Book Expo America 2009 and NYC Teen Author Carnival wrap up

A pic snapped by Lauren Barnholdt's Boy of LB taking pics of us on the BEA panel. (I shamelessly stole this pic and a couple more (noted below) from L's Twitter.) Left to right: Robyn, me, Julia DeVillers, Maureen Johnson, Sarah Mlynowski.

Another pic taken by Lauren of the BEA panel. The woman on my left is the technician who saved us all with a super important power cord for Robyn's Power Point.

I almost died when I saw the cover of BEST ENEMIES at the S&S booth on this board. So cool! :)

Editor Kate and me at drinks with Lauren Barnholdt (Team Barnhart!) and her Boy. So fun! Much to EK's dismay, after Lauren snapped that pic with her iPhone she Tweeted it. EK is kinda anti-Twitter. Just kind of. ;)

A blurry pic of a board at BEA that announces the panel line ups. Driving Success with Teens and Tweens: Authors Share Online Success Stories was my panel.

Well, look who it is! THE Kaleb Nation signing copies of his book and chatting with David Levithan and Maureen Johnson.

Almost to the Simon & Schuster booth. The crowd was insane.

I've barely been home since Thursday and have had nooo time to blog. A quick run down of Book Expo America 2009 and the NYC Teen Author Carnival *needs* telling. So...

Thursday--NYC Teen Author Carnival

This was hosted by three superawesome teens--Devyn, Mitali and Korianne. It was a fun, crazy two hours of Q&A, meeting readers, signing books and mingling with authors. It was my first NYC author event, so I was nervous before I got there. But everyone was relaxed and there to have fun. It *was* a carnival theme, after all.

I spent time chatting with Melissa Walker, Sarah MacLean, Pam Bachorz, Libba Bray, Micol and David Ostow, Aimee Friedman, Sarah Cross, Jenny Han, PG Kain, Taylor Morris, Carolyn MacCollough, Robyn Schneider, Michelle Zink, Beckie Weinheimer and Lauren Barnholdt. Almost all of them were Internet friends or people I "knew" through some various online channel. So cool to meet them in person.

After the carnival, Lauren and her Boy, EK and I went out for drinks. We had so much fun and I already knew from emailing and texting that I'd like Lauren in person, but she was even cooler--if that's possible! There will most def be future Barnhart events, so stay tuned. :)

Friday--Book Expo America, day one

The Javits Center is HUGE. It has to be said right away. I thought the crowd would be scary and overwhelming, but it was actually the opposite. It was fun to be around so many people who were there with a love for books. I met up with Robyn in the morning and we hurried to get in line for signings for Ally Carter and Sarah MacLean. We got our books, then ran into Lauren and her Boy.

We spent a couple of minutes chatting with Kaleb and wished we had more time, but Kaleb was super busy (he had a signing line, hello) and everyone's schedules were a mess. (But Kaleb, it was so great to finally meet and come back to NYC soon so we can hang out for real!)

Robyn had a meeting, so LB, her Boy and I wandered the floor for a while and checked out the various booths.

Lauren and I went to the S&S booth to check it out and ran into a lot of our S&S friends. Lauren had to run off to a business lunch, so I spent the rest of the day hanging out with the super fab LA. I loved that we both had enough of the BEA noise/crazy atmosphere at the exact same time and were like, "let's go hijack an empty meeting room and chill for a while!"

After being at BEA from 9-5, I was exhausted. I got home, ate, looked over notes for my panel and crashed by 8:30.

Saturday--Book Expo America, day two

My panel started at 9:30 and it was exciting to be sitting with Maureen Johnson, Julia DeVillers, Sarah Mlynowski and Robyn Schneider. EK, Nova, LB and a few other people I knew came to the panel, which was super sweet for them to get up early on a Sat and come. I also got to meet LiveJournal friend Jenny Moss. So cool! Lauren took more pics of the panel with Robyn's camera, so I'll post when R puts those online.

