Calgary Expo Day 1: Amazeballs

So I attended my first "comic-con" this past weekend and I'm still reeling. While the event ran over four days, I could only make three of those days. Here's a rundown of my amazing weekend:

Friday

Selfie of us in line!

I arrived in Calgary around 11, picked up my BFF Christal and we were off!
We secured parking a couple blocks away and walked over to Stampede Park. There was a ridiculously long path to wind through to line up. (Side Note: I'm not entirely convinced the organizers created this for their own amusement..)

At the HP panel

Once we were in, we trolled around for a bit, then wasted about 30 mins waiting get pay for Sean Astin's autograph. When he failed to show, we bailed and headed off to our first panel: Harry Potter and the Panel of Discussion. This turned out to be a fun one where the girl heading it up prompted the audience with controversial theories in HP, then let the audience voice their opinions.

"My Preeecious."

We checked out a few of the booths and were able to meet the refreshingly down-to-earth Jodi McIsaac. She was a total peach:) She was excited that I had sought out her book and signed it for me while we chatted. (Canadian setting for a Celtic fantasy=excellent reading + happy Kelly!)

Sean is clearly riveted by my presence.

Then I went back to the Sean Astin line where he had now shown up, but they weren't allowing anyone else to jump in line. I meandered for a bit (almost an hour), checking out some of the booths, then finally hopped into line. Got some reading done while I waited in line for an hour and a half, then finally paid my money and had my 60 seconds with Samwise. He was lovely to meet, even said my kids' names in Agent Oso's voice:)

He wrote "Nice!" and
drew a happy face:)

I had him sign my Samwise figurine, and he chuckled when I told him I limit how much I let my kids press the button so they don't wear out the battery. Chris was able to snap some shots of us chatting, which was great. (Side Note: I spent a good portion of this day watching celebrities and "regular folk" and I am still totally fascinated by our culture's obsession. I mean, I forked over more than 3 hours of salary, not to mention almost 3 hours of time, just to get a signature from a man who makes millions of dollars doing what he loves. I am still trying to understand it.)

My Astin excursion took most of our afternoon, so we ended up missing a few panels we wanted to see, and ended up too late to see the last one on our list.
Instead, we saw some other incredible booths, and many costumes that were incredibly well-done:

Billy Boyd

Oh, Han!

Life-size Azog, the Pale-Orc

"Honey, where are my pants?"

I actually didn't even think
that there would be Disney
characters there...and there
were a lot!

This costume
was super
detailed!
From Halo, I think?

Tryin' on Christal's goggles!

I can't imagine
how long it took
to get all this on!
She looked
amazing as
Darth Talon.

The detail on this too was incredible.
Lights, sounds, everything.

Mandoshowan from The 5th Element.

We got back to Christal's late and both crashed pretty hard. We're both moms, so having a whole night of sleep without our kids was sooooo sweet. But it was short-lived... day 2 was only hours away...

Spring Break

So, the 2-week spring break was nice time off for my kids, but it was just more guilt for me, as it meant more opportunities for my kids to beg me to stay home with them:(

We did have a couple days together on my days off and we visited Hell-I mean, Chuck-E-Cheese. It was okay because it was with good friends, but man, I hate that place. *sigh* What we do for our children.

We were also able to see the LEGO movie (again) which was fun for the kids, but most exciting for the hubby who I'm pretty sure will be camped out at Walmart the night before the DVD is released.

In a Benny costume.
Clutching his money and shouting, "Spaceship! SPACESHIP!"

We concluded out spring break with jumping on the bandwagon and buying our kids a friggin' Rainbow Loom. I can't believe it. Working at Michaels, I see first-hand the psychotic, obsessive spell these stupid things cast over kids and by extension, their parents. I don't dispute the creativity involved in some of the creations a person can make, and I know my kids just want to feel included, but I hate conforming. Ugh.

Anyhow, enjoy the sun,
Kel

The Giver

So I just saw the first trailer for The Giver film based on Lois Lowry's internationally-acclaimed book.
I'm a torn-up mess right now.
First off, you must understand the role this book had in my life:
I grew up in a house full of books with a father who was constantly urging me to read books beyond the usual Sweet Valley chapter book I was devouring at the time. And sometimes I did read the books he recommended, but I didn't always understand them. I was perfectly content in my ignorant world of aesthetically-immaculate blond, Californian twins.
Skill-wise, I was capable of reading anything--I was very a good reader. But mentally, I wasn't ready for more. I couldn't properly understand more complex books yet.
In Grade 7, I was terribly bullied. I went through months of physical abuse from older boys, and verbal abuse from female peers. This partially assisted in an eventual alcoholism and depression in my teen years.On an especially difficult day in grade 7, I hid in an empty spare room during recess to avoid my tormentors, and cracked open a book I had snatched from the school library based on it's title.
The Giver sounded like something I could use.
I remember huddling in the corner of the room, devouring this book.
It was like the clouds had parted and the sun had begun to shine. I was seeing the bright, red apple with Jonas in a monochrome world.

The trailer looks amazing, don't get me wrong, but it is difficult to see someone else's interpretation of a book that means so much to me.
What do you think?

Booooks!

Today the hubby looked at me in the fabulous Gryffindor shirt my friend brought me back from Harry Potter World and said he's gonna add a 'k' onto the end. I'm currently plotting revenge, and ideas are welcome:)
Along the lines of my splendid nerdiness, thought I would talk books.

