Monday, March 22, 2010

LiLa Does The Big Apple

Our big trip to NYC was a huge success! We had an absolute blast meeting Dan and the rest of the Sourcebooks team and The Teen Fire Launch was epic. Here's how it all went down:

Thursday 8:07 AM: Flight approaches La Guardia. Laura digs her nails into Lisa's arm in a gesture reminiscent of our raging battle for the armrest when we were 10 years old because she is sure we are going to land in the water.

Thursday 8:13 AM: Land safely and manage to de-board the plane without humiliating ourselves (unless you count the fact that we asked the flight attendant if we could videotape her denying Laura peanuts. Yeah, it's kind of a long story...)

Thursday 8:35 AM: Apparently we look like total tourists making our way to the cab line because a sketchy black market cab driver tries to lure us toward his beat down Honda Civic in the parking garage. Discuss repercussions in reference to the movie Taken. Decide against offer.

Thursday 9:40 AM: Make it to the hotel without puking in cab. A bigger accomplishment than you might think.

Thursday 9:50 AM: Drop bags off at tiny bed and breakfast. After heading to the basement to use their bathrooms we are 99% sure that it is haunted.

Thursday 10:09 AM: Totally mess up directions and attempt to enter a condemned building to meet editor Dan. Yeah, the construction workers aren't impressed.

Thursday 10:11 AM: Successfully locate the Sourcebooks offices! Get a really weird look from the guy manning the door when we try to sign into the building. In retrospect we're pretty sure we tried to sign an inventory form.

Thursday 10:15 AM: Meet editorial assistant extraordinaire Aubrey Pool who is amazing. She puts up with us as we request photo after photo. Yep, we're those people.

Thursday 11:30 AM: Conclude epic meeting with editor Dan and the amazing Rebecca Frazer. So excited to be Sourcebooks authors!


Thursday 11:40 AM: Discover that if you try to eat lunch in an NYC restaurant before noon, you will almost certainly be the only people in the restaurant.

Thursday 11:41 AM: Also find out that the waitress really doesn't like us very much. Or perhaps her Russian accent just makes her sound perpetually irritated. Too hungry to care.

Thursday 1:45 PM: Laura makes the first big purchase of the trip: A gorgeous grey purse that Lisa found on a clearance rack. Lisa is only slightly bitter that she didn't keep it for herself but extremely thankful she won't have to host a diaper bag intervention. With Lydia's second birthday right around the corner, it was time.

Thursday 2:00 PM: Meetings at InkWell! The agents there are amazing and informative, as always.


Thursday 4:15 PM: Finally back to the hotel. Forced to answer the question "How many Roecker sisters does it take to open a hotel room door?" Answer: All three of us AND the super nice guy from the front desk. We are idiots.

Thursday 6:07 PM: After approximately 16 wardrobe changes and one last minute decision to change into ballet flats after hobbling to the elevator in heels, we are ready for the Teen Fire Launch Party. SO nervous to meet all of the amazing writers and industry peeps in person!

Thursday 6:22 PM: Walk the wrong way on the same street twice (not even sure how that's possible) guided by Stacey's iPhone (yep) but finally make it to Books of Wonder (i.e. The coolest bookstore EVER).



Thursday 6:25 PM: Make our grand entrance and don't spot a single familiar face. Okay, this is going to be harder than we thought. The entire bookstore is packed.

Thursday 6:27 PM: Spot Frankie Diane Mallis! She's just as adorable and outgoing as she is on her blog. Success!


Thursday 6:45 PM: Meet writing bud Shana Silver, fellow Elevensies Alissa Grosso and Kiera Stewart, Lorettajo Kapinos from the Fire Ning and fellow Sourcebooks authors Joy Preble, Lisa Brown (how did we miss Adele Griffin????), Dianne Salerni and Jennifer Nielsen. Also shook hands with Dominique Raccah who has the most inspirational story about how she created Sourcebooks. Amazing. The only hard part is that there is not nearly enough time to chat with everyone and the amazing Tiger Beat tunage is loud so you sort of have to yell.



Thursday 7:03 PM: Meet longtime girl crush Joanna Stampfel-Volpe in person for the first time ever. She is AMAZING. Seriously. Anyone looking for an incredible agent should query Jo. Not only is she super fun, she also freely channels Pat Benatar. What's not to love?


Thursday 7:30 PM: With Frankie's help, humiliated ourselves in front of the Libba Bray, who is maybe the best sport ever. Let's just say we have top secret video proof--but this is for another time, our friends, another time.

Thursday 8:30 PM: Met our NYC friends for dinner at the trendy (um...The Hills filmed there!) Il Bastardo. And yes, we totally pick restaurants based on where MTV reality shows film. We're cool like that.

Thursday 11:30 PM: Collapse into bed. Us Cleveland girls are SO not used to the big city life.
Friday 9:40 AM: Ate a bagel.

Friday 11:30 AM: Ate a pizza.

Friday 12:22 PM: Ate some mints out of Lisa's purse.

