Other Things We Did in NYC

I now tell of all things not J.K. Rowling related that happened while we were in New York City.

Because I was nervous that our flight might be delayed (and we might miss our 7:00 PM event), I booked the earliest flight possible on Friday morning – 6:15 AM. Of course, the down side was that we had to wake up at 4:00 AM to get there on time. We got on the flight with no problems and made our way to New York. When we landed at around 8:00 AM, we got a cab at the airport (our first cab ride in NYC – not as exciting as it sounds). We were staying right across the street from Carnegie Hall, but we could not check into our hotel until 2:00 PM. So we checked our bags and randomly walked around the city. We saw St. Patrick's Cathedral...

The inside of the church is so beautiful. The Gothic architecture is stunning and the shrines around the sides are incredible. It's so wonderful that these older, historical churches are still around and thriving.

We then walked over to Rockefeller Center and took a peak at NBC Studios (and also found out that the show, 30 Rock, is not filmed there. Weird).

By this time, we were getting a little exhausted. We hadn't got a lot of sleep the night before and just wanted to take a nap in a comfy hotel bed, but it was only 11:00 AM and our room wasn't ready yet. Ugg. So we decided to sit around in Central Park for awhile. We sat on a bench for about a half an hour and chatted. As we were talking, I glanced over to the hot dog stand next to us and there was Jerry Springer buying a hot dog. I squinted to make sure that it was him and then pointed him out to Shawn. Other people on the street started noticing him and yelling, "hey, Jerry!" I didn't have time to snap a picture, but Shawn did say hello to him and engage in a short chat about the Indians.

Shawn: Hi, Jerry. Go, Indians.
Jerry: Yeah, that game last night was horrible, but we'll get 'em next time.
Shawn: I hope so.

Poor, Jerry. His prediction was woefully wrong, but it was nice of him to express his support for the hometown team (he is from Cincinnati, but since the Reds are out of the running he must be transferring his support to the Indians).

After our minor run-in with fame, we trudged over to Times Square.

Here's Shawn at the M&M store in Times Square...

Here's me in Candyland at the Toys 'R' Us in Times Square...

After we had killed enough time, we were finally able to get into our hotel room. Both of us took a much needed three hour nap and then woke to get ready to meet J.K. Rowling that evening.

The next morning, we slept in a bit, ate breakfast, and then checked out of the hotel. Neither Shawn nor I had ever been to F.A.O. Schwartz, so we decided to head over there before we had to catch a cab to the airport.

The store was really neat. They had a great selection and it was very different from other toy stores we had been to (it's much more upscale). We bought a set of Melissa & Doug nesting blocks for the baby's room.

Shawn also got to channel Tom Hanks by taking a spin on the giant floor piano (side note, if you wanted to buy this piano, it costs $250,000! This "toy" costs more than a house!)

We also saw some more famous people in the store. Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary was there signing his new children's book, Puff the Magic Dragon, and playing music. Here he is setting up (not a very flattering picture, sorry, Mr. Yarrow).

Then we ran into one of the biggest celebrities of all, Madeline, from the books of the same name. Here she is shopping (though notably absent are all her friends in the two straight lines).

The visit to F.A.O. Schwartz was not totally devoid of Harry Potter. They had a cool HP shop on the second level with great costumes, toys, and accessories.

Afterwards, we got in a cab to head over to the airport. Our flight left at around 4:30 PM and it was a pleasant trip home. Shawn and I got to read a little and nap. When the flight attendant came around with drinks, we both requested Diet Cokes. "You guys aren't on a diet are you?" he asked. "Not really," I said, "but all that sugar's not good for you." "Well," he said, "I hope you're not on a diet, you guys are the fittest ones on the plane." Thank you, kind sir! You have now gone down in history as the greatest flight attendant ever!

We landed back in Cleveland around 6:30 PM and made our way back home. Overall, the trip was great and we had a wonderful time. New York is a great city and we had a great time visiting! We're glad we got the exciting opportunity to meet J.K. Rowling and to experience NYC!

-- Lisa

Our J.K. Rowling Weekend

Before I forget, I wanted to record some info about our trip to New York City to meet J.K. Rowling. The event was Friday, October 19th at 7:00 PM at Carnegie Hall. We got there a little before 6:30 PM and the line to get in was literally stretched around the block. Luckily, they had assigned seats at random and we got to sit in the posh upper box and had a great view of the whole event. Here’s a picture of me with our “golden” tickets as we enter to be seated (I am also wearing my cool new S.P.E.W. shirt to voice my support for the rights of house elves).

