SIL
Lunch, books, and more!
34 days ago
by Nanci
in book, book signing, books, Hyde Park, Inkwood Books, Jenna, Jenna Does Books, MTG Reviews, Rick Yancey, SIL, Tampa, The 5th Wave, YA Lit
Yesterday I went with my sister-in-law Jenna to a book signing at our local indie bookstore in Tampa, Inkwood Books. One our way to the signing, we went to Hyde Park to have lunch at Nature’s Table Café. I had a California Club on wheat bread. It was as delicious as it looks….. Bacon AND avocado? Yes, please.
After lunch, we headed to Inkwood Books for the book signing with Rick Yancey and his new YA book, The 5th Wave. This is supposed to be the next big thing, much like The Hunger Games. Jenna has a YA Lit review blog, Jenna Does Books, and whenever she attends these events, she invites me and it’s always fun to tag along. We both love to read and she is forever recommending books to me. If she loves a book, I know I need to read it. My to-read list is forever long!
Be sure to check out Jenna’s blog if you are a YA Lit fan… She has reviews, giveaways, and more. And most exciting… She is an aspiring writer herself. So proud of her!
Rick Yancey was very entertaining and fun to listen to. I always love to hear how an author came to be an author, how they turned their ideas into a book, and what they think of other books. It was a treat to listen to him talk about his influences and how his idea for this book, the first in a trilogy, came from his wife telling him that she is afraid of aliens. I am very excited to read this book.
The 5th Wave
“The first wave took out half a million people. The second wave put that to shame.” Now humanity, or what’s left of it, faces the oncoming of the 5th wave and only one rule applies: Trust no one. 16-year old Cassie travels alone in the plague and war-ravaged remnants of her hometown, desperate to fulfill a promise made to her little brother. Along the way she must evade Them, the enemy who is all but indecipherable from other survivors. When she meets Evan Walker, Cassie must decide whether or not she can put her brother’s fate–as well as her own– in his hands. The 5th Wave is an exciting, thoughtful, brilliant read.
Always a fun time with Jenna and it made for a nice Saturday afternoon!
Do you read YA Lit? How often do you go to book signings?
Oh, the places you’ll go with Boob 1 and Boob 2!
56 months ago
What a whirlwind it has been since last Thursday! I can’t believe after months and months of looking forward to the 2012 Susan G. Komen 3-Day it has finally been here and passed. For the last couple months, my sister-in-law Jenna and I have been working on a theme for our sweep van. As part of the 3-Day crew, we would drive a van each of the three days to assist the walkers if they could not walk and wanted to “sweep” to the next stop. I was excited to be a part of the 3-Day family this year after being on the spectator side of it last year.
Our theme…. Boob 1 and Boob 2! Both Jenna and I love Dr. Seuss and we thought Thing 1 and Thing 2 would be a fabulous theme. And since it was the 3-Day, we would be Boob 1 and Boob 2. Jenna, being the super-creative artist she is, came us with great ideas for the van decorations. She also picked out the fabulous attire and wig for us to wear. It all came together perfectly.
We had a crew meeting last Thursday afternoon, after which we were able to start decorating our van. I have been dying to share these photos since then but there hasn’t been time. Now is the time! Take a look at our Suessical Boob Mobile!
It was FANTASTIC!! I loved every detail of it, as well as the colors. And the way Jenna personalized the Dr. Seuss quotes was even better. Unfortunately, the wind we had Friday morning as we were leaving opening ceremony wreaked havoc on the sign and umbrella on top. We tried re-securing the sign but the umbrella literally blew off on the Sand Key bridge. Imagine me in my Boob 1 outfit running down the bridge, in the wind, to pick it up. We made the decision to leave them off in hopes that we could put them back up the next day. With the windy conditions we had all weekend, close to 30 MPH winds at times, we never got to put them back up. Regardless, the van was still awesome.
And how about us?! How fun were we in our outfits?! Polka dot fleece pajama bottoms, pink t-shirts, comfy shoes, and a bright blue wig. All weekend long, people called us by our names, Boob 1 and Boob 2, or Boobies, or The Boobs. My hope is that we made everyone smile as they walked those 60 miles. The reaction we got out of everyone was so fun.
I have so much more to share about this experience so there will be another post to follow!
