Author: coffeeshopcynic

Creative Ink 2018: or how I found my passion again

- coffeeshopcynic

I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since I was a strange five-year-old writing stories way too mature for my age. I’ve gone through many different genres and mediums of writing over the years, but I always knew that I just wanted to write.

Then I went to film school for screenwriting and after an intense year of doing nothing but writing, I kind of just stopped. I mean, I still write of course. I do write blog posts for a living as well as running this blog and writing fanfiction from time to time, but I stopped seeing myself as a writer. Don’t get me wrong, I loved film school, but after a year of hearing how hard the industry is and burning myself out, I needed a break.

So when Sandra told me about the Creative Ink Festival years after I graduated from film school, I felt like a fraud going. It’s a writing festival and I felt like I wasn’t a writer. I couldn’t deny it sounded really cool though so I let my friends talk me into it. I can wholeheartedly say I regret nothing. Not only did I feel completely at home there, I felt a passion for writing again that I haven’t felt in a long time.

The weekend started with a master class with C.C. Humphreys, where he taught us the secret of writing. What is it, you ask? The secret is “writing is writing”, but shh don’t tell anyone. It was so lovely to start of a great festival with such an information-packed class.

The rest of the weekend was filled with so many great panels. I learned about everything from writing routines and how to finish what you started to things like finding your writer’s voice and podcasting. I got so many pages of notes I can’t wait to go through again and apply to my writing.

I’ve never seen a more encouraging and inclusive group of writers than I did at the festival. All the panels were postive and informational and left me feeling like I wanted to go write all the things!

Between listening to all the panelists, speaking to other writers, and spending time around the guests of honour (C.C. Humphreys and Kevin Hearne), I’ve found my passion for writing again and I’m ready to take on this so-called writer’s block!

It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets a Shoe to the Face

- coffeeshopcynic

It’s been over a week since we got back from Emerald City Comic Con and I’m not even sure if I’ve processed it all yet. To say I was nervous and stressed out over the whole thing would be an understatement. I had been freaking out for weeks beforehand, not only that I wouldn’t finish my cosplays in time, but also that the large crowd of people would make me panicky. I’ve been to conventions before but this was the biggest one yet. Not only was I fine, but I had the best time I’ve ever had at a convention.

I’ve already talked about three of my cosplays in my previous blog post, and they all ended up turning out really great even if I was worried about wig styling, but now I’m excited to be able to talk about the dress I wore on the Saturday. This dress was really a dream come true. It was loosely based on the idea of a Princess Leia/Cinderella mashup but we generally just called it Disney Princess Leia for anyone that asked.

I’m not really sure how I decided to do this but sometime last year I was on Pinterest and saw a bunch of Leia artwork and one was Leia drawn in Disney Princess style and I knew it was something I had to do. So I recruited Julia as my only slightly reluctant accomplice and started in on what was going to be my biggest project to date. I took a pattern I already owned (for another ballgown I swear I will make one day) and altered it to fit my vision. We ended up adding more panels of fabric to the skirt as the original pattern wasn’t meant to go over the hoop skirt I was planning on wearing underneath it. Sleeves were added at one point and some things that were a part of my original vision were let go. This dress took months out of my life and probably gave me some grey hair while I was at it, but I can’t even begin to explain how worth it, it all was.

It was a childhood dream come true to walk around in a gown and very sparkly heels all day. Julia was dressed as my Prince Charming Han Solo (her idea guys, I swear!) and we were stopped so many times for pictures. Hell we even did a mini photo shoot on the stairs in our hotel. I had a lot of Cinderella feelings okay. I say this every time I cosplay at a con but there’s something really magical about having tiny children come up to you and get really excited about your costume. I had so many little girls ask me to take a picture with them. Normally, I’m terrible with kids but as soon as I’m in costume I weirdly seem to be able to handle them. I even met Jennifer Morrison while wearing the dress and she said I looked gorgeous. Yeah, I’m really surprised I could say words after that.

