This Time Last Week (Day 1 in NYC)

 
This was officially my first day in NYC. (May 27th, 2013)
 
I thought that I would have slept in just a little bit considering that I didn’t get much sleep the night before but nope I was wide awake and ready to go at 5:30am. I did manage to take it easy for a bit and I unpacked and got things ready for the day.
 
On the way down I decided that I was going to do some shopping and that would include heading down town to The Strand and Housing Works, then stopping and going into various drug stores, Sephora, Barnes & Noble and then a grocery store.
 
Thankfully I still had my directions to the Strand and Housing works from last year. Now if you know me I hate taking the NYC subway so I avoid that like the plague and walked all the way there. Yes you read that right I literally walked all the way there and then back to my hotel.
 
The first stop was:

 Last year when we went it was pouring rain but thankfully this year it was a beautiful cool morning. I got there a little early and walked across the street to grab a juice and to sit and wait until it opened. Thankfully the wait was that long and it only took me roughly 45 minutes to get there. I did get a little side tracked along the way but it was all good.

Of course I coudn’t leave the Strand without buying something so I picked up this cute Kate Spade tote bag. I was a little sad that they didn’t have the blue owl tote bag that I really wanted but I will chekc online and perhaps order one. I also picked up the white owl pencil case which isn’t included in this picture and only realize that now. It will make an appearance in a future post. The only book I bought there was City Doodles New York for Michael along with two owl pencils.

 
The next stop was Housing Works. I was super excited to go and visit it again. I love wondering around looking at all the books they have. I even managed to sit down for a bit to take in the sights and sip some tea before heading back out again.

I bought three books there. They were Over You by Amy Reed, Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols and Two Lies and a Spy.

 
On the way back I did a little more shopping such as some goodies from Whole Foods. Which is a really nice grocery store around 14th avenue if you happen to be around the area and want to grab some fresh baked goods, or fruit or veggies.
 
After that I went into Barnes & Noble. I love walking around bookstores and this time I remembered a book that I was looking for and that was The Star Attraction by Alison Sweeney. You might recognize that name as the actress who plays Sami Brady on Days of Our Lives or from the Biggest Loser. I read about this book on the train ride into NYC and I was curious about it. Also at Barnes & Noble I found this cute owl agenda for 2014. (There you can see the owl pencil and pencil case)
 
 
The last of my shopping before heading back to the hotel I stopped at two Sephoras and various Duane Reeds and picked up:
 
~Smashbox Camera Ready CC cream (I tried this in the store and loved it)
~Sample of Clinique Moisture Surge CC cream (I think I will be buying the full size because I love this one too)
~Naked Skin by Urban Decay beauty balm (15ml sample) (this is another one I really like and would purchase in a full size)
~Purity one step facial cleanser (I really like this cleanser and I think its time to invest in a bigger bottle)
~Essie nail polish in DJ Play that Song
~Hand Cream in Mandarin Mint
~Nivea’s Lip butter in Smooth Kiss, Raspberry Rose Kiss and Vanilla & macadamia Kiss. (I was looking for the Carmel Cream Kiss but couldn’t find it)
~finally I got a bunch of EOS lip balms that aren’t available in Canada and they were: Vanilla Bean Smooth Stick lip balm (love the smell and feel of this) and three smooth spheres in Lemon Drop with SPF 15,  Medicated Tangerine (this is perfect for dry chapped lips) and Sweet Mint.
 
After all the shopping I made my way back to the hotel to drop things off and then I went out and got some supper and decide to go back to the hotel to shower and chill for the evening.

It was a great day 1 in NYC.

 



copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

This Time Last Week I Was on My Way to NYC/BEA

 
Its hard to believe that this time last week I was sitting on the Amtrak train on my way to NYC for BEA 2013.

Once again this time was different for me and I’m not quite sure why. I  was honestly excited about going months ago but then different things happened that kind of put a damper on things. I think within the last month before leaving I was getting excited about going again.

 
The first time I went in 2010 I was literally packed a week before leaving and that included my suitcase, snack bag, my BEA tote bag and my things to do on the train bag. Last year when I went I was literally packing the morning of my trip and I think this time I probably would have let it gone to the morning of the trip but I decided the night before to start getting things packed and ready to go.