After the panel, I left BEA to work for a while and then headed off to the S&S party. It was amazing! I got to meet a couple of editors at Pulse that I hadn't met before and chatted with other S&S authors. Plus, I got to see publishing friends I hadn't seen since January and it was so good to say hi and see them again. S&S picked a great place for the party and I think everyone was having fun. Perfect way to end my BEA experience.

I probably forgot a lot, since the days were packed, but those are definitely some of the highlights. I'll keep posting about it next week if/when I think of things.

I'm forcing myself to ignore the shiny books from BEA until I have at least a few pages of the chapter by chapter outline of LITTLE WHITE LIES down. Will not stare longingly at book pile... :)

Herald Square pics

I spent the afternoon here. Here being Harold's Square in Manhattan. I thought I had my BEA clothes set. But no. No. It required trips to: Macy's, Forever 21, H&M and a 3.1 second visit in the Gap before I was like, umm, sorry but no. Just not my style. FINALLY found what I wanted at the very last store, Forever 21, (thank you, Aly!!) and now have clothes. Still deciding how to pair them. Being a girl is hard sometimes, LOL. Am hauling said clothes over to Kassie's in the morning to be like, "Help. Me. Pick."

I'm working on getting my thoughts/general notes together for the BEA panel on Saturday. Am also working on sending a few emails here and there to New York and New Jersey schools about visits for the fall. If you know of any schools who are looking, please send them my way!

My list of authors to stalk is growing by the hour. Plus, um, I heard that a certain superfavoriteOMGIhearther author is attending a party that I'm going to. What if I fan girl out and squee or fall at her feet? Seriously. I have to be cool. Ahem.

Tomorrow, I've got the carnival (sooo packed with big authors that it's making me super nervous!) and a quick trip to pick up my BEA badge. Friday, it's BEA all day. Or until my arms fall off from too many books. There's also a Friday night party, but I'm not sure if I'm going. Saturday is my panel and two parties. Very exciting!

Off to bed to read NIGHT WORLD.

NYC Teen Author Carnival is tomorrow!

Tomorrow...is the NYC Teen Author Carnival! It's hosted by Devyn, Mitali and Korianne. I'm so excited!

Here's the final line up of authors:

Melissa Anelli - Author of Harry, A History
Website / Twitter

Pam Bachorz - Author of Candor
Website / Twitter

Lauren Barnholdt - Author of Two-way Street
Website / Twitter

Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Author of Fate
Website / Twitter

Coe Booth - Author of Tyrell
Website / Twitter

Libba Bray - Author of Going Bovine
Website / Twitter

Jessica Burkhart - Author of Canterwood Crest Series
Website / Twitter

Cinda Chima - Author of Demon King
Website

Cassandra Clare - Author of City Of Glass
Website / Twitter

Tish Cohen - Author of Little Black Lies
Website

Susane Colasanti - Author of Waiting For You
Website / Twitter

Sarah Cross - Author of Dull Boy

Website / Twitter

Aimee Friedman - Author of Sea Change
Website

Linda Gerber - Author of Death by Denim
Website / Twitter

Claudia Gray - Author of Hourglass
Website / Twitter

Jenny Han - Author of The Summer I Turned Pretty
Website / Twitter

Maureen Johnson - Author of Scarlett Fever
Website / Twitter

PG Kain - Author of The Social Experiments of Dorie Dilts: Dumped by Popular Demand
Website

David Levithan - Author of Wide Awake
Website

Carolyn MacCullough - Author of Once a Witch
Website

Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - Authors of The Real Real
Website

Sarah MacLean - Author of The Season
Website / Twitter

Taylor Morris - Author of Total Knockout: Tale of an Ex-Class President
Website

Greg Neri - Author of Surf Mules
Website / Twitter

Michael Northrop - Author of Gentlemen

Website

David Ostow - Illustrator of So Punk Rock
Twitter

Micol Ostow - Author of the Bradford Novels
Website / Twitter

Elizabeth Scott - Author of Something, Maybe
Website

Robyn Schneider - Author of Better Than Yesterday
Website / Twitter

Brian Sloan - A Really Nice Prom Mess
Website

Melissa Walker - Author of Lovestruck Summer
Website / Twitter

Robin Wasserman - Author of Skinned
Website / Twitter

Sasha Watson - Author of Vidalia in Paris
Website / Twitter

Beckie Weinheimer - Author of Converting Kate
Website /Twitter

Michelle Zink - Author of Prophecy of the Sisters

Website / Twitter

We're all divided up into teams and I'm on Team Caramel Apple with:

