For the last two days, several members of the Bookmans staff and myself have been setting up our booth at the 2010 Phoenix Comicon at the Phoenix Convention Center. A lot of time and love has gone into the decision making that it required to come up with the really cool items that we will have available for the convention attendees.

This year everyone will be spinning our prize wheel, hoping to win one of our exclusive Bookmans Phoenix Comicon t-shirts. My favorite part? It's always free to win Bookmans schwag! What I am really looking forward to over the weekend is to see months of planning come together for the First Annual Kids Need to Read Geek Prom that Bookmans is sponsoring.

The weather could not have been more inviting last week at Margaret T. Hance Park in Central Phoenix where we celebrated the 2010 El Dia De Los Ninos. This event has been celebrated since 1925, El Dia De Los Ninos translates to Day of the Child. The day recognizes children, pays homage to their importance in society, celebrates diversity, and teaches the children about how to become a strong community member. I never grow tired of book bag decorating with kids, it is so much fun to watch their spirit come alive and their creativity flow. Check out our Flickr photos here.

Rain or shine, thousands of Phoenicians came out to visit the 2010 M7 Street Fair! Awarded with the honor of “Best Neighborhood Street Festival” by the Phoenix New Times in 2009, the 9th Annual Melrose on 7th Street Fair was full of fun, family, and community! Starting on 7th Avenue and Indian School everyone walked down the street filled with a local market of artists, food, children's activities, live music, street performers, and a collectible car show. Walking down the street I spotted Kimber Lanning of Local First Arizona, Kathy Cano-Marillo, the “Crafty Chica” and local celebrity Brad Perry performing live music in front of Two Hippies Breakfast Joint. I tried so hard to resist the mouth watering smell of kettle corn, lemonade, and pulled pork sandwiches.

During the month of January Bookmans Phoenix and Bookmans Mesa raffled off a staycation package to our customers. Hundreds upon hundreds of entries flooded in from all over the Phoenix metro area! Congratulations to Jessica W. from our Phoenix store, who was surprised to win a 2 night stay at the Clarendon Hotel, dinner at Gallo Blanco, tickets to the Phoenix Art Museum, the Heard Museum, a $25 spa gift card, and some delectable delights from Wei of Chocolate! We hope that you enjoy your weekend away from home Jessica, and thank you to everyone who entered. This was just one of our many ways to give back to our customers. We appreciate all of your kind words and support that makes Bookmans feel like home.

It's 2010 and the year of the tiger. The origins of the Chinese New Year celebrations were born out of fear and myth. Legend spoke of the wild beast Nien (also the word for "year" in Mandarin) that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used to scare the beast away, and thus, Chinese New Year celebrations were born.

This weekend, Bookmans Mesa celebrated the beginning of the Chinese New Year with an awesome in-store bash. To celebrate such a festive holiday, one must look the part. We were joined by Dawn from "Shys Designs," whose extraordinary face painting talents at face painting transformed all of our faces into tigers of all colors and stripes.

It was a healthy and stress-free day on Saturday at Bookmans Mesa.

First, Infinite Wellness Chiropractic was in-store offering FREE five minute chair massages. Their highly-trained staff demonstrated how a relaxing massage can contribute to a healthy lifestyle. After each massage, customers enjoyed a bottle of water to rehydrate and given the opportunity to have any of their questions answered by the staff.