Hedgehog Life: 4/20/15 - 4/26/15

I am literally two days away from leaving for Nashville and Sharon Cameron's launch party! I can hardly believe it! This week has been a flurry of last-minute preparations. I didn't have as much time to read, but that's all right. I'm sure I'll get time in Nashville (definitely on the plane).

This Week I Read:

- Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon

This Week I Reviewed:

- Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
- The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond
- Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

What's In Store for Next Week:

Review of Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
April Book Haul
Hedgie's Must Reads: April 2015
Review of The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer

Tuesday I went and got my new computer, a MacBook Pro, which I am now using to write this post!! My mum and I spent some time in Portland while we were there, too; went to Powell's and Voodoo Donuts and got a little lost in a bad area, but eventually got back to where we wanted to be after some very helpful cyclists and police officers gave us directions. Never again am I going to try and take a "shortcut" in that neighborhood again!

And Friday was my 23rd birthday! This was a weird year in the fact that there was nothing specific I wanted for my birthday. So I told my parents that I just wanted to spend a day in Seattle, going to used bookstores and Pike's Market Place and some other places. First we hit Uwajimaya - this huge Asian market that, among other things, sells pretty much every Asian tea under the sun. Me being the tea connoisseur that I am, I of course bought some special blends: cinnamon orange blend, moji raspberry blend, and chrysanthemum blend. Then we had lunch at Il Terrazzo Carmine - a very fancy and very good Italian restaurant. Italian food doesn't get much better unless you're in Italy. I had gnocchi with fresh mozzarella and a creamy red sauce, and a coffee mocha chocolate cream cake that provided a nice kick of caffeine to my system. Then we trotted over the Seattle Center food court so I could get some Pacific Saltwater Taffy at Seattle Fudge. It's a bit of a tradition of mine started years ago as a kid: whenever I go to Seattle for something other than an author event, I always get a bag of saltwater taffy from Seattle Fudge. Even at twenty-three, I'm not breaking that tradition. The crowning moment for the excursion, of course, was the Pompeii exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. I'm a sucker for history - especially Roman history - and I dragged my sister through the exhibit. It was really, really neat, and I was impressed at the amount of history knowledge that came back to me as I went through the exhibit. After that, we went to Magus Books and Ravenna Third Place Books.  Yes, I came away with several books. All of which you'll see in my May book haul, since I had to prerecord my April book haul before I headed to Nashville! All in all, it was a really, really good birthday. I love gifts and always appreciate the things people give me. But I've gotten to a point where memories make just as good a gift as physical objects. A concert, a good dinner, hanging out with friends and family in the city - going and doing things. Experiencing the world and building memories filled with adventure, love, and excitement. I've loved all of my birthdays, but this is one of my favorites.

Not so wonderful, though, was my relapse into illness. It wasn't a serious relapse, but it was enough to knock the edge off of me. And like the idiot that I am, I didn't rest as much as I should have. I have too much to do! And I couldn't miss swing dancing Tuesday night, which was when I had the relapse. It was my birthday week and I had to do the birthday dance. Yes, I so paid for it the next day. The relapse has mostly taken on the form of a wonderful cough that just won't go away. I have some disgusting syrup now to make it go away, and I'm desperately hoping that it will be nonexistent by the time I have to fly out. On reflection, it's ironic that every time I have attended a historical exhibit - the King Tut exhibit (twice) and now the Pompeii exhibit - I have been sick. Guess that's just my luck. ;-)

So, other than my trip to Nashville coming up, I've got some other fun upcoming things planned for when I get back. Obviously, I will have a very long post about my trip, and I am going to try and do daily updates my blog Curves In The Road while I'm in Nashville. But I will definitely do a master post on this blog when I get back.

May 10th a friend and I are going to the Lantern Festival! It's a huge event that takes place in several cities at once, with vendors and music and food - and at night everyone lights a bunch of lanterns and lets them go. It should be oodles of fun. May 5th I am meeting author Michael Buckley (The Sisters Grimm series), thereby fulfilling a lifelong childhood dream. And May 16th, I get to meet Kendare Blake for the second time and get the second Goddess War book signed!