BEA 2013 Recap!

Oh, BEA 2013 and fellow bloggers… I already miss you! BEA was incredibly exhausting but exponentially more rewarding!! Being my first time at BEA, I had no idea what to expect except for what I’d heard from fellow bloggers as well as helpful posts, so yes, I was a bit intimidated! Fortunately for me, I had fellow blogger and now IRL best friend Alyssa (Books Take You Places) to guide me along!

WEDNESDAY 5/29

Wednesday started off at 4am, which was how early I needed to wake up to get to the airport. I was super excited though so that really took precedence over sleepiness! I arrived at Boston Logan Airport at around 10:30am and finally got to meet Alyssa in person after talking for about a year and let me tell you, friends. She’s kind of super amazing. We were meant to be BFFs, that’s for sure.
I know what you’re thinking… Why the hell did I fly into Boston? Well, it was cheaper than La Guardia AND way cheaper than flying into Hartford because we stayed in Connecticut and took the train into NYC each day. I know from all the BEA posts with tips and tricks, almost all of them said to stay as close to Javits as possible but you know what? I kind of loved staying in CT. The train ride in was about an hour and a half so yes, it did take time to get there and back, but I literally read 500 pages of A Clash of Kings throughout my commutes and majorly caught up for #SOIFRA!  It was rough getting up early and yes, if you plan on doing things in the city or going to parties, CT may not be the best option for you but it was a great money saver for us and I honestly didn’t mind at all.
Anyhoo. After Alyssa picked me up at the airport, we went to the legendary Book Barn! I was super excited to go because I always hear about it from Alyssa. They have tons of books, and this is not your regular book store! There are quite a few really new titles as well as old and the books fill up quite a few different buildings. I was in heaven although trying to pace myself because I knew I still had to save room in my suitcases for BEA books too! Then we just went to the hotel, relaxed, grabbed some dinner and a bottle of wine for the hotel room (yeah, we’re classy like that) and went to bed excited for the morning!

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THURSDAY 5/30

Thursday was an early morning, but I was just jonesing to get to BEA already! We finally made it through the doors when they opened at 9am and I kind of felt like Harry Potter when he first walks into Diagon Alley… Like, “YES. THIS is where I’m supposed to be and this is what it’s all about!” So it doesn’t sound glorious, but basically at the actual conference part of BEA there are four main things to do: Attend a panel (which I actually didn’t end up doing because there were so many places I wanted to be at once), stand in line for a signing in the autographing area, stand in line for an in-booth signing, or stand in line for a galley drop. Or just walk around and wander/talk to people. Most of BEA was standing in line, but I didn’t mind it in the least! Despite all the waiting, the days actually went by really quickly for me!

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I try not to be touristy and I get like, one picture of New York out of a taxi cab window….

I think we headed straight for the autographing area on Day 1 because there was a signing we really wanted to go to… What it was, I can’t even remember because so many times just blur together that I can’t even keep the days straight half the time! (After consulting my pictures, I realized it was Kendare Blake/Antigoddess!) Regardless, we started off the day with a few signings and then roamed to check out the rest of what was happening. I probably picked up more galleys than I needed to on the first day but it’s so hard to say no when people hand them to you! I definitely got choosier on Days Two and Three.
IMG_1399Anywho… We had a MAJOR line mishap when Alyssa, our new (mysterious) friend “Shelver M” from Bookshelvers Anonymous, and I were in line for Veronica Rossi. We were told we were the first in line and folks on the other side of the room were told they were the first in line. We kind of got shafted by being stuck in the back and somehow I was the last person to get a book and my other two friends got cut off because they ran out of time. Needless to say that after that mishap, everything was MUCH more organized on day two! I was SO nervous about talking to authors, but Veronica Rossi was so nice yet still intimidating because GOSH, she is gorgeous!!! My picture clearly doesn’t do her justice because, hello, my iPhone’s camera is truly appalling but it was such a honor to meet her!

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This picture is actually from Sandie’s phone but I saved it on mine and just had to include it!

One of the best parts about BEA is MEETING THE BLOGGERS. Not gonna lie. That was truly my favorite part. I’m going to TRY and chronicle all the lovely ladies that I met but I’m truly sorry if I forget anyone! We met up with Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks and also met Asher from Paranormal Indulgence and Mandee from Vegan YA Nerds/The Bookish Manicurist. I finally got to meet Sandie from Teen Lit Rocks who is also my fellow Selective Collective member! It was SO great to finally meet in person even though it was so short.
I briefly met Alexa (Alexa Loves Books), Jamie (The Perpetual Page Turner), and got to see Anna (Anna Reads) again since we’d met before in Chicago. They were all so cute and I was sad we didn’t get to see more of each other but it’s just seriously so busy at BEA! I also got to meet Gaby (Queen Ella Bee Reads) and we ran into each other in a few different lines throughout the conference!

