Comic Con 2012: No Juice

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So, we had a blast at Day Two (our day one) of Comic Con yesterday. We snapped TONS of great photos, ran into a few friends, made a few small purchases, and met some cool new folks.

All in all, I would say the day was an absolute success…with one small exception.

My cell phone was dead before it all started. And I couldn’t find a place to plug in and juice up. Which really is a bummer because it means I couldn’t tweet, blog, or take photos with my phone. Luckily, we have another camera and the photos look great, but I won’t be able to share the images until we get home to a computer.

No worries, though. I took tons of photos and will take more today. But for now it’s back to the Con for some D&D.

Finally Arrived at #SDCC 2012

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We made it! Yay. But my car phone charger apparently doesn’t work. I have a deadish phone and no way to blog or tweet. Be back with updates when I can find a power supply.

2011 San Diego Comic-Con Wrap Up: Day Two

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By the time you read this, I will be in line to pick up my badge for the 2012 Comic-Con, but I had to finish last year’s wrap up of my first ever Comic-Con convention (we only went for two days, much like this year…though this year we are doing day 2 and 3).

Day One: Thursday

Day Two: Friday

We started the morning out by gathering the stuff from the hotel room, and checking out of the King’s Inn before heading over to the Hotel’s apparently famous breakfast place, “The Waffle Spot.” And, by the way…seriously delicious.

I can’t remember what I ordered, but I think it was a waffle and eggs and meat. Doesn’t matter. Everything was wonderful. If you are in San Diego, I highly recommend this place for breakfast. Locals even came in from downtown to eat. Yum.

After that it was onto the hotel shuttle to the Con. We didn’t want to have to pay for parking again, and the hotel was happy to let us leave our car and come back later. Score!

Mark started the day off at the Exhibition hall with some video games.

Can’t say that I was too surprised.

Then it was off for more exploring. Even though we spent practically the whole day in the hall the day before, we still had only made it about half way through all the incredible stuff!

We met these guys the night before at the bar the mixer was held at! :)

I got to meet an alien…

And a Stormtrooper.

Mark had fun at the Harry Potter booth

And I got to be an honorary Avenger.

Um, may I please have this car?

After getting tired of walking and shopping…

I got Mark this awesome shirt (It says, “REGRET. Those were the droids I was looking for.”)

and a beautiful silver ring for myself….

We wondered over to the Hyatt where they were playing Dungeons and Dragons. I passed out some post-cards for Legends of Atoll and met up with Bradd, the show’s Production Designer/Co-Producer/Puppet master/Superhero!

We joined in and played a one hour game of D and D while shamelessly promoting the web-series.

Then it was off to the food trucks for an early dinner. On the way back, we stopped by Southpark.

And then back to the exhibition hall.

We LOVED the Spartacus display, though we couldn’t help but feel a little sad that the show’s star was so ill, and since then has passed (RIP Andy Whitfield).

Right before the hall closed, I went downstairs and bought Mark and I a couple decks of “Magic: The Gathering Cards” so that our nerdy joy could continue even after we returned home. It was very exciting.

On our way back to the Comic-Con shuttle, we checked out Cafe Diem across the street. The food wasn’t free like it should have been (Eureka Fans) lol, and the line was too long so we just checked it out.

But then it was time to leave the cafe and leave the Con. :(

We were very sad to go, but the happy meal toys at McDonald’s took the sting out a bit.

Mark tried to learn how to play Magic on the car ride home, but we were both pretty sad to go. It was one of the best two days of both of our lives and we cannot wait to return this year.

Our Wedding: One Month Until Vegas

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Holy Crap! We are getting married in one month. ONE MONTH! I am so excited, and yet it feels weird, too. I am going to be a wife in one month. I am so happy, though. I couldn’t have found a better man and I cannot wait to start our lives together as husband and wife.

**Photo by Steven Delacruz Photography

So, just a quick check in on where we are at this stage.

At this point we have:

We Still Need:

  • A Cake
  • Mark’s Attire
  • Dinner Reservations
  • Everyone to RSVP :)
  • A Marriage license

It is a simple wedding, so that is actually about it, though I am sure I am forgetting one or two things.

