Saturday Smiles

This has been a strange, full, lovely week for me.  I have a ton to blog about, and it doesn't necessarily fit into the NaNo updates I've been using or my normal Sunday Sunshine posts.  So:  Saturday Smiles!

Smile #1: On Thursday, I went down to New York City to see some of my former students in their school play.  I got to spend time with many of my students and colleagues, catching up and talking books.  I also bit the bullet and talked about my WiP to anyone who would listen--practice saying the words, "I'm writing a book."  It felt a little less silly every time I said it, and for once my students actually listened to me talk about the writing process!


 Smile #2: While I was in New York, I also got a chance to stop at a few shops in my old neighborhood: David's Tea and Books of Wonder.

Remember how Books of Wonder is trying to raise money to stay in business and thriving?

Well, what else could I do but this:

Unsigned books: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, Feedback by Robison Wells, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, Devilish by Maureen Johnson

I mean, really:

Signed books: The Diviners and Going Bovine signed by Libba Bray, Adaptation by Malinda Lo, Breathe signed by Sarah Crossan, and OMG OMG OMG, The Scorpio Races signed by Maggie Stiefvater.  

Smile #3: Yesterday, Erin Schneider posted her stop on the Dear Teen Me blog tour.  I was so excited to be asked to participate!  She asked a bunch of us to send her pictures of us with six words of advice to our teenage selves, as well as a picture from high school.  Mine:

 The bottom picture is me just after senior year of high school.  I was starting to learn to chill out by then--but it took me a bit longer.  Y'all, I was a mess in high school--anything and everything (academics, friends, college apps) could send me into a total tailspin.  Luckily, by college, I was starting to figure out that I needed to chill, and that's when everything started to fall into balance for me. 

Smile #4: Last night, Mr. S and I got to get dressed up and go out to a benefit for the Buffalo public library system.  It was a fancy party in a beautiful old hotel downtown.  Here's my outfit:

  

And here's a close-up to show off my literary accessories:

Mockingjay pin, necklace with excerpt from Shatter Me that I got from Tahereh Mafi at a signing, and Shatter nail polish (black and white, which was the party's theme, as in "black and white and read all over")

 A ton of people commented on my Mockingjay at the party.  I don't normally consider myself a super-cool party person but man, I know how to dress to celebrate the library!

Smile #5:  I participated in Jessica Love and Kelsey Macke's Sip Swap!

I bought a mug for my assigned blogger (can't say who it is yet, but she has a really cool NaNo project going and I had fun shopping for her!) while I was in New York, and sent it off today--and lo and behold, my mug arrived today!

The sassafras tea is delicious (after a lifetime of hating on tea, I started drinking it about a year ago and now I have a whole tea counter in my breakfast nook--I'm obsessed), and filled my front hall with its amazing fragrance (kind of like root beer) so I actually smelled my package before I saw it!  The mug is so nerdy and goofy--here's the back:

All of that came my way from the completely delightful Katy Upperman!  So thanks, Katy, and thanks to Jessica and Kelsey for organizing such a fun event!

I'll be back with book reviews and NaNo updates as usual, but I wanted to share all this great reading/writing/blogging cheer with you today!  I hope you're all finding things to make you smile as well!