We headed back to Grand Central after we were done at the conference for the day, grabbed a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, and headed back to the hotel. Day One was a success and I felt pretty good about the first day’s haul!

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FRIDAY 5/31

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Rainbow + Fangirl!!

Much more hanging out with bloggers, autographing, and of course standing in lines! I felt like I picked up a ton of must-have titles on Friday, the most exciting of which was FANGIRL!!!! I finally got to meet Rainbow Rowell after her event was most upsettingly cancelled in IL the other month. Once again, my camera phone takes crappy pictures, but so be it. I was also way too lazy/busy/shy to actually take pictures WITH authors. I also didn’t want to hold up these amazingly long lines! I actually ended up standing right next to Christina from Allodoxophobia: The Fear of Opinions at the Rainbow Rowell signing and had no idea until she saw my badge and said hello! Maybe I should have done a “faces of me” post like Jamie had because I don’t think I’ve had a ton of pictures of myself up on the blog. Maybe next year I will make myself more recognizable!
Alyssa and I actually split up most of Friday because I had a long list of places I wanted to be and people I wanted to see, but our schedules didn’t mash up. No worries though because by day two, I felt like a pro! This is another part where I can barely remember what events I went to which day and you don’t really want me to list them all out anyway 🙂 I just know that I left feeling so happy that I made it to a lot of things that I REALLY wanted to be at.
We actually didn’t end up making it to the Book Blogger Picnic we were sad about but we got some MUCH needed rest & relaxation and just felt so much better after days one and two kind of physically kicked us in the butt! We didn’t even stop at Magnolia Bakery for another cupcake. THAT says something haha!

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Day Two haul! Let column = signed, right column = other galleys 🙂

SATURDAY 6/1

IMG_1414Saturday was the last day of BEA and I was so sad that it was already ending! Alyssa went to go see Neil Gaiman at 10 so I hopped over to the autographing lines because I really, really wanted to meet Alexandra Bracken (The Darkest Minds) AND pick up book two in the series! Saturday was a Power Reader day, meaning it was open to the public, but really it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it was going to be. In fact, the lines were actually much shorter with the exception of the Alexandra Bracken line! I was worried that my suitcases would be overweight with all the books I was bringing home (I brought two empty suitcases to transport my books) so I hadn’t planned on picking up a ton more books on the last day, but the lines were so short that I couldn’t resist!

IMG_1416After Alyssa was done at Gaiman and I was done with autographing, there really wasn’t too much going on so we jetted out at around 12 for an afternoon in the city! First up, we headed to The Strand with Heidi, Asher, Mandee, and met Estelle from Rather Be Reading! Estelle and I had talked about meeting up so I was SO glad she was there because it was just so crazy trying to meet everyone! I bought a few books at The Strand since they are such great deals and Estelle took these awesome photos of all of us blogger girls 🙂

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(These pictures stolen from Estelle!)

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After The Strand, we went in search of true New York pizza because my boyfriend (who used to live on the east coast) insisted that it wasn’t a real New York trip if I didn’t have New York pizza! We stopped at a place, but Heidi and Alyssa let me know that even if the pizza was still delicious, it wasn’t quite NY pizza! That’s okay. I took some pictures anyway and… it half counts.

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After our bellies were full (I stuffed myself a little too much), we popped over to Books of Wonder! I had to see what this place was all about. It was so cool to be at a “famous” NYC book store. IMG_1423I just see so much about it that it was cool to finally be there. ALSO, I found a paperback copy of SISTERS IN SANITY for the Gayle Forman read along so that was kind of perfect timing!

We said goodbye to our blogger friends and headed home to pack up and crash before I had to leave the next day.

 

SUNDAY 6/2

IMG_1449Sunday was bittersweet. I was excited to go home with all my books and to see my boyfriend again, but I was so sad to say goodbye to Alyssa! We had such a great time hanging out in person and really becoming IRL best friends. I was ready to go home and rest, but also didn’t want to say goodbye to BEA!
After some crazy delays at the airport (which actually only took an hour and I was so glad I was just heading straight to Chicago and not connecting there), I finally made it home.

(Alyssa may not like this picture but I do (even with the wind whipping her hair in her face)! It’s us at the airport, right before I left wearing our awesome BEA shirts. Gotta represent BEA shirts and BFF time!)

BEA was such an amazing experience and I cannot wait to go back next year! Is it bad that I’m already thinking about it?

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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23 thoughts on “BEA 2013 Recap!

  1. Monica

    This comment is coming way late, but I just have to say how completely jealous I am because it sounds and looks like you had an AMAZING time! I’ve never been to NYC and people always come home from BEA with incredible stories and experiences. If only it weren’t always right when the district I work for has final exams when I’m not allowed to take time off! Great pictures and again, so jealous!
    -monica

    Reply
  2. Alexa Y.