But yea…one month! :)

And to celebrate, we are heading to Comic-Con. :)

I couldn’t be happier.

2011 San Diego Comic-Con Wrap Up: Day One

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I cannot think of a better way to prepare for the 2012 Comic-Con Convention, then to go ahead and share the joys of the 2011 convention. It really was probably two of the best days of my entire life, and it was also my very first year attending (Mark’s too)!

So before we pack up and head out bright and early Friday morning, It’s time to take a step back in time.

Day One: Thursday

We started the day of EARLY…We were on the road by 5:00am, which…ended up being a little too early. We had friends who normally came up for the final two days of the con telling us that the line to get badges was always a few hours long, and we didn’t want to spend half of our first day in line.

We got into San Diego at around 8am, stopped for a breakfast burrito at Jack and the box, which ended up being too spicy for me to eat. I had to give it to a more than willing Mark.  We then fumed about parking for a  while….boy what a nightmare…and a serious lack of signs on the part of SDCC.  But we did finally find a great spot.

So back to that long registration line. I’m freaking out at this point that we won’t get our passes until noon and am really upset….yeah…Well, it turns out that if you come the first two days, the lines are not really long at all. We had our badges by 930 am, and we still had to wait around for the doors to open to the exhibit hall.

I got a Big Bang Theory Swag Bag for all the cool stuff we would be collecting.

After I found some super expensive food, we had a blast wondering around the hall and checking out all the cool displays, video games, and vendors.

Hogwarts…..eeek!

Drizzt and Mark

I bought a pair of D20 earnings from a really cool jewelry vendor.

Mark wasted no time finding a place to play unreleased  games

I also got a rad Star Wars T-shirt, which definitely got put on as soon as we realized how freaking hot it was. The black I had worn in turned out to be an awful idea.

Mark also switched to a white shirt and we got to meet dobby the house elf.

After we left the convention hall for the day, we headed over to meet my friend and co-producer from Legends of Atoll for a web TV mixer. I won a raffle for a web seminar, and I got to meet our SAG New media Rep for the web series.

We were so happy. :)

We didn’t check into the hotel until pretty late. We had chosen King’s Inn because of its close proximity to the convention center, and also because it was pretty cheap on a very expensive hotel weekend. Also…it was nerdy. :)

Because it was so late we only had about 15 minutes to sit in the hot tub before we were kicked out of the pool area, but we were so exhausted from our day of walking around that we ended up passing out right away anyway.

It was the perfect start to the perfect vacation, and I couldn’t wait to wake up and experience more.

To be continued….

My Plan to Get The Best Of Sickness

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I am sort of notorious for over-extending myself. I have been doing it ever since I was a little girl, and the end result is always the same.

Illness.

I always get sick whenever I try to take on too much. And since I am currently planning two weddings, working two jobs, starting a new business, and writing two blogs, It stands to reason that I would get sick.

But since I am also looking forward to Comic-Con on Friday, I am seriously not thrilled about this newest onset of sickness.

I made a giant batch of crock pot chicken, onion, garlic and veggie soup last night. When I woke up this morning, all I had to do was throw it in some Tupperware and head out out the door for work.

I brought about 7 bags of hot tea with me, along with my mug and few packets of Vitamins. I just got home from work, threw on my jammies and am now crawling up onto the couch to watch a marathon of tivo-ed House Hunters International. Oh, and heating up more soup.

Sickness will not beat me!

How do you beat off sickness when you have to get well in a hurry?

The Digital Nomad: Big News

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I have a pretty big announcement to make and it has been a LONG time coming. This is something I have been thinking about for well over a year, but I think I was always too scared to put my plan into action.

I’m not sure what finally gave me the push I needed. Maybe it was the fact that I gave up acting professionally; or maybe it is the fact that I am tired of my old job, and not so in love with my new job; or maybe I am just tired of working for other people.

Whatever it was, I’m just thankful that I am finally taking the plunge.

I am starting my own business. I’m not quite ready to quit either of my other jobs yet; afterall, I need to make sure I can make a profit before I walk away from a sure thing. So I am starting small, as a side buisness. It means I will be waking up early and going to bed late, but it will be well worth the sleep deprivation if it puts me one step closer to working for myself.

