SWCVI: Her Universe Fashion Shoot

This past August I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a convention that I have always dreamed about experiencing firsthand, Star Wars Celebration.  I was asked to help film for FanGirl TV, a new webseries that focuses on fangirls who love all things geeky.  The convention was being held in Orlando, Florida, which is also the home to my lovely blog partner Kristin Fowler (@KristinLFowler), so the decision to accept was a very simple one to make.  After a lengthy drive down to Florida, the guys I traveled with (Gary, Brandon & Dave) and I finally arrived and began filming.  I was in charge of interviewing the girls we selected to film including Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the brains behind one of my favorite clothing companies, Her Universe.  Kristin and I often gush about Ashley's designs on our site On Wednesdays We Wear Pink.  I was so overcome with excitement about having the opportunity to interview Ashley, that I completely forgot to be nervous.  And once we started chatting, I quickly realized there was never any need to be worried after all because Ashley was nicer than I could've ever imagined!  She is very genuine and friendly and you can easily tell how much she cares about her fans and the girls wearing her line.  Which is one of the reasons Ashley decided to host a photo shoot at Star Wars Celebration featuring the real girls who wear her clothes as the models.  The photo shoot was a lot of fun and you can see the pics on the Her Universe Facebook page. 

5 Comic Book Characters I Relate To Most

Anyone that has known me since I was old enough to write can attest to the fact that I adore making lists.  Whether they be traditional to do lists or grocery shopping lists, New Years Resolutions and goal oriented lists, or simply lists of the next movies, television series, or books I plan to indulge in, I cannot get enough when it comes to list making.  Perhaps it's the accomplished sense I experience when I get to slide my pen across the page and cross off another thing I've completed.  Others may argue that I have OCD, but either way, no one can come between me and my lists.  So for my first list blog post, I decided to layout the top 5 comic book characters I relate to most.  I don't think anyone will be surprised which leading lady comes in at number one but I will spell out exactly why I identify with her so closely.  

My Favorite Moments: New York Comic Con

New York Comic Con is the convention that I look forward to attending every year.  It's local, it's not overwhelmingly crowded and the panels are usually pretty interesting.  That is, until this year.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast at NYCC, but there is no doubt that the Javits Center severely oversold the event this year.  There was even a point on Saturday when they closed all of the doors and were not admitting any more attendees into the convention because they were over capacity.  I had arrived late that day, but luckily because I had a press badge and Melissa had an exhibitor badge we were permitted to enter anyway.  I had also heard people complaining about the lack of guests and interesting panels.  I disagree with this point.  Last year, the two big panels were The Walking Dead and The Avengers panels.  The Walking Dead returned for a panel again this year, but it wouldn't have made sense for The Avengers to return when their next movie isn't scheduled to be released for a few years.  Plus, Clark Gregg crashed the Marvel TV panel to be there when Joss Whedon and Kevin Fiege's video clips announced that the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series would feature Agent Coulson.  That's pretty darn exciting if you ask me!  Not to mention that Tom Felton, Adam West, Burt Ward, and Stephen Arnell (the new Arrow) were all in attendance.  As for other guests, I was very pleased.  Maybe it's because I love comics, but the main reason that I attend conventions is to see the authors and artists behind each of my favorite series.  I don't get overly excited when I meet movie stars, but place me in front of an author like Neil Gaiman and I'm speechless.  I love getting my books signed and just being able to have a few moments in the presence of someone talented enough to have created a series I respect.

