Fun Times with Friends and Cons I'm Missing Out On

So my friend, SiriouslySirius, decided for her birthday celebration she wanted a Sailor Moon themed party. She requested every dress up in an outfit "inspired by" their favorite Sailor Moon character.

Watching Sailor Moon (photo courtesy of T1nk the C0n Fairy)

Ok, time for a geek confession: I've never watched the entire Sailor Moon series. I had previously watched about 3 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles, but never got around to watching the rest. Siris had requested we pick our two favorite episodes to watch at her party. H4773r mentioned the Sailor Moon abridged series and I managed to catch up on a few more episodes and feel like I had a better grasp on the characters. So I gave it some thought and decided on dressing up as Luna, because sometime I do like to pretend I-know-it-all. Unfortunately I didn't get my request in for episode in on time, but I would've gone with the very first episode where Luna is introduced. It's just so funny that she's derpy for those few minutes with the band-aid on her forehead.

I chose to wear a dark purple button down shirt, black skirt, black tights, black shoes, furry cat ears, and a fuzzy cat tail, complete with a drawn on moon in the middle of my forehead. I seriously debated on wearing a band-aid and just talking in a derpy manner all-night, but I liked the idea of having the moon better.

Luna inspired cosplay (photo courtesy of T1nk the C0n Fairy)

Siris has also requested that we try to bring in a Sailor Moon inspired dish. I really loved her suggestions, plus I thought it was pretty clever. Here's the list of them:

Sailor Moon: meatballs, dumplings, or Moonpies (because of her hair and what Tuxedo Kamen calls her)
Sailor Mercury: finger sandwiches (sandwiches are Ami's favorite food)
Sailor Mars: traditional rices (because she's a Shinto Priestess)
Sailor Jupiter: hot dog-octopus (because they're always a present in Makoto's bento boxes)
Sailor Venus: heart shaped cookies with yellow sugar sprinkles (because it would look like Minako's Love and Beauty Shock attack)
Sailor Pluto: pesto pasta (because she has green hair)
Chibi Moon: pink cotton candy (because "PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!"~exact quote)
Sailor Neptune: saltwater taffy (because Michiru is from the ocean)
Sailor Uranus: popcorn (because it's yellow...like Harukua's hair)
Sailor Saturn: it's a surprise! (because of Silence Glaive Surprise!)

I chose to make the pesto pasta. Another little known fact: I can't cook! I thought making pasta would be easy...first it started with finding the right ingredients. I have certain dietary restrictions (mostly by choice) and had a difficult time finding a gluten-free spinach pasta or a dairy-free pesto. I finally opted for a non-gluten-free spinach pasta, but did find a dairy-free pesto by. I came home to cook it...I didn't really have the time or patience for the water to reach a full boil. So it really became a guess of when it was done. When it was finally done I just poured the pre-made pesto over the hot pasta and called it done. Actually, I did add some white cannellini beans because I hate not having a protein option. From what I can tell it came out ok. People ate it. No one complained. No one was sick. I thought it was fairly bland. But whatevs.

Crappy photo of crappy pasta (photo courtesy of T1nk the C0n Fairy)

H4773r and I arrived a bit late, but the partiers hadn't gotten far into their series. We stuck around for a few episodes, but after a bit I realized that my day job was catching up to me and we called it a night. We did have a great time though.

There are some wonderful cons happening this weekend and unfortunately I won't be able to attend. First up is APE or Alternative Press Expo or, as I like to call it, Comic-Con's lesser know bastard cousin. I actually do enjoy APE, but I have found from previous experience there isn't much to do unless you really have money to spend. They do have a few panels and plenty of opportunities to meet your favorite webcomic artists in person, or other designers. But this isn't a cosplay convention and the panel listings are pretty light. Really I would go to this convention to meet my favorite artists and buy their products directly from them. As I'm pretty broke right now I won't be attending. If you've never been I suggest making a "San Francisco Day" out of it. Stop by APE, say hi to people, buy their wares and then take in a sight or two of the City. It's fairly inexpensive at $15 for the entire weekend, or if you went to San Diego Comic-Con International-it's free, and they do have a quite a few featured guests.

Also happening this weekend is New York Comic Con. I have never attended before as I don't live anywhere near NY. But I would love to attend some day. My favorite artists that I wish I could meet would be (in no particular order)
MC Frontalot (again)
Bryan Lee O'Malley
Stan Lee
Adam West
Bruce Campbell
Chris Columbus
Christopher Lloyd
Kevin Smith
Seth Green
Tom Felton
Adrianne Curry (again)
Anne Rice
Amber Benson

This con ranks up there with attending SDCC. I would venture to say NYCC is almost comparable to SDCC in that they have a ton of celebrities, a huge vendor floor and tons of panels to attend. Perhaps some other year.

Lastly, I will most definitely be missing the NorCal Renaissance Faire. It just isn't in the cards financially and scheduling wise for me to attend this year. I will sorely miss Moonie and Broon as well as the lovely Merry Wives of Windsor, two of my favorite acts. If you can, go for me and enjoy a pint of mead and turkey leg (even though I would never eat one).

So, what exactly will T1nk be doing in the future? Well, the reason why I won't have funds to attend much of anything this month is because I'm going to Disneyland for 4 days and enjoying (AKA paying extra) to attend Mickey's Halloween Party. H4773r and I have never been the Halloween party before and when a group of friends asked if we'd like to join them we didn't hesitate in saying yes. We already have annual passes and can enjoy the Halloween season anytime this month, but it will be extra special this year to attend the party. Our group is dressing up as cross-play Alice in Wonderland. I will be the Hattress and H4773r will be Alex (in Wonderland). I forsee having a wonderful time with plenty of pictures of costumes and character meetings.