Lovely Little Shelf

*Disclaimer* We have a fancy camera.  I am almost scared to touch it.  I was most definitely not going to take it on a solo trip… so I took our old, little digital camera.  Oh my word, it takes the worst pictures of all time. So, if you squint and turn your head to one side, maybe these will be a bit more clear? I have no idea, but I just wanted to apologize up front for the horrendous quality of the pictures. Also, girls I went with: I straight up stole some pictures from you. Hope that’s alright.Ok, enough of that.

Alright! It’s been a week and I’ve gotten it together enough to write a DBF post for ya.  Excited? Me too!

On Friday night, Shaun, Izey and I hopped in the car and headed to Dayton.  After a 4 hour drive, through which Isaac slept like a champ, we got to Shaun’s parents’ house.  They promptly woke Isaac up and since he had already slept, he was wide awake.  I took a little nap, but woke up an hour later… and Isaac was still awake.  He stayed awake until 4 a.m.  I’m not kidding when I say that that was the first time in his whole life he has done that.  Shaun and I left for the airport at 4:30.  This explains how I look totally delirious and like I’ve been punched in both eyes in all the pictures from day one.

I got to Atlanta at like 9:30 on Saturday morning and was greeted by Tameka and Ashley.  We waited a few minutes until Jennie’s plane got in, then the four of us hopped on the MARTA.  If you ever want to feel like a tourist, get on the MARTA with huge, rolling suitcases full of books.  Seriously. Hilarious.

Somewhere around 11, we got to Decatur and just happened to bump into Julie and her friend Liz on the way to the first panel.  Crazy, right?

The first panel was Beth Revis and Myra McEntire.  It was something about time travel and love.  Can I say again that I was operating on 1 hour of sleep? I thought it was kind of strange because when I read Across the Universe, I kind of thought that it was more of a political thriller or sci-fi thing, not as much a love story.  I think that maybe there was set up for future love story, but for it to be in a panel about love?  I thought it was a strange choice, but no one else seemed bothered by it, so maybe I just missed that piece in the book? Anyway, it was wonderful and Beth Revis was just as charming as can be.  Her cute little husband was in the front video taping the whole thing and she said he came to every panel/interview/signing that she does.  Is that not adorable?

The next event was Libba Bray, and can I tell you that I love her?  I love her books and I follow her Twitter and I kind of have this idea that I “know” her.  Turns out Tameka and Libba Bray are BFF, so it was fun to have an “in.” Ha.  Her line was way long for signing, so Jennie and I skipped out to go get some gyros.  Maybe it is because I was weak with hunger, but it was the best food I’ve ever had.  For real.  Anyway, when we made it back, Libba was just finishing her signing and we got a group shot with her.  Does anyone have that? I haven’t even seen it yet.

Another pic I stole from Tameka. See? They are literally best friends.

Saturday night was so, so fun. For a mom who hasn’t left the house without a kiddo in a long time, spending the evening chatting and eating and cracking up with a group of girls? Um, total bliss. It was fantastic.  Everyone else was still chatting when I finally dropped.  We’re talking, one second I’m up and at ‘em, the next I’m passed out. Lights on, everyone else talking…. I’m all the way passed out. It’s what I do.

And then we… SLEPT IN!  I woke up at my normal, freakishly early time then forced myself back to sleep and it was absolutely fantastic. We took our sweet time getting ready and went straight from our hotel room to a pizza place.  Isn’t vacation grand? I got a calzone that could have fed a starving country and ate the better part of it.  Sorry, Nigeria, this girl has to eat!  Besides, we decided that vacation calories don’t count, so dough + cheese + insane amount of grease= no guilt, no calories. Bam.

Right down the street was Little Shop of Stories, which is one of the big sponsors of DBF.  It is a (mostly) kids bookstore, and I swear to you it is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. They have this whole wall of personalized pictures that famous children’s book illustrators have drawn for them.  It was mega impressive. Check it out.

I know this is getting long, so I’ll try to keep this brief:

First panel Sunday was Rachel Hawkins, Jackson Pierce and Victoria Schwab.  I’d only ever read Rachel Hawkins, but I bought Jackson Pierce’s new book because Ashely was pink-in-the-face fangirling, and it inspired me

The panel was all about witches and spells and so on.  The authors were adorable and fun and it was great to hear them talk about their books.

Thanks for the pic, Tameka!

Our last panel was Stephanie Perkins, and Jennifer Jabaley, Terra McVoy, and Elizabeth Eulberg.  I have to admit I had never heard of the other 3, and that I didn’t hear a word that they said.  Frigging Stephanie Perkins.  Of Anna and the French Kiss.  Of way cool blue hair.  Of a Twitter feed that makes me crack up. Ahhhh-mazing.

The panel was all women who have written more contemporary teen fiction and their hearts for teens and writing and their craft really came out.  I was inspired and I’m not even a writer.

We got an early place in line and I was glad because that sucker got long!  Stephanie was even taking pictures with everyone, which was great except for she is tall and gorgeous and cool and I’m… well… let’s just say that we walked there in the rain

Notice that I had two Annas signed.  May want to stick around this week….

So that’s that.  Right after this, Ashley, Jennie and I had to hop on the MARTA and head to the airport.  Ashley commented when we got to the airport that it was totally crazy that we had just been there yesterday.  It felt like we were in Decatur for at least 4 or 5 days.  Nope. 2.  Totally crazy.

It was way, way fun to nerd out with these girls that I’ve known online for years and to finally meet everyone in person!

We seriously had a blast and I’m hoping this becomes a yearly thing!