I LEFT MY HEART (and a trail of cupcake crumbs) IN SAN DIEGO

Yes, I know in the original song the guy left his heart in San Francisco, but I'm thinking maybe he hadn't been to San Diego yet. (No offense Frisco!) This last weekend I had the opportunity of hanging out at the American Library Association's mid-winter conference and Gerhardt and I had a chance to explore the city a little. We barely scratched the surface and I hated to leave... especially since I returned to snow. (I've got nothing against the lovely white stuff as long as it stays where it belongs: in the mountains and off the road!) San Diego was downright balmy and it was great to be able to stroll around the Gas Lamp district with no winter coats. Part of that strolling involved shops and restaurants. Okay, most of that strolling involved shops and restaurants.
These ladies rock!One of my favorite shops was Carolyn's Designer Resale, where a girl can find every designer purse known to womankind and some fabulous clothes. Oh, those gals are nice! And they didn't laugh at me when I realized, even at a bargain I couldn't quite afford that Coach purse that kept calling, "Buy me, Sheila!" I resisted, but it was hard. And they tried hard to find me a bargain I could take home. I left empty-handed, but like the Terminator said, "I'll be back!"

Heaven, I'm in hog heaven! I'll take one of each... and a bottle of Tums.

Remember the scene from "The Family Man" when our hero wandered into the men's department at the mall and stood poised on the verge of purchasing a designer suit? His wife consoled him with the promise of a funnel cake. Well, since I couldn't swing the designer purse I consoled myself with cake, also - a cupcake from Heavenly Cupcakes. And the one I chose (vanilla-caramel) was, indeed heavenly. It was hard to make a selection though. So many choices, so little calories to spare!

A message that I should spend money?So, in spite of strong temptation in the shop windows, I managed to limit my spending to fine dining. San Diego is restaurant city, let me tell you, and offers a range of dining experiences from "We have to sell a child to pay for this" to "I'm going to die in this hole in the wall with a smile on my face." We pretty opted for the small authentic holes in the wall and burned out our taste buds on Mexican food.
So, do I have you yearning for a trip to San Diego yet? I'm sure ready to go back and thinking some California book signing parties might be in order in sunny CA later this fall when my next Christmas book comes out. (Yes, I am becoming the queen of Christmas!) So, a big thanks to St. Martin's Press for letting my hang out at their booth and give away books. And a big thanks to all those librarians for making sure that anyone in America can have access to the wealth of knowledge and adventure that can be found in books.
How fun to meet so many wonderful librarians!