Libba Bray
Jenny Han
Sarah MacLean
Melissa Walker
Sasha Watson
Pam Bachorz
Greg Neri
David Ostow
Micol Ostow
Sarah Cross
Tish Cohen

The other teams? Cotton Candy and Funnel Cake--they're going DOWN! Team Caramel Apple is made of awesome and it'll be fun! Can't go? The event will also be streaming live, so you can check out the feed.

But if you're in the city, here are the details one more time:

NYC Teen Author Carnival
May 28th, 2009
4:00 - 6:00 PM

Location:
Jefferson Market Branch Library
425 Avenue of the Americas [at 10th St.],
New York, NY 10011-8454.

See you there!

PS--Got an invite to the YA/MG drinks night? Ask Robyn Schneider, Julia DeVillers or Bennett Madison about it for Saturday night. :)

BEA 2009...

After much chatter about BEA clothes with Lauren, Julia, Robyn and Jen, I think I've got it. Think. *peers into closet* I won't be going in pajamas now. Whew.

Anyone else hear about Publishers Lunch TV? Or Publishers Lunch Junior? Apparently, PL people will be running around with Flip cams taking footage and broadcasting it live. Super cool! :) Love this. I want to take a ton of pics and hopefully a vlog of some sort.

BEA starts on Thursday. Have I mentioned that? ;) If anyone has last minute BEA advice, please share!

Gotta run into Manhattan for an hour tomorrow and then it's back home for final BEA freak outs.

BEA clothes = fail

*All* of my potential BEA panel clothes are on my on my bed and the shoes are tossed on the floor. Everything! Is! Wrong! Ack! It's too casual or too professional or too girly or too blah or just NO. I might be going to BEA in pajamas.

*takes calming breath and goes back to outfits*

Just <333

That is all.

Random things on a Friday

I'm so excited (read: nervous) about Book Expo America! But first, I'm doing the NYC Teen Author Carnival next Thursday from 4-6 pm with awesome authors including Lauren Barnholdt, Taylor Morris, PG Kain and more! Lauren and I, dubbed "Barnhart" by Editor K, are going to be veeery scandalous. We invite you to come join us! :) I'll be giving away: two copies of TAKE THE REINS, two copies of CHASING BLUE and two copies of BEHIND THE BIT. Plus, there will be signed postcards.

Back to BEA. There are so, so many people I finally get to meet! I'm trading numbers with people so we can text if things get crazy and we don't end up running into each other. So, if I'm supposed to meet up with you at BEA and you want to trade cell numbers, shoot me yours. I think the convention center is going to be huge and the odds of just running into people seems slim. Meg Cabot already sent me her number so we can meet. :) Kidding.

I'm going on Friday to pick up my badge and to track down Kaleb Nation at the Sourcebooks booth. I will attempt to ask for (read: steal) a copy of Kaleb's Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse.

My panel with Robyn Schneider, Maureen Johnson, Julia DeVillers and Sarah Mlynowski is on Saturday morning and so many of my friends have said they're coming. Thanks, guys! :) It'll make me less nervous to have friends in the audience in case I start to babble and/or embarrass myself during the panel. (Um, did you see the big names on my panel? Eeep...very intimidated!) The friends can then cause a disturbance so I can slink away in shame.

I'm going into Manhattan today to get a sparkly haircut for BEA. Going to the place of awesome--Soon Beauty Lab West. Love it there. I really want hot pink streaks for the summer, but...I won't. Yet.

Keep fingers crossed that I do not get into any sort of trouble on this trip. It would be a first. I really can make it from home to the city and back without incident--I *know* I can! I'm still so jealous of the people who can listen to music and read or sleep (!) on the subway. I'm the girl clutching her HopStop instructions and checking off every stop like a total dork. The one time I tried to listen to music on my iPod on the subway? I almost ended up in Queens!!

