Still recovering from BEA then stayed up all night reading a new book!
New York
Why I love reading Young Adult Books
When I was in elementary/middle school teachers would confiscate my books because I was reading instead of listening to them. But I just couldn’t help myself. The story would get so good I could not put it down. I longed for LEAP or other standardized testing days because that was the only time I was allowed to read what ever I wanted in class.
I remember staying up late reading Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, Encyclopedia Brown
While reading I wanted to be the characters or one of their friends. I wanted to be IN the book and a part of the story. I would adopt the mannerisms or sayings from my favorite characters. After the story ended I was so sad. I would use my imagination to continue the story in my head. I guess that’s why I like series books.
As an adult I still read young adult books but now I appreciate the end of the story. I find a great ending can be euphoric in some ways. Young adult books also make me nostalgic for my youth. It was a time when you had no real problems but everything seemed to be the end of the world.
There is so much a writer can do with a YA story. Kids have imaginations that are willing to accept anything. Life and experiences haven’t inhibited their imaginations yet. Whole worlds with different rules and laws can be created in these types of books. Plus an author can add different genres to every story. A YA book can be fantasy, sci-fi, romance, mystery, thriller, comedic and many more all rolled into one. And if it’s written just right it can conjure just as many feelings as well.
I’m really looking forward to this year’s BookExpo America. To meet other adults who share my passion for YA. I can’t wait to hear the authors speak at the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast; or go to sessions dedicated to children’s and YA books or hear how editors knew a certain YA title was perfect for their list. Here are few more sessions I can’t wait to attend:
- New Insights & Trends In The 2013 Children’s Book Market
- The Journey Of A Young Adult Book – From Writer to Reader
- New Adult Crossover: From YA to adult and back again
While at BEA I will be tweeting about what I learn and what kind of swag I’ll be snagging. Follow me on Twitter here.
Hopefully my apartment won’t look like this after BEA:
But then again…
My thought process when I hear a strange noise outside and think it’s a spaceship before realizing it’s a police siren bouncing off buildings.
I think I may be watching too much sci-fi.
How I feel after I wake up late, run to the subway just in time to get on before the doors close then realize it’s the wrong train.
My day did not start well.
I just got tickets to New York Comic Con!
This is how I feel!
My relationship with snow in gif form.
Here is what I feel like when I wake up to snowfall.
Here is what I really want to do in the snow.
This is what I probably look like to others. (just not as cute) (also see first images)
This is what, I’m sure, other New Yorkers want to do to me.
What to wear?
I never know what to wear in NYC. It’s cold outside but since I am walking everywhere or on the subway packed like a sardine or going into buildings where the heat is on high it can get pretty hot. So how do I dress? What do I wear? If I dress in layers then I always have to carry around a layer or two when I am in a building. I don’t even like to carry my purse so adding something else to it is just asking for a grumpy girl.
Then there is the hat issue. I wash and dry my hair in the morning and the last thing I want to do is wear a hat which can cause sweating and flat hair. But I know my ears will get cold if I don’t. I did find some very nice and big earmuffs in Chinatown to solve this problem. Yes, people stare but I decided not to take it as judgement but as, “ooh, look at those cool earmuffs.” When it is really cold I double up and wear the hat and the earmuffs. It is a very attractive look.
Sometimes I wear the hood of my coat but that comes with its own issues. If
the wind blows too hard then it falls off. If I tie it on then I get claustrophobic and somehow end up tying my hair into knot.
Today I woke up late and decided to wear my hair in a bun. Bun-head and hat-head do not work well together. Also I never realized how much warmth my hair actually gives me. Luckily one of the layers I brought with me has a high collar and I zipped that baby up to keep my neck and ears warm.
If I’m not going to get another blizzard, so I can make my first snowman, then I want spring to come right now. I’m not ready for summer because that also brings in a whole array of issues, i.e. sweating, makeup melting off, pit stains on nice work clothes, freshly washed hair looking greasy and wet from sweating, being on the subway with people who really need to invest in deodarant etc.
Any New York tips would be greatly appreciated!
Union Square Excursion (part 3)
Union Square
The Union Square Christmas Market is in full swing. If you don’t know what to get that special someone as a gift, walk around the tents to get some ideas.