Comics Crush: Batman by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

I've always deeply loved and adored Gotham's finest crime fighting Bat team, whether they're gradually kicking butt across the beautifully drawn panels in a comic, animatedly doing so on my television, or being portrayed by actors on the big screen.  I definitely own more Batman comics and trades than any other title in my personal library and I love each and every one with my whole heart.  I've often spoken with people (more recently) that have enjoyed the Christopher Nolan films, but are intimidated by the comics because they're unsure where a good starting point would be amongst all of the Bat history.  With DC's reboot of The New 52 last year, it made it easier for some folks to jump in on the story and gain some background knowledge before delving further and exploring the extensive Bat lore.  Many longtime comics readers have been critical of DC's New 52, but I myself was thrilled to be given the opportunity to introduce my world to a bunch of newbies.  Having already been very familiar with Batman, and with Scott Snyder's beautiful prose, I had very high hopes for the series and as anyone who has been reading will tell you, Snyder and Capullo's Batman is certainly a standout in the new wave.  If you haven't already, you can pick up a copy of the first trade Batman Volume 1: Court of Owls on Amazon.  And you can read my spoiler free review of the issue after the photo ^.^

Random Tumblr Quiz - 88 Truths

Hey guys! I should totally be preparing for NYCC, but since I'm known to procrastinate I decided to take a quick (okay, not so quick) tumblr quiz while I continue to put off all of my responsibilities!  Please excuse any grammatical errors, as I am deliriously tired.  Last night I attended the Black Milk photo shoot/dinner and I was barely able to squeeze in any hours of sleep upon arriving home.  Obviously it was totally worth it though!  I'll be blogging about it later in the week or next, once the Facebook pictures are uploaded and the madness that is New York Comic Con is over.  And right before jet setting off to Florida to visit other Kristin, Patrick and their adorable puppy, Raven.  I'll be escaping the New York cold for a few days <3  Speaking of warmer weather, here's a pic of one of my favorite summer outfits from this year!

Weekend in Review!

Q: What do a Doctor Who bar, Looper, a Zombie Walk, Mean Girls, and Left 4 Dead all have in common? A: They were all contributing elements to my fabulous weekend!  And what's even better is that 1) it's not yet over, and 2) NEW YORK COMIC CON STARTS THIS WEEK!  After a stressful day at work on Friday, I was forced to employ my Speed Racette driving techniques to ensure I made my train into Manhattan.  Seriously, I need to move there ASAP so I can avoid these types of close calls!  First on the agenda was to see the movie Looper, staring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis.    I had been wanting to see it since the movie trailer was released because besides the obvious reason (JGL), time travel is my absolute favorite sci-fi subject to explore in movies, novels, television, and *crosses fingers* hopefully IRL one day.  After a brief mishap with the ticket machine (aka Melissa [@mechamelissa] & I's first blonde moment of the weekend), we purchased our movie snacks and headed into the theater.  It's no secret that I have a sweet tooth and thankfully the concession stand at the theater was able to satisfy my major Sour Patch Kids craving.  Overall I really enjoyed Looper.  I'm thinking about writing a full review of it for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink sometime this week if I can find the time between all of my NYCC planning. I was excited to see that Paul Dano had a small part in the film.  I've loved him since I saw him in Little Miss Sunshine, and I've been following his film career ever since.  Immediately following the movie, we were planning on going to the Bottleneck Gallery for their Zombie Art Gallery opening, but since we have all month to view it, we opted instead to head over to The Way Station.  

Vintage Video Game Day at Cassie's

There are very few things that I love more than vintage video games.  A vast majority of my childhood consisted of me, my brother, and two of our closest family friends (who lived 5 houses away from us!) sitting on our couch or theirs and competing against each other in video games.  We had all of the best systems growing up including regular Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Playstation 2, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Game Cube, and of course Gameboy's.  Needless to say, Santa was always good to us!  Our household is currently equipped with all of the aforementioned game systems in addition to PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and we're hardcore coveting that limited edition Star Wars Xbox Kinect (which is at the top of my Amazon wishlist on the side of this very page!)  Anyway, my good friend Cassie (@yrchmonger) and I decided to pay homage to our childhoods, break out the old systems and declare it to be Vintage Video Game Day!

The first game we chose to play while getting back into the video game groove, was one of my all time favorite games, Mario Party for Nintendo 64.