Happy Friday!

Apartment pics, part one

I've been promising updated apt pics, so here are a couple! It's still a work in progress, but it's sooo much fun to decorate. Still gotta get posters for walls, but have been so busy! More pics to come! :)

Mention on Fuse #8

Apparently, I live in a cave. I completely missed this. Thanks so much to Elizabeth Bird of School Library Journal's Fuse #8 for picking Canterwood Crest as the first runner up for the "bests" of the fall 2009 Simon & Schuster preview. I'm honored, Elizabeth. Thank you! :)

PS- Did you guys see the new line up for the NYC Teen Author Carnival? It's INSANE. Come join us!

*Big* announcement!

I can FINALLY make the announcement I've been wanting to share!

....

The Canterwood Crest series was optioned for a TV series or TV movie!!!

For real!

In February, I got an email from a producer at Breakthrough Entertainment who said she'd like to discuss the books. I passed her info to Agent A and they immediately started talking. While I waited, I tried not to get too excited because I knew how slim the chances were to have this email lead to a yes.

But it did! Cross your fingers that you'll one day see Canterwood on-screen! I'm so grateful to have this option and thank you sooo much to everyone involved.

Yaaay! :)

Madison Avenue bound

I'm having lunch with Agent A today, so I'm off to Madison Avenue to meet up with her. Since it'll be the third (I think?) time I've gone to Trident, I will not get lost. :) I never really got lost before, exactly, I just got slightly confused. But I have my explicit Google-mapped instructions from last time and think I've got it.

I should come back and be able to make The Announcement. :)

So long, weekend!

What a weekend! I edited all day Saturday then met up with fellow Aladdin MIXer Nova for dinner. We'd met before for, seriously, five seconds and finally had time to sit and chat. Nova's awesome and her book DANI NOIR (Sept '09) is killer. We'll be going out again soon, I'm sure. :)

I came back to my apt and had a mini-celebration for the VIP papers that I got in the mail that day. I should be able to make a GIANT, HUGE, SUPERAWESOME announcement on my blog on Tuesday.

Today, I was supposed to meet Aly at 11 for brunch. I left early and grabbed the F. But then...announcements started that there was a 9/11 simulation going on and due to the smoke, my train was going to be rerouted to the G or stopped at W 4th St. or something very confusing.

*panic*

People on the train were mad.

Tourists were confused.

Then, people heard "smoke in the city" and thought there was a real fire.

You get the idea.

I hopped from the F, to the R, possibly to the A and the 4 (?) and ended up going to Queens. Then back to home. Then on the way to Manhattan. My train stopped underground for a looong while.

There were cops.

And nervous people. But I was determined to make it to brunch and Aly!

I finally used my subway skills (read: Roy's NFT) and figured out how to make it to the correct stop.

And, guess what? Only 20 mins later. Bad, but not as bad as I'd feared. Take that, subway!

But Aly was super cool about it and we had a fab brunch--hello, Belgian waffles and sparkly drinks--then went shopping at Forever 21. Very amazing. I got the cutest earrings and necklace after consulting Aly--the Princess of Accessories. We had fun shopping and being girls. I made it back home without getting lost. WHEW. I'm so done with the subway till Tuesday.

Weekend plans

Friday at last! :) I've been in my apartment for exactly a week now. Wow. Kinda shocking. I'm still not used to it.

As I mentioned, I'm veeerry excited to be hanging out with Nova on Saturday at a very cool cafe in Brooklyn. I went there before with Kassie and Roy and enjoyed the vibe. It's super cute. But before I meet Nova, I plan to get up super early and:

* edit, edit, edit BEST ENEMIES to send to to EK on Monday
* drop off laundry and hope I get the right clothes back ;)
* order posters for room decoration
* something that's not yet boring--clean the apt. It's actually still fun because I keep going, "Oh, cool. Cleaning my apt." That'll wear off, I know.

I'm also dying to curl up with a superfantasticexciting ARC that I got. *sparkly ARC* I've been saving it as an end of revisions treat. Perhaps that's why I've been working so much this week...

