2016 was an even numbered year, so that meant it was time for my biennial convention with Patti and Steph!  We had kicked around a few ideas, but decided it was time to return to Nan Desu Kan, especially as they had moved out of the Denver Marriott Tech Center (which I liked, but I don't think anyone else did) and into the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, which is located right near the Denver Pavilions.  I flew in Friday morning on Southwest, which is the only airline in the US right now that allows you to check two bags for free--this will become important later.  As usual I was able to book the Super Shuttle (bless you, Patti, for introducing me to that service, even though I think I've only ever used it in Denver) to take me straight from the airport to the hotel and the arms of Patti and Steph.

This was Nan Desu Kan's 20th convention and they really decorated to the hilt.  I realized I wanted to get pretty pictures of us before we got all messed up from running around, so I stopped everyone for a few minutes to make sure we all got shots of our outfits.  The usual hilarity ensued, which ended up attracting the attention of this girl D.J., a friend of Patti and Steph's.  We hung out and snapped pictures for a bit, and then entered the Artist's Alley.

There was, as usual, so many cool things in the Artist's Alley that my wallet just about laid down and died.  I'm actually not usually tempted by fanart--maybe because I (used to) make my own, and have so many friends who do, but anything that I can call "practical", or wearable, calls to me.  One lady was making jewelry out of the tiniest teacups and saucers and teapots you'd ever want to see; I made a note of her to come back to later.  There were oversized Sailor Moon props, and silkscreened ties, and of course, the usual assortment of fandom buttons.

We also ran into Heather, one half of Lucky Eight Cosplay (the other half being her daughter Ambellina, who had decided to sit out this con in exchange for an event more to her interests later on) dressed as Eijun from Diamond no Ace.  I am *ridiculously* out of the loop as far as current anime goes, and I don't think I've ever seen any sports anime, but Heather looked adorable, which is really the main thing I care about anyway.  (I bet I'd love an anime about baseball, though.  It's not like I'm not used to treating it as a soap opera, seeing as how I'm a Mets fan.)

After the Artist's Alley, our next stop was the Dealer's Room, which was located on the second floor of the “Tower” building.  "You know," Steph told me, with a smile, "there is someone whose day you are REALLY going to make right now."  I wasn't sure what she meant until we reached the end of the line where we had to check our bags before entering--Andrew was working the con!  We had met two years before when I had flown out for AnomalyCon and he was head of Security for the dealer's room there, and had been friends on Facebook and e-mail ever since.  We didn't really have much time to hang out, as we had to keep the line moving, but promised to meet up later in the weekend.

Also in the Dealer's Room was Rubiee, the owner, operator, and resident tea maven of Dryad Tea, which sells loose leaf tea, and Dryad Pottery a bunch of tea accessories such as infusers, mugs, and cannisters, as well as other homemade objets d'art, almost all of which shows geek influences.  I had "met" Rubiee online years ago in my ongoing quest to collect all of the Sailor Moon cosplayers ever, back when she had cosplayed Super Sailor Venus and Black Lady, but hadn't met her in person until, again, AnomalyCon two years earlier.  It was great to see her again!

I was sticking to my usual "Buy nothing until Sunday" rule, so we managed to make it out of the Dealer's Room relatively unscathed, and decided to head down one level to the lobby for the Sailor Moon photoshoot.  There were...very few people.  It made me a little sad--I'd been getting spoiled, with Crystal bringing Sailor Moon back on the air the last several cons I'd gone to had seen a real resurgence of Sailor Moon cosplayers.  I did end up seeing more over the weekend, but the photoshoot was pretty sparsely attended.  Nevertheless, the people who did show up were absolutely marvelous; they had such great costumes and were so nice and friendly!  The Tuxedo Mask in particular; he had lined the inside of his cape with fabric roses that he gave to every Sailor Moon character he met (which meant we all got one!)  I got a chance to take a picture of every single one of them--something I don't think I've accomplished in over a decade.

There was also a photographer with a REALLY sweet setup right in the lobby area, with a backdrop and lighting rig and and all.  He took the *best* photos of me as Sailor Mars, using a red gel over one spotlight in the back to kind of envelope me in a firey aura, but he had no business card!  I gave him mine in the hopes that he'd e-mail me the shots after the con, but so far, no joy.  I've spent WAY more hours than I care to admit searching for him online (not just for that shot--he also got a great one of Patti and I the following day that I would kill to see, and many others), but I haven't had any luck.  If anyone reading this knows anything about him, please let me know!  I'm dying to see those pictures, and thank him for making us look so good!

After the photoshoot we went back to our hotel room with the idea of changing into our casual senshi outfits, but realized we were more pooped than we cared to admit.  I still got dressed in Rei's junior high school summer uniform, because it really is just about as comfortable as what I had been wearing in the morning anyway, and we headed out to the Denver Pavilion's to hit up Maggiano's for Steph's pre-birthday dinner.  Holy crow their food is amazing but their portions are INSANE!  I'm a big fan of mushroom ravioli so I stuffed down as much as I could, but we still had leftovers.  We ALL had leftovers.  We ended up getting them in a doggy bag because thank goodness our hotel room had a minifridge, but STILL.  So much food.  Oh my gosh.

After dinner we took a short walk to digest through the Pavilion--the lighting scheme is incredibly charming, my photos don't even begin to do it justice.  There are lights everywhere: under the stairs, strung along the telephone wires, the streetlights themselves, the shop windows.  These are also streets vehicular traffic is not allowed on, for the most part, though there is a trolley that runs, and I saw at least one horse-drawn carriage.  The weather made it a beautiful night to be out, and we made the most of it.

We said good night to Heather and Ranma, and Lexi, Steph, Patti, and I headed back up to our room.  One way or the other, Saturday was going to be an extra-special day.

Tuxedo Kamen

Eternal Sailor Jupiter

Usagi (with Tuxedo Kamen in the mirror!)

Neptune and Uranus

Steph and Patti as Neptune and Uranus

Seriously how picturesque is this?

Ready to rock and roll!

Okay ready to stop now!