My Chicago Recap and the One Author I totally Fangirled on!

Tours are fun, but there's something so great about being home.





I woke up this morning, and exclaimed to Sam, "Guess what??!!"





He's all, "What?"





And I go, "I get to wear sweats. SWEATS!!"





And then Sam doesn't say anything, but he speaks with his eyes, and they say, "I've never been more in love with you than I am at this moment."





Speaking of love, I fell in love with a city. Chicago. 





Did you know they have a HERSHEY'S store? And guess what's across the street:





They have this stretch of Michigan Avenue called the Magnificent Mile. But I kept calling it the Miracle Mile, much to our cab driver's amusement. I could tell he was amused not because he laughed, but because he kept clicking "up" on the fare meter. 





It cost us $7,240 dollars to get from the city back to our hotel. 





At one point, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour started, so we ducked into THE PURPLE PIG and ate at a communal table with seven strangers, stuck there to order food, eat the food, and find out what happens when people stop being polite... and start getting real. 





Here's a pic of me before the storm:



When Chicago and I were still on speaking terms
After the storm, and the Purple Pig, we went to the Navy Pier, where all of the stores were boarded up, and there were no people left. 



It was happening. In a hey-we're-the-only-people-here-except-for-the-scary-people-and-an-epic-amount-of-seagulls...
Saturday was the big Teen Day Festival. 





Here I am signing books in YA Alley:





The signing was alphabetical, so I got to sit between Jennifer L. Armentrout (Pure, Half-Blood, Obsidian)...





... and Jennifer Barnes (Raised by Wolves, Every Other Day)





Afterward I got to read a scene from EVERNEATH:





And I wish you could see the other authors at the table better. They included: Cynthia Hand (Unearthly series) Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss) Amy Plum (Die for Me) Veronica Roth (Divergent) and many others I can't remember off the top of my head. 





And for the BIG FINALE: Guess who I got to meet at the end? And yes, I totally fangirled all over her...





Here's a hint:









Any idea?





Here's another hint:













Yep. I met THE Francine Pascal!





I can't tell you how many of her Sweet Valley High books I read in elementary school. 





Remember this one?





When the studious twin, Elizabeth, gets in that car accident, wakes from a coma, only to start acting like her free-wheeling twin Jessica? They had to whack her up the side of the head to knock her sense back in, and then she returned to being the responsible twin and all was right with the universe again? 





Yeah. That. 





So, now I get a couple of weeks home, and then I'm heading off again, but to Las Vegas and to San Diego! 





I'll be in Vegas on May 3rd, signing books at the Barnes and Noble on Rainbow Blvd.





Then it's on to San Diego on May 5th at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore! (this one is early, at 11:00 am)





So, if you live near these places, come and see me! I'm giving away Dead Elvis guitar pick necklaces to anyone who gets their book signed. :)





Okay, that is the report so far. How are all y'all? Anyone going to the Las Vegas or San Diego event? Anyone remember Sweet Valley High like I do?