    I was pretty much hunting you and Alyssa down the first day amid all the craziness, lol. I am SO GLAD that I at least got to briefly meet you guys, although I’m a bit sad we didn’t get to hang out more! Next time, we should plan like a dinner or something beforehand so that we’ll definitely be hanging out 😉

    Reply
  3. Heidi

    It was SO good to finally meet you and get to hang out a bit, Brit! I’m so glad to see you had a great time, even if it meant a long commute. I totally approve of the Blue Point Blueberry btw, that’s probably my favorite beer (I live quite near the brewery). 😛

    Also so happy you posted the pics from Estelle! I actually hadn’t seen them.

    Reply
  4. Asti (A Bookish Heart)

    Aw, so much fun to read about your experience! (And you should feel extra special, because even though I’ve seen like twenty of these posts pop up yours is the only one I have actually taken the time to read word for word. Ha!) I think it’s so awesome you and Alyssa met and clicked so well, even if it made it harder to part! I’ve met some great people in the blogosphere but have yet to meet anyone IRL. I can’t imagine I will before I take off for London in the fall, but it’s something I sort of wish would happen!

    Anyways, glad everything worked out! It looks like you got quite the haul and got to meet some amazing people! The only thing that could’ve made it more better is if I were there! 😉 Haha no, but really. So happy to hear about your new IRL bestie and that it went so well 😀

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Thank YOU for reading it 😀 I know those were a lot of long paragraphs so the mind tends to wander haha.
      Hope you get to make it to BEA one year or just to meet other bloggers. Seriously one of my favorite parts!

      Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      I would love to meet you at BEA one year!!! The shirts say “Keep Calm and Read On” 😀

      Reply
  5. Elisa

    So awesome! I am super jealous because it sounds amazing and your book haul looks delicious 🙂 Thanks for sharing the details of your trip!! Enjoy your new goodies

    Reply
  6. Vyki @ On The Shelf

    Jealous is a complete understatement for me right now! It seems like you had an absolute blast and I would have loved to be able to go, but life won’t let, me yet. There are so many books you snagged that I would have loved to get my hands on, especially Dare You To, Ink and Antigoddess. It’s awesome you got to connect with other bloggers IRL, there aren’t really many things that go on in SC that give me much of a chance to meet anybody and it’s difficult for me to get to the events far away, but some day! Glad you had such a great time 🙂

    Reply
  7. molly @ wrapped up in books

    Wow, looks like you had a lot of fun! I had a pretty terrible time at the bloggers convention and the exhibition, though the other events I went to in the evenings were fun. If I go again, I’ll have to make more of an effort to meet up with people, that seems to be the key to fun!

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Oh no! I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have a good time at half of the conference 🙁 That’s not good. Hopefully you’ll be able to connect with more people next time.

      Reply
  8. estelle @ rather be reading blog

    My first question is a big one: where did you guys go to eat where you had drinks in mason jars?

    Second, I am SO glad Saturday worked out. I was just saying to someone the day before that I was so sad I didn’t get to see you and then it happened. You are so adorable and sweet, and I love that I now know what your voice sounds like when you tweet 🙂 I hope we do get to reunite again soon, and get to talk for longer.

    The end of your post makes me sad because it is SO hard to leave blogger friends, esp. when you are not sure when you are going to see them again. I feel like this with Magan every time, and it is so similar to nursing a bad breakup. It’s amazing the bond you can make with people over a passion like books, isn’t it? So glad you guys got a ton of time together — I also think staying in CT was a great move just so you would have a lot of time to be together.

    Yay for your BEA experience! Hope work is going well for you this week. xoxox

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      You are so sweet! You leave me the best comments 😀
      The mason jars were from our sangria pitcher at Outback haha. Nothing fancy, but it looked fun 🙂

      I hope to come back to the area soon!!! I would loooove to get together with all the east coast/NY bloggers again because there are so many of you there that I’m so jealous! I really want to take a weekend to come back sometime because I need time to hang out with everyone without worrying about BEA!
      I’m so glad we got to meet!! Hopefully it won’t be TOO long before we see each other again!

      Reply
  9. Tara

    I’m glad your overall experience at BEA was a good one! I’m bummed we didn’t run into each other but hopefully we can get together in Naperville sometime soon!

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      Hopefully so!! I’ll be at Anderson’s next week Friday for the YAGB tour and then I’m sure a bunch more in the future 🙂

      Reply
  10. Jen @ Almost Grown-up

    Looks like you had an AMAZING time! You’re so right, the best part of BEA is meeting other bloggers! And I LOVE your analogy to how HP felt about Hogwarts. That really is what it’s like!

    Reply
  11. Christina @ Allodoxophobia

    Love this write-up! I’m so glad we got to meet in person and have a funny “I found you!” story 🙂 Sounds like you had a great time. I’m definitely going to have to do some book store visits next time!

    Reply
    1. Brittany Post author

      That was so funny that we ended up in line next to each other! I’m glad you recognized me/figured out who I was!! 🙂

      Reply

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