I arrived in NYC directly from Cincinnati (Segment 2, so titled and photo’ed), but the whirlwind that ensued after my arrival into town last Friday deserves its own blog post.

Spring has sprung in the city. Residents are clambering out of their skins to wear summer clothes, despite the lingering hint of chill in the air. The tulips are open fully and curtsying at the sun.

Day 1: Arrival, accommodations amazement

We stayed with friends whose apartment is on the 23rd floor of the clock tower in Downtown Brooklyn. We drank Pimms on the terrace and looked out on southerly view of the Verrazano Bridge.

The night progressed and so did our vantage point. We headed up to the 24th floor roof deck for a peek at the other side of the building, the night view of Manhattan.

Day 2: New Museum Festival of Ideas Streetfest

This event is the sole reason I’m on a booktour right now. Annie, who did a kick-ass job wrangling a bunch of amazing participants, asked me to be a part of the event when the planning was first underway last year. She called me on the phone and told me how much she enjoys making fridge pickles (a skill she’d picked up during my demo at Farm City in Brooklyn) and would I come to this festival and teach others how to do it, too. The answer: hell yeah!

HarperCollins got on board with the confirmation that they’d fly me out for it and then a tour eeked out as a result of proximity, luck and my mom’s flight miles.

My lady put together this post that features a few great photos from Saturday’s Streetfest (among other parts of our NYC trip)!

Day 3: BK Flea Spree at the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg

…wherein I hand over some cash to my blogger friends and almost buy a hipster jumpsuit. [I opted for a blueberry mint popsicle instead.]

Day 4: Eugenia Bone & Greenlight Bookstore signing event and craft project

Good thing I saved my money at the Flea because I was about 15 minutes early to my meeting with Eugenia Bone; she lives in SoHo, too near the Camper store for me to pass up. 

These are obviously a business expense. A girl’s gotta look hip for book tour events, especially on her home turf!

Eugenia made cappuccinos and sat with me for an hour offering up new author mentorship kind of advice. She even said the word ‘we’ and meant to include me in the statement, “…what we are doing [writing these kinds of books].”  I brought her an inscribed copy of the book almost exactly a year after I first visited her. She was such a help during my writing and she didn’t have to be so obliging, especially since she was on deadline herself with a mushrooms book (out in October).

Later that evening friends from all over NYC packed into Greenlight Bookstore for my reading/signing event.

Day 5: Meetings galore!

I bopped around to different areas of the city and met up with food swap host and new friend Emily, who happened to be in town from LA, my grants client in NYC (oh, income how nice it is to see you periodically!) and my fab agent, who helped me strategise for my blog and marketing priorities. Such a fast-paced, productive and stress-relieving day, despite my being 15 minutes late for 3/5 of my appointments for the day. I planned my meetings a bit too tightly together!

During my meeting with Agent Jason we had a look at the iBookstore, where my book will soon be available. iPads of the world, you too may view the HGGH!

In the late afternoon I met up with Sally, the creator of my blog crush, The Improvised Life blog. After a quick errand together in Chelsea Market, she took me up to the High Line. I was ashamed to admit that I hadn’t made it up there while I lived in the city.

We sipped tea and talked about book touring, honesty, what drives us, brain music and indexes. I think we will be friends for a long time. What delightful and utterly inspiring people I meet courtesy of the internet.

The last leg of my evening involved dinner with former landlord and friends at my old apartment in Brooklyn, but before that, I visited the families in Park Slope for whom I used to pick up their kids from school three times a week. My first book signing house call! The parents had bubbly and a little hors d’oeuvres spread set up for me and even an exciting new apron as a gift.

We sat around and talked and sipped as the sun set over the city.

A fine finish to another 8 days on the road!