Owl Always Be Reading: ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco Recap + Giveway

Hi everyone! It's been 2 weeks since I got back from ALA Annual in San Francisco, California. As you know I live in south Florida so San Fran is pretty far away. It took 6 hours on a plane to get there and let me tell you, it was brutal. I don't like flying to begin with and then having to sit still for 6 hours was horrendous. Luckily, I had my friends, Nahomi and Jenn from Books and Swoons with me to keep me company. The good thing is that I totally fell in love with the city. The people were super friendly and the food was delicious!

The actual ALA conference was 3 days; Saturday, Sunday and half of Monday. I was able to get lots of awesome books for me and the rest of the owls. So make sure you keep an eye out for our reviews and some great giveaways! I hope you enjoy my pictures!

And we are off!

And we made it safe and sound......at 2am EST!!!

The hotel we originally booked, had accidentally overbooked us the first night we got there so they told us they were going to pay for us to stay at another hotel which was just accross the street. We were pretty upset because we were so tired from having to work that day and then being on a plane for 6 hours and still not being able to shower and go to sleep, but what could we do? So we walk over and Oh Em Geee! It was a 5 star hotel and super fancy! We were so out of our element! They gave us a corner room that had the most beautiful view of the city and the bay. We ended up sleeping with the curtains open because we just couldn't stop looking out the window!

DAY 1

So we finally get to ALA and we are all pumped to see what the first day brings us! We have lots of signings to make it to.

I knew Suzanne Young was at ALA and I was going to stalk her and see if she would sign my books that I brought from home! This was my first sighting! Stalkerish you think? LOL But she is so tiny and it was so hard to keep up with her! One minute I was on her tail and the next she was gone! LOL

Leigh Bardugo and Marissa Meyer were at the same time which totally sucked because I wanted to get both Six of Crows and Fairest signed, so I had to choose only one. Who did I decide on? Leigh of course! I mean, one of the reasons for me going to ALA was to see her again and get a copy of Six of Crows! I took a pic of Marissa once I was towards the front so at least I had that.

SCORE!!!!

After ALA we decided to go somewhere nice and eat and walk around the city. Walking in downtown SF is no joke. I've been to New York and there is a lot of walking, but there are no hills like in SF. I'm telling you, our legs were on FIRE!

DAY 2

On the shuttle bus from the hotel on our way to day 2 of ALA!

I FOUND HER!!!!!! LOL She is soooooooo sweet! I remember Doris telling me she was since she had met her a while back when she was in Vegas, but I had no idea HOW sweet she really is! I wanted to spend the rest of the day chit chatting with her and talking about The Program, The Treatment and the Remedy! BTW, she gave me some intel on the cover of her next book and EEKKKKK!!! You all are going to love it!!! Thank you Suzanne for being the best!

And what happens when you are hanging out with one author? More authors show up!! Look who came by to say Hi! ALEXANDRA BRACKEN, people!!!!

By this point we are starving and decided to go get a big fat juicy burger over at this place called Super Duper Burger! Yeah I had to kiss my diet goodbye at this point. There was no way I wasn't going to get one of those. I mean, just LOOK at that awesomeness - and those fries!

After eating we walked around for a little more to see if there were any more book drops and then decided to make it a short day and head out to explore the city! Here are pics of the places we got to see. My favorite, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge!

Alcatraz!

After all that running around, we were STARVING! So we decided to hit up Fisherman's Warf! That place was awesome! We also went to eat at this amazing seafood restaurant! I mean, LOOK!

(Yes, I ate and drank all of that!)

At this point we were super full and beyond exhausted. We still had tomorrow left of ALA. It was going to be a short day for ALA because it was over at Noon. And because our flight back home was at 2:30, we had to leave the convention even earlier

DAY 3

Day 3! It's our last day and it was bitter sweet. I didn't want to leave this beautiful city, but I missed my son, hubby, doggies and my home. So, instead of eating breakfast inside the convention center, we decided to go to this little French bakery near by. I ordered their french toast and a medium vanilla bean latte. When the girls and I go and sit down to wait for our food to be brought to us, I see one of the waiters coming toward us with these bowls. We all looked at each other like, we didnt order soup. It wasn't soup. They were our lattes! Jenn ordered the large and just look at her BOWL!! LOL Our food was delicous, but us having to drink lattes from a bowl was priceless! LOL

We were able to get to see a few of our authors, but not all of them since we had to leave early. I was really bummed, but we couldn't afford to miss our flight. LOL

Here's Marie Lu!

Tamara Ireland Stone

Kelly Loy Gilbert

ON OUR WAY BACK HOME

The drought in California is scary. You can see where water used to be and now it's either completely gone or there is just a little bit left. So sad.