BEA Recap - Pre, Post, and Outside of BEA Fun

Book Expo America is always TONS of fun, but part of that is the stuff that happens outside of the Javits Center. 

This year I ended up doing a few things I had been looking forward to. First and most fangirl worthy is that I got to see the Heathers Musical. 

My view of the stage! Incredible being THIS close.

Front row, baby

They also have a killer poster outside of the New World Stages theater that houses the production currently.

The second picture? Ran into the adorable guy who plays J.D. in the play outside after and he graciously signed my playbill. His name is Ryan McCartan. He was fantastic (as was Barrett Weed who plays Veronica).

I also had to snag some swag from the event. My personal favourite? How Very!

The play was amazing. They have a song called 'Our Love Is God' which happens to be one of my most favourite lines from the movie. If you're in NYC, check it out. It's funny, and captures the movie rather perfectly while becoming it's own thing. Bonus - the entire cast happens to be amazing.

I also went to a little place called Macaron Cafe, and purchased some DELICIOUS macarons.

Raspberry, Coconut and Chocolate Raspberry

I now need to find a place in Ottawa that has macarons this good. The coconut was probably my favourite, but all of them were delicious. 

No trip to NYC would be complete without visiting Shake Shack. It's delicious. I wish we'd get one here in Ottawa. I seriously crave this and countdown to when I can get my fix at next year's BEA.

I was also fortunate enough to be invited to a party hosted by the incredible ladies from Epic Reads. We got a goodie bag filled with some awesomeness.

Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez (goodreads)
The Invisible by Amelia Kahaney (goodreads)

The items came in a cute Harper Teen/Epic Reads tote bag. I love the Use In Case Of Feels tissues, and I can't wait to try the tea. Margot and Aubry are awesome. It was fun running into Jamie (from The Broke and Bookish/The Perpetual Page Turner) and Hannah (from The Irish Banana Review). The highlight though was meeting Jodi Lynn Anderson. Her novel, Tiger Lily, is one of my absolute favourites (pretty much EVER). I may have fangirled just a bit.

My last day there also included grabbing a drink with Kaiti from Harper Collins Canada as she happened to be in town. We met at Tir Na Nog and had a fantastic catch up. One of the highlights of the trip for sure.

So that is how I spent my non Javits Center time in New York City. I'll have my recap of day one tomorrow (and days two and three on Thursday).

Anything I should try to see/do while in NYC next year? Let me know. I love finding new things to try while on vacation.