season 25 in Times Square that night at 3:00 AM, and fans were invited to come! So the hubs and I got up at 2:30, walked over to Times Square, saw the taping of the kickoff, and then got some pictures with Phil Keoghan, the host of the show! That was definitely one of our major highlights of this trip.
Me, the hubs, and Phil Keoghan!
Saturday: BEA Day 3/Book Con
Saturday morning, Jessie showed me a picture of the horde of people waiting outside the Javits Center before it opened, and we decided not to go to BEA that day. There were only a few things that we had wanted to do that day at the conference, and we decided it really wasn’t worth it. So we went to brunch instead.
That afternoon I had to say goodbye to Jessie. :( But that evening we had the BEA Book Blogger Meet and Drink at the fifth Irish Pub on our trip. It was a lot of fun, and you can read more about it here.
So that’s it! The hubs and I flew out on Sunday, wishing we didn’t have to go. And I guess I lied–I kind of wrote more than just highlights in this post, but I didn’t go into as much detail as I could have! And if you want, you can check out my BEA book haul here.
Overall, we had an amazing trip. BookExpo America is something I highly recommend to all book bloggers and book lovers, and I really hope that I can go again next year. But my favorite part of the trip is always meeting and talking to other bloggers, and I’m so excited that I got to do a lot of that this year. And if you gave me your card, I will be visiting your blog soon!
I miss NYC so much, and I miss all of you, my blogging and bookish friends! It was so great to see everyone!
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Monica
June 12, 2014 at 12:23 amI love the Amazing Race! Sounds like an amazing trip.
Jessie Marie
June 12, 2014 at 1:33 amI think I might have dreamt it all. Seriously, it's still so surreal. And then I see you write up a post ABOUT THE EXACT SAME DREAM. So either we're both crazy in the same kind of way or it really happened. My inclination is the former. ; ) So glad we finally got to hang out.
Alexia561
June 12, 2014 at 1:34 amThank you for sharing the highlights of your trip! Sorry you got sick the second day, but glad you were able to go back in time for Scott's signing. Sounds like an amazing trip!
pagesunbound
June 12, 2014 at 4:30 amSounds like a lot of fun!
Micheline D
June 12, 2014 at 6:28 pmWonderful recap post ♥ I loved reading about your adventures and looking at all the pretty pictures! We wanted to hit up the NYC library but we ended up not having enough time the day we were planning to go and then every other day was too busy with BEA goodness. I'm hoping to make it there next year though!! The picnic was an absolute highlight of the whole experience for me son thanks again to you ladies for putting it together. I'm also happy you got to go to all your must-have events and author signings :D You wer also wise to skip BookCon, in retrospect, I kinda wish I'd skipped, even though I did get a few amazing books that day – but the crowds and chaos were just too much on the Dark Side LOL Anyways it sounds like you had an amazing trip and thanks so much for sharing ^^
Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews
Elizabeth
June 12, 2014 at 11:09 pmWhat a great recap.
I didn't know about the Book Blogger Picnic. :(
Glad to know you had a great time at the BEA. I had a lot of fun too.
Elizabeth