Hauling Sunday LXXXIX

Hi everyone! How's your week-end going? Mine is nice and relaxing... and I have to admit, I needed it! It's fun when you look at your schedule and see you have stuff to do, people to meet and etc. But I don't know. This summer has been really busy for me and I feel it's been forever since I just stayed home and relaxed. I might be wrong though LOL. Could have been only a couple of week-ends ago... but my brain is too tired and refuses to think :P

Last week-end, I went to New Jersey and New York City with my sister and two of my friends, V and W :) We stayed at Hils' daughter's house again - thank you so much! I know Hils and her daughter are well located, but really, this was the first time I really realized how well! We went shopping at Woodbury outlet, explored New York City, went to Carlos' Bakery and spent some time with Hils :) I was lucky that Christine and Mariana did no have any plans on Saturday evening and were able to join us at Coach House Diner - my sister's favorite place and also mine to eat when we're in New Jersey. And seriously, I am not kidding when I say it's our favorite place... we ended up there 3 times!! LOL. Here are some pictures...

 Christine in the background of the first picture, but the true purpose for our trip to Coach House: milkshake! My friends W and V.

Hilcia, Mariana and Christine talking... about books, of course! 

 We had a huge debate about how to go in NYC, in the end, we chose driving. It was really close!! Lincoln tunnel.

 The four of us in Times Square.

 On our way to Carlos' Bakery. Yep, W and V are fans of the show :)

 Looks like we have a new passenger in the car! Waiting at the border - 1.5hour ^_^;

 

It was W's b-day dinner the next day, so we brought back a cake from Carlos' Bakery. And yes, it made it :)

 To new friendships!!

Hmmm, I'm a bit bummed I didn't get more pictures. I know though that Christine has a great group shot of the "readers" at Coach House and V has a lot more pics :) I'll still it from her and post more later. All in all, I had a blast, it was a fun roadtrip. Although my feet was killing me at the end of it. LOL. I think V is still not completely back on her feet LOL. What I enjoyed the most though is seeing my real life blending with my blogger life :) V and W have actually met Ames during her short visit in Montreal and they really got along well. And now, they've met my friends from New Jersey :) It's just awesome LOL.

Me going to the States mean that I'd finally buy books! Yay! I was lucky because there was a 15% off coupon for Barnes & Noble during the Labor Day long week-end, so I made use of it :) Here is what I got:

Ruined by Moonlight by Emma Wildes - I was so thrilled to find this in store because the release date was September 4. Anyway, I'm a fan of Ms Wildes, I love her books, so there was never a doubt I'd get this one :)

Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi - This book looks so interesting! The cover and the blurb :) I have to say though, I dislike the format: it's a bit longer than most paperback. I don't see why publishing houses still released books in that format since they are more expensive. I would have understood if the book was thicker, but it wasn't the case here.

Widow's Web by Jennifer Estep - I'm a huge fan of the series :) Love Gin and Owen... and that's why I haven't rushed to the bookstore to get it yet, because apparently Gin and Owen are having some issues at the end of this book. I might wait till the next book, Deadly Sting, is released in March 2013 to read Widow's Web. That way, I won't be torturing myself for months LOL.


Another great place to buy books wen I'm in the States is Walmart:

Mysterious by Nora Roberts - I was in the mood for contemporary romance and Ms Roberts is always a great choice. Only, I just realized yesterday that I already have Mysterious in trade-size. Ah well, luckily, I bought it for cheap :)

Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros - Love the cover and the story sounds interesting :) Although now that I look at the cover and title, perhaps it would have fit better if it was a night scene? Anyway, this book just looks fun :)

When You Wish Upon a Duke by Isabella Bradford - Got this one because I know Ames has enjoyed it a lot :)


There is always good books coming out at the beginning of the month and September was no exception. I just couldn't wait to get my hand on this one...