I thought we were making good time in the morning but quickly realized that we weren’t. I ended up having to run to the bank before leaving to get some more US money and a few Canadian bucks and I literally made it to the train station just before they were getting ready to board the train. I was lucky enough to nab a Red Cap who brought my suitcase down for me and that got me pre boarding.

 
I was thrilled to have gotten pre boarding because the line was huge and that meant that the train going into the US would be packed and it was packed. It was due to the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend in the US.
 
This was the first time I have gone to NYC on my own and I honestly was a little freaked out at first because that meant I had no one to talk to on the train which is honestly okay but it would have been fun to have someone to gush over NYC and BEA with. Thankfully throughout the day I was getting texts for Kate from http://www.midnightbookgirl.com/ , Tina http://bookshipper.blogspot.ca/ ,Sheila from  http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/ , Lucy from http://www.moonlightgleam.com/ and my son Michael which honestly passed the time quickly.
 
We were a little late getting into NYC because of the delay at that border and its like that every time we go. I don’t understand how people can travel knowing that they are a risk. Another issue that always seems to pop up is the food. I guess there was some people who tried to bring in fruit and/or vegetables and that sent border officials around again asking if anyone had brought that on bord. People is just like flying or driving across the border you are not allowed to bring fruit and vegetables across.
 
When I finally got into NYC I quickly decided to hop into a cab to go to my hotel just because I was going to be meeting up with Kate and Pam (http://www.midnytereader.com/ ) for our first PinkBerry run.
 
My hotel for the week was The Hampton Inn’s Time Sqaure South and that will be a separate post coming up at the end of the BEA recap.
 

Check back for more of my recap this week.

 
 
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

MEME/ Sunday’s In Bed With….#52

The awesome blogger behind this mem is Kate from Midnight Book Girl  . If you haven’t checked out her blog yet you really should hop over there and check it out.

Midnight Book Girl

Sundays In Bed With….is a meme I’ve started to share the book we’re spending the morning in bed with, or the one we’d like to stay curled up in bed with all Sunday if only our busy lives would allow! For fun, take a picture of the book in your bed, or simply write up a post or comment below sharing your Sundays in Bed With book. Quoted from Kate’s blog.
 

Good Morning everyone, well by the time this goes up on my blog I will be sitting on the train heading back to Montreal from NYC and BEA. What a week it has been.

When I was thinking about this post and how fast the week went I realized that this song was the perfect song to add to this post.

Coming back to Montreal is a little bit rougher since I need to be at Penn Station by at least 6:30 AM to catch my 8:15am train. I am hoping for my own seat this time. Wish me luck.

I plan on curling up in my seat and reading this:

This was the very first book I picked up at BEA this year. I got to meet and hang out with both Sherry and Tyler at the Spencer Hill Press breakfast. They were both so much fun to hang out with. The cover is amazing.

The book sounds totally awesome:

Extracted: The Lost Imperials
Book One
Welcome to the war.

The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it.

The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens–their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream.

Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war.

When Lex’s girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It’s there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back.

Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both…again.

Coming 11-12-2013

Have a great week everyone.

What are you reading today?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

BEA Buzz Books Spring & Summer 2013

As you know BEA is upon us and today is the first day of the event and I am super excited to see all the new books that are coming out this summer and fall.
 
Here is a sneak peek of some of the books that have caught my eye. Not sure if these will be available at BEA. They sound really good.

This is a list of the books that are in the Buzz Books book:

 

Fiction
Kate Atkinson, Life After Life (Little, Brown)
Therese Fowler, Z (St. Martin’s)
Joe Hill, NOS4A2 (William Morrow)
Alexander Maksik, A Marker to Measure Drift (Knopf)
Philipp Meyer, The Son (Ecco)
Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being (Viking)
Cathie Pelletier, The One-Way Bridge (Sourcebooks)
Benjamin Percy, Red Moon (Grand Central)
Meg Wolitzer, The Interestings (Riverhead)
Debut FictionNoViolet Bulawayo, We Need New Names (Little, Brown)
Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (Riverhead)
Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Hogarth)
Derek Miller, Norwegian By Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Laura Lee Smith, Heart of Palm (Grove Press)
Adelle Waldman, Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (Henry Holt)
Kent Wascom, The Blood of Heaven (Grove Press)
Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni (HarperCollins)
Callie Wright, Love All (Henry Holt)
NonfictionLaura Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life (Sourcebooks)
Rory Freedman, Beg (Running Press)
Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Decisive (Crown Archetype)
Lily Koppel, The Astronaut Wives Club (Grand Central)
Wendy Moore, How to Create the Perfect Wife (Basic Books)
Michael Pollan, Cooked (Penguin)
Daniel Post Senning, Emily Post’s Manners in a Digital Age (Open Road)
Young AdultJoelle Charbonneau, The Testing (Houghton Mifflin Children’s)
Sarah Dessen, The Moon and More (Viking Juvenile)
Tom McNeal, Far Far Away (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
 
