Where Were You?

[tangerinesidhe.livejournal.com]

We've all been talking a lot about HBP, and with good reason.

However, this post is not about the book itself. Instead, I was wondering where you were on Friday Night/Saturday morning. A lot of us must have attended amazing book release parties. So... how about it? Got any awesome stories to tell or pictures to share?

I attended the Barnes & Noble Midnight Magic party at the Union Square store, here in NYC. It was phenomenal. Aside from being stopped for countless photos, filmed/interviewed for various and sundry media outlets, and screaming like a crazy fangirl... I got to see/listen to JIM DALE! Also, a couple of my friends and myself got hit on by Hagrid *and* Dumbledore (creepy and amusing).

Oh... and all of that media attention I mentioned?
I and my friends are in the video on the Barnes & Noble website: Release Party Video (look for a bunch of Quidditch robes)

And, we made it into the NY Times
(My boyfriend screen capped the web page and uploaded the images here: NY Times HBP coverage
(I'm the one in the Slytherin Quidditch robes... )

So... think of this as a place to share about the cool things you did. If you want to share images though, I would ask that you link to them instead of putting them in the comments. We have members on dial-up, and they might want to read about your experiences without being bogged down by images in the comments.

:)

Destiny//Gryffindor Prefect

Comments

[unwoundfantasy.livejournal.com]

Someone flipped the brakers in our Books-a-Million, and the lights went out. I took the supreme opportunity to scream as LOUDLY AS I POSSIBLY COULD:

"TROLLLLLLLL IN THE DUNGEON!"

It was... fabulous. ^^

[memyselfandi87.livejournal.com]

lol

Priceless. XD

[soleil-luna.livejournal.com]

Haha, that's amusing.

[ohelectricshock.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHA you are my new idol *worship*

[caitlen.livejournal.com]

*laugh* That's a sheer stroke of brilliance, right at the appropriate moment :)

[bartendersgirl.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[aurora-borialis.livejournal.com]

That party looked KICK ARSE! OMG. I wish I was in NYC for that! I went to the "Midnight magic party" at my Barnes and Noble. it was a great time. We also saw an easter bunny...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v315/aurora_borialis/personal/AussPics784.jpg

Made everybody go "WTF?"

[memyselfandi87.livejournal.com]

I didn't go to a midnight party, as pathetic as I am. :-/

I got my book at about 9:30 in the morning from my Bookland... there were only two workers there (both wearing Gryffindor scarves), and no one was in the store that I could see. I was in and out in 30 seconds flat. :)

[ohelectricshock.livejournal.com]

sounds like mine. I would have loved to go to a big release party, alas my town is comprised of about 4000 people so yeaahh I had to go the next morning and get my book, how disappointing.

But I still got it! YAAY!

[ohelectricshock.livejournal.com]

P.S. Destiny, your Dumbledore icon is dancing exactly on the beat of the song I'm listening to, Pass the Courvosier. I'm having a laugh watching this.

[ledbylove.livejournal.com]

I went to the release party at The Grove in LA, though I spent more time in Morel's eating and having alcohol than at the actual party. And I didn't get many pics. One friends photos didn't turn out at all and the other friend who took one of me hasn't posted hers yet.

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

Dude, there was a release party at the Grove? ARG. I should have gone - that's totally local for me (like, 15-30 minute drive) :( This is what I get for being a lame, sit-at-home fan D:

[ledbylove.livejournal.com]

duuuude you could have met ME and *baps* done the big contest!

also, I totally didn't know you even lived in LA!

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

Hee, technically, I don't, but you might as well say I do (I live in the Big Urban Area That Is Not Really LA, But Everyone Just Calls It That Anyway). And I'm going to UCLA right now :)

Well, at least I got a whole bunch of pictures colore for the icons! :)

[ledbylove.livejournal.com]

well technically I live about an hour north of LA :P and I work at UCSB

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yeah - I thought I saw that in your info when I was poking around the other day for an addy to send the big pix to. I'm iffy on my CA geography, but I was pretty sure you weren't that close ^.^;;

Oh well, I suppose there'll also be a big hullabaloo over the GoF release in the fall...which I'll also avoid (if I know what's good for me) :D

[ledbylove.livejournal.com]

oh come now.. you know you want to go in costume with the rest of us nerds :P

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

But see, I have no costume :D Just an old graduation robe somewhere, and that's not even black (it's blue - no, I'm not going to do a Ravenclaw Quidditch player). I suppose I could always wear my red wig and be a random Weasley. Or the blonde and be a Draco in Muggle clothing. Or the brown, add 'Puff colored clothing, and be Cedric. Ooo... embrace my inner 'Puff ^.^

[ledbylove.livejournal.com]

I don't have a costume yet, but a friiend is making me one and I just bought a tie and a prefect button for the party at The Grove

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

ARG. I do anime cosplay at conventions and that's it, really! And I don't go to midnight showings/releases/what-have-ye. I swear. You can do absolutely nothing to convince me. ::stands resolute with wobbley lip::

[laynie.livejournal.com]

Well I have a job selling merchandise for a guy named Donny Osmond (at his concerts). So I was in Oklahoma City finishing a show. The bus was very late rolling out (1am)...so late that the driver wouldn't stop. So I stayed up, drank too much, watched "Troy" until the satellite died, and sulked. I complained to everyone on the bus and was a very sad little girl.

