9:30 a.m. – LaGuardia Airport
While my life normally consists of writing on my laptop in my kitchen, transporting teenagers to dance/cheerleading rehearsals and keeping my crazy Shih Tzu, Cody, out of trouble, today I’m actually doing something exciting. I’m in New York, attending the Book Expo America convention!

As clichéd as it is, I love New York. The sights, sounds and smells blend and contrast like nowhere else in the world. I’ll be signing books tomorrow afternoon, but until then my buds Jacquie D’Alessandro and Jennifer St. Giles will be joining me in shopping, people watching and, of course, eating.

So, as I go along with my day, I’ll add updates, so you guys feel like you’re on the trip, too. (Sorry, frequent flyer miles aren’t included.) I’ll check in again once we get to the hotel.

11:00 a.m. – Sheraton Times Square
Times Square is, as always, crazy with crowds. Despite what you may have heard, the economy seems to be rolling along here. (Or at least the counterfeit designer bag business is.) We walked over to Maxie’s famous deli and had sandwiches that were waayyy too big, but yummy anyway.

12:30 p.m. – Shopping 5th Avenue
We walked down 5th and looked in the windows of all the high-end boutiques. Cartier, Ferragamo, Bergdorf Goodman, etc. and wound up in Henri Bendel. This Manhattan institution of cosmetics, accessories and casual clothes is always packed with make-up artists who claim to transform you into a new woman with all kinds of lotions and potions. Amazingly, they usually succeed, which is why our credit cards got a serious workout.

5:00 p.m. – Back to the room
Recuperation time. Put the feet up, take showers (though careful ones, so as to not mess up the new make-up job), water break and calling home to talk to the kids. The dog is on another hunger strike. He does this frequently, even though I heat up his food in the microwave to coax him. My husband puts down the food and commands “Eat!” This, much to my frustration, usually works. So, no fear, the strike won’t last long.

7:30 p.m. – Joe Allen’s Restaurant
Out with fellow Blaze Babe and Manhattan resident Hope Tarr. Fantastic food. Fantastic company. A little wine, a lot of laughs. And the pillow is calling, so off I go…

Sleep well,
Wendy

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Wendy Etherington. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.