A rainy day in Fort Myers…
511 months ago
Yesterday, I drove down to Fort Myers with my SIL Jenna for a book launch party at Barnes & Noble. Jenna blogs over at Making The Grade and wanted to meet author Trish Doller whose YA book Something Like Normal just came out. You can read about Trish and her book at her website Trish Writes Books.
Because I have to, I took a picture going over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I don’t know when I started doing it, but every time I drive over it, I have to take a picture. Weird? Maybe. But no two pictures are ever the same. It was a wet and rainy drive all the way down.
Poor Jenna didn’t feel good when we arrived and I felt so bad for her! Finally, after some food she felt better. We met up with Jenna’s book-blogging friends Sarah and Shanon, and Olivia who doesn’t blog. 
After an early dinner at Applebee’s, we braved the rain and headed over to Barnes & Noble for the book launch party.
I did not know that Trish actually worked at the B&N that her book launch party was at. How cool is that? She was really nice and I enjoyed listening to her talk about her book (which I can’t wait to read!) and about her writing process, her family, and more. She has a great sense of humor.
After she talked about her book and answered questions, she signed books. I bought one (of course!) and had it signed. Thank you Trish! It was great meeting you!
Trish’s daughter made cupcakes which were color coordinated to the book. They were SO good. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the inside – they were marble with the same color as the icing. I love that Trish had her husband, daughter, and mom there with her.
During the party, it was announced that the tropical depression was now Tropical Storm Debby. That was definitely going to make for an interesting drive home!
The drive home ended up not being too bad. Despite the rain, we actually made it home faster than it took to drive down. It’s not often that I am on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at night, so this was a fun picture to take…
It was a fun day! Jenna and I make great road-trip companions and I enjoy tagging along with her on these book adventures and meeting new author’s and people. Thanks Jenna!
Blog Love: Making The Grade
111 months ago
Tuesday = Blog Love!! I hope you are enjoying these posts as much as I enjoy writing them. It is a treat to share my favorites with you.
This week’s blog is written by my fabulous sister-in-law Jenna. Okay, so I may be a little biased here, but it really is a great blog! She reviews YA Lit books and puts her all into this site. She is a true book lover and she is always reading. After starting her blog just earlier this year, she already has a very strong following, found herself “trending” on Twitter one evening during a giveaway, and is in contact with my publishing companies. She recently just switched to self-hosting her site and she is also now doing vlogs. If you have any interest in YA Lit (I do, who cares that I’m 40!), I highly recommend that you check out her blog.
So, this week’s blog love goes to… Making The Grade.
There are many things I love about this site, one of them being that it’s written by my sister-in-law. She posts every day. It is all very current and she hosts many giveaways. Her site is easy to read and very visually appealing. Have you checked it out yet? What are you waiting for?! 
And so it begins…
411 months ago
This morning was the first official training walk for the 2012 Susan G. Komen 3-Day. Last year, my fabulous sister-in-law Jenna walked 60 miles in 3 days in the fight against breast cancer. I was honored to participate in the training walks with her and cheered her and the team, Thanks For The Mammories, on all 3 days.
It is because of Jenna and Thanks For The Mammories that I decided to be a part of the 3-Day this year. I will crewing with Jenna. I am so happy to be a part of the 3-Day family and look forward to offering support to the walkers as they hit the pavement in October. As the training walks get longer, we will be support and help out however we can. During the 3-Day in October, Jenna and I will be driving a sweep van and we have many fun ideas to make it memorable and special for the walkers. I already know that Jenna and I make a great team and we will have a great time with this. I am so happy to share this with her and know that we are both a part of something wonderful and we can – and will – make a difference.
It was so great to do it all again this morning. There were 34 of us there! We met at the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa and walked 5 miles. I know Jenna and I were both very excited about it. After our walk, we went to Paradise Restaurant – the perfect place for a delicious breakfast after walking.
If you have a minute, could you please check out my personal page for the 3-Day? I would be so appreciative of any donations made towards my personal goal of $500.
And of course, I took a few photos this morning. I hope to document as much of this experience as possible and hope you’ll follow along!
Jenna and I, the dynamic duo!
Carol, our fearless leader!
Thanks For The Mammories 2012