All in all it was an amazing con and an amazing experience. But I’m sure you have one more question. What the hell is the title of this post talking about? Well, after a whole day of wearing my sparkly heels, I was very excited to kick them off and I accidentally kicked too high and hit our friend Katherine in the face. Yup, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have one klutzy moment.

And now I start preparing for the next con.

The Wait is Over: The Journey to ECCC

- coffeeshopcynic

I’ve been planning for Emerald City Comic Con for months. Ever since I ended up not being able to go last year, I wanted to make sure that this year’s was amazing. So I’ve worked my ass off on planning my cosplays to make sure that they’re awesome.

So Thursday I’ve got Rose Tyler, which was a fairly last minute addition when David Tennant and Billie Piper were announced and we decided to go for an extra day. I’m decently happy with it, even if I feel like a Barbie doll with long blonde hair, wearing that much pink. The eyeliner has been fun, though. Hello teenage years, how I didn’t miss you but your eyeliner was fun.

Friday’s cosplay is one I’ve been trying to do for the past year: Hoth Leia. I tried to do it last year at ECCC and wasn’t able to because I got sick and ended up having to stay home. Then I tried again for FanExpo Vancouver last year and had a wig malfunction last minute. I’m not going to lie, I’m not happy with how the costume has turned out but my friends and girlfriend have been trying to convince me that it’s fine and I should just wear it anyways. I guess I’m just disappointed because Empire Strikes Back has been my favourite movie since I was a little girl and I really want to do this costume justice.

I am dying to talk about Saturday’s cosplay but I’m keeping it a secret until the convention (except to all my poor friends who must be beyond sick of hearing about it). Don’t worry, I’ll talk all about it in the second part of this blog post that I’ll publish after ECCC is done. All I’ll say now is that five-year-old Alicen would screech with joy if she knew twenty-three-year-old Alicen was going to end up making this costume.

Lastly, Sunday’s cosplay is another one I’m super excited for (in theory): Punk Leia. I saw some amazing Punk Leia art on Pinterest ages ago and have wanted to do a cosplay inspired by it ever since. However, it didn’t actually become a part of my ECCC plans until a couple months ago. Before that I had even more ambitious plans, that I’m really glad I talked myself out of. Anyways, I don’t know how I feel about this costume right now. I’m having some wig issues because I am completely useless when it comes to hair (and I won’t even have anyone with me that is useful with hair). At this point I’m basically going to wing it and hope to hell it works.

Stay tuned for both pictures from Emerald City Comic Con and the blog post I’m going to be writing afterwards.

This is Fine: or my life is a meme

- coffeeshopcynic

Back when I was still working at Starbucks a coworker and I used to reference this meme all the time.All we’d have to say is “this is fine” and we’d both burst out giggling because we knew that meant things were anything but and what else could we do.

I haven’t worked at that job in eight months but I still reference it frequently. You’re probably all asking, “Why are you rambling on about this Alicen?” Well, because I’m stressed as hell and if I can’t laugh about stupid memes I’m just going to curl into a ball and not move for the next two months and that isn’t going to help anybody.

Why am I stressed? Oh man, there’s a whole list. Emerald City Comic Con prep, making wizard robes for friends, and my neck being out are just a couple examples but you know what? It doesn’t matter why I’m stressed. Life is freaking hard people and we could complain all day about it but I’ve decided to laugh over stupid memes instead.

So what memes get you guys through stressful times? Feel free to share them with me.

Coffee Shop Cynic and the Quest for Romance: or how Alicen almost chopped off her finger

- coffeeshopcynic

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and honestly, Valentine’s Day is often something that slips my mind because A. usually I’m single and B. It’s in the middle of February which is my crazy cosplay deadline month. Last year my partner and I went all out but this year we’ve decided to just watch movies at home instead. That still didn’t stop me from trying to do something romantic. Yeah… that went well.