Sunday, I've got:

* the bunch with supercool A. I'm already hyped up for Belgian waffles and sparkly drinks.
* vlogging. I am without my tripod, so it'll be interesting...it might come out very Blair Witch like.
* hopefully, if I have time, taking some pics of my fave local hang out spots.
* more editing and salivating over sparkly ARC.
* replying to fan mail. Sorry, guys! Responses are coming! Thank you, though, soo very much for emailing me. I appreciate it!
* researching local schools for visits in the fall.

Behind the Bit is out!

BEHIND THE BIT, Canterwood Crest #3, went in stock on Amazon yesterday and at Barnes & Noble. I'm beyond excited to have three books out. Now that I'm in a new place, I have to go introduce myself to the staff at the local B&N and sign some stock. That'll be fun! I love that I can walk there--it's quite awesome.

I'm super busy finishing up edits on BEST ENEMIES (CC #5) and it's my goal to have them done on Monday. I've been trying this new waking up at the most evil hour of 5am thing and it doesn't suck. Too much. :) I complain and grumble, but once I'm up I'm okay. I *do* get a lot done. And that's I prob won't be able to keep it up for long, but I'll try it.

This weekend, I'm meeting up with two friends. One for brunch on Sunday at French Roast (sounds sooo yummy) and one for coffee here in my neighborhood. I'll also be taking progress pics of the apartment and will post them. It's getting pretty sparkly in here! Next thing: wall decorations. I've got links to some awesome posters, so this weekend I'll measure, decide on some and order them. Very exciting.

Cable/DVR and Internet was installed yesterday (yay!) so I'm back online. Awesomeness. I was getting WiFi whereever I could: cafes, apt buildings...an old folk's home. Yeah, shameless, I know. :)

Anyway, happy book birthday to BEHIND THE BIT!! :) Cheers!

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

It's midwinter break and Sasha Silver has been invited to attend an exclusive equestrian clinic. Problem is, Callie, Heather, Alison, and Julia have also been invited. And after the way things ended at Canterwood's Sweetheart Soiree, the line between friend and frenemy is thinner than ever.

NYC Teen Author Carnival

Thanks to JRA for letting me know about the NYC Teen Author Carnival. I'm participating along with:

Lauren Barnholdt - Author of Two-way Street
Website / Twitter

Sarah MacLean - Author of The Season
Website / Twitter

Robyn Schneider - Author of Better Than Yesterday
Website / Twitter

Beckie Weinheimer - Author of Converting Kate
Website /Twitter

Melissa Walker - Author of Lovestruck Summer
Website / Twitter

So excited to meet everyone! :)

Find us here:

NYC Teen Author Carnival
May 28th, 2009
4:00 - 6:00 PM

Location:
Jefferson Market Branch Library
425 Avenue of the Americas [at 10th St.],
New York, NY 10011-8454.

Welcome to New York!

So yesterday, I was walking to my old sublet to pick up something. I got off the 2 train and crossed the street and started down the sidewalk in front of a gorgeous museum. Two guys were walking in front of me, we were the only ones on the sidewalk, and one of the guys dropped a small black plastic bag.

Here’s where it’s CLEAR I’m not used to NYC yet. The words, “Um, excuse me!” are starting to come out of my mouth because they dropped something and I’m considering whether or not to pick it up when a police car runs off the road, drives up onto the sidewalk and slams to a halt in front of the guys. Two cops get out with guns drawn and tell the men to get on the ground.

I’m less than 10 feet behind the guys and am veeeery close that bag!

I’m like, “OMG. OMG.”

I back up and dart across the street without looking for cars. Yeah, smart. At least it was a quiet-ish one way street and I made it across.

I watched the cops pat down the guys and cuff them.

I called and texted my friends about what I saw and they were like, “Welcome to New York. Lesson: don’t ever pick up something a stranger drops.”

Got. It.

I went home and stayed out of trouble for the rest of the day. Yes, I did.

In the FAB Lane's review of Take the Reins

Check this out!

In the FAB Lane reviewed TAKE THE REINS and they're giving away a copy. :)

Thanks, guys!

