i drove up to los angeles to see my writing
friends at scbwi’s annual conference this past
saturday. it was a 7am – 2am day. by the time
i came home, i was exhausted, my voice was hoarse,
but it was all worth it. i could divide this post in two,
but i won’t, so you can experience in full effect, the
awesomeness of my day. =) great food, great friends,
lots of laughter and conversations on books, writing, and life.
it started with a lunch date with gretchen and
mike at the bread bar. a must every time i’m at scbwi.
i simply love bread and i love their food!! gretchen
just sold Banish, her debut out in 2012 with balzar & bray
about a 15 year old who conducts exorcisms. whoa!
mike, newly agented, has a middle grade humorous
sci-fi novel going on sub soon!
we ordered sliders. a lot of them.
and we ate them happily, while chattering
non-stop. it’s a wonder one of us didn’t choke
on a slider…or a hunk of brie.
amaris, who writes young adult fantasy,
joined us a little later. if i had to do a thought
bubble for mike, it’d be “how the hell did i get
so lucky?” yeah, mike. how did you? haha!
after going on a mini-shopping trip with gretchen,
we headed to the hotel pool where i got to meet
some of the musers for the first. all as delightful and
kooky as i thought they’d be. =D
*me and sophie! i’m her #asianmomstandin! =D
*sagers, hannah, gracie, me, sophie and
debra draped over us.
most of the musers left for a panel
and i hung out by the pool with gracie and jo, who
joined us a little later. that was relaxing and fun to
catch up with one another.
when it got a bit too shady and cool, i wandered into
the lounge and found jacqui, frank, then was joined by
barry and we chatted books for a while. before we knew it,
it was time for our rsb dinner at rock sugar! barry, the only
dude, came along. =)
we decided to go with the tasting menu, and because we
had seven people, wound up getting seventeen dishes.
that’s right, SEVENTEEN. you know what, i’m not even gonna
try to label what we ate. it was a feast.
*an assortment of tasty appetizers.
*papaya and mango salad.
*almost everything. more dishes kept coming
and i finally gave up. ha!
*wait! let’s get a group foto!
amber, jacqui, barry, me, debbie, sara and elise!
*the aftermath. i especially like how debbie’s got
her hand over her stomach. ha!
*bannana brulee cake with ice cream and
coconut donuts. what!
and can you believe, after that meal, i barely
zipped myself into a betty draper dress to party
at the gala!
*i’m so glad suz came to find me. it wouldn’t
be an scbwi conference if i didn’t take a foto with
suz! <3
*me with the fabulous martha and edna.
*sophie is a sweetheart. i’m proud to be her
#asianmomstandin. study hard sophie! don’t
forget to floss and, er, eat apples and carrots! =D
*also so happy the gorgeous jo came to take a foto
with me. that dress is much more stunning ON you, jo!!
*me with the radiant gracie, adam and sophie.
adam wins points by grinning very much like munchkin
right now when we ask for a foto.
*and i’ll end this post with a foto from my wonderful
rsb friends. you are all awesome and i’m so glad we got
a chance to hang out, if only for a few hours!
[debbie, elise, jill, sara, amber, jacqui and me.]
wow! i wasn’t kidding about my full day, huh?
i think i’m still recovering from it!!
i’ll leave you with a post on food in fantasy
by yours truly over at the enchanted inkpot.
also, i DO have a follow up post on san diego
comic-con international and a huge #tgifbm!
giveaway coming next monday!! stay tuned… =D
currently reading :
everlasting by angie frazier
25 Comments
omg love the pics. Looks like you had so much fun.
ALSO: FOOD
I hunger now.
dude. everybody looks nice, and it seems like everyone had a great time, but you know what my take-home from this post was?!
FOOD PORN!
don’t try to plead innocence. i can see RIGHT THROUGH YOU.
Yay! So much fun. :)
You are so shamelessly a food pimp!
And btw – totally ROCKING that necklace. Nice!
mao mi, one day you’ll be in the fotos w us! =D
moonie, you are my foodie soulmate. hee!
shveta, i can’t wait for sirens!
martha, thank you! food pimp, haha!!
Darn it! I never seem to find the cool kids. You guys look like you had so much fun. I wished I could have partaken in the food extravaganza. Maybe next time.
Oh my word, that food looks AMAZING. *drools*
Beautiful pics of beautiful, smart, talented people!
Too cool! Look at all that food!
Hehe! The way you phrase that…”dress is more stunning ON you” gives me visions of myself running around naked, twirling the dress over my head. (Note: At no point did this happen, people)
And can I say how fabbity you looked as well?
Thank you for driving all the way down to see everyone!
xoxo
Looks like an awesome time! I’m jealous.
Elise, I want a full report!
Food pron! YUM!!!!
Thanks so much for letting me crash your dinner party! It was great fun, even if I did leave the table wondering if I’d ever want to eat again.
barry, it was definitely good times. and i was serious about barely being able to zip into my dress. yikes. haha!
dana, say hi next time!! i would never classify myself as a cool kid, fyi. haha!
kelly, thanks!
abby, it was all so delicious!
jo, whoops! didnt mean to out you! ;*) honestly tho, you looked stunning!
ron, when are you coming to one of these?
lisa, yes!!
omg, i’m cracking up over these new alien icons!! esp barry, jo and kelly’s. hee!
Dude, it’s totsl food pRon! Curse you–now I can’t even read your BLOG without getting hungry, lol!
I make an interesting drape.
:D
I was going to go but instead met Elise and Michele (crit partners) at the Western Washington SCBWI a few months ago.
Next year. Definitely next year.
So glad you made it up for the day!
But now I am, amazingly, hungry again.
your blog is being featured on The List @RBJ.
debra, you aren’t surprised tho, right?
ron, yes! i want to chat longer than we did at ala chicago. =D
jacqui–me too. i had so much fun!
carlos, thank you!!
must…find… papaya/mango salad…
That banana brulee cake alone looks worth flying out from NYC for — YUM!!!
I can’t believe how envious I am of the massive, awesome fun that is your life, Cindy. :)
aww, thanks david, but you can’t say anything because look at YOUR blog entries world traveler. talk about being green with envy here. =)
and truth, i loved seeing my friends but i was a little sad i missed my sekrit craft class. i’m such a sucker for routine. haha!!
also, world fantasy con in san diego october 2011? come!!
Ooh, now *that’s* something! I’ve been meaning to go to a WorldCon one of these years. Thing is . . . and this is very tentative right now . . . I’m contemplating attending the Clarion workshop in San Diego next year. So either way, I might just be in your neck of the woods in one fashion or another next year. Eeep!
Decisions, decisions.
david, that would be BEYOND cool if you went to clarion!! i saw you had another story published–i’m going to have to read it after i turn in my line edits!!!