It started a couple weeks ago when I was looking at the Hot Topic website for jewelry for the secret cosplay I’ve hinted at before. Couldn’t find what I was looking for but I did find these adorable rings that would be perfect. It’s a ring set and they only come in one size: one ring is a man’s size and the other a woman’s. Well that got me on a whole rant about heteronormativity, but that’s a rant for another day.

I was mad that the Hot Topic ones only come in those sizes so I searched the internet for similar rings, unsuccessfully. Anything I found was either going to take too long to get here, was too expensive, or had the same sizing problem. I was about to give up until my friend, Vanessa, gave me a shred of hope.

I ranted to Vanessa about it and she suggested that I still get the rings because I can get spacers to make the big one smaller. One call to Hot Topic to get the rings set aside, and one amazon order of ring spacers later, and I’m all set.

The next day I go to pick up the rings, barely looking at them, while rushing to get out of Hot Topic before I A. spend too much money and B. have Star Wars mansplained to me again by the guy who works there.

I get the rings home and notice that the size 7 one is pretty small. That’s the one I’m going to be wearing and I have pretty big knuckles. I know once I get rings on past my knuckles they’re usually fine. So I get it over my knuckle and it’s way too tight.

No panic. I go grab the soap and attempt to get it off. Nothing. Grabbed the lotion. Nothing. Now I’m starting to get a little concerned so I text Andrea while I also google “how to get a stuck ring off”.

I found this article and started following the advice on it. Tried oil–nothing. Tried icing and elevating the finger and ring for ten minutes. Didn’t work. I was running out of options. I started joking with Andrea about just chopping off my finger but she wouldn’t let me. So instead I tried the last suggestion on the list that I could do myself. I slid dental floss under the ring and wrapped the end closest to the top of my finger around my knuckle to compress it while I slid the ring off. Or at least I slid the ring off in theory. It didn’t work… cue me hysterically laughing.

I was pretty tempted to just grab my biggest knife but I’m the only one who thinks that was a good idea so I grabbed my coat and started heading to the mall instead.

Once I got to Brentwood the first jewelers I saw was Michael Hill. I walked in there hoping they could help me and was sorely disappointed. The one woman didn’t even look up at me, she just kept asking me if I’d tried soap or lotion. The other woman started freaking out saying, “Oh my god, it’s so swollen! I don’t want to hurt you! I can’t even look at it!” I knew no one there was going to be any use to me so I kept wandering the mall.

There’s two more jewelry stores in Brentwood so I looked in both and walked into Rodan. The store was full of suave men who were more than willing to help me. I calmly explained the situation while one of the gentlemen cut off the ring. Okay, that’s a lie. I totally sounded hysterical while I was ranting the entire story at him. He just kept calmly trying to cut off the ring. At one point I remember saying, “And I just wanted the rings for cosplay!” and he just calmly replied, “I don’t know what that means, ma’am,” and kept sawing away at the ring. I’m sure he’s been telling his friends about the weird woman who he had to cut a ring off of who wouldn’t shut up about heteronormativity and cosplay. Anyways, because the ring was cheap, he couldn’t put it back together and resize it but he did file down the cut edges for me and reshape it slightly so I can wear it.

I barely lasted two days before telling Julia this story. Forget surprising her for Valentine’s Day, this story was too ridiculous to not share. However, it doesn’t end there. Not long after I told Julia the story we were doing a trial run of said secret cosplays and I grabbed our gloves so we could put them on. It took me a moment but I looked down at our hands and started hysterically laughing. The rings were for nothing because we’re wearing gloves! Sigh. At least it makes a good story. Also, I’m stubborn as hell and we’re totally wearing the rings over the gloves.

Welcome to 2018 (I say a month late)

- coffeeshopcynic

Life is crazy, we all know that. I’m sure I don’t have to explain how busy I’ve been because most of us are in the same boat. So, that’s my lame explanation for why this post is a month late. Besides, I’m choosing to believe that 2018 starts in February. January is just the free trial month.