Friday 1:04 PM: Ate the most expensive soft serve ice cream cone in the world. Tried to hail a cab with said cone in hand. No go.
Friday 2:45 PM: Lisa bought a scarf at Old Navy. Hey, big spender!

Friday 3:00 PM: Ate a famous NYC hot dog.
Friday 4:00 PM: Ate veggies and dip in a failed effort to counteract having eaten our way through NYC. Fail.

Friday 7:00 PM: Inhaled mini pretzels, a super secret ARC and THE BODY FINDER on the plane ride home.

Roecker sisters out.

58 comments:

Christine Danek said...

You guys are so funny! Looks like you had a great time!

Unknown said...

It looks like you girls had a busy weekend. Sounds like it was a blast though.

Caroline Starr Rose said...

This is so fun! Thanks for the rundown. And guess what? I'm an Elevensie now, too!!!

Rachele Alpine said...

Awww...sounds like a great trip! Did you bring an editor home for me? :) I'm love all the scarves you girls were rocking...I'm addicted to scarves!

Frankie Diane Mallis said...

OMG this was the funniest post ever!!! And yay, I can steal our picture for mine!

Tara said...

Welcome home from NYC! Sounds like a great trip - can't wait to hear more details! And, I'm dying to hear the new title!!!!

storyqueen said...

I'm jealous you got to meet Joanna. She is the coolest.

Shelley

Loretta Nyhan said...

So. Much. Fun!

Maybe you guys should write travel guides on the side?

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

awesome recap!

I am so jealous! ;o) but so happy you had such a wonderful trip! LOVE the pics & cannot wait to see that um...video....


Visit My Kingdom Anytime

Kerri Cuev said...

What a COOL trip!!!! Glad you had a great trip bet you are sleeping in late lol!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Ahhhh I love it haha this definitely makes me wish I still lived in NJ, when I could just hop a train and be in the city in 30 minutes. The bookstores are so amazing there...as is the culture. I'll be so relieved when I'm out of Utah! Glad you girls had fun :)

Melissa Sarno said...

Sounds like you guys had a great trip! I stopped by Books of Wonder on Thursday but it was so crowded and I was by myself and recognized no one...so I quickly became scared and went shopping at Anthropologie instead. Oops.

Sherrie Petersen said...

You guys packed a LOT into one weekend! I wish I lived closer to New York...

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Sounds like a great trip!

Stephanie Thornton said...

Wow! What a totally awesome trip! I'm jealous of all the cool people you got to meet!

Aren't iPhones amazing for navigation? I don't know how I lived without one.

And that bookstore looks like heaven on earth. Glad you ladies had a great trip!

Tere Kirkland said...

What an excellent time! Wish I could have been there rocking to Tiger Beat with y'all!

Robin Mellom said...

Awesome! Looks like you had a blast!!!!

Christina Lee said...

GREEN with envy. SO SO COOL!!!

Kim said...

SO proud of you two for having a "street dog." That's vital in the full NYC experience.

And, where the heck is there a B&B in NYC?!?!?

Glad you had a great trip!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh... major overload... so many amazing people... amazing food... amazing bookstore... I'm so jealous!!!!!!

Glad you had a fantastic time! Yay for outlandish purchases, and being the only one's to eat before noon!!!

Hardygirl said...

Looks like the greatest trip ever!!!

I'm soooooooo jealous. Gotta get up there--and you're hangin' with my girl, Joanna. Love it!!!!

sf

Patti said...

Looks like a great trip and those hot dogs actually look really good.

Wendryn said...

Very funny!

If your waitress was Russian, it wasn't that she didn't like you. I mean, probably. :P My husband lived in Siberia for a while, and he says that's just how they interact. There's a neat little Russian deli near where we live and they seem, from my perspective, to be borderline rude all the time. He says they're quite friendly in comparison to other shop owners he's met. The customer is not always right by any stretch in some parts of the world!

Kirsten Hubbard said...

you guys are adorable. now THIS is why it's fun to write a book with your sister. although I think my twin & I would throttle each other by the end of chapter one.

Unknown said...

Looks like you girls had a blast! Thanks for sharing the awesome pics :D

Tahereh said...

you guys are way too cute for the internet. like pictures of puppies. i adore youuuuuuuuu

Krispy said...

Sounds like so much fun was had! Am kind of jealous. So need to go visit NYC again soon. Thanks for the funny recap. So good!

Dara said...

Wow you all made me tired just reading that. And you did all that in just two days? Even more amazed.

Definitely puts my weekend in the backwoods of West Virginia to shame. Then again, that's not all that hard :P (I'm pretty certain I've seen enough toothless hillbillies this last weekend to last me awhile).

Joanna said...

Wow. I heard the hot dog pics were epic. So dead on.

It was AWESOME to hang at Fire launch, despite the fact that my voice sounded like Kathleen Turner the next day (um, we had to talk really loud over Tiger Beat).

And I love the description of the trip. NYC visit in timed bullets, haha.

