ApollyCon Weekend!

It's been a while since I was able to attend a big bookish event, so you can imagine how excited I was to be attending ApollyCon last weekend! 

ApollyCon was a huge release day celebration for Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Return, a spin-off of her Covenant series. The event was organized by Damaris from Good Choice Reading, with help from Spencer Hill Press and a bunch of bloggers! I've got to congratulate Jennifer & Damaris - the event was great! I had a really good time, and no doubt many people felt the same.

I slept over at Rachel's on Thursday, where we got into some shenanigans (Look out for a new Books in Real Life this month!), and continued watching the first season of Magic Knight Rayearth. The next morning, we were up bright and early to make the drive down to Philly!

Hi Philly! 

the offerings at Reading Terminal Market

Reading Terminal Market || selfie time || Joseph Fox Bookshop

We made it to Philadelphia a little after lunch. Our first stop? Reading Terminal Market. It was crowded, but it was fun to wander and see all the different things on offer. We had chicken wings from Keven Parker's Soul Food Cafe, a strawberry, peach & caramel crepe from Profi's Creperie and took some donuts to go from Beiler's Donuts and Salads.

We also wanted to visit a bookstore, and at Jamie's recommendation, we visited Joseph Fox Bookshop to get our bookish fix. It might be a small space with an eclectic collection of reads, but I found a few things that just had to come home with me!

my new favorite DND sign || hotel selfie || how we spent the night

Since we had time to kill, we wandered around the area, ducking into a few stores to check out their stuff. I ended up buying a little make-up, and a few Lush products, which was a real treat. We drove to Embassy Suites, checked in, registered for ApollyCon and just relaxed for the rest of the night. 

mirror selfie || our matching wardrobe choices

hanging with Jamie, Betty & Rachel

The next day, we were up bright and early! After breakfast, we waited in line to visit the bookstore area, where we might've picked up more books... As we waited for the VIR signing, we hung out with Betty and Jamie. We spotted a whole bunch of bloggers we knew - Hannah, Vi, Bonnie, Katie, Jen, Rachel, to name a few - so that was a lot of fun!

Susan Dennard || Megan Erickson || Sarah J. Maas

The signing started a little early, which was great! Our little group made a beeline for Susan Dennard, who was as wonderful as always. It was nice to catch up with her! Afterwards, I made sure to say hi to Megan Erickson. It was our first time meeting, and she was lovely! After, I stood in line for Jay Crownover, who is certainly one of the coolest authors I’ve ever met. And then, the four of us joined the line for Sarah J. Maas, who was as lovely as always! 

We were about to hop the line for Jennifer Armentrout, but the authors were going to take their lunch break. The four of us wound up having a lovely lunch at the Ruby Tuesday's nearby, and it was great just to take a break and fuel up.

Betty had to head home, but Jamie, Rachel and I ventured back into the signing area. We chatted with Susan, and said our farewells to her, Sarah and Alex, before we escaped to the hotel room. We spent a few hours chatting and snacking, and it was really nice to relax a bit! 

with the guest of honor Jennifer L. Armentrout & cover model Drew Leighty

And then it was party time! We went down to the ballroom, and found it transformed with Greek-inspired decor, delicious goodies (particularly Jen's cupakes!), a DJ rocking awesome tunes and a dance floor! We chatted, we danced, we took lots of pictures, and it was simply a great way to end the day. I loved the celebratory vibe, and it was nice to be there to celebrate with Jen! Rachel and I wound up ducking out a little early (because my feet were in paaaain), but it was a wonderful party. Kudos to all the organizers for the hard work they did!

ApollyCon was a fun, and visiting Philly was a treat, but quality time with my friends was definitely the best part. Hope you enjoyed hearing about last weekend’s shenanigans!