Christi's Adventures: Twitterhood of the Butt-Lifting Pajants Party!

I can't believe I never posted about this! I know that I meant to, but I got swamped with high school and middle school visits, and Christmas, and then the problem that's led to my current slump...Anyway.

So, on December 3, Best Girl and I headed into NYC to attend the Twitterhood of the Butt-Lifting Pajants Party being held at Books of Wonder. We made a whole day of it, of course. 1st lesson: December 3 is still too close to Christmas to get anything accomplished on a Saturday, anyway), especially if you're not a NY native. Which I am not. The bus was standing room only. I am not joking. Now, I did not give up my seat (while should I stand, when I made it a point to get to the bus station an hour early?), but I did make Best Girl sit on my lap so a woman could sit down next to us. But there were about 15 people, I'd say, standing for the entire ride (1 hour +) into the city.

I won't bore you will all of the details of our (mostly unproductive) day--we did get to Macy's, we didn't get to the tree, we stumbled upon the pop-up Dylan's Candy Bar somehow:

                              

And I had an "Oh my God, this kid is really mine" moment, when walking past this building:

I pointed it out to Best Girl and her response was, "Well, we're going in, right?" :) We didn't spend too much time there, but definitely decided we need to make a return visit.

Super impressed with the lion Lego display!

We did NOT get to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and we did NOT wait in the wrapped-around-the-block line to get in to the M&M store (were they giving something away?). We DID wait about a half hour to get in to eat at Bubba Gump's (Best Girl is obsessed. And doesn't even eat shrimp!), and we DID snag a cab fairly quickly to whisk us to Books of Wonder.

Which was already totes crowded for the event. I didn't do a head count, but I'd say there were about a gazillion people there. Of course I recognized lots of faces right away, but my shy side took over. Best Girl and I found a patch of floor and waited for the festivities to begin. Lauren Myracle started things off with her version of how the Twitterhood began--note that I said HER version, and not how it actually started; several authors had different memories of the beginning! In short, it was funny, and chaotic, and I loved it.

Lauren Myracle giving her version of the Twitterhood

Julia DeVillers with her version of events.

E. Lockhart created an incredible slideshow that she shared with us (it's on YouTube now, check it out here!), and the authors took some questions. 

E. Lockhart and her fab slideshow.

In addition to the NINETEEN authors listed, there were several in the audience, many of whom had also worn the pajants. And one who, although in several of the slideshow pictures, refused to wear them. And who I also happen to accidentally stalk now and then. That's right, David Levithan was in attendance! Can you spot him in this picture? I was pretending to get a shot of Maureen Johnson.

David Levithan in deep listening mode.

I now have a picture of the FRONT of David Levithan's head AND a picture of the BACK of David Levithan's head. All I need is a 3D printer and I can have a replica of David Levithan's head! Muwahaahaa! 

The Pajants and all of their butt-lifting awesomeness!

So, even though there were NINETEEN authors signing, I was very, very good and only purchased three books to be signed. (to be fair, I've already met several of the authors & had books signed by them: Susane Colasanti, Sarah Mylnowoski, E. Lockhart, Adele Griffin. And while I would LOVE to buy more, I realistically realized I'd have to trek them back to Port Authority. Which is important later on. Anyway.) So, first we met with Maureen Johnson, who was very nice, and asked Best Girl her opinion on an American Girl purchase.

Maureen Johnson. And Maureen Johnson's Pajants doll!

Melissa Walker was next. She was very pleasant and I was so excited to meet her--I really enjoyed Small Town Sinners and I think she was glad to hear that. Then I met Lauren Myracle, and had Shine signed. I told her how sorry I was about the whole National Book Award debacle, and how professional I thought she remained about the whole thing. Lauren was very, very appreciative of that. I also said hello to Susane Colasanti and Sarah Mylnowski, who spoke a bit with my daughter about her upcoming Whatever After series, coming this spring.

Melissa Walker

While waiting to meet Lauren Myracle, I literally bumped into Jess Rothenberg, a 2012 debut author. She was talking about her book with another reader, and so of course I butted in and mentioned that she was on my to-read list for the 2012 Debut Author Challenge. She just happened to have an extra ARC of her book, the Catastrophic History of You and Me, in her bag, and did I want it? Yes, please! (Aside: Jess' book is the reason this post is getting written at all. I just finished CHofY&M and went looking for the Twitterhood post, then realized that I never wrote one. Anyway.)

Ann Brashares, author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was the inspiration behind the Twitterhood, was also in attendance and proudly donned the pajants. She was a little too quick for me, but here's a nice picture of the butt-lifting power in action!

Ann Brashares rocking the Pajants.

If you want more information about the event (that is, information that was published within just a few days of the event, as opposed to a month and a half later), it was covered in Publishers Weekly. And here's an article (with videos!) from Hypable.

After getting my three books signed (The Name of the Star, Small Town Sinners, and Shine, for those of you keeping track at home), Best Girl and I decided to call it a day. We left Books of Wonder and headed out to try and grab a cab. And failed. Miserably. Seriously, it was 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon in December, and all of the cabs were even in use (natch) or, what we saw more frequently, off-duty. WTF? We ended up walking. All the way back to Port Authority. Which might not be a lot for more seasoned New Yorkers, but Best Girl and I are not seasoned New Yorkers. It was a really long walk. And my backpack was HEAVY. At least I only bought the three books, and not 19, like I'd wanted!

So we finally made it back to Port Authority (no, I do not know how to navigate city busses or the subway. Don't judge.) and actually only waited a few minutes for a bus--just long enough to grab some water (we were seriously overheated by this point lol). An uneventful ride home (the bus was full, if I recall, but no one was standing), and that's the end of our adventure!

Again, I apologize for the delay in getting this post up (and honestly, it's taken me five days to get it all set to go), but I hope you enjoyed it!

Enjoy your reading!

Christi