Archangel's Storm by Nalini Singh - The Guild Hunter series is not my favorite of Ms Singh; I think we all know which is my favorite LOL. However, she's a solid author and delivers with almost all of her books :) I've read good reviews about Archangel's Storm and wanted to see how much I would enjoy it :)

So this is it for me :) What about you? What good books did you get?

Hauling Sunday LXXXIII

Good morning everyone!

Awwww, I drove Ames to the airport this morning! ... and I miss her already T_T! Her visit was short, but sweet and a lot of fun :) We did some touristy stuff, some bookish stuff, some shopping and a lot of eating! LOL.

Among the food we ate is poutine, a Quebec invention. Basically, it's french fries with gravy and curd cheese :) It's good, but LOL, that's why Canada will never have a Masterchef show ^_^; We went to a specialty poutine place, so mine had merguez sausages in too :) Ha, but guess what, guess what? Ames ate sushi!!! Yes!!

It was her first sushi and she enjoyed it! Yay! LOL, now, she'll stop ewww-ing me when I tell her I'm having sushi for supper :P Of course, we did have a back-up plan in case she didn't enjoy: pepperoni and cheese pizza LOL.

I always have a blast getting together with bloggers, especially Ames, and this was no exception! This visit was long due and I hope you had fun as much fun as I did, Ames! We definitively will be doing this again together soon!

Other memories I'll have of Ames' visit are the books I got with her! See, this is another reason to buy books: souvenirs and memories! :) Yes, I am that sentimental LOL. So, want to know what I got?

UBS:

What's a Ghould to Do and Demons Are a Ghoul's Best Friend by Victoria Laurie - I've been wanting to read more cosy mystery series :) I've actually eyed these books years ago, but I wasn't sure. I haven't heard a lot about them throughout the years, but the covers just caught my eyes while I was at the UBS and I wanted to get them a go :P

Duchess in Love by Eloisa James - She's a hit and miss for me, but I remember Ames enjoying it :)

 My Lady Rival by Ashley March - Ames was actually the one spotting this one. She got a Netgalley copy, so didn't want it. I remember seeing this cover and thinking it was so pretty :) Then, Tracy had favorable words for it, so yeah :P

***

Print: 

Can't Buy Me Love by Molly O'Keefe - This is an author that Wendy has spotlight and therefore, it's one that I've wanted to read. She writes category romance and I'm really picky about those. I have selected few authors that I read... so I had some hesitation. However, this is her first full-length contemporary romance and I was more than happy to pick it up :) Even if the theme is not one that I love...

***

E-books: 

Perfectly Matched by Heather Webber - ! A new Lucy Valentine novel! Yay! I really love this series and I'm so glad that Ms Webber has decided to continue it :) I know that Ms Webber has experience with self-publishing and the cover is proof enough - how she matched it with the previous covers :) I'm really looking forward to reading it.

***

And there you have it. That was my last couple of days :) Hope yours was as good as mine! LOL, now, I'm going back to bed for a nap :P

Guess who!!

Hi everyone!!

Some of you might remember that I was taking today and tomorrow off because I have a very special guest coming over :) Well, guess who?!? :P

I'll give you a clue...

LOL, I made it easy, right? :P Well yes, you guess right! It's Ames!

Yep, she finally made it to Montreal for a visit :) I picked her up this morning and our first stop was at the UBS LOL. Well food and then, UBS :) However, we were very reasonable :P I'll show you just how much in the next Hauling Sunday post :)

Right now, Ames is getting some rest from the traveling... and then, I'll put her to work for some posts over at BT LOL. So don't be surprised if we're both scarce online in the next few days!

RWA 2011 in NYC - Part III

I feel like a bard, telling a story... The good news is I do know the end, so hopefully, I'll get to tell it... and won't forget too much in between LOL.