Well Saturday morning the bus pulls into Nashville and all I hear is "She better haul ass!" So I pull my bunk curtain back, roll out of bed, and go "Harry Potter what?!" Well, turns out, we had parked in the parking lot of a Border's bookstore. Everyone was making fun of me cause I grabbed my suitcase and my briefcase and hauled ass into the bookstore.

I still wanted to go to a party. I'll make up for it when the movie comes out...

[hxcpunkchick.livejournal.com]

I went to the release party at Joseph-Beth with Lori (Gryf) and Denise (Puff). I was dressed in my Slyth robes (I made my own patch even! But I don't have pics yet.) and Lori had on the shirt I made for us. It was red and in gold puffy paint said "Lori" on the front and "I'm the Half-Blood PRINCE" on the back.
We had tons of fun, though none of us pre-ordered or even bought the book there. I forced them to sit through the Costume Showcase they had because dang it! I wanted tha piece of paper! I got booed, then people I didn't know cheered for me, so the booers booed louder, cheered louder, etc...it went on for about a minute. It was funny. I got asked 2 stupid questions, but it was still fun. Tried to take a picture of the funniness that was Harry Potter tent (the books were under it for those who didn't pre-order) being in the Christianity section, but couldn't zoom out that far and going to the other side (it's a 2-story place) of the upper level would have been too far away to read.

[caitlen.livejournal.com]

No pre-release party down here, as where I am the book as released at 7:01AM. However, despite having been sick and off work for two days, I did indeed get to my bookshop early - earlier that the bookseller! And then.. AND THEN!!

I got to open The Box of Books :D

Made my day.

Actually, that did make my day until I did a bog lap around the block and drove in front of the Dymock's store, where there were about 25 people waiting out the front still, holding my book out the window, beeping my horn (to get their attention obviously!) and yelling "HARRY POTTER YEAH!!"

Oh, that was sweet

[xstandonatablex.livejournal.com]

I went with a friend and her older sister.

At 9.30 we got to see two guys walk past with copies of HBP. Karen and I did a double take and followed them. As soon as we turned to report them, this woman half their size appeared out of nowhere and grabs them by their arms. Later, we found her and asked her what happened. Apparently they had to give up their books, possibly pay a fine (not sure on that one), and Scholastic wouldn't sell them books for a long period of time.

But for the rest of the night, here's the place:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/xstandonatablex/52622.html#cutid1

[ciorstaidh.livejournal.com]

I didn't go to any big release party, as they were all in central London and going to be rather crowded (I have claustrophobia...so going to Waterstone's on Oxford Street would not have been a good idea!!)

Instead, I stayed over at 2 friends' in South East London and we went shopping to the ASDA-WalMART nearby - it was their Friday shop anyway. Which was fine. They didn't do anything fancy, just played Big Ben's chimes and then Hedwig's theme. Mind you, they then played "Thriller," (which we reckoned was for Reeeeeeemus!) "Monster Mash" (couldn't work that one out...but was obviously the Inferii) and other music. However, we had to queue for an hour to pay (with our frozen stuff defrosting) because they only had three till operators on. On Harry Potter night??? Idiots.

So, that was our release "party".

[ex-songshee.livejournal.com]

I....

was at college orientation.

-.-

[theropicus.livejournal.com]

A good reason to miss the release! Me? I'm a lazy bum who stayed at home, going online and reading fic :)

[possibilities.livejournal.com]

After I filled my Big Tim (a travel mug about the size of my *head*) with coffee, I went to a corner store that was selling the book. But they put a REAL STUPID PT IDIOT on, who didn't realize he was supposed to sell the books and wouldn't get them out of the storeroom.

So, I went to the smallest bookstore, a Coles that was open but not having a real party. I got there around 12:25. Thank god. There was still a line-up. There was noise. I wouldn't have been able to wait to get the book if I had arrived any earlier. I spent it with my ears ccvered, rocking back and forth, and supremely pissing my mother off. Not fun. I hate crowds and noise.

But I managed to get the book and eventually calm down enough to read it, so it's all good.