Shannon Messenger said...

Okay-that was awesome. You guys sound like you travel like me--glad to know I'm not alone.

I SO wish I could've been there, but alas--New York was too far away. Glad to live vicariously through this post.

Any chance you'll be coming to SCBWI LA? *bats eyelashes hopefully*

Katie Anderson said...

Aww. I missed your girls. So much fun to read the timeline and I, too, almost puked in the cab. What's with the NYC cabs? The seats are so low that you can barely see out and thus get car sick.

GREAT photos! Love it!

Carolyn V. said...

It sounds so wonderful! I'm glad you guys had a great time. =)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Too much fun! Thanks so much for sharing, ladies. :-)

XiXi said...

Lol, I love your pictures. It looks like you had a great time in NYC, and why wouldn't you?

Marsha Sigman said...

First of all...good choice in avoiding freelance taxi dude. Unless your dad is Liam Neesan.

It looks like you had a great time! And all the cool peeps you got to meet! So happy for you!

Amy Lukavics said...

Ah! Jo looks gorgeous! I was trying so hard to plan a trip to NYC in September, but unless I win the lottery, I'm thinking it'll be a no-go. :(

I'm so glad you guys had fun, how freaking exciting is that!?

JESSJORDAN said...

You two are such nerds. I love that about you.

Tana said...

How I wish I was there! Looks like a good time was had by all! Awesome.

Lydia Kang said...

My old stomping ground. Glad it went so well! I miss those hot dogs.

ChristaCarol Jones said...

Score! I'm so jealous! Looks like you ladies had a Buh-0.0.la0...er, baby typed that, I was saying Buh-LAST! Yay for NYC!

Rebecca Knight said...

This whole post was total author porn! :D Thank you for letting us live vicariously through you, and CONGRATS on having so much fun in NY!

I can't wait to one day meet some of my blogger pals in real life :).

Also, how adorable is Joanna? I love her glasses!

Sarah Wylie said...

If you think I'm impressed that you ate at Il Bastardo, then...you know me well.

It looks like you had an awesome time!

Jemi Fraser said...

Wow! What an incredible experience! I'm so jealous - not only did you get to go to NYC, but you met agents, authors and blog buddies, AND shopeed & ate NYC hotdogs. *sigh* One of these days...

Hayley Lovell said...

I've never had that much fun in NYC, envious! It looks like you had a gerat time! And this super secret ARC intrigues me...will it be disclosed at a later date?

Elana Johnson said...

Man, this sounds EPIC! You guys are too cute, and it sounds like so much fun! I'm trying not to be jealous since this is over, and I already missed it. But yeah. So green right now.

Glad you had a great time!

Heidi Willis said...

What an awesome trip, and more importantly, awesomely told!!

I'd have been so much more jealous had I not been in Seattle getting my copy of The Body Finder signed. :)

Otherwise... yes, tears of jealousy...

Unknown said...

very jam packed trip ! would really love to read even more about the fun things you bought (sorry I AM a materialist like that)!!!
SB


not too serious i hope

erica m. chapman said...

Oh so fun! Looks like you guys had a great time - awesome pics too!

I've only been there once and loved it! Glad you had a good time ;o)

Stina said...

Wow, I'm exhausted just reading about your day. I almost got suckered into accepting a black market ride too. Except the black van kinda scared me off.

I bought The Body Finder this morning. Can't wait to read it! :D

Unknown said...

You guys are SUCH rockstars.

California Keys said...

Sounds like you had such a great time! I've been to New York one time and spent more money on food than anything else! (Sooooooo expensive!)

Natalie said...

That sounds awesome!

You totally crack me up. "How many Roecker sisters does it take to open a hotel room door?" Still laughing.

And I applaud all the eating. ...Mmm hotdogs...

Little Ms J said...

Love it. I completely understand the nauseating cab ride. I typically fly around the fake plastic cab seats while trying to hold my cookies between JFK and wherever the hell I'm going.

Lisa eating the hot dog is possibly my favorite picture ever. Ok, maybe it doesn't trump the one with the green beer bottle and the dancing, but it is very very very close.

Very.

Wish I could've been there!

Lori W. said...

So glad you had such a fun trip. Great pictures and hilarious play-by-play post. I can't wait to see some video!

Dawn Simon said...

Awesome post! I know I keep saying this, but you two are so adorable. I love NYC, love the hot dogs, and I think your trip sounds so great! How cool to meet all the people you're working with! Yay for you guys! :)

Kelly H-Y said...

I KNEW it would be an awesome trip! Love the play-by-play of all the happenings! You two are so awesome ... I'm so thrilled for you! And ... I totally understand about it being a huge accomplishment to make it in a cab from airport to hotel without puking! Totally!

Donna Gambale said...

Sounds like a blast! Thanks for making me feel not-so-left-out with the phone call hehe. Next time, it'll be in person.

Anonymous said...

Hey Lisa and Laura! Gave you an award! WOOT WOOT! Go get it!

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