I stopped using the term “new years resolutions” years ago. I always found it just led to me setting myself up for failure. So now I just set myself goals. I know, it’s not all that different, but it just seems like less pressure. I have three categories of goals this year: personal, professional/cosplay, and writing.

I’m not going to get too into my personal goals this year because they’re well, personal, but there are a couple I will mention:

  • spend less time caring what people think
  • get A1C down (average blood sugars — I’m diabetic)
  • don’t let the little things get to me as much

My professional goals this year are mainly to do with my own business, as well as my cosplay.

  • get my business LinkedIn and pinterest up and running
  • post more
  • blog more
  • design a new cup cozy every month
  • finish my dream cosplay (which you’ll see in March)

Lastly, my writing goals… I moved to Vancouver to be a writer and it’s something I barely do anymore. I mean, clearly, I still do considering I write this blog, and also I write for a blog for a living, but still.

  • write in the prompt journal I got for Christmas daily
  • write more in general, even if it is fanfiction
  • start writing a musical

Now, I expect you all to hold me accountable for this. I’ll make sure to keep you all updated on how I’m doing on these goals, so you can all keep me honest. Let’s crush this year!

 

“Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, fly boy.”: How Princess Leia taught me how to be a feminist

- coffeeshopcynic

As most people who know me know, I’ve always been a gigantic nerd. I was watching nerdy stuff with my mom pretty young. We didn’t always get along (read: we fought a lot) but my favourite memories with her all involve her showing me movies and TV shows she loved.

One of those movies was Star Wars. I remember once when I was little, Mom called me over and told me to find something called “Star Wars” on the shelf of doom (my nickname for the shelves of VHS tapes of movies and tv shows my parents had recorded over the years). Needless to say I loved it. I can’t remember too much from the first time I ever saw A New Hope (past me being mesmerized by it and wanting a pet Wookiee) but I do remember staring wide eyed when a bad-ass princess saved herself and sassed back at the male leads. I was so fortunate to grow up knowing there were female characters like Leia that I could look up to. To steal a phrase from my friend Andrea, she was the “self rescuing princess” I needed for a role model. Let’s just say, I wore Leia buns for a while…

She taught me that it’s okay to stand up for yourself. It’s okay to be snarky and sassy and abrasive. I suddenly didn’t have to choose between wanting to be a princess and wanting to be a hero: like Leia, I could be both.

Fast forward 19 years or so and I haven’t changed a bit (except now I wear full Leia cosplay instead of just Leia buns). Two years ago I went to go see The Force Awakens by myself (three times, but who’s counting?). I remember my reactions to that a lot more clearly (as I narrated to my girlfriend the other night when we were rewatching it) but one thing didn’t change. Just like with Leia, my eyes grew wide when Rey came on my screen. When I figured out she was the protagonist of the film I could have cried of happiness (Okay, okay, I totally did cry, but don’t tell anyone).I was so happy that a whole new generation of little girls can grow up with Rey like I did with Leia. I love seeing them cosplay her at conventions. I love seeing both little girls and boys get excited when they see her. It’s amazing and warms my Hoth-like heart.

I can’t wait to see The Last Jedi in a couple days and remember just why I love this franchise so much. It’s going to be so bittersweet now that Carrie is gone I’m prepared to cry, but I’m also prepared to grin like a fool. My girls are going to be on screen again and I don’t know if I can handle it!

So You’re Having a House Crisis: Now What?

