Thursday, May 26, 2011

Book Expo '11

When I am not homeschooling my children,
I am working as an Assistant Children's Librarian and/or a Reference Librarian.
I love books the way Carrie Bradshaw loves shoes.

New York is famous for their Weeks.
Fashion Week.
Fleet Week.
For book lovers like me, we look forward to Book Week.
Book Galas, book promotions, authors all over the city...
And since I work in a library, I can attend some industry events,
like Book Expo.

Book Expo is where publishers come to try to get you to order from them.

You get free advanced releases of books.
(Technically you can't charge for advanced releases)

You get serious loot.

You bring suitcases with wheels, check them,
and then go back periodically to unload your loot.

The girls were psyched to get the new American Girl Books
and the skinny on the two new dolls & the new book series.

There are signings by famous people,
like Linda Evans from Dynasty:

and Tyra Banks,
who wrote a fantasy novel called
Modelland

One of the highlights for me was getting Elin Hilderbrand's new book
(which comes out in June)
Every summer, I look forward to her latest book.
Her books are all set on Nantucket
and are the perfect summer read.
They were giving away free beer at her table!

We met Mike Holmes
from HGTV.
He is seriously THE nicest guy and so down to earth!


Hey called Chrissy "Sassy" ;-)

I got my photo taken with Florence Henderson,
who was very sweet and gracious.

It took me all of Wednesday morning to go through everything.

These are some of the books I got for the girls:

I snagged these posters for our classroom:

I got this book about Bruce Springsteen.
If you know me, you know that I love my family and books and Bruce.
I've seen him countless times.
I weep when I hear his music.
It is something so deep, so in my blood, it's hard to explain unless you are a fan...
I read this book Wednesday night,
the author gets it,
he feels the same way during and after a show,
it's so emotionally intense,
something you can't explain.

I got this book signed by Mike Holmes for Jason.
Jason is a fan.
Mike Holmes was such a nice guy,
funny, charming, charismatic...
you felt like you'd known him forever...
like he was your best friend's husband.
Great guy!

I also got to meet Ellie Krieger
and got this {free} cookbook signed by her.
She was very sweet.

I got this book
and was able to take a little class with the
pros at Popular Photography :)

One of the most exciting moments for me
was when I was in the education section,
doing my Children's Librarian thing
and I came across
PEACE HILL PRESS.

I rushed over and said, "I'm a homeschool mom!"
They were very welcoming and bubbly.
Their booth was set up like a warm and cozy house.
We started chatting,
about Story of the World & Writing with Ease,
The Well Trained Mind.
I asked when Writing with Skill was coming out.
February. sigh.
Suddenly, I looked at the name tag of the woman I was speaking to,
and I blurted out,
"You're Susan Wise Bauer!"
(the woman who wrote ALL of the above books!!)
And she was like, "Why, yes I am."
She was very, very sweet and asked if I had questions and took the time to answer all of my questions.
She sent me the PDF for the workbook and Teacher's Manual for Writing with Skill,
so that A can start that this fall! YIPPEEE!!!
I was definitely gushing,
it was definitely not one of my finer moments.
I'd met Linda Evans, Tyra Banks, Mike Holmes, Kathie Lee Gifford, Florence Henderson, Ellie Krieger...
and it was Susan Wise Bauer
that made me star-struck.

I have tremendous respect for her.
My whole life this last year has basically been wrapped around homeschooling,
so to meet the person that I look up to so much...
it was quite exciting.

I hope that next time I see her
(at a conference in June)
I am not nearly as gushing and blubbering and starstruck!

Susan Wise Bauer,
if you read this,
please know that I was taken off guard to see you there,
and I have spent a good part of the last year reading everything you have written about homeschooling, 
your curriculum, your blog, and your books give me the confidence to homeschool my children
and to really believe they will get a great education at home!

All in all,
it was a great day!!