Going through the list and reading some excerpts I have to say that the only ones that really griped me was these two.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

BEA Buzz Books For Fall & Winter 2013

I meant to get this post up earlier then now but with things happening in my real life I was unable to sorry about that.

Book Expo America officially opens its doors tomorrow morning and what are some of the most buzzed about books for the fall of 2013? You will soon find out.

Last year was the first time that this kind of book was made available to anyone and I think its a great idea because you get a little sneak peek into what is coming out in both young adult and adult books.

The book has an excerpts from 40 top titles.

First thing I noticed when I opened the book was how well it was laid out and what the book contained. The books contained are not only adult but a mix of everything. Also included after the brief snippet was info on the book (publisher, about the author, pub date, contact info etc) which comes in handy.

Here is a list of books that I am excited to read this fall and winter.

Release date: September 2013

In many ways, Reeve LeClaire looks like a typical twenty-two year old girl. She’s finally landed her own apartment, she waitresses to pay the bills, and she wishes she wasn’t so nervous around new people. She thinks of herself as agile, not skittish. As serious, not grim. But Reeve is anything but normal.

Ten years ago, she was kidnapped and held captive. After a lucky escape, she’s spent the last six years trying to rebuild her life, a recovery thanks in large part to her indispensable therapist Dr. Ezra Lerner. But when he asks her to help another girl rescued from a similar situation, Reeve realizes she may not simply need to mentor this young victim—she may be the only one who can protect her from a cunning predator who is still out there, watching every move.

What if your best friend’s child disappears? And it was all your fault.

A searing and sinister thriller for readers who liked Gone Girl.What if your best friend’s child disappears? And it was all your fault. This is exactly what happens to Lisa Kallisto, overwhelmed working mother of three, one freezing December in the English Lake District. She takes her eye off the ball for just a moment and her whole world descends into the stuff of nightmares. Because, not only is thirteen-year-old Lucinda missing, and not only is it all Lisa’s fault, but she’s the second teenage girl to disappear within this small tightknit community over two weeks. The first girl turned up stripped bare, dumped on a busy high street, after suffering from a terrifying ordeal.

Wracked with guilt over her mistake and after being publicly blamed by Lucinda’s family, Lisa sets out to right the wrong. But as she begins peeling away the layers surrounding Lucinda’s disappearance, Lisa learns that the small, posh, quiet town she lives in isn’t what she thought it was, and her friends may not be who they appear, either.

Max’s parents are missing. They are actors, and thus unpredictable, but sailing away, leaving Max with only a cryptic note, is unusual even for them. Did they intend to leave him behind? Have they been kidnapped?

Until he can figure it out, Max feels it’s safer to keep a low profile. Hiding out is no problem for a child of the theater. Max has played many roles, he can be whoever he needs to be to blend in. But finding a job is tricky, no matter what costume he dons.

Ironically, it turns out Max has a talent for finding things. He finds a runaway child, a stray dog, a missing heirloom, a lost love. . . . So is he a finder? A detective? No, it’s more. Max finds a way to solve people’s problems—he engineers better outcomes for them. He becomes Mister Max, Solutioneer.

Now if only he could find a solution to his own problems .

Alone was the note Cade knew best. It was the root of all her chords.

Seventeen-year-old Cade is a fierce survivor, solo in the universe with her cherry-red guitar. Or so she thought. Her world shakes apart when a hologram named Mr. Niven tells her she was created in a lab in the year 3112, then entangled at a subatomic level with a boy named Xan.
Cade’s quest to locate Xan joins her with an array of outlaws—her first friends—on a galaxy-spanning adventure. And once Cade discovers the wild joy of real connection, there’s no turning back.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Welcome BEA Visitors 2013

Hi Book Expo America 2013 attendees,

Welcome to Cindy’s Love of Books. Perhaps your a blogger, author, PR person and we met in line waiting for a drink/food or to meet an author. Perhaps you are a publisher or PR person and I spoke with you at Javits or another event in New York during the week.