Enter to win a signed copy of Behind the Bit!

Sooo, BEHIND THE BIT comes out on May 19. I can't believe it's my third book. Insane. TAKE THE REINS and CHASING BLUE released over a week early, so you might be seeing BTB on shelves soon. To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed copy of BTB. Want to win? Leave a comment here ONLY--not LiveJournal this time (because I have limited Internet access and am posting this on a timer)--and you'll be entered.

Spread the word, too! :) You have until Wednesday at midnight to leave your comment. I'll randomly draw a winner and will email you if you've won.

Good luck!

Sparkly apartment update!

My computer wouldn’t connect to the wifi at a local café, but I found a great signal on the steps outside a veteran’s memorial. It’s gorgeous outside, so yay! My Internet and cable/DVR is being hooked up on Wednesday and I. Cannot. Wait.

The apartment (!) update:

On Thursday night, Roy and Kassie (the awesome friends) met me at my sublet and helped me move a bunch of stuff over to my new apartment. Roy lugged my insanely heavy suitcase down three flights of stairs after just moving it in the Friday before. Super sweet, huh? So, we got to my apt and while I unboxed/hooked up the TV/DVD player, Roy and Kassie started hanging curtains.

When Roy brought out his drill, there was most def a little-boy like gleam in his eye. Boys and power tools, you know? It even has a name. Mmm hmm. I was like, “OMG. Must not touch or will surely end up in ER.”

There was drilling.

No one was harmed.

And Kassie put up the curtains.

They warmed the apartment instantly and it went from a space to starting to feel like mine. We toasted with champagne and I went back to my sublet for the last night. When I went to sleep, I was thinking about how it was the final night I was going to sleep in someone else’s space without having my own. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

On Friday morning, my bed arrived from Macy’s. Major excitement—I could finally sleep over in my apt! I ran around all day Friday and moved over the last bit of my stuff, got a few groceries and unpacked. By 10, I was passed out. Best. Night’s. Sleep. Ever.

I think it’s because I finally knew I was in the right neighborhood. I’d been in this general area for a month before moving over to a new side of town for a week during the sublet. I could have stayed there through mid-June, but I got super motivated to get my own place early. I’d missed the neighborhood and wanted to find a place. NYC is huge, yeah, but having friends just streets away and having a great neighborhood makes it feel so much smaller.

I got soo lucky to find this place. (Warning: About to go off track and launch into the “how I found my apt story”) Last Sunday, I was having brunch at a fun café with Kassie and Roy. For about a week before, I’d been using Craigslist to search for an apt and had found another sublet that started in June and would last for a year, but I wasn’t sure if it would definitely work out or not. Roy mentioned that realtors were open even though it was Sunday and because it was a gross, rainy day there might be fewer people walking around to see the realtors.

After brunch, I walked down one of the main avenues that had at least 15 realty places. I went into the first place I saw—a local owned realty company. I told the realtor what I was looking for and what my price range was. He almost started to laugh when I told him what I could afford in the neighborhood I wanted. Then, a look crossed his face and he started shuffling through papers on his desk.

He said someone had just brought him a listing in the neighborhood that I wanted that was JUST over my price range, but he could still show it to me. Maybe the price could be negotiated. I texted Kassie and told her I was going to see a place and told her the address. By chance, she and Roy were minutes away getting coffee and they said they’d stop by for backup.

On the way over, the realtor told me about the place and said it was probably already gone because of the price and location. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would be nice and available.

The realtor showed me around and told me the details. When Roy and Kassie got there, I was trying to be cool, but I was totally freaking out. I looooved the place and had to get it! I kept making the, “OMG, this place is awesome eyes!” at them every time the realtor looked away. I was such a dork.

At the end of the meeting, I told the realtor I wanted the place and he had to call the landlord to make sure it was still available, try to get the price down, do the official paperwork, etc, etc. I went back to his office and filled out an application.

But it wasn’t mine yet. I decided to keep walking down the main avenue to keep visiting realtors and telling them what I wanted.

I was laughed out of at least five places after that, which Kassie had warned me would happen. I heard:

You want to pay that for this neighborhood?