Once everyone had settled in, Keith Olbermann (for some reason) came out to introduce her. After a few minutes of discussing the Harry Potter phenomenon, they played a short video about J.K. and then she came out to thunderous applause. The people at Carnegie Hall kept asking us not to take pictures, but no one was listening. Here’s a picture of Ms. Rowling on stage before she began to read.

She chose a selection from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – the scene where Ron rejoins Hermione and Harry in the woods after running out on them. After she finished reading, she took questions from the audience. The questions had been submitted in advance and the askers were seated right up in the front row. She gave some excellent answers and also dropped this little tidbit of information.

Following the question and answer session, they began to clear people out of their seats to line up to have books signed. Because we were on the second level we had to wait about an hour or so (though, as a sweet older woman sitting next to me said, “you could wait longer than this for a ride at Disneyworld!” So true, random lady. So true!). The signing moved extremely fast given the efficient assembly line like method the people from Scholastic had put in place. People shuffled past a table were Jo was signing the books and could say hello as their copies were signed. If someone lingered too long, the Scholastic folks would gently keep him or her moving. Here’s a picture of her signing books taken from our spot in the balcony.

As we were cleared out to move down into line, I started to get a little nervous. What was I going to say to her in my two seconds of allotted time? Hi, I like your books. Um, yeah, me and billions of other people. As I was turning phrases over in my mind we approached the table and I became a little starstruck (even though I am generally an extremely calm and cool person). Here was our exchange:

Me: (with a timid wave and smile) Hello.
J.K. Rowling: (pointing to my shirt and exclaiming) Oh, S.P.E.W.!
Me: (touching my shirt and smiling) Yeah… um…
Shawn: (to the rescue) Ms. Rowling, my wife just loves you.
J.K. Rowling: And I love her shirt!
Scholastic Representative: Don’t forget to take a signed book.
Me: (dazed) Um… ooops… thank you.

Yes, I totally blanked and almost forgot to take a copy of the book. Very smooth. Very cool. Luckily for me, Shawn was there to say something halfway normal and redeem my two seconds. I was also a little surprised that J.K. Rowling hadn’t seen a ton of S.P.E.W. shirts before. After all, I bought this shirt online from the Warner Brothers store, so certainly she had to give the okay for it before they produced it. But then again, she’s a busy lady so maybe she didn’t. I also did not realize that she was so passionate about the rights of house elves in real life.

Overall, Jo Rowling seemed like a super nice, funny, and down-to-earth person. You can tell she really enjoys meeting fans and talking with them. She seemed genuinely touched by everyone’s excitement and compliments. She shook hands with and hugged many people who expressed their gratitude and joy over these books. I was honestly moved by her deep appreciation for her fans.

And, as my dad said, we have now met our first billionaire.

Some more pictures from the event:

Outside Carnegie Hall on Friday morning...

Shawn and I in the balcony before the reading...

J.K. Rowling on stage answering questions...

Me holding my signed copy of the book outside Carnegie Hall...

Shawn holding our signed copies of the books back in the hotel room...

The page she signed in one of our books. You can see the small hologram over the picture. This certifies that our copy is authentic (that and I was there when she signed it)...

-- Lisa

Busy Days

We’ve been so busy lately that it’s been forever since we posted. Here’s what’s been going on at our house.

* The Indians are in the playoffs and we’ve hosted not one, not two, but five – count them – five! – family game-watching gatherings. They’ve been very fun and, with around twenty-ish adults and children at each event, actually haven’t been too loud or too insane.

* I posted my entire library online (you can see some of my books on the bottom right hand corner of this website). I also found out that 25% of my books have something to do with religion. Who knew?

* Shawn has been bowling every Monday night with my dad and some of their friends. He’s really enjoying himself and also bowling very well. 190 average – not too shabby!

* I’ve also been working to put together a Halloween costume for an upcoming work party. Some co-workers and I are going as books. I think I’m going to be Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I’ll post pictures of my costume and everyone else’s after Halloween. (Update: I changed my mind and decided to be Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care. You can see the pictures here).

* I saw an excellent production of Measure for Measure this weekend with my best friend, Kristina. This Sunday, we are seeing Arsenic and Old Lace, for which I also have high hopes.

* Shawn and I are also getting ready for our trip to New York City this weekend. We’re extremely excited and I even bought a cool new shirt to honor the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

So that and more has been going on. I promise to be back with lots of pictures from our New York trip and more goodies after this weekend.

-- Lisa