Big Pimpin' Up in NYC

"Yo yo yo.. big pimpin', spendin cheese. We doin' - big pimpin', on B.L.A.D.'s.
We doin'.. big pimpin' up in N.Y.C." Jay-Z, Big Pimpin'

Okay, so I probably won't be spending a whole lot of cheese - outside of what it's costing me to travel and stay there. I can forget eating!

Since I'm taking the train, I'm definitely not rolling on B.L.A.D's.

But one out of three ain't bad. Because next weekend, I will be big pimpin' at the SCBWI Mid-Winter's Conference in New York City.

I'm always psyched to hit NYC. Always!

It's been three years since my last visit, which is two years too long. In '03, I really was big pimpin'- meeting with an editor from ESSENCE magazine and an executive from Universal Music (um, no I'm not trying to cut a demo. I was doing a lot of music reviews at the time).

This time, it's more a low-key fam' trip with the conference serving as my primary purpose for going. All the while, hubby will be doing the Boys Weekend for Super Bowl in sunny (hopefully) S. Carolina. Of course. It's the manly thing to do on Super Bowl weekend. Not trek to some writer's conference with your wifey!

I'm hoping to get into the "Writing A Series" workshop being facilitated by none other than one of my fave authors, as a teen, Francine Pascal, Ms. SWEET VALLEY HIGH herself.

Another perk, Nikki Giovanni, my mama's favorite poet, will be key noting.

And while the Francine Pascal is what drove me to register for the conference, one of the things I'm looking most forward to, is introducing my daughter to New York.

By the time I was her age, I had already been at least a dozen times. It was nothing for my parents to hop in the car and say, "Let's drive to New York," like the place was down the damn road. Let me tell you, three and a half hours is NOT just down the road.

But they were road warriors like that.

Now, Princess A will get her first taste of the Big Apple at age 11 and Princess Bea will be getting hers at age 20 months.

Typical. Princess Bea has already been exposed to way more uppity crust stuff than any barely two-year-old should. And now New York.

We'll never be able to convince her that she's not a Princess, but merely the child of a Produce Buyer and an aspiring author.

Please feel free to pass along any good haunts I should check out. I've gotta show the Princessess a good time!

New Yorkin' it,
Paula