Hanami Real Flower Jewelry
Hanami Real Flower Jewelry
The first thing that caught my attention were these beautiful necklaces. They are real orchid flowers covered in resin from Hanami Real Flower Jewelry. Not sure about the necklace? You can get earrings, broaches and hair clips too.
Sock Puppet Madness
I also came across these strange, yet adorable sock puppets at the Sock Puppet Madness booth. If you don’t want a Sock Puppet then you could get a Sock Puppet Portrait.
These pictures make me giggle.
Sock Puppet Madness
Monkey Business
Seasonal Illuminations Gel Candles
Looking for a more traditional toy for a kid in your life? Then what could be more traditional than a marionette? Monkey Business has quite a few to choose from. They even have unique hanging art and ornaments.
Need to get a white elephant gift for someone at work? Get them a Seasonal Illuminations Gel Candle. It’s not an ordinary candle; these come with fruit or flowers inside, plus they smell very good.
Tribal Home
This Holiday Season why not give a gift to your home? Beautiful lamps with colors to brighten up any home would make the perfect gift FOR your home. Check out the Tribal Home booth.
Looking for art that is fun, colorful and calls out to the kid in you? Edie Art has some great pieces that I would
Edie Art
love to have in my home. They are imaginative pieces that will make you smile.
The Secret Life of Toys
Not sure what to get the man in your life who loves movies and their corresponding action figures. Then you need to check out The Secret Life of Toys booth. Where else can you see Buzz Lightyear drinking beer and getting buzz? Perfect artwork for the man who doesn’t want to grow up.
The Secret Life of Toys
Now these are just a few of the booths they have available. So get out there and enjoy NYC by shopping at the Union Square Holiday Market.
While the market is fun and you may want to buy and buy. Beware. Check their return policy BEFORE purchasing. Yours truly did not and now I am stuck with something that doesn’t fit. I am looking into selling it on eBay or Craigslist.
Techno-dependent is my New Normal
Living in New York has brought me closer to my i-Phone, i-Pad, i-Pod and Macbook. But sometimes I feel like I am half human, half (Apple) machine. I feel the need to tweet that NBC’s Smash is filming at the Flatiron Building again or Facebook the crazy weather NYC is having. Now I’ve joined tumblr.
I just watched The New Normal on my i-Pad. In the episode the characters were spending too much time tweeting, instant messaging and shopping. The characters decided to give up phone, tablets, and computers for one day a week. (It was a very good episode and I hope it stays around awhile.)
This time last year I would have said “that is so easy” but now I think it would be hard.
I live in a place where people are always using their phone for something; listening to music and using their Bluetooth device. (Confusion 
ensues when people use that thing).
When I first moved here I just watched, then I thought “why not?”. Now constantly using technology is my New Normal.
After I graduate I am going to give up technology for a whole day once a week. (Just think how much reading I will be able to get done.)
I may learn to sew, start scrapbooking, or practice juggling. There are myriad possibilities.
What would you do if you had a whole day with out technology once a week?
Snow: A Magical Event!
“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?” ~J. B. Priestley
While I did not wake up to the snow it was just as magical. My first snowfall in New York was fantastic.
I was like a kid, screaming “IT’S SNOWING!” This is my first snowfall in New York. But my excitement didn’t seem to upset anyone on the street. They seemed to really enjoy the snow as well. 
There were a lot more people riding bikes and walking than I thought there would be.
I really wanted to make a snow angel but by the time I got ready my landlady and neighbors were already shoveling the snow.
They were working hard. One even pulled out this lawn mower looking thing that shoots the snow off to the side. It was kind of cool.
Considering it was still snowing and there is more to come overnight I couldn’t understand why they were shoveling. I think it would be more slippery. But I guess you have to stay ahead of the snow to make it easier in the morning. At least that is my theory. Feel free to correct me or give a new theory.
I went outside to take pictures and my shoes actually crunched when I stepped onto the snow.
The wind whipped the snow against my face. I could see and feel the snowflakes on my lashes.
The snow covered the screen on my camera to the point I couldn’t even see the pictures I was taking; hence the one that looks like asteroids are zipping across the sky.
Sadly, meteorologists are saying the weekend will be in the 60’s. While this saddens me I am sure this won’t be the last snowfall of the year.
I can’t wait for more snow. I have to enjoy it as much as I can now because I know at some point the snow will just annoy me. But right now I am going to be that annoying person who gets excited every time she sees snow.
TakingLibertyS 