Day 5

Wednesday, I woke up quite early and got ready for the Opening Session. I was the only one attending it as all others were not interested and elected to sleep in LOL. Luckily, the people that sat with me were very nice :) The Opening Session is basically a Q&A session with guest authors and it discusses a bit of everything: their careers, how they got started, best moments, the craft, etc. The three speakers this year were Steve Berry, Diana Gabaldon and Tess Gerritsen and the moderator was this year's RWA president, Dorian Kelly.

I really enjoyed this type of Q&A because it's fun. You learn a lot of tidbits that you would otherwise never find out. For example: The Outlander was Ms Gabaldon's practice novel; Jane Rizzoli, Ms Gerritsen's main character in her current series Rizzoli & Isles, was supposed to die - but she wouldn't LOL, and it took Mr Berry 85 rejection letters and 12 years of writing to get published. Also, I'm stating the obvious here, but these authors have a way with words LOL. As a result, the whole session was very interesting, but also humorous :) All in all, I'm really happy that I attended the Opening Session and I might read Ms Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series. In any case, I've just finished watching the TV show :)

Oh by the way, Ms Gabaldon's advice to write: 1) Read, 2) Write and 3) Don't Stop :)

After the Opening Session, I went back to the Goodie room to take another look :) After this if I'm not wrong, I ran into Wendy and Kristie in front of Starbucks and we stood there chatting till it was time to go to the Keynote Luncheon :) Well Wendy and I went to the Luncheon where we were joined by Rosie and Lisabea, while Kristie went to the Harlequin Lunch to which she's been invited... lucky gal LOL. The Keynote author was Madeline Hunter. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the speaker on our side of the ballroom :( By the time someone had the bright idea to turn on the speaker, there were people at a table not far from ours that kept talking. We have to thank Rosie who had the nerves to walk up to them and tell them to be quiet!! Yay Rosie!! She's awesome and gutsy! LOL. However, by that time, it was a bit too late - I've missed most of Ms Hunter's speech and just couldn't focus on it anymore :( Booo. Still, I'm sure it was good and there were quite a few laughs in the room :)

By the way, if you were wondering, we had chicken for lunch LOL.

After lunch, we stopped once again at the Goodie Room LOL. Rosie picked up some trading cards for a friend... and I just picked up a few more book covers :P Then, it was time for us to attend some workshops. Now, workshops at RWA are more professional than the ones at RT and are focused on every aspect of becoming an author - career, publishing, craft, etc. I prefer workshops where authors just talk, a bit more like the Opening Session or Keynote Luncheon... than giving advice. So my plan was to choose workshops with authors that I liked/enjoyed... but even then. In the end, Rosie and I opted to go to Avon spotlight. Basically, a publisher spotlight is a session during which editors let the members know what they're looking for and also give a small preview of what books are coming. Two words that were heard over and over during the spotlight was Avon Impulse, Avon's ebook imprint. I think it's going to be interesting to see how it develops :) After the Avon spotlight, we stayed for the Carina Press spotlight. Carina Press spotlight was very focused on what type of manuscripts they were looking for and how the line is developing. Angela James was the speaker and she did a really great, great job :) Very impressive.

The last event of the conference for Wednesday that I attended was the Harlequin Book Blogger Tea. There was a nice little buffet with tea and finger food and the Harlequin team had prepare headdress for everyone :) The goal of the event was establishing contact between the Harlequin digital team and bloggers :)

For dinner, it was Rosie, Lisabea, K.A. Mitchell and her wife and me. We were going to go to the same Thai restaurant that Lisabea had gone with her husband for lunch... but couldn't find it ^_^; Since we were on Restaurant Road, let just say that we had plenty of choices and we ended up at a Chilean restaurant. The food was good, the ambiance as well and most enjoyable was the company :) The funniest is that by 8pm, there were nobody left in the restaurant except for another table LOL. Guess it's expected given that's the time when most Broadway shows start. After eating, we walked in Times Square to digest and made our way to the M&M store. Then, we went back to the hotel - I secretly wanted to check on my sister LOL. My sister has spent the day studying because she had a quiz for her online class. After checking up on her, I went to join everyone at the bar and that night, I got to meet Sarah who is better known - or at least by me - as Monkey Bear (although it took me a while to figure LOL).

