Saturday, January 28, 2012

My Weekend at ALAMW12: The Crazy Fun Edition!

Me + Sarah, Jess, Lena, & Yani
As most of you know by now, I attended the ALA Midwinter conference this past weekend in Dallas.  This being my first large book event to attend, all I can say is WOW!  Ok well, I can say a bit more than that.  I gained a lot of perspective on the book world as a whole.  Being able to interact with other bloggers, librarians, publishers, and authors filled me with lots & lots of insight.  I am a person who absorbs information.  I love to meet new people and learn about new things.  So I definitely went in to this experience with an open mind and I feel as though I came out the other side with tons of new knowledge. 
Me + Magan from Rather Be Reading

I could sum up my weekend in three words: books, friends, & LOVE!  Being surrounded by people who love books as much as you do is such an awesome experience.  I loved how no matter where you went, books were always a topic of discussion - sharing our favorite authors, and which books we are eagerly anticipating to be read this year.  Meeting bloggers face to face that I've interacted with over the internet for awhile was just as rewarding.  Being able to finally put a face to a blog/twitter name was so nice!  The convention itself was a bit overwhelming at times, and definitely exhausting, but SO MUCH FUN!  The moments in between are what made the weekend so memorable for me, though.

Me + Sarah from Storybound Girl
I came home with lots of new books to read.  I can't wait to get started on them and start sharing my opinions with you all.  I know I picked up a few that I am going to gush and gush over!   This crazy-fun edition would not be complete without the mention of SafetySuit.  Yup, they even made an "appearance" at ALA.  Ok well not really.  On Friday night they made their late-night TV debut on the Jimmy Kimmel show & so I had a "SafetySuit viewing party" in my hotel room.  There may have been some running & screaming to the TV on my part :) haha

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Another awesome addition to round-out this weekend of bookish love, getting to hang out with PRINTZ & MORRIS AWARD WINNER COREY WHALEY! I am so proud of him!  He deserves this honor.  If you have not read Where Things Come Back I don't know what you're doing at my blog, ha! Just kidding. Seriously though it was one of my favorite books from 2011 and the boy is made of genius.  And yes, he's just as awkward in person ;) Ha! Love ya Corey!

Aside from the wonderful books I came home with, it's the memories I've carried home from Dallas that mean the most.  I love my life right now.  Never would I have imagined that books would bring such wonderful people to me.  I'm getting teary-eyed writing this blog post.  I wish I could hang out with my bookish friends from all over the country every weekend.  It's YOU who make this blogging experience so much more than just words being read from a page.  If you ever get the chance to attend a book event like this, I highly recommend it!  Be sure to bring comfy walking shoes & prepare yourself for endless laughs :)


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16 comments:

  1. Sash from Sash and EmJanuary 28, 2012 at 12:06 AM

    TOO MUCH FUN. :) I'm so ready for BEA.

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  2. OH YEAH.  :) (Great post, G! I had such an awesome time with you guys!)

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  3. So great meeting you! That was a really fun dinner.

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  4. I am loving reading about ALA. At least I am able to live vicariously. (And I was thinking of you as we watched Safety Suit on JKL.)

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  5. I'm super happy to hear that you had an amazing time at the conference!

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  6. You all are so adorable! THe only one I have met is Yani and she is awesome. Like, super awesome. Dude I wish I could hang out with blogger friends every weekend too, like after BEA 11, I was bummed because I really missed getting frozen yogurt and talking in an Oprah voice with everyone. Glad you had an amazing time and made some really great memories :-D

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  7. It was so awesome to meet you!! ALA Midwinter was my first con & I can't wait to see what ALA annual, BEA, etc. will be like. Hope me & Sash get to run into you again! :)

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  8. Could you ask for a better weekend? NO.

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  9. Great post! And you got to really meet Corey?! So awesome!!! 

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  10. MAJOR WIN getting to hang out with so many amazing people in the bookish world! I'd say you had a pretty epic weekend to say the least :D

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  11. Michelle Book JunkieJanuary 28, 2012 at 1:22 PM

    I've always wanted to go to something like this. It sounds/looks like an amazing time! :)

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  12. Hello, darling! Why, oh why, am I perpetually behind at commenting on blogs? You, my dear, were a dream to meet. I mean that. I had so much more fun sitting and talking with you about books, life, etc. than fighting the masses for books. Thank you for getting me connected for the dinner and for just welcoming me into your circle of Houtson friends (that I am also so grateful to have met). :)

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  13. I hope you can come next year since it'll be in Seattle. It would be splendid to meet you :]

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  14. Awwwwww! I am so glad you had a great time with so many fantastic people. I really hope to get to a major book event like this some day!

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  15. So glad you & Magan got to connect! Seems like it was a great weekend!

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