Day 5 started out fairly early because it was Jill's last day. So we went to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant along with a friend of Jill and some acquaintances. It's kind of funny how after a couple of days, especially after the bookfair, you now recognize authors and can spot them more easily. So on the way to the restaurant, I saw Jim and Shannon K. Butcher with their suitcases, preparing to leave. Inside the restaurant, while I was cruising the buffet, I ran into Karen Rose and we even chatted a little. I saw Elizabeth Vaughan leaving the restaurant and I ran after her to ask when she was leaving (in case I could have gotten Destiny's Star and have it signed)... Also saw Kelley Armstrong :) It's kind of fun to be able to put faces to their names now :D
We were all heading to one of the last events of the convention: Title Search. This was hosted by Tori Carrington aka Tony & Lori Karayianni with several authors participating such as Richelle Mead, Gennita Low, Mark Henry, Carolyn Crane, Mario Acevedo, etc. courtesy of Avon publisher. Basically, each participant was handed a word puzzle/mystery word with a list of titles they had to find and those who finished rapidly won a bundle of 4 books from Avon. I have to say, I was quite excited because I knew my chances of winning were high - I'm pretty good at word puzzle :) For the first round, Gennita Low was sitting with us - did I tell you how funny she is? She cracks me up :D I was not the first one to finish in the first round, but I did win a bundle of books :) I have to say, Avon is pretty generous. For the second round, Richelle Mead was sitting with us :) This time around, I completed my word puzzle, but instead of claiming a prize, I offered it to anyone at the table... but no one took the offer. So I ended up helping Kristie to finish hers and she got a bundle of books as well :D Woohoo! For the third round, Mark Henry sat with us :) Overall, I thought this was a fun game and a good thing it was held on Sunday since there were less people remaining :) I also got the opportunity to say goodbye to CJ who was leaving in a few hours :) 
After the Title Search, Kristie and I made our way to the next room that held the Mix 'N' Match: A Booklovers' Memory Game, courtesy of Dorchester Publishing :) Basically, think of the game Concentration where we had to match the book cover card and author card, but also remember where the cards were. There were several different sets and it was really fun! :D Participants were divided into groups of 10 and were sit at different tables where an author was stationed by to play referee. Our author was Bobbi Smith :) There was going to be four rounds and the table that finished first won the round, i.e. all the participants at that table got a bundle of books :D The winners of the first round were really fast!! So we devised a strategy for the 2nd round - help each other (duh) and flip the cards in order instead of 
randomly... and it worked!! We were the 2nd round winners :D The third and fourth round weren't as fun because it was a set of cards we've already played, but still. Again, I thought this game was really fun - it was a good idea and very feasible with the amount of people who stayed over on Sunday... and free books! Who's going to complain? :P Some of the participants stayed back to play a couple of more rounds, even though there were no more prizes. I would have stayed; however, Kristie and I had a date with Mollie, so it was time to go get ready :)The day before, after the signing, Kristie and I had arranged to go out for dinner with Mollie and then, to the bookstore of course :D So guess where we went to eat? Cheesecake Factory! :) We don't have Cheesecake Factory in Canada and Kristie had never had the opportunity to go during her previous visits to the States. Having heard Ames raved about it, as soon as she heard Cheesecake Factory in the options of where to go eat, the choice was made :D So Mollie graciously indulged us :D And if you're wondering which cheesecake I had, well my answer will probably shock you: none. I just didn't feel that great that evening and so skipped dessert ^_^; However, Mollie and Kristie obviously didn't :P
Next to the Cheesecake Factory was this huge and brand new Barnes & Nobles :) I had a few books that I wanted to buy in the States either because of the price or availability issues; however, I was really out of luck and didn't find any that I was really looking for (Beyond the Night by Joss Ware, Stroke of Magic by Tracy Madison, etc.) :( Seems like it was someone's way to tell me I've already gotten enough books LOL. Of course, that doesn't mean I walked out empty-handed. Of course not. So I walked out with The Day I Fall by Lauren Oliver, Destiny's Star by Elizabeth Vaughan and Jaye Wells newest, Mage in Black. It was a good mini-haul, but not as good as Kristie - she was the real winner on that trip :)
Mollie then tried to tempt me with a trip to Half Price Books - apparently, an awesome UBS. However, I declined - I know, I know, shocker, but at this point, I was quite worried about the customs ^_^; So instead, Kristie and I were good girls and asked Mollie to drive us back to the hotel... where once again, I worked on my packing and made sure that I didn't leave anything behind. Then, it was an early night for the pair of us as my flight was at 10.30am and I wanted to be there a couple of hours early (just in case).
So we woke up at 6am and got ready. Then, we called a bellhop to come and help us carry our luggage :) Yep, that is all our bags in the picture :P We checked out and then, Kristie asked the valet to bring up her car. When her car arrived, I asked for a cab... and that is the official end of the RT convention :(
For those who are wondering, my traveling back to Montreal was quite uneventful. I did have a moment of panic when the kiosk couldn't retrieve my reservation!!! However, it was then taken care by a human - see, robots and machines will never replace humans. The greatest news is that he didn't charge me for my 2nd suitcase - score!! :) I got at the airport quite early, so I waited for about 2-3 hours. I thought I saw Charlaine Harris at one of the gates, but I'm not quite sure... The plane was once again the tiny kind, but the flight was much smoother this time! (Really good for me)
Once I got to Toronto, I had to go through the customs which had been one of my biggest worries even before leaving Montreal ^_^; It went as followed:
Custom Agent (CA): Where are coming from?
Me: Columbus.
CA: What are you bringing back?
Me: Books.
CA: Good day, m'am.
Big sigh of relief from me LOL. After that, I could finally relax and got some food. There was this nice couple sitting next to me in the restaurant and we chatted a little. Then, I still had a few hours to kill before my flight home, so I read Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong.
The flight to Montreal was quite uneventful. I got my luggage (yay!!!) and then waited for my mother to pick me up :) Once I got home, I opened my emails and saw all the messages and it really made my day :)
So that's pretty much it for the recap :D I'll probably do a post about the overall experience and there's a few panels I'd like to share with you all :) After that, I will revert to my usual posts :)