- coffeeshopcynic

Much like many nerds, I’ve always put a faith in Hogwarts houses and the personality traits that go along with them. I’ve been a Slytherin for as long as I can remember. I probably thought I was a Gryffindor when I first discovered the books (I was six, okay) but ever since I discovered Hogwarts house tests, I’ve been a Slytherin. Until recently…

When did this begin? Honestly, I’m not quite sure. I remember there was a night I was taking a bunch of tests and freaking out to Andrea because they were all coming back Gryffindor. As a Gryffindor herself—not to mention someone who actually knows who she is—Andrea didn’t get why I was so upset. My entire life was a lie and suddenly I didn’t know who I was anymore! Finally I decided to blame it on the fact that I’m a Slytherin and Slytherin and Gryffindor have a lot of similarities. End of crisis, right?

Wrong. It happened again. While we were at Geek Girl Con a few of us decided to get Hogwarts house sweaters from Elhoffer Designs. Naturally, I grabbed a Slytherin one and Taylor grabbed a Ravenclaw one. Julia had a far tougher time deciding what sweater to get. She’d always claimed to have been a Ravenclaw but last time she took any house tests they told her she was a Hufflepuff. As someone who knows Julia very well, I can tell you that she’s a Ravenclaw, but sometimes when you’re having a house crisis you don’t even want to listen to those closest to you. The Hufflepuff sweater was cuter so finally she decided on that one.

Everything was fine until after we got home and Julia started taking tests to see what house she is. Just as I predicted, they were coming back Ravenclaw. Then for funsies I decided to take one myself. It also came back Ravenclaw. I took test after test and they all came back Ravenclaw! Finally Julia and I decided to take tests for each other. Yup, I’m still a Ravenclaw.

So now what? I don’t actually know. I’m lost and confused and don’t know who I am. So that’s what I’m going to figure out over the course of this post: who am I and how much does your Hogwarts house have to do with your personality?

I’m going to start by taking three tests to see what they have to say before I start my self analyzing. The three tests I have decided to do are Personality Lab, The Almighty Guru, and Pottermore (of course).

So let’s start with Personality Lab. I like this test cause it’s in depth personality questions and not “what’s your favourite animal”. Okay so I’m going to take the test and report back.

So as you can see here this told me I’m a Ravenclaw and Slytherin comes in second place.

Next up is Almighty Guru. I don’t actually know anything about this test but it looked decently in depth so let’s give this one a whirl.

Now I’m more confused than ever… Hufflepuff? Me? And Slytherin is at the bottom?

Well now that I’m majorly having an identity crisis it’s time to create a new Pottermore account and see if that makes things better or just more complicated.

Finally. I get my house. But I’m also even more confused now because I have three different answers. I guess it’s time for some analyzing.

Let’s start by stating what all four of the houses stand for (by definition of the Harry Potter wikia).

Gryffindor: fire element and lion is the animal

  • Bravery
  • Nerve
  • Chivalry
  • Courage
  • Daring
  • Determination
  • Reckless
  • Short-tempered
  • Self-righteous
  • Arrogant
  • No regard for rules

Slytherin: water element and snake is the animal

  • Resourcefulness
  • Cunning
  • Ambitious
  • Determination
  • Self-preservation
  • Fraternity
  • Clever and Shrewd
  • Strong leader
  • Achievement-oriented
  • Hesitate before acting
  • Disregard for the rules

Hufflepuff: earth element and badger is the animal

  • Dedication
  • Hard work
  • Fair play
  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Tolerance
  • Unafraid of toil
  • Loyalty
  • Impartial
  • Modest
  • Inclusive

Ravenclaw: air element and eagle is the animal

  • Intelligence
  • Wit
  • Wisdom
  • Creativity
  • Originality
  • Individuality
  • Acceptance
  • Academically motivated
  • Talented students
  • Quirky
  • Unusual intellectual interests

So I made myself a check list and checked off all the things that apply to me. I also took a test that tells me what element I am (I’ll count that as a point towards the house.

So my element test told me I’m 30% fire, 30% air, 30% water, and 10% earth. So points for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

So in total I have 6 points for Gryffindor, 9 points for Slytherin, 3 points for Hufflepuff, and 9 points for Ravenclaw.

