A Little Compliment Never Hurts

Last weekend I went out the Georgia Renaissance Festival for the first time.  It was kind of cool out, and rainy, and muddy, and I went alone.  I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy myself, but I figured that if I didn't, I could blame it on the crummy weather and just try again later with some friends.

I had a great time.

Since it was icky outside, it wasn't very busy.  I could walk around without bumping into people, which is always nice.  I didn't have to worry about being too hot.  I could take my time browsing the stalls and shops, and not worry about being in anyone's way.  It took the better part of four hours to make one circuit of the place, and that was without stopping everywhere.

The shows were entertaining, too - rather adult humor, even in front of kidlets, but since I had no kidlets along, I didn't really care ;)  I'd definitely like to go back and intentionally seek out some performances, rather than just stumbling upon them.

I actually spent about an hour at one shop, though I had planned to just ask a quick question and leave.  They sold boots, and I always have a heck of a time finding boots.  I have teeny, tiny little feet (I usually wear kids' shoes, and at best, a woman's 5), but big ol' calves from much tap dancing.  Trying to find boots is tough work.

So I stopped in, and looked.  The guy (Brian) told me that  I really needed to try the boots on to see how they fit.  And I did.  Rather, I let him put me into a boot.  And wow.  It was awesome.  Of course, the top edges just barely met, so if I get a pair, I'll have to special order them so they can be made wide enough, but still.  It was nice to see that I'm not that far off from the standard sizing.

What was even nicer, though, was when Brian asked to play dress-up with me. (And yes, that's what he called it.)  He disappeared into the back, and came out with an armful of things for me to try on - long leather vests, a corset-style vest, a coat, a wrap shirt - all made of such soft, lovely leather.

Even better than all the lovely things, though, was what he said to me: "You've got the body of a real woman.  That's an hourglass figure."

I think that might have been the best I've felt about myself in weeks.

So thanks, Brian.  You made my day. (Sorry I couldn't afford the $500 boots!)

Dragon*Con!!

I'm really bad about forgetting to let you know that I'm going to be away, aren't I?  In case you didn't notice, I was AFK this weekend. Instead of posting on Friday, I was on my way to Atlanta for Dragon*Con!  Yes, I really am that much of a geek.  And I'm proud of it.

I had a great time - I actually went to several panels, in several different tracks.  I'm a very diverse geek ;)  I went to the Writer's track, and the Science track, and the Costuming track.  And I also went to the Puppet Slam, which was pretty cool.

The best part, though, was getting to see all of my international friends!  Two were in from England, two from Scotland, and one from Australia.  We were quite the group.  The Brits made their own costumes, and they were GORGEOUS!  It did make it hard to walk through the Con, though - they were constantly getting stopped for photo ops.  Although I did get stopped on several occasions, too, which was really cool!

Wanna see my costumes?

This is my "Veranna" costume.  I made it back in 2006, and over the next two years, I added all of the lace and braided trim.  It came from a McCall's pattern, I think, but I made a few modifications - adding grommets to make a corset-style back lacing has made it possible for me to fit into it for five years!

This is my Steampunk costume.  I ended up getting a necklace to add to the ensemble just a little while after taking this photo.  I think, for next time, I'll have to come up with some sort of accessory and coordinating holster.  I considered a water gun, spray painted bronze, but I think I need to put some more effort into it. 

And, of course, Beeper (the travelling lemur) came along.  Here he is, wearing my steampunk hat.  It's a little bit bigger on him.

So that's where I've been - off having adventures!  I'll try not to disappear again without warning you!