BEA Recap, Return, Changes, and More Fun!

I'm backkk!!

Hello lovelies! I know that it has been awhile and that I said I would come back probably more than a month ago, but the moment that school let out I was not in the right mind-frame to come back. In fact, I was near brain dead by the time school finished. This passed semester had been incredibly hard on me and instead of forcing myself to blog and to write words that have absolutely no mean, I decided that it would just be best if I stepped away for some time.

Slowly I've been getting back on my feet, starting with a nonstop reading spree, and I'm glad to say that I'm feeling much better after my hiatus. So, time to bring in some lovely news because there's no time like the present to be joyous.

As some of you know I did attend BEA this year, which I am so happy that I did, and I will sure be there tomorrow.

To quickly recap, I attend all four days, including the Bloggers Conference, where I met some really awesome bloggers who I hung out with throughout the weekend, which include Feliza and Mara, who run Girls in Capes, as well as Susan from Read This / Eat That, and Kristin from The Paper Reader.

Here's a fun picture of us! Meeting them was for sure a lot of fun and I really enjoyed that.

And they aren't the only bloggers I met. While most I never really heard from before, I did spot a few that I follow - stalked - and it never stopped to amaze me how awesome some bloggers were. I had heard so many horror stories about BEA that I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was nice to meet such wonderful people.

Since it was my first year, I wasn't sure what to expect. There were a lot of people and at times it felt really overwhelming. After the Bloggers Conference on Wednesday, Thursday I came and I was really kind of just walking it. I didn't have a set plan and I just kind of went wherever. Lines were forming everywhere and I would get in random lines. Needless to say that was the day that I got a lot of books, so many that it left bruises on my shoulders. I never knew books could be so painful.

This is a poor picture I know and I'll, hopefully, have a more in-depth post on Sunday when I do my Stacking the Shelves. There are about thirty or so books, like I said I didn't have a plan in mind until much later on in the day.

On Friday it was a little more tamer and like the latter half of Thursday I had a better idea of where I was going and what I was getting. I met a lot of wonderful authors. In fact, on Thursday I went to meet Lauren Oliver, even after she ran out of books, just for the sake of meeting her and I'm so glad I did because we talked and laughed, she gave me a hug, and I went complete fangirl that day. Also, I had met Cinda William Chimes, and the first thing out of my mouth when she was signing my book is, "ILOVEYOURBOOKSERIESYOUARESOAWESOME!" Yes, I didn't breathe between or anything. I just lost it. She looked a little startled before she laughed and it was just awesome.

Friday was when I started taking pictures with authors, and I got the chance to meet Holly Black, Michelle Madow, V.E. Schwab, Heather Graham, Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry, Amanda Sun, R.L. Stein, Jamie McGuire, Diana Gabaldon, and Veronica Roth. Granted, some of these amazing authors I saw on my last day, Saturday, like Grumpy Cat and Jim Carrey (this was a total accident btw, I didn't even know he would be there!) and it was so much fun!

I didn't take a picture with all of them though, and I met so many others, and I was just happy about it all. And each time I talked to one of them, the first thing out of my mouth was, "Do you know who you are?!" Like a complete bonehead!

I had so many of these embarrassing spills and I just wanted to shot myself in the foot each time.

This was Friday's haul! And before I forget, when I was in line to see Holly Black, I had no idea I was standing in front of author Dawn Metcalf, and before I knew it she was handing me her book and signing it, along with the others who were around me. I was a little surprised, but I loved just how awesome these authors were. And the funnest part was seeing them go crazy about seeing a potential author. That was just the best!

Even though Thursday was the day that I got the most, Friday really tested me because my feet were just throbbing since both Holly Black's line and HarlequinTeen line were about a mile long each and I don't know how I managed to do it, but I went through both lines. Sigh. But they were well worth it!

And finally Saturday was a complete and utter fail. I was trained and sore beyond belief that day, and I was determined to do one thing and one thing only and that was to get in line for Diana Gabaldon's book signing. I was going to get one book, and one book only.

Like I said, fail! I walked in and I saw Lisi Harrison's book and I couldn't just leave without it! And I had so much time before Diana that I thought, why not, and just got in McGuire's line. And before I knew it I was jumping into everyone's line but Diana! There went that plan out the window pretty fast!

I didn't stay for the whole day on Saturday, in fact I dipped out as soon as it became noon.

As much fun as I was having, I knew that there was no way I could stay and continue the event to the end! I had an absolute blast and I'll probably be talking about it forever. And I have books to last me for probably an entire year, or as my dad likes to say, I have books well into next year!

I am really glad that I got the chance to go and be a part of this and I hope to get to do this again next year - yes, I'm already thinking into next May! And I'm going to bring a luggage, because it took almost a week for my shoulders to get better and I still feel the back pain.

I didn't attend any events outside of the actual conference area, and I might change that next year, or at least, I'm hoping to!

And now for some author pictures!:

V.E. Schawb! I am so sad I didn't get the chance to go to her signing, but that line was murderous and I knew that I would not survive it!

Holly Black! This was the first picture I took with an author and I am so happy it was with her! She was so kind! I randomly took a picture of her and she blinked, giving me a weird look, before saying that I should be in the picture with her! I went fangirl, again, because, I mean, it's Holly Black!

Michelle Madow! This one took me by surprise, but I ended up in line with her as well and she was so awesome that there was no way I could not not take a picture with her!













Overall, this was a great event and I am so glad to have taken part in it!

So finally, the last thing I need to mention because this post has become ridiculously long! I am moving! While at BEA I was thinking about a lot of changes that this blog needed, which let's be honest, it needs a major overhaul! And I want to start with my blog URL, which actually bothers me more than I realized! I'm heading into two years and I don't like that my blog is none by some name I gave it randomly seven years ago when I first started my Blogger. So, before July, I'm going to be switching over to another blog. I'm sticking with blogger and will consider moving to Wordpress after I've gotten a little bit more comfortable with blogging daily. It was one thing that was addressed at the Blogger's Conference (Blogger vs. Wordpress) and I know that it would be better to move early, but I don't think I'm in a good place to make such a big leap!

This blog will still exist, all content will be removed aside from one post that will direct all to the appropriate place! I'm actually looking forward to it, because it's a long time coming!

To celebrate my two years, I'm hoping that I'll be able to get up and running a new design and hoping for a lot! Birthday's can bring a lot of surprises and I hope that my blog turning two can bring some great and awesome changes!

Also, please be on the look out for some giveaways! Like I said, I got way more than I bargained for at BEA and so a lot of the books will have to go! My room is completely devoured by books! It's awesome, but also really scary to think of all those books that I have to somehow shuffle through, since I have not touched them yet! Yeah, I know, that's pretty bad.

Take care lovelies and I hope to speak with all of you very soon!