You have to pay Manhattan prices here.

You’re totally wasting your time.

Hahahaha.

I visited eight or nine more realtors before going back to my sublet. No luck anywhere else. I couldn’t sleep that night because I wanted the apt so much.

I got the call on late Monday morning that everything had been approved and I could get the keys and sign the lease.

In. Freaking. Sane.

If Roy hadn’t said that realtors were open on a Sunday, I would have missed the place. For sure.

(End of the “how I found my apt story”). :)

Last night, Roy and Kassie came over for a housewarming party. They brought a gorgeous plant that I will try super hard not to kill. We ordered out, had drinks and Kassie revealed the night’s movie choices. ‘Cause she knows me *so* well, she picked scary movies. Um, yeah. I have a thing about scary movies—they freak me out! And she knows it. Love her. But she gave me an out—we could also start season one of Buffy, which I’d never seen but had been wanting to.

But nope, I decided to be brave. We started the movie, The Uninvited, which turned out to be more hilarious (in a bad acting/awful dialogue) sort of way. The “scary” movie turned into a mock-fest and we gave up on it after half an hour. Buffy is waaaay better.

The night was a total blast and it felt amazing! The first weekend in my apt is pretty fab and very, very sparkly.

First studio apartment pics!

Yup! Actual pics of my first studio apartment!! I got the keys today (OMG!) and cleaned out the cleaning supply section at CVS. The apt was already super clean, but since I'm a neurotic freak, I had to sweep, mop, wipe down every surface, etc.

So.

Exhausted.

Seriously.

But the studio looks gorgeous and everything inside is completely brand new. Awesomeness. I start moving stuff over tomorrow and will take things over little by little. I've still got my sublet for a while, so there's no pressure to hurry and get out. But...I really want to get to my place. All of the goods (furniture, bed, kitchen stuff) are on the way.

Yesterday, I went to Macy's (9 floors of shopping temptation) and spent a couple of hours picking a bed. I tested almost every mattress (the sales guy prob loved that) and kept calling my friend for her opinion on what brand/size, etc. It's a big investment and I wanted to pick a great bed.

And shocker, but I had no clue what I needed for a kitchen or how to even get started. My awesome friend linked me to everything I needed (heart her) and I just clicked and ordered.

Tomorrow, I've got to move stuff over and awesome friend is bringing other awesome friend #2 with power tools to hang curtains. I might have to take pics of this. It could be interesting. :)

Cable/Internet will be hooked up in the middle of next week, so of course, I'm super excited about that. At least I have Internet at local cafes to use until then.

I'm ridiculously excited/nervous about my own place. But I already feel at home in that neighborhood because I know it and love it. Some of the coolest things? Groceries delivered to your door and laundry service. I really do love that. Very much. :)

I'll keep posting progress pics when I can. I'm crazy-busy packing and moving stuff over, but it's such a big deal that I want to keep documenting it.

Back to packing...

notes about NYC life from a newbie

Some fun notes from today's NYC life:

* On the subway @ Atlantic-Pacific, I saw a gorgeous guy who looked just like Blair Underwood. Immediately thought of my friend who would have drooled. :) You know who you are...

* I am getting the BEST workout ever by climbing so many subway stairs. Awesomeness.

* I cooked on a gas stove for the first time. Um, almost died when the flames started. LOL.

* I'm subletting a place next to a fire station. There are ALWAYS hot guys outside in fireman uniforms. Total hotness.

* Impromptu hangout sessions with my friend are sooo much fun.

* I got lost for an hour and a half on the subway tonight even though I've been coming this way at least 7-8 times. Even a map and the subway person confused me. Me = total mess. I finally figured it out after being thisclose to calling a car to pick me up.

* I am watching The Simple Life 3 on DVD right now. Loving. It.

* I might (fingers crossed) have awesome news tomorrow.

Profiled in Tallahassee Magazine

Tallahassee Magazine published an article about Canterwood and it just hit stands! They also printed the article online and you can check it out here. Scroll below the other author featured for writing tips and my then-reading list.

Thanks, Scott and Jennifer! :)