Has this been helpful? Yes? I mean, I still don’t know if I’m a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw but I do know a lot more about myself now. I never really understood why tests kept telling me I’m a Ravenclaw, but now that I’ve researched all the houses I get it. I still see a lot of Slytherin in myself, but I see a lot of Ravenclaw too. Both Slytherin and Ravenclaw overthink things. I’ve always thought Gryffindor and Slytherin were very similar, and they are to a certain degree, but I never realized how similar Slytherin and Ravenclaw are.

So now what? What do I do with this information and what house do I choose next time I want to buy something in house colours?

The Ravenclaw in me immediately started researching what to do in the case of a house crisis. One article I read says that it’s okay to choose one house over another and that you don’t have to have all the traits of the house—after all, there’s more than four types of people in the world. Another article gives the lovely suggestions of combining houses—making me a Slytherclaw.

The Slytherin in me is still determined to prove I’m a Slytherin. Does that mean I’m truly a Slytherin? I mean, Harry got to choose what house he’s in. That means I can too, right? I think it does. After all, we do get to choose who we are in life so that means we can choose this.

I’m choosing to be both. I’ll still say I’m a Slytherin (and wear my house colours proudly) bu I’m not going to reject Ravenclaw. I have a lot of Ravenclaw traits that can’t be ignored. So who knows, maybe I’ll crochet myself a Ravenclaw scarf to go with my Slytherin sweater.

Coffee Shop Cynic and the Curse of the Convention

- coffeeshopcynic

I know I’ve hinted at my bad luck with conventions a couple times followed by me saying “that’s a story for later”. Well that time has come. Now how exactly can someone be cursed when it comes to conventions? That’s a very good question. Let’s start at the beginning.

In 2013, the year before I moved to Vancouver I found out that James Marsters (who plays Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was going to be at FanExpo Vancouver. I had a friend who lived in Vancouver and I knew she was planning on going. I would’ve loved to come as well but things fell through and alas I was stuck in Salmon Arm. Stef did get me his autograph though so I can basically die happy.

That one wasn’t a big deal since I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to go anyways. After that my luck got worse because I already had tickets. This began in 2015 when I decided to try to go to FanExpo again. I lived in Vancouver by this point so travel costs were no longer a factor. I’d bought tickets and Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan from Once Upon a Time) was going to be there. I was even going to cosplay for the first time! And then I got strep throat and couldn’t go.

Now I’m not going to go through every single convention in depth and talk about whether I had bad luck or not because that would be boring. To sum it up for you after that I didn’t end up being able to go to two more cons even after I’d gotten tickets: Geek Girl Con 2016 (passport issues) and Emerald City Comic Con 2017 (pneumonia). However, I did make it to a couple. I managed to get to the Once Upon a Time convention in Vancouver in both 2016 and 2017. Sure Creation cons may not be great but I did meet some great people through them and they’re also how I started cosplaying. I also did get to FanExpo in 2016–I may have just gotten out of the hospital barely a week before that, but I did make it. So I swear, I don’t always have bad luck.

Now onto the most recent cons. I’ve been busy making cosplays (and crocheting cup cozies) for Geek Girl Con (which already passed), FanExpo (next month), and Emerald City Comic con (March). I’ll start with FanExpo because it’s the potentially bad news. So Julia and I were planning on selling our stuff at FanExpo this year but we ended up not getting a table. That’s what actually made me decide to write this blog post. I was so upset and disappointed when I found out that we didn’t have a table and once I calmed down a bit, I knew I had to write about it, because that’s how I process emotions. I’ll still go to FanExpo because I have a friend coming into town for it and I also really want to wear my Star Wars cosplays I was going to wear at ECCC (until I got pneumonia).

Then there’s Geek Girl Con. I finally made it this year guys! And it was awesome. I had a really good time and it’s a really great con.

Tickets for Emerald City Comic Con go on sale tomorrow (Oct 11) so here’s hoping the good luck continues.

