Incredible Signing!!! And a giveaway!! (My Town Monday: The Yellow Book Road, La Mesa, CA)

Yesterday afternoon was an INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE HEART-STOPPING signing event at the Yellow Book Road, San Diego's largest independent children's bookstore. Seriously, it's THE place to shop. The people who work there know EVERYTHING about kid lit.

Here are some photos of the event. They were taken by various people who picked up my camera and clicked away. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post for a link to Vodka Mom's blog and a great giveaway.

There were A LOT of people. As in over one hundred! A huge thank-you to all these folks who came out during a busy season.

This is me and Detective Sergeant Joe Bulkowski of the San Diego PD. Joe's my go-to guy when I have questions for the books about police procedure and evidence and crime. I talk about some of the stuff I've asked him and how that's shown up in i so don't do mysteries, i so don't do spooky and i so don't do makeup. This detective has actually won an award for catching so many San Diego crooks via fingerprints. He talks about one of the cases, does a fingerprinting demonstration and then fingerprints kids for free. It's a pretty fun presentation. Joe and I have known each other for forever and we can really kibbitz around. Although I'm funnier than he is. Oh, hi Joe!

My good friends, the Eileens, setting up the food table. These women are THE best with the best name. My mother was also named Eileen. And my daughter's middle name is Eileen. Pretty much, I've never met an Eileen I didn't love!

The cupcake cake! Ta da! Thank you, Judie McElroy. Cute AND scrumptious.

The fam! Except for Child #1 who was home with a yucky fever :(

Last but not least, a shout-out to Sydney from Encinitas. She's a very bright, articulate, interesting 8th grader I met at a Barnes & Noble signing last year. I was THRILLED that she talked her dad into driving all the way to this event. Watch out for this kid. She's going FAR!

What can I say about Vodka Mom? She's hilarious. She has a huge heart. She's a teacher. A mom. A blogger. And she has a couple of i so don't do spooky giveaways--a book and a t-shirt! You'll love her. You can find her and details on the giveaways right here.

And click here to see what the other My Town Monday folks are posting about.

My Town Monday: The San Diego Bay Parade of Lights

It's the holiday season. You're in San Diego. What can you do to celebrate that is uniquely us?

THE SAN DIEGO BAY PARADE OF LIGHTS!

We're talking roughly 80 boats, all lit up, cruising the San Diego Bay for about 1 1/2 hours. The parade starts with fireworks at 5:30 pm at Shelter Island and ends at the Ferry Dock, Buoy 22A, Coronado Island around 7:30 pm. Here's the actual schedule.

This year, the parade runs two Sunday evenings (Dec. 13 and Dec. 20).

Believe it or not, I have NEVER seen the Parade of Lights. I think everyone else in my family has, though.

I'd like to view the boats from the Berkeley Passenger Ferry Boat (built 1890, moored at the Embarcadero and part of the San Diego Maritime Museum). Apparently, from the Berkeley, you get a close-up view of the parade around 6:30 pm AND a buffet dinner. Sounds like a winning combo!

For reservations on the Berkeley, call (619) 234-9153 extension 101 or sign up online at the San Diego Maritime website. I'm posting this info as much for me as for you. ;) MAYBE I'll get a chance to go on the 20th. But maybe not as next weekend is crazy-busy for me. Which is probably the case every year and explains why I still haven't been!

Please pop over to the My Town Monday blog to see what the rest of the gang is up to!

AND CHANGING TOPICS....Have you ever visited Tabitha at Writer Musings? She's delightful, forces me to answer interesting interview questions and is GENEROUSLY GIVING AWAY a copy of i so don't do spooky AND a copy of i so don't do mysteries!! Click here for the interview. Thank you, Tabitha! (Although I generally don't like to admit that I get stuck when writing! ha!)

Also, The Happy Nappy Bookseller has a giveaway of i so don't do mysteries through today.

So, off you go. Go comment at Writer Musings and on The Happy Nappy Bookseller's blog and win books.




sources:
http://www.sdparadeoflights.org/
http://www.sdparadeoflights.org/event_schedule.shtml
http://sandiego.about.com/od/familyfun/tp/tp_holiday.htm
http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/blogs/san-diego-bay-parade-of-lights?xg_source=activity

Ra-ra-ra-random!!!

I've been tagged by the one and only Vodka Mom! If you haven't checked out her blog, you really must. She's a hoot and a half.

And now I must list SEVEN random facts about myself. Up-front warning: these will not be anywhere near as outlandish as Vodka Mom's. Because, well, she is more wild and crazy than I am. Now, don't you really want to check out her blog?!

Okay. Here goes:

1. I've been engaged THREE times. To three different people. Each one was a different nationality. But they all had one thing in common: blue eyes!

2. I have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. It's true. A doctor told me. This is a useful device at cocktail parties when you want people to move away from the snacks. While standing within sneezing distance of the food, I announce, "Hi! My name is Barrie, and I have ETD." (Okay. Maybe I haven't actually used this ploy...yet. But I just might this Friday when I'm at DH's big fancy schmancy company holiday party. They always serve really fine appetizers.)

3. My fave foods are: diet coke, red licorice, black licorice. Other than that, I'm a pretty healthy eater. Seriously.

4. A long time ago, in a faraway place, I worked in marketing for 7UP Canada. During this time, I met Wayne Gretzky who was our corporate sponsor. You're probably all wondering if he was one of the guys mentioned in #1. Keep on wondering, folks...

5. One of my kids has webbed toes. DH (Darling Husband) and I each have a great great great feathered grandmother with wings and a pronounced bill. Kidding. Although webbed toes do run in both our families. (Probably more in his as I'm loathe to admit to genetic abnormalities.)

6. Once upon a time, I dated a French Canadian who saved his ear wax for art projects. He was very definitely not part of #1.

7. Did you notice that Child #3 hacked into my blog? Check out my new-and-improved (?) profile!

Choose this award.                                   Or this award.

Or you can be like me and choose both. I'm just that way. Delightfully indecisive.

Here are the rules:
1. Do five jumping jacks
2. Balance on one foot.
3. Call a friend to say hi.
4. Take a hot bath.
5. Hug your kid or your dog.
6. Post seven (or whatever you have time for) random things about yourself.

Then, choose your award(s) and i.d. five people (or whatever) for the meme. Oh yeah, and let the people know you chose them. Oh yeah, and link back to me.

Here's who I'm i.d.'ing (in alpha order). Check them out. I think you'll really enjoy what these bloggers have to say.

Cheaper Than Therapy because we can all use some therapy at this crazy time of year! Her blog is grrrreat!
Don Mills Diva because she lives where I'm from. Plus you'll love her blog!
Eileen Cook--We're agent-sisters; she's really, really funny (no pressure there, Eileen); she's an American living in Canada, and I'm a Canadian living in the U.S. And she's the type everyone wants to hang out with!
Just a Plane Ride Away because she's far from home and makes all sorts of interesting observations. Not to mention her incredible photographic skills!
Laughing Wolf--He's a crazy blogger. You just never what strange bits of info he'll post up.

EXACTLY SIX DAYS (INCLUDING ALL DAY THURS) UNTIL THE RELEASE OF I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES!