Announcement!

As you may be aware.....my online status has been sparse as of late. However, the amazing response and encouragement I've received from you all has been staggering.

Due to the unplanned success of the blog, I've decided to take it off of Blogger (well, I'll still link back here for some content) and build my own site.

So, I'm knee deep in web design currently. Please be patient, as I plan to launch it very soon!


Keep your eyes peeled! It's gonna be awesome!



In the meantime, I have a new series of interviews in progress. I will be cataloging an interview set of cosplayers from brand new to seasoned. This series will launch next week.



So keep calm and GEEK ON!


See you all soon!

Philly Wizard World 2013: In Review

Philly Wizard World 2013: In Review

Okay, so now that it's been over a week of recovery from Philly comic con, I figured I'd give you all a little taste of what I experienced.

Off the bat, Wizard World cons are rather expensive compared to some. The hefty $90 price tag for a full weekend pass wasn't something I enjoyed, but I held out hope that it would be worth it.

We decided to stay in a hotel down the street to conserve a bit of money. Definitely got my leg and booty workout for the weekend, that's for sure! 8 blocks one way to and from the con everyday (plus a 10 block detour because I'm an awesome tourguide and we, uh, went the scenic route the first day.)
Note to self: make sure you know what street you're on before your confidently march off in one direction, in 90+ degree weather, in a city, in costume.
Back on track....

So, we arrived in the afternoon on Friday and got tattooed and suited up to cosplay the MacManus Brothers (or sisters, as our gender bending took it) from The Boondock Saints. 90+ degrees in the sun, in a black peacoat was......HAWT! haha. It was fun though. Aside from the neck tattoo melting a couple of times.

Norman Reedus, speaking of Boondock Saints, was there on Friday surprisingly, and we snapped some "DO NOT TAKE PICTURES" pictures.

Norman Reedus photo bomb! 

That was one thing that really surprised me about this con....how tight security was with taking pictures of the celebrity guests. They made you spend ridiculous amounts of money to get in line and get a picture taken with them, and then if you tried to snap a picture from outside of the line, you got in trouble.

I snapped this picture of Lauren Holly, and literally 5 seconds afterwards, was supermanned by a security guy telling me I can't do that!!!

Boooo freakin' hooooo.

And then, there was Kevin Sorbo.....

Poor Kevin Sorbo. I felt so bad for him. I never saw anyone in his line, all weekend long. Hercules needs some love people! I decided that I should come back and take these guys with me on Sunday to snap pictures with Sorbo.

Anywho....after wandering around and seeing all of the eye candy on Friday, we decided to head back to the hotel, change, and grab some necessary Philly cuisine.

CHEESESTEAKS! Pat's is the place to be. Aside from the lack of parking (summer time in philly = chaos), and the tree attacking the car, it was nomnomnomnom.

After cheesesteaks, the mister and I trekked off to get our nitrous fill with Fast and Furious 6. OMG! If you have not seen this movie yet, you absolutely have to. I sat in the seat afterwards literally laughing going "Oh. My. God!" Yes, it was THAT good.

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Saturday! I spent the morning getting dirty. Fake blood, dirt, everywhere. It was Lara time. :)
I was so excited to debut this cosplay.

I'll tell you....walking through the streets of downtown Philadelphia with a pick axe, a massive bow, and blood covered, makes for some very interesting looks from passersby. I was cracking up the whole way there. (and back).

We spent the day walking around, visiting other cosplayers we knew. Some great peoples included:
Spencer Doe
Nicole Marie Jean
Brian Terranova
Red Bettie
Bunny Greene
Aaron Chernak

Batsy......Stark.....

(Spencer Doe and KC Cosplay)

Brian Terranova and I

There were so many people there. It was fun. Lots of great merch to oogle too. We walked around snapping pics and posing with the best of em'.

Saturday after the con: Afterwards, we cleaned up (much needed from the dirt and blood situation) and headed down to Penns Landing for Water Ice and a little relaxation by the water.

Afterwards, we did what every person in Philadelphia HAS to do....we went to visit Rocky, and the art museum steps. 

Then this is happened:

We definitely got our workout! Hahahaha. Time to eat! We thought about seafood....English pub...hoagies....

Then we found the holy grail of bar food....The Drinkers Pub! Rum and Diet for me, Corona for the mister, buffalo fries and hot wings. SOLD!

Yeah, I'm a classy lady. What can I say. ;)

After we stuffed our faces we headed back to the hotel for a rooftop dip in the pool. If you've never experienced swimming on the roof of a hotel, you should do it. Like now.
And then. We crashed.

Although, the raccoon that lived in our room stayed up all night. He was a party animal.

Sunday, SUNDAY, Sunday! I was beat, still. I think I'm getting old. No cosplay today. But, sometimes it's nice to go in and observe instead of being observed. Dunkin Donuts for breakfast? Yes please! Australian accents all morning. Well, DUH!

Then it was off to play paparazzi:

Some more celeb "NO PICTURES PLEASE" pictures.....

John Barrowman.

Holly Marie Combs.

John Bernthall.

Brian Krause.

Whovian madness!!!

If you look really close, you can see that even Batman was in attendance. 

**Funny thing of the morning, upon entering the con....I was told by multiple people that I have a superhero walk, even when I'm not in costume. I'll take that as quite the compliment. A strange one. But, yep. Pretty nifty.

Spent the morning walking around, looking at people and pretty things. Waved a gentle goodbye to Kevin Sorbo....

hopped into my TARDIS....

And that's all she wrote.

Cheers,

~7

Body Type Love

I've always been one to embrace the "be yourself" card. I even went on national television a few years ago with Tyra Banks during her So What campaign to celebrate embracing yourself, flaws and all.

It was a very liberating experience. With that, I slowly started gaining more self confidence.

When I decided to get into cosplaying, I knew there were some looks, costumes, I'd never wear because I wouldn't be comfortable in them. But, as time went on, I started feeling even more comfortable in my own skin. As you've seen, this year......I've been in public in a corset, in a skin toned bodysuit, and other form fitting clothes. In previous years, I probably wouldn't have done that. It's taken a long time for me to get to where I am in loving myself.

I've heard so many people talk about how someone shouldn't cosplay a certain character because he/she doesn't have the right body type.

"She should be Ursula, NOT Ariel!" (heard that one personally. couldn't believe it.)

Here's the thing......perhaps that person is finally comfortable enough with who they are to portray a character that they love. Why should they be judged over it? Not everyone has 40DD's. Not everyone has a six pack. Not everyone can have children and bounce right back to a size 0. And THAT is okay!

We come together in our community to celebrate art, and love of our genres.

Think about this for one moment......what if you were put in a room with thousands of people, in something that makes you terribly uncomfortable, shows off perhaps the trait you don't like about yourself. How would you feel? Now imagine doing that, but loving yourself enough to strut and do it anyway and not care what anyone has to say about it. THAT is what we all need.

Take a lesson from these people that may not have your "ideal" body type for that particular cosplay. Love what you are, strut what you have, and have a damn good time doing it!

Cheers, 

~7