Thursday, June 4, 2015

Books and Art in the Big Apple

Last Thursday, I got on a train headed from Syracuse, New York to New York's Penn Station. After a bit of retail therapy and a really yummy dinner at the hotel in Times Square, my first real objective for the weekend was a book-signing at BEA - a super-sized wholesale book show held annually in May.

All the big publishers have booths at the event, with lots of author signing going on all around me, I wasn't sure anyone would be interested in my book, When Bad Things Happen to Good Quilters! Guess what. . .they were! The line started to form at the Taunton Press booth shortly before the signing was scheduled to begin.

BEA book signing


And I had stacks and stacks of books to sign! Perhaps I should have spent some time toning up my hand muscles to prepare!

BEA Taunton Press booth


I signed each book, and took some time to chat and make some new friends!

BEA Taunton Press Booth


Once the books were gone, it was time for Taunton to serve up some goodies from one of their newest titles in from the cooking side of the house! Samples of recipes from Blue Ribbon Canning were quite popular. . .and quite yummy!

Blue Ribbon Canning Sample


I wasn't the only person signing books that day! Dr. Ruth Westheimer has a children's book! Leopold is about a turtle who just can't seem to get out of his shell to try new things! Cute!

Dr. Ruth


And this is Meg Medina, a delightful woman with a new children's book about crossing generations and cultures through common interests. I was completely drawn in by the parrot on the cover illustration. . . of course!

Meg Medina and her new book


On Saturday, Dave and I went to one of my favorite spots in New York. But first, you HAVE to have the Subway Selfie, right?

Times Square Selfie


The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or, simply, The Met, is one of my favorite places anywhere. The huge collection of art and artifacts allows you to step back thousands of years in time in one gallery, then step across the hall to another gallery to see art from this past century. It's mind-boggling!

The Met


One of my favorite sections in almost any art museum is the collection of Impressionist art. Degas is famous for his portraits of ballet figures. This striking portrait done in pastels and charcoal has a deep blue velvet border on the frame.

Degas ballet portrait


The rooftop garden at The Met offers an escape from the busy bustling inside the museum and on the streets below. And an opportunity for another selfie.

NYC from The Met


Such a beautiful day to take advantage of the walk back to our Times Square hotel via Central Park and the Sailboat Pond.

Central Park Sailboat Pond


That's it! Just a quick trip. Our return train ride on Sunday was delayed, so we spent pretty much the whole day in transition back home. But that's okay. It was such a pleasant ride and a great little getaway for an early Summer weekend!

And it's always a good weekend when there retail AND scrap are involved!

Happy Stitching!
joan

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