day one hundred seventy-three.

ALA: night one
(friday)

jamie surveys the tote bag damage

this is the line to exit the exhibits (aka, swag carnival)
i was scolded by a security guard for taking a picture, and a man coming off the escalator near-shouted, "WHY? this is crazy, she should take a picture!"

jamie and i ran into GSLIS friend yasmeen on the way out, so the three of us, along with interns scott and jeremy, dropped heavy bags off at yasmeen's hotel and walked to dupont circle for dinner.

we ran into more GSLIS folks on the street (we are magnetic, i am telling you)

le pain quotidien, quinoa party
(home to this equally delicious former meal)
at that point, exhaustion was settling in on all sides.

the following number of books (22) were spread out in 2 bags that i somehow got home on the metro.

i am most excited for nicole krauss' new title, having read and loved her previous novels.

i also got a copy of mary roach's forthcoming book about space/astronauts and so far it is filled with her usual hefty combination of hilarity and fascination.

there was a price for all of this complimentary literature (nothing comes free):

i have developed a case of what jamie calls "conference shoulder"
(i reverted back to most of my usual pale overnight)

today was packed with friends, $3 diet coke, authors, and good food aplenty, but more on that later. my body is rebelling against remaining upright at this time.