Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Steve & Barry's

I've been Bitten (get it? It's funny!) by Steve & Barry's Sarah Jessica Parker line. I love that the t-shirts are not only $7.98 for the most part, but that they run a little long (especially since they're on the skinny side). I bought five different tees that I can actually wear to work, plus one cute little tuxedo-type sleeveless shirt. I also got a pair of gunmetal-colored cargo-type pants that roll up and button to be two different lengths of capris (I must go back and buy different colors so I don't get Old Navy syndrome, where I buy one pair to see how it fits, go back and there are none left). Got a pair of jeans capris, too - two pairs of pants, $14.98 each? Whoo hoo! I will note that the pants are cut way low - almost too low for someone who's borne two children via c-section and isn't exactly built like Ms. SJP - but thankfully, the aforementioned long tees cover it. And hell, with some more Pilates and yoga, maybe in a couple of weeks I'll feel a little less uncomfortable. The clothes are made to be layered, which I also dig.

Methinks Steve & Barry has a new fan in me...

Okay, off to knit more of that hat. I've only got two rows cast on so far, so taking a picture of it wouldn't really show much. Talk to me tomorrow.

Lost - Synchronised events around Plane Crash

This is sooo cool.

Oh My God.

https://www.ravelry.com/account/login

I may never get off the computer again.
Gah!

I know, it's been too long since I finished my BEA blog about my goodies. Does anyone even care at this point? How 'bout I just blog about the books I've read from that pile so far? I've got two down that I'd love to blather on about because they are that good. And I've got a couple of great knitting projects to put y'all to sleep with, hee hee...

First off, I've found another baby hat charity to knit for. You know how much I love knitting up baby hats, and when I visited another knitter's blog, If You Want to Destroy My Sweater (saw her on Knitty Gritty!). She's knitting hats for Hats for Alex and I warn you now, this one is a heartbreaker. Nothing like crying into my coffee at 7 in the morning. All I can say is, no matter how stoic you are, you scroll down enough and you will lose it. I just can't understand how someone can hurt an infant. Any child, really, but an infant? Okay, I'm not going there on this blog.

So I've cast on another adorable hat from the book One Skein and I'll take a picture of its progress later today. And in related BEA news, I'm using the skein I got from Storey Publishing's booth (they publish One Skein and the book they were promoting this year, One Skein Wonders).

More about the actual books from BEA later; I'm actually at work now pulling messages off voice mail and now I need to start my day. Perhaps there will be details of a trip to Steve & Barry's to try on some of Sarah Jessica Parker's line, too... stay tuned!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

One More...



Take it all in, baby... notice that two C. Thomas Howell posters mixed in among the Duran Duran ones?
We Interrupt The BEA Blogging to Bring You The 80s...


Yes, those are patterned jeans. And no, those posters aren't randomly up on the walls; I used to have extensive layouts created, assuring that each member of Duran Duran got air time on their own walls. What?

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

BEA, The Madness Continues...

Okay, so I'd left off as I working myself into a frenzy describing the sweet swag from BEA. So, being mom of the year, most of the stuff was for Will and Alex. I'll pick up where I left off from yesterday...

- The Boy's Body Book, by Kelli Dunham from Cider Mill Press. I told Mike he can give it to Will... and he promptly chickened out. It's a cool book, written basically for ages 9-10 and up, and doesn't cover the terrifying stuff just yet. It's really about being a good friend, making sure boys don't bow to peer pressure, and starts to touch on the basics of just taking care of your body and such. I gave it to Will and offered to read it with him or have him read it and come to Mike or I with any questions. He sat down on the couch and curled up with it, so let's see what comes of it...

- The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech from Harper. Any book with a cover that resembles an illuminated manuscript is going in my bag. Nancy got an autographed copy, the lucky dawg.

- Peanut Butter & Jeremy's Best Book Ever! by James Kochalka from the Alternative Comics table. It's cute, it's about a cat who thinks he works in an office and wears a little hat and tie, and an irritating crow. Heck, I read it before I handed it off to Will. It's cute!

- Soupy Saturdays with The Pain & The Great One by Judy Blume. It's Judy Blume, therefore I must have it. Heck, I may even give it to Will when I finish it...

- The Thief Queen's Daughter by Elizabeth Hayden from Starscape. It's fantasy, there's a dragon on the cover, what's the question?

- Yo! I Know Stuff! Brain-Building Quizzes - Got this from the World Almanac for Kids table; Will is all about those quizzes and bizarre facts. Predictably, he grabbed this one first.

- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie from Little, Brown. I have no idea what this one's about, but it was all over the place at BEA and I had about three different folks hand me a copy. Let me know if you read it.

- The What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys by Lynda Madras over at the Newmarket Press table. This one is for older boys; I'll hang onto it for a while. Can you guess I'm terrified of having an all-too rapidly approaching 'tween son? I'm arming myself with as much information as I can get.

- Fairy Haven & The Quest for the Wand, by Gail Carson Levine over at Disney Press. This is an example of me getting caught up in the freebie haze. I saw the title, figured it for some good fantasy to read with Will, and grabbed it, only to come home and see that it is a Disney Fairies adventure. After asking Will if he'd still be interested and getting the look of the century, I've decided that this will be a lovely addition to my 5-year old god-daughter's library.

- Nightmare Academy by Dean Lorey from Harper. Yeah, baby. Demon on the cover, spooky funky font - Will and I are all over this one.

- Pirate's Passage by William Gilkerson from Trumpeter. Yes, these books are in fact for Will, do you doubt me? He happens to be developing stellar taste in his literary genres.

- Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress from Weinstein Books. Another hot one at BEA, tons of them being given out. Kid frees his teacher from pirates. Whoo hoo!

- Homework Helpster Grade 3 from the Black Dog & Leventhal table. Cool little homework helper with its own little prop-up stand. Will gave me a somewhat hairy eyeball but accepted my gesture of love.

Speaking of hairy eyeballs, I'm getting one now, which tells me I've apparently overstayed my time on the computer. More to come...

Monday, June 04, 2007

Book Whore 2007 (or, Roe's Weekend at BookExpo)

I am a shameless book hussy. Those covers give me that sly wink, a subtle nod, and I'm all over them, caution flung to the wind. So you can imagine what it's like for me at BookExpo, when I'm in a place like the Jacob Javits Center - packed to the seams with books for the taking (for the most part).

I worked BookExpo this time around; normally I'm merely a visitor. Booth duty can be long and tough, but when you get a chance to wander every now and then, it makes it all worthwhile. Seeing so many of my friends was great, too. It's been a while for some of my Bookspan friends so it was a little like a reunion. And Nancy was there on Friday, so that was fun, chasing each other via voicemail to meet up somewhere (eventually, we met up - on the ride home that she and her parents were kind enough to extend to me!).

So where to begin? I brought home about 60 books and assorted other stuff. I got some great autographs and met some very cool people. Nancy got a crazy amount of autographs, I'm jealous. ;-) I did get Will a signed copy of Wizardology, which he was most excited to receive. I was Mom of the Year for like, five whole minutes or something. Wow.


I totally missed the Sabuda signings - he did like two or three - but I was determined to get this one. It is quite cool, and I'm sure we'll be curling up on the couch and reading this one after I get through Thor's Wedding Day, which I borrowed from Nancy eons ago...

The DC booth was rocking with grade-A freebies. Not only did I score tons of bookmarks for the kids, and buttons of Green Lantern, Flash and Superman, but I got hardcover copies of Justice (rocking the Alex Ross cover) and Identity Crisis, and a trade paperback of Watchmen . I also got two issues of Mad Kids magazine and an issue of Mad Magazine for Will.

Continuing in my "I'm a good Mom" vein, I scored more for Will and Alex:

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TPB of Out of the Shadows from the Titan Books table. (They're also doing a Stargate: Atlantis companion, which I scored a copy of for Mike - I'm a good wife, too). And Supernatural fans, wait - they're doing companions for that show, too (which I'm probably going to have to get Will). Back to TMNT - it's penned by Peter David, so I may have to read it myself...

- signed copy of What Stinks? by Marilyn Singer for Alex. Come on, with a name like that, I was supposed to pass it up?

- F&Gs (folded & gathered signatures, kind of a version of a galley for picture books) for Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Nancy got a signed copy... garrrr!), The Longest Christmas List Ever by Gregg & Evan Spiridellis (they're the brothers who did the hilarious This Land animation with Bush and Kerry; check it out on JibJab.com); and Do Unto Otters: A Book on Manners by Laurie Keller (complete with sheet of stickers!).

- Two more Hot Dog & Bob adventures, to go with the first two I picked up for Will last year.

- Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle and Bill Martin, Jr. I was psyched not only to get copies of these books, but to find out that Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? will be coming out in August. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is one of Alex's fave books, so I was happy to bring him this news. He was even happier to get the poster.

Okay, I've got a lot more to describe but I'll pick this up tomorrow. I'm still exhausted. Later.