Totally loved the short story collection by Juliet Marillier that I picked up. Not only does she do her own take on classics like Rapunzel and King Arthur, but there is a nice longish short story from Sevenwaters. I wish it were longer!
The title story as well is lovely:)



The next book on my TBR pile was Cress! *squee* Super enjoying it. And I was pumped to look at the back and see that there is a fourth book in the series planned. Will mean more waiting, but more story:) So far, the story is continuing well and the new character of Cress is intriguing;)

I also picked up a few books at Walmart, Amazon, and Goodwill (and was given one:) that are now balancing precariously on my ever-growing TBR pile:

 

I'm super excited about these!! And I'll keep you updated on how they are:)

Peace out,
Kel

Mblaaahahhh... and sewing:)

Boy, I sure hope I'm just suffering from some seasonal blahs, cause I am DEpressed:(


Anyhoo, Ella is loving the sewing machine she got for her birthday. Her and I created a little pillow and blanket for her Barbies as a beginner project. Then I let her just sort of go to it and sew random pieces of fabric together and create on her own. She loved it. And I think it's the beginning of learning a skill she'll be able to utilize forever. Evan really wants to learn too, which is great.

And regarding the sewing machine, I researched the pants off what to do with buying a sewing machine for a 5-year old. I considered buying a toy one first, but was deterred by all the posts I read on what a waste of money it was. I read that most of them just broke and the kids couldn't really evolve their skills with one. So in the end I opted to buy her an actual machine and deferred the task on choosing one to my mom, as I was inundated with party planning for the Princess Party.
My mom ended up going with a Kenmore, as I still use hers from the 70's, and it's never failed us. She went with the Kenmore Zip! 12512. I'm pretty sure it's a keeper:)

Speaking of sewing, I have been working on this f*$%ing monkey stuffie for my friend's son and it is taking me FOREVER. I don't think she reads my blog so it should be okay to post a picture of the pattern, and if she does read this, then, well, surprise!
I've been trying to figure out how many hours I've spent on this thing so far, and my best guess would be more than fifty. Once I'm done it, I'll post pictures and explain why it's gone from being a Christmas gift, to a birthday gift, to a "here's a random gift" gift. Sorry Xander, auntie loves you!

Cheers,
Kel

The Ultimate Pink, Purple, and Sparkly Princess Party!

So Sunday was finally the day! The 5-year mark since my little Ella came into this world purple and not breathing. Wouldn't have known it today of course, as she danced, sang and giggled her way through the day I've been planning for WEEKS! Here's a visual run-down on Princess Ella's big day:)

I threw a pic on here back when the invites went out - it's here.
Kyle and I decorated at night so that when Ella woke up on her birthday, she would be wowed by all the decor:) We used pink and purple paper globes, giant paper stars, and plenty of pink and purple streamers!

A shot of the dining room decor

The party began with lunch first. We (of course) had a selection of foods spanning several princess's themes:

Princess Ariel's Goldfish (Crackers)

Princess Cinderella's Cheese for the Mice  

Princess Ella's PB&J Sandwiches
(I wanted Ella to have her favorite in there too!)

Princess Aurora's Forest Fruits & Veggies

Princess Snow White's (Non-) Poisonous Apples

Princess Pocahontas's Leaf Chips

Princess Tiana's Green Frogs

Princess Jasmine's (Iced) Tea

Princess Merida's Bear Claws

We also had Princess Elsa & Princess Anna's Frozen Ice Cream, but never snapped a photo, d'oh!

After that, we decorated Princess crowns. I just picked up a bunch of crowns and a box of fake jewels. The kids used Q-Tips to spread glue and away we went:

My sweet niece Avery creating her crown:)

Then we played "Pin the Kiss on the Frog." I drew and laminated a frog prince and made a little sign for the top:

After the game, we had all the kids sign their names on the poster for Ella as a keepsake:

After that we all gathered to sing Happy Birthday while Ella blew out her crown candles:

Full of cake, the kids each then took a turn sitting with Ella as she opened their generous gifts. Then we turned up the iPod and the girls danced to a playlist my husband and I put together of Ella's favorite songs:

We included songs from her favorite princess movies like Enchanted and Tangled, as well as favorite radio songs by Muse and Lorde and Serena Ryder. The big favorite of course was the new hit by Idina Menzel from the movie Frozen.

As the kids left, Ella gave them each a candy flower the two of us made together:

Princess Belle's (Candy) Roses

Even though it was weeks of planning and hours upon hours of work, the smiles and thanks from my (now) 5-year-old princess make it all worth it. Every moment.<3

Big Dreams, people!

Aagh! Planning for Ella's birthday party is confiscating my life! I'm constantly on Pinterest or various blogs looking for ideas and recipes and decor inspiration for this "All-Pink and Purple and Sparkly Ultimate Princess Party." Work is the worst too! (I work at Michaels. Oy, right?) When I leave my frame shop bubble to help a customer, I can't but shop on the way back to my shop. Sigh. As much fun as I'm having planning for this, I'll be glad when it's over! Until then, here are some things I picked up today: (*Squee*)

Of course, the ones I bought are pink and purple:)







As much as I enjoy my job and the people I work with, I'm really looking forward to the end of March when I go back to part time and continue with school. The hubby will be back to work, but I'll be able to see the kids a lot more<3.

Finished up Mr.King's book and really enjoyed it. He shone an interesting perspective on writing and it definitely helped to fuel some inspiration, as I've edited a short story I wrote and never published and am currently looking for magazines that suit it. I'm also editing my next completed novel and aim to have it ready to shop around before I go back to school! Big dreams, people!

I also needed some romance in my life and picked up an Austen that I've been meaning to read: Persuasion. Just started it, but already enjoying it.

I've also spent the last 5 months trying to find a tattoo shop with an female artist whose work is similar to the style I'm looking for and FINALLY have a consultation this week! So excited for that appointment!!!

Allright, time for a hot bath and glass of wine!
Night, yo!
Kel