RT convention & RWA conference 2011

So registration for RWA 2011 is opening up in a few weeks on January 18, 2011 and I was wondering, who was attending :) I will be for sure this year :)

When I started blogging and learned that there were books/readers/authors conferences/conventions, I told myself that I had to go to one at least once in my life. And this feeling was just reinforced after I met my fellow bloggers. I mean, as a fan, there's nothing quite like meeting authors... and as a reader, being surrounded by people who understand your love for romance books and your quirks, really, what more can you ask for?

Last year, I was able to attend the RT convention in Columbus and I had a blast. I loved getting together with Jill, Kristie, Mollie and many other wonderful ladies. However, meeting authors... that was special. I mean, there's nothing quite like meeting a favorite author and being like: "Wow. I can't believe I'm standing in front of you. Seeing you. Euh. I love your books!!!" LOL. I just makes you feel giddy and good LOL.

This year, the RWA conference is taking place in New York City and I've had my eyes on it for 2 years already LOL. First, I'll be able to get together with Hilcia and Christine once again... but more exciting is that New York City is in driving distance!! That means saving money on traveling, not worrying about shipping or how heavy my suitcases are, etc. It's just perfect :) At the same time, the RT convention is making its way to the West Coast for the first time in a couple of years and has chosen Los Angeles for 2011. Ugh. Los Angeles = California = SoCal bloggers! I have to admit that I was mighty tempted... Those SoCal bloggers are fun to hang out with!! Alas, I don't have the money to attend both conventions - but oh, how I wished! LOL. RWA was just the logical choice since I'm going to save a bundle on traveling. Plus, since I went to RT convention, I want to try out RWA conference :)

Anyway, I have a feeling that a lot of bloggers will be attending a conference/convention this year, considering that RT and RWA are taking place in blogger hotspots or at least, big cities that will attract a lot of people :) So I'm curious :P Anyone attending RT or/and RWA this year? Or perhaps RomCon in Denver?

My whirlwind week-end to New Jersey

Okay, so let me recap my trip to New Jersey :P LOL, I'll try to be short and to the point, but you know me :P No guarantee!

We left on Friday morning at 6.30am... which was only 30 minutes after the time I wanted to leave. Not bad for girls who stayed up till midnight and 1am to finish cleaning their rooms and the bathroom LOL. The drive to New Jersey was very nice and uneventful. We made good time and arrived at Hilcia's place at noon, right on time and without getting too lost! :P Seriously, it was awesome to meet Hilcia and her husband. They are such nice people, very welcoming and very friendly! LOL, it's always funny to see the husbands' reactions to meeting bloggers... I mean, bloggers communicate with each other all the time via their blogs or emails or chat or whatever other mean... so it's a lot of fun for us to meet each other, but I wonder what the significant others think. Do they think we're crazy? Do they find it weird? :P Well Hils' husband just took it in stride and welcomed us as if we were long time friends :)

After we settled and had some lunch, Hilcia, my sister and I made our foray to New York City via ferry. I have to say, we were extremely lucky that the week-end was soooo nice. The weather was gorgeous and we had plenty of sun which was definitively a plus :) We didn't do anything very touristic for two reasons, actually three: 1) lack of time, 2) my sister has just been to NYC with her friends three weeks ago and 3) I'm planning to come back for RWA this summer. So we just walked around and took in the view :P Time Square, Broadway, the outside of Rockefeller Center... We did hit the NBC store which was priority number 1 on this trip. My sister is a TV buff and she's been wanting some memorabilia :P She wanted to go to the CBS store as well, but apparently it closed down which was unfortunate :( Still, she got her Nerd Herd strap from the show Chuck, so she was very happy :)