The point is, disappointment is a part of life. It’s how you handle and make the most of good things when they do happen that counts—and I refuse to be cursed anymore.

“I may be dead but nope, I’m not even pretty.”

- coffeeshopcynic

“I may be dead, but I’m still pretty.” -Buffy Summer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer s01e12 “Prophecy Girl”)

Back when I was in the planning stage for Geek Girl Con (which is this weekend!) I knew that one of the days I wanted to cosplay Buffy.

I initially planned to do Buffy from “Once More with Feeling”. When I planned this I was still on a musical episode kick thanks to my friends Andrea and Amanda of Tiny Fences: a Buffy Podcast. They had just gotten to the musical episode and I thought it would be a great idea to dress in Buffy’s outfit from the Bronze at the end—especially since Andrea and Amanda might be doing a live show of their musical podcast at Geek Girl Con.

Then Tiny Fences didn’t get into Geek Girl Con. I continued to look for the outfit, but I was disheartened. I couldn’t find a jacket I was satisfied with and the shirt I was going to borrow wasn’t as screen accurate as I would’ve hoped for either. It finally donned on me that the girls weren’t doing the musical episode so maybe I should give up on this cosplay and do something else.

Now one thing anyone who knows me knows is that I’m extremely stubborn. Okay, so I wasn’t going to do the OMWF outfit anymore but I still wanted to go as Buffy. Then I was rewatching season 1 because I just wanted something fun and silly to watch and I got to “Prophecy Girl”. The moment Buffy’s white dress for the dance she never went to came on screen I texted both Andrea and Julia saying “Well I think I found my cosplay.”

I started hunting the next day. I found a white dress and a gauzy white skirt. I intended to put them together and there, super easy Buffy dress! Then I remembered I’m a perfectionist. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than screen accurate. So next thing I know I’m making the damn dress from scratch. “How exactly is making a prom dress from scratch easier than finding a red shirt and long black leather jacket for the ‘Once More With Feeling’ outfit?” you ask. That’s a good question–one I’ve been asking myself since I had the brilliant (note the sarcasm) idea.

I am not an advanced sewer. Hell, I barely know some basics. I tend to wing it and hope it works–and amazingly it often does. I remember when Julia and I made my Emma Swan Camelot dress for the Once Upon a Time convention earlier this year, and I was actually amazed the thing turned out. I’m even more amazed that the Buffy dress turned out. Between really sketchy fabric (it was cheap, okay!), an even sketchier zipper (I may have broken the needle on the sewing machine doing it), and even sketchier yet hemming, it’s not my finest work. Yet, somehow, it looks great! I didn’t think it would (hence the blog post title). Just don’t look too closely at the back, or the darts, or the trim I hot glued on… anyways…

The rest of the costume was a bit of an adventure as well. I already had a jacket that would work I just had to fix it. I was going to get a leather repair kit and just patch it up. Easy, right? Wrong! It looked horrible… It was patchy and even after a week it wasn’t completely dry. So I admitted defeat and set out to find a new jacket. Luckily I was able to find a decently screen accurate one at Value Village that I just needed to replace the buttons on. The shoes were less painful to find but still a challenge. With the 90s being back, who knew it would be so hard to find white Mary Janes? Last but not least, the most exciting part: the crossbow! We spent forever trying to find one online that would actually ship to Canada. No luck. Finally we decided to see if we could get it sent to one of our friends who lives in the States but nothing seemed like it was going to work out. Then Julia found one in Canadian Tire. If I’d known it was going to be that easy….

I seem to have the worst luck with conventions (long story) but I can’t help but feel like Geek Girl Con might break that cycle this year. My costumes are more or less ready, I actually have a passport, and I’m not sick as all hell this time (though I’m probably cursing myself just by saying that). Stay tuned for the adventures of Alicen at Geek Girl con and all the pictures to come!