However you found me, I’m really glad you did. My name is Cindy and I run Cindy’s Love of Book. You can check out my About Me page to learn all about me and the blog. If you’re interested in a review, check out my review policy. And if you’d like to contact me please do so by my emailing me at cindysloveofbooksarc(at)gmail(dot)com or on Twitter @cindyloveofbook.

This is my fifth year blogging and I have been loving every minute of it. This is my third time attending BEA.

I look forward to hearing from you wither its to chat or review books.

To Cindy’s Love of Books readers,

I haven’t forgotten you guys! Cindy’s Love of Books will continue as usual without me. I’ve have reviews and other stuff scheduled to post this week. I will hopefully try to have mini posts from NY and BEA posted nightly if possible.

Hopefully I will able to offer little give aways to those who weren’t able to attend BEA this year. I will be looking out for things that I can offer up as give ways to you guys. Any suggestions?

If you need me for anything, you can still contact me through email or Twitter, though it may take me slightly longer than usual to respond.

Have a good week everyone.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Product Review/ Pantene Experts AgeDefy Shampoo, Conditioner, Masque and Treatment

 
Recently I was lucky enough to get selected to give my thoughts and opinions on the new Pantene Experts AgeDefy collection. As you know I love being able to try new things before buying them and I have to say when I first heard about this I was a little skeptical about the claims and doubted that it would work on my hair.
 
I have to admit that I have been blessed with fantastic hair and at times it can be a curse. Its very thick but very healthy considering all that I have done to my hair in the past (numerous perms) and now numerous dying since then. It honestly looks like it did in the past with the exception of a little more frizz.
 
As we age we are told to take care of our skin but how many of us take the time to care for our hair? Hmm not many right? Well enter Pantene and the AgeDefy package.
 
The kit I got to try for two weeks included:
  • Shampoo: A daily shampoo fighting the 7 signs of aging hair; gentle enough for colour-treated hair too.
  • Conditioner: A daily conditioner fighting the 7 signs of aging hair; gentle enough for colour-treated hair too.
  • Advanced Thickening Treatment: Creates volume by thickening existing hair fibers and strengthens hair over time.
  • Rejuvenating Hydration Masque: Restores hydration levels to provide resilience against breakage
  • Do you know what the seven signs of aging in hair are? Well if not here they are:

  • Breakage
  • Split Ends
  • Frizz
  • Unruly Grays
  • Lackluster Color
  • Thin look
  • Dryness
  • I currently was experiencing frizz, some unruly gray hair (yes I do have gray hair but you can’t tell under all the color I have there) and lack luster color. So I figured out why no try this new line to see if it can help.

    Within the first two weeks of using the new line I knew right away I had found my go to shampoo and conditioner. I liked the smell of everything as it was a nice smell and not heavy in scent.

    Another thing I loved about this line was that its not heavy on my hair and it didn’t weigh it down at all. Its actually very soft and light.

    I was unsure of the masque and at first thought it was drying my hair out but once I used it a few times it worked fantastic. I spaced it out to using it every three days and realized you didn’t need a whole lot in your hair. It was nice being able to spend a few extra minutes in the shower on those days.

    Finally the last item that I loved and probably will repurchase when I am done it is the treatment. Its sort of like a gel consistency in the bottle but when you put it close to your scalp its almost like a thick water and I found it very cooling on the hair. When it was massaged into the scalp it was nice and easy and no stickiness to the scalp or hair. I am hoping to find this in the US for a little cheaper then here in Canada.

    I think the only down side to this is honestly the price point of the items. The shampoo and conditioner I have seen at walmart for under $10 Canadian. The masque I believe is under $14 and the treatment is under $20. You will probably go through the shampoo and conditioner faster then you would for the treatment in my opinion.

    I have noticed a difference in my hair throughout the day and getting up the next day. I will definitely be purchase this again and in fact I have already bought the shampoo and conditioner.

    Thanks once again to Divine for selecting me to be a part of the testing. Love it

    
    copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
    If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.