We then made our way back to New Jersey where we met up with Hilcia's daughter and went out for dinner together. Hilcia's daughter is another awesome person! She is so fun to hang out with and her relationship with Hilcia is adorable!! It's just too bad she had to work during the week-end... but there'll be a next time! LOL. So we elected to go to a diner which apparently is staple of New Jersey :P We went to the Coach House Diner and OMG, the food was so good!! It really surprised me, because you know how in books, you often read that you should stick to the special menu :P In this case, there was so much choice and the portions were huge! I wished I've had been more hungry :P and that was pretty much it for the first day :)

Saturday started bright and early :) The plan was to go shopping and we chose the Jersey Gardens Mall for it :) We got there pretty early, I think just after it opened at 10am. From then on, it was non-stop till 2pm. LOL, I think I exhausted Hils :P But then, you know how it is when you can get great discount and save lots of money! and guess what? There's no sale tax on clothes in New Jersey!! Hey, for a girl who is used to 12-13% sale tax... No tax is like heaven! My sister and I had an informal list of what we wanted to buy during the week-end and we pretty much completed it :P I came back with new running shoes, a sweater, a yoga mat... but best of all, a new purse! LOL. The purse was pretty much chosen by Hils and pushed on me by my sister... but I have to say, the more I look at it, the more I really like it :P It's really a nice bag... I just need to push myself to use it :P (I tend to keep nice things for special occasions...) The best though is that my sister spent some money as well. I mean, the whole trip was pretty much for her, so I wanted her to enjoy it and make the most out of it... which means buying stuff that she likes.

So at 2pm, we finally stopped for lunch LOL. I think Hilcia was very happy about it LOL. And happy me, I was hungry enough to get my pretzels from Auntie Annes. I love pretzels, especially with the cheese dip, but it's not very popular in Montreal. Actually, it's not popular at all. So every time I go to the States, I try to have some :P Then, we headed back to Hilcia's place to meet up with Christine for some book shopping and dinner again :P

Christine is another awesome person :) Very friendly, nice and genuine :) It was awesome of her to take time to meet up with us :) She was also our driver on this book shopping expedition. We went to Barnes and Nobles first, but I didn't buy anything. Mostly because I had 40% coupons off from Borders and also, the selection at the Barnes and Nobles was so-so. It didn't even have The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook yet... so I decided to wait for Borders. Once we got to Borders, I went wild as usual. Proof? My Hauling Sunday post LOL. It's always fun to book-shop with other books lovers and this was no exception. Christine was very controlled and didn't buy any books since she just got an iPad. As for Hilcia, she stuck to her list. LOL, two bloggers with a lot of willpower :P We talked books and also whether to switch to ebooks or not for series that you've already started collecting in print. After book-shopping, we went to Houligans. Another place with good food and a great view of NYC at night :) Again, once we got back to Hils' place, I was beat and that was it for me LOL. The whole day has finally caught up to me.

Sunday was very relaxed. We woke up at a decent hour, had breakfast and hung out. At 11am, my sister and I took our leave from Hilcia so we would get home early and Hils would still have time to go hang out with her family. We did a little bit more shopping before hitting the road, but nothing drastic. At 1pm, we finally left for home. The drive home was not as enjoyable as the drive to NJ... mainly because I got a speeding ticket T_T and because we got stuck at the customs for 2 hours! Yes, I had to choose the booth where two lanes were merging together. So not the perfect way to end the week-end, but I've decided to not let it ruin the great week-end we had. Since we got home on Sunday, my sister and I got to hang out a little bit with our relatives from Boston :)

Basically, my sister and I had a great time this week-end :) It was a bit short, but it was very productive and surprising, not so rushed. We met wonderful people, got to hang out with them for a great time, had a good shopping haul and time to relax. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

So a big thank you to Hilcia and Christine for such a great time :)