I have already secured a website domain, and am currently hard at work on my buisness plan. I can’t wait to share more details soon.

Also high on the to do list is to finish purging my belongings and getting the bedroom organized. If I am going to be working from home, I need a good place to do it.

In the meantime, I am just so excited for this new venture, and grateful for the loving support of my friends, family and my wonderful fiance.

The Local Flavor: America’s Oldest Brewery

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I love Yuengling…in case you didn’t know.

It was the first beverage I consumed after landing in Pittsburgh last month…

It was the first beer the afternoon that we left Pittsburgh…

And I took great care to consume much and more during our week long stay in Central City.

I was always a Yuengling drinker, even when I lived in Florida, but like all the best things, I never truly appreciated what I had in this fine Lager, until it was gone.

It is incredibly difficult and basically impossible to get this delicious East Coast beer out west.

A few years ago, Mark’s Aunt Gina shipped me a case for my birthday (see above), but it’s not like you can find it at any store or local bar. I think the company actually refused to sell the beer West of the Mississippi.  Fail. :(

But we certainly took advantage of the chance to drink up while we could…

And we MAY have brought 24 beers home with us to enjoy….slowly…in LA.

Travel on a Dime: Discovering Priceline

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It is almost time for this year’s Comic Con. Before it’s impending arrival, I do promise a recap of last year’s awesome event, but today I need to talk about our Hotel…and our budgetary constraints.

As you have probably realized, Mark and I may have over reached ourselves this year, in terms of travel.

I mean, I’m thrilled. I love to travel, and see new places. I love to get out of Los Angeles and try new things. But financially, we are a bit strapped.

So far this year we have already taken an anniversary trip to Santa Barbara, taken a birthday trip to Anaheim for Wondercon, and taken a week off to go to Pennsylvania and plan our wedding.

Still to come, we are going to Las Vegas next month to get hitched, and I am going to Florida in October to help my friend get married.

That is a lot of travel, and the most we have ever traveled together in all of our years together. And while it is a trend that I hope will continue, I have discovered that I need to find ways to see the world on the cheap.

Just this year, I unveiled the magic of Priceline.com. The site has been around for ages, and I am not sure why I had always been gun-shy about checking out the discount site. Maybe I thought the whole, “name your own price” thing was a gimmick or maybe I was concerned about the security of my private information.

Either way, I am glad that I finally took the dive and checked out the site.

We tried the “name your own price” to book out hotel for our Santa Barbara Anniversary Trip (and LOVED it) and found a great deal on a two night stay in Anaheim for Wondercon as well.

The “name your own price” section was not as good to me for this year’s Comic Con, however.

It was our fault, really. We waited way to long to book a hotel (we only booked one two days ago). I stopped trying to “name my own price” when I couldn’t even find a one star hotel within ten miles of the Con that was at 140 per night.

That was more than we could afford…more than we had.

I searched through my email in desperation, just hoping to find a coupon from Priceline that could help lower the cost. It wasn’t until that moment that I noticed Priceline had emailed me a promotion they were running for the summer.

No need to bid, just type in the area you need to travel and the dates, and Priceline shows you five or six deals. Now, similar to name your own price, the website doesn’t show you the name of the hotel, just the general area and the star level of the hotels.

They had good deals on the Gaslamp Quarter (right by the Con), and Hotel Circle (which has a shuttle to the Con), but the prices were still too high.

However, the Old Town area had a promising price. $103 per night…which was by far the lowest I had seen thus far. I Googled Old Town, and saw that the center of that area was 7 miles from the Convention, which is totally manageable.

I called Mark at work to get his opinion, and we both agreed it was probably the best price we would get without waiting until the last minute and maybe not finding anything.

So we booked the place, and revealed the name and location where we would be staying. Nothing special, but we do get a pool and hot tub, which might be nice if we get back early Friday night.

And we are actually only 5 miles from the Convention Center, which is even better.

We are just thrilled to have a place to crash, and grateful to Priceline for making it all possible.