Christi's Adventures: NYC on my bday!

This past Sunday was my birthday, and I wanted to do something a little different. Daughter and I decided to head into NYC for the day to hang out. Originally I'd wanted to take her to one of the museums, but I was nervous about doing that much traveling in the city by myself (hubby usually comes with us, and we usually only head in if we're seeing a show). So we adapted our plans and agreed that we'd just hang out around Times Square.

Until! Sarah Mlynowski posted on Facebook that she was having a launch party for her newest release, 10 Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have), at Books of Wonder on my birthday! It was like a sign from the YA gods. And Books of Wonder isn't that far from Port Authority, right? I could totally do this!!

Sunday morning we were up nice and early, and on the 9am bus to the city. We arrived early and after wandering around Port Authority for a bit (I didn't have a schedule for our return trip), we headed outside and towards the Disney Times Square Store. And we went the right way! This is an extraordinary feat for me, that we didn't get lost. 

We made it to the Disney Store and wandered around for a bit (we're huge Disney geeks), then we headed to the Hershey Store and M&Ms World. We enjoyed lunch at Bubba Gump. Yes, I know these are all touristy things to do, but guess what? I'm a tourist, and my kid is 8, and we like this stuff. I probably would've done a double-decker bus tour, too, if the weather hadn't been so iffy. It didn't rain, but it looked like it was going to.

So, after an extremely enjoyable lunch (accompanied by a delicious margarita), Jenna and I headed outside where I...hailed a cab! To be honest, someone was getting out of a cab, so really we just jumped in a cab, but still! I. Did. It. And was even able to give the cabbie the precise address of Books of Wonder, and what streets it was in between and everything.

So we got to Books of Wonder and were actually early enough to purchase a copy of 10 Things We Did (and a Big Nate book for my daughter), wandered around a bit, and grabbed seats for the event. I love how informal it all was--Sarah was chatting with people until the event started and her absolutely adorable daughter was bouncing around. She kept grabbing Sarah's hand to take her to the front of the store to "see Mommy's books." She was so cute! 

The event started and Sarah talked a bit about the inspiration for the book--the premise is actually based on her own experiences--and read a few pages from the book. She then took questions from the audience and signed her books. Oh, did I mention that there were goodies, too? There were brownies, and cookies, and wine (and apple juice boxes for the kids!)--and I was absolutely stuffed from lunch and didn't taste any of it. It all looked delicious, though.

Here's a picture that my lovely daughter snapped for me:

And while all this is going on, I happen to spy the back of a head that looks awfully familiar to me. Yes, David Levithan was at the book launch. And I'm such a geek that I couldn't even go up to him and say hello. And it would have been way too obvious if I'd taken a picture of him (unlike the madness that was BEA). There were some other sort-of recognizable faces there, but I'm so bad with names and faces. If authors walked around with their book covers on their faces, I'd be all set. Someone on Twitter mentioned meeting Kody Keplinger at the event--I could've been sitting right next to her, for all I know. As we were leaving I DID see (and recognized!) Susane Colasanti. And should have said hello (because I'd just met her last month at NJLA), but again, too self-conscious. Oh, well.

By this time my daughter was practically ready to collapse (she was such a good sport about the whole thing, really), so we decided to call it a day. Headed out of Books of Wonder and started making our way back to Port Authority. Don't know what street we were on, but I know it was busy, so I attempted to hail a cab. It took a few minutes, but I totally got us into a cab and back to Port Authority in, like, no time at all. Found our gate and soon enough, we were on the bus and headed home. 

Just let me reiterate, in case it got lost amongst all the awesomeness of the day: I SPENT THE DAY IN NEW YORK WITHOUT GETTING LOST ONCE!!! This is a day to remember!

I started 10 Things We Did on the bus ride home and it is FANTASTIC!

Enjoy your reading!

Christi