YAY my second year that I was lucky enough to head to Book Expo America! Can you believe that this year was even better than last year? It was less focused on getting ALL THE BOOKS and more focused on meeting all of the amazing people. I am going to try and be as coherent as possible but excuse me if I tell you of the FEELS and sound a little AHHHFLAILSBEAAHHH!

Wednesday 5/29

My “trip” started a little early than most (and a little later than those of you who attended BBC) since Brittany (from The Book Addict’s Guide) flew in to Boston and I drove to pick her up to start our festivities! It’s always a tad unnerving meeting new people, and though B and I talk every day, there were still some moments where I was all “OMG what if we hate each other…” as I was driving to the airport. THANKFULLY, that was not the case and meeting B IRL just better reiterated that you can find your best friends later in life, and that things do happen for a reason, and ya know, feels. SO anyway we decided to save some cash and stay in CT and take the train in to NYC every day for BEA. Yeah, that meant we had to get up a few hours earlier than some, and yea we weren’t able to see as much of the city and attend ALL THE EVENTS, but that will be another trip. We got sangria at dinner, and then bought a bottle of wine for the hotel room all while networking with the dude who worked at the liquor store. Skill.

Sangria out of mason jars, yeah buddy!

Thursday 5/30

EARLY start to the morning, but totally worth it. We spent some time looking in awe at ALL THE BOOKS and then headed over to see Kendare Blake and pick up Antigoddess, which I can’t wait to read. Shortly after we headed over to wait in line to meet Victoria Rossi who is, by the way, one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, and we were like SCOREWERULE because we were told that we were first in line!!! Yeah… that was a lie. Turns out things weren’t as organized as they had hoped over in the BEA autographing area so while we were told that we were number one, so were (lots of) other peeps over on the other side of the hall! So anyway, we got in the special roped off line and totes thought we had MADE IT, and then they ran out of time and cut us off right after Britt! EEP! I was super sad, mostly because I wanted to tell Ms. Rossi that Aaron said hi and that he may or may not be sending us to stalk her, but really, I get it, and felt lucky to even have the opportunity, plus I was able to make a new friend (Hi, Shelver M!) and that is always awesome. A particular highlight was meeting Adam Gidwitz, I told him how I am currently reading A Tale Dark and Grimm out loud to Stan and how I wanted to get a copy for my love, so he signed it with a very sweet and personal message…

*I* love Adam Gidwitz

The best part about this day was meeting some fellow bloggers, a very distinct highlight of my day was when Jamie (from The Perpetual Page Turner) literally hopped and ran across the hall to flail at us (seriously love her), and of course meeting Anna (from Anna Reads), Alexa (fromAlexa Loves Books), Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence), Mandee (from Vegan YA Nerds/The Bookish Manicurist), and of course my IRL dear friend, Heidi (from Bunbury in the Stacks).

B and I headed home after a long and successful day, I was actually surprised at how huge (and awesome) my haul was!

Yeah! Signed books up top!

Friday 5/31

Friday was a tad more chill than Thursday and I spent a significant amount of time standing in line waiting to see some of my favorite authors. Specifically, Elizabeth Wein, and Victoria Schwab, also super awesome shoutouts to my girl Amy (from Tripping Over Books) who fangirled with me a bit, and Betty (from Book Rock Betty) who I was able to very quickly exclaim with (and share sads that we didn’t get to spend more time together)! WOO!

SO excited for this one, and check out those cards!

I’ll be honest, I felt really crummy on Friday, and wasn’t in the best of moods, which was sad because I was enjoying myself immensely but was still bogged down with the grumpiness, and not feeling my best. Highlights included seeing Grumpy Cat, WHO I LOVE, she is so tiny, and being able to spend some time with Heidi! B and I headed home early on Friday, which means that we skipped out on the Book Blogger’s Picnic, which SUCKED, but we both felt so crummy so it all worked out that we got some extra sleep!

Day 2 haul! Signed ones up top!

Saturday 6/1

Saturday was the most chill and also most EXCITING. Exciting because I GOT TO LISTEN TO NEIL GAIMAN SPEAK FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR. It was amazing. I plan on doing a recap of the event early next week so stay tuned but in a nutshell: SWOONS. It was the most chill because it was really more focused on friend time and less on GET ALL THE BOOKS, so we only stayed at Javits for a bit and then headed INTO THE CITY! Britt, Heidi, Mandee, Asher, and I headed to The Strand which is amazing and a bit overwhelming. I picked up a lesser known (by me, at least) Gaiman book, and We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni, which I am so excited about. We were also lucky enough to meet up with Estelle from Rather Be Reading!!

All of us minus Estelle, because she was awesome enough to take the picture!

After The Strand we headed over to eat some “New York Pizza” which was really more like regular pizza that I can find anywhere on the East Coast but equally delicious, and then we hung out for a bit because it was HOT and we wanted some time to chat together. We decided to head over to Books of Wonder because it has THE WIZARD OF OZ THINGS and as you know, I am obsessed.

I am excited to be around all of the OZ THINGS!

I obviously had to buy the signed copy of Chu’s Day, and signed copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, because of reasons. Soon after we said our goodbyes and headed back to Magnolia Bakery Connecticut to rest up after a very eventful three days.

Day 3 BEA haul! WOO!

Sunday 6/2

Sunday was a sad day, I had to say goodbye to Britt with the knowledge that we have no clue when we will see each other again, and the fact that it honestly might be a year before we are reunited, but let’s not dwell on it, because I am so thankful to have been able to spend as much time with her as I did.

A less than flattering picture of me, but we are rockin’ our “KEEP CALM AND READ ON” shirts!

Once I got home I was able to relax and it has taken me a few days to even comprehend the amazing-ness that was this conference. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it, the best part wasn’t the books I brought home or the swag I received, but sheer excited-ness that I felt (and felt from others) over meeting each other and expressing our love for all things literary. Also Neil Gaiman. Always, Neil Gaiman.

My final haul picture ❤