[linessa.livejournal.com]

I went to the B&N release party in Baton Rouge, which was pretty lame. I wore a tye-dye shirt that said "I'm trying to fit in with the Muggles" on the front. A few people loved my shirt. Anyway, so I showed up at 6, waited in line for 45 minutes just to get my number (103 of the reserved copies). Right after that, I went to go pick up my friend. As she is about to be a sophmore in high school, she can't drive. I can, so I went to pick her up, and she wasn't dressed up. Well, since the B&N party was really lame (the reader they got wasn't loud enough and his voice annoyed me) we went to Marble Slab and Jason's Deli (in that order). It is lucky that the B&N is located in a very nice spot, there is a movie theater right next to it and resturaunts all over, all within walking distance. I bet you that a lot of people got their number and saw a movie to kill time. Well, anyway. My friend had a friend that was working at this movie theater and so we went and hung out there for a bit. She let us into a movie, which we only saw half an hour of b/c then we had to meet up with her friend who was getting off at 11. So all three of us started hanging out, and we met up with a couple of guys. One was someone who worked at the movie theater and another used to go to the high school i went to. Well, anyway. So we all hung out for a bit and all of them got very late numbers. I ran into some friends and talked to them for a bit, but we split again and I hung out with the crew from the movies. So I was like the 3rd person to get my book in the music section. It was awesome. So I was walking down with my book and got a bunch of stares, but I shocked myself by not reading it at all till i got home (2 in the morning). I stayed at the B&N till 1:30 so that my friend could use my B&N members card for a discount (I need to get my money's worth somehow). So yeah, when I got home, I read till 4 in the morning and slept. I couldn't finish till like 6 yesterday afternoon because my best friend came back into town on saturday. So yeah, that was my day. I wish I had taken a few pictures, but oh well. It was fun.

[weemumlessmngrl.livejournal.com]

I was at the B&N Midnight whatever-the-hell-they-called-that-party here in Amarillo, Tx. It was actually pretty cool. We didn't have a lot of actual characters- a ton of Harry Potters, of course, including their own staff member.. who was flamboyantly gay and mexican, which pissed off some annoying little fangirls whom I wanted to kick so badly. We also had a Trelawney, who threatened to put me in detention for copying my quiz answers off of the guy I went there with (which was NOT FAIR since we walked around and I had him write down my answers since he didn't know them XD). And, the coolest was Moaning Myrtle, who walked around complaining very, very loudly about everything.

Anyway, so we had about five hundred people there and it took me thirty minutes to get my book paid for.

Then I went home, went to sleep, woke up five hours later to go to work, and yeah.

[chavalia.livejournal.com]

I didn't go to one. Sad. But I was hope late enough that I should've went! Wow, your Quidditch costumes are AWESOME! Did you make them?

[tangerinesidhe.livejournal.com]

My friend Adrienne made them. She's awesome like that.

[mycenae.livejournal.com]

I went to the San Diego Gaslamp Borders after a long day of Comic-Con for the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince release party.

I learned that sometimes you run into very unexpected people (not JKR, not that unexpected) when you go to the San Diego Gaslamp Borders after a long day of Comic-Con for the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince release party.

There was a local news crew interviewing the becostumed. There was a trivia game going on for...something. And then there was OMGOMGOMG (http://www.livejournal.com/~mycenae/94900.html). That links to my rather, er, enthused LJ post immediately after returning from Borders.

[thefaeriegirl.livejournal.com]

OHMYJOSS. What a story!

Did you go to the WB presentation for GoF on Friday?!

[-meow-mix-.livejournal.com]

One of my LJ frined who just moved to New Orleans from Florida decided to go to Barnes & Noble for the book release, so she swung by to pick up another Lj friend, then started on the 30 minute trek to pick me up. They missed my exit and ended up in Mississippi, so, in trying to find a way to turn around, they got stuck in the median. So, around 2 ,we made it to Barnes & Noble, only to be turned away b/c they had closed.

heheh.

[rndroponyernose.livejournal.com]

I went to the opening in Albany, New York, where I met a bunch of my friends. I was dressed as Harry from the PoA cover. My friends and I goofed around, got faces painted, wands made, had a wizard's duel. We discovered you can undo an accidental Avada Kedavra on your new friend from Connecticut with a "reparo".
And I got my picture taken with an employee dressed up as Gilderoy Lockhart. I was going to take a picture of Lucius Malfoy, until I found out it was a woman, which somewhat ruined my lust.

[fallohidepride.livejournal.com]

Regarding the Female!Lucius: Oh, squick.

Regarding the reversible AK: Hee.

Regarding your icon: LOVE!

[bloodied-aura.livejournal.com]

Whoah! That's very cool, but my true "Whoah" is for your costume!!
*jaw drops*
If you don't mind my asking... how? Where? Did you make it? If so, I declare you THE TEXTILES GODDESS

Yeah.. I had to say it, because it is just too awesome.

[tangerinesidhe.livejournal.com]

My friend Adrienne did most of the work on most of the costumes.

I'm going to be making Gryff PoA Quidditch robes though for the GoF movie. :)

My friends and I are a bunch of knitting, sewing, costuming fools.

[bloodied-aura.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see.

Hehe, sounds awesome... I wish I could do stuff like that... O_o

But what better way is there to be??

Cool!

[crazedgodricfan.livejournal.com]

Hey, how do I get sorted into a house??

Re: Cool!

[tangerinesidhe.livejournal.com]

Please visit platform_934, read the rules, and fill out the application found in the user info.

We love to have new members. :)

--Destiny//Gryffindor Prefect