Trying to get to Seacaucus on Saturday was like a comedy of errors. For one thing, the MTA (New York City's transit system, for you out-of-towners), sucks BALLS on the weekends. No trains run their scheduled routes, and good luck trying to find signs telling you where, exactly, you'll be let off. It took me over an hour to get to Manhattan, and I ended up having to walk a good ten blocks to get to the Port Authority.

Usagi Seion FINALLY arrived, and someone grabbed my camera (B-chan, was it you? I forget now) and was able to get a shot of her face as she saw her present--a T-shirt with pink sleeves, a pink heart in rhinestones, and the name "USAGI" in rhinestones. She was so stunned she literally started shaking, and then jumped into my arms. I love reactions like that. I really do. :) Then Carrie jumped in on the hug. How many other people got group hugs with gorgeous girls that weekend? Show of hands.

Of course I ended up stopping every few feet to photograph the excellent cosplayers I saw--and my friends. I ran into Femmy and her boyfriend Alan around this time, and she looked GORGEOUS--such a tiny, delicate, and pretty Princess Saturn! She, Callie, and Usagi Seion looked so good together, I wished I had my princess dress (and I wished it still fit--see my Cosplay Formal 2005 report for THAT list of complaints.) But it was fun just to see them.

The artist's alley was actually surprisingly good--personally, I would almost never pay for someone else's fanart (especially not $30 and upwards) but that's mainly because I attempt to draw my own. The level of talent there was incredibly striking, and I think a lot of pieces sold very fast.

I also saw JenyBean and her friend Jess at this point. They need to start cosplaying again, because they are just TOO BEAUTIFUL! The world always needs more beautiful girls in costumes. :) I also think they should both have their own booth at the artist's alley, they're both incredibly talented artists.

I can't remember whether Doc the Stampede found me, or I found him, but we were glad to see each other! He had just gotten a new camera (or was it new camera equipment? I forget) and he was really looking forward to breaking it in, and so was I! I can't believe what great photos it takes--you can see every stitch of my collar in the shot he took! (It's on my Hino Rei School Uniform page, if you're interested.) He also got a great shot of me and Usagi Seion together.

I also got to meet another long-term online friend, Brandon AKA Commander Havok. He's a friend of Krystal's (in fact, I'm sure that's how we were introduced) that I had been talking to for nearly as long as I've talked to Krystal. I can't believe he came all the way up to New Jersey! Skye and Knight were pretty hungry and tired after going through the dealer's room once (which was also very crowded) and the four of us sat down to grab some food.

I have only one real complaint about the dealer's room--it was a huge space that had to share with the panels. The panels were only separated by those black cloth walls on wheels, that certainly do not reach up all the way to the ceiling, and the panelists have microphones, which makes sense in one way, because you want the attendees to be able to hear you, but doesn't make sense with the absence of walls, because that means you had a lot of voices competing and getting confused. Oh, well. I don't go to panels anyway, and cons are always noisy.

I was able to pop my head in for a bit by the masquerade sign up (which I wouldn't be staying for) so I could say hello to Sailor Mo, who was in charge of the masq this year. Of course, she looked a little bit stressed--who can blame her? Masquerades are ALWAYS a chore to put on, and working con staff in any capacity is usually a tiring and thankless job. Luckily she had Krystal there with her, giving her shoulder massages and just generally keeping her sane--if it were me, I probably would've been going postal with an AK47 by then.

I would really have liked to have gone to Oshidori's EGL NY panel, as she had worked her ass off for weeks getting her original designs ready for her fashion show. I didn't even get to see the outfits until the next week, but they looked AMAZING. Someday Oshi really is going to have her own clothing line, and I'll be able to say "I knew her when", and I'll gladly hand over fistfuls of money to be able to wear her outfits. They're really that good--you just wait and see!

As we were leaving the dealer's room, I finally found Jamie, who I also had a belated birthday gift for, and I think it was the first time I really got to talk to her boyfriend George, who is so nice! Jamie and I really need to hang out more in person, she and George are so much fun and we all have so much in common. Anyway, she looked great as a very tiny Sailor Galaxia (it's a shame that she's so cute, in a way, because sometimes she doesn't look very villainous!) and I got some great pictures of her.

I also got a picture of my two Sailor Moons together--Usagi Seion, and Usagi Kou. I really can't tell you why they're both so important to me. I mean, I could tell you that Usagi Seion is the person who introduced me to Sailor Moon, and I could tell you that Usagi Kou has been the princess I've cosplayed with since my first anime con EVER, but you know, that's really only the tip of the iceberg.

Just take my word for it that they're both wonderful girls who have been there for me for years, and inspire me to try my best, and make this hobby so special for me, and we'll leave it at that.

Really, after that, there was little else to do. The con wasn't that big. Skye, Knight, Brandon and I went outside to relax for a bit, because my feet were starting to hurt (even though I was wearing flat shoes!) so I only spent a few more hours doing that, chatting, calling out to people, and taking a few more photos outside. I wasn't going to stay at the con that night (as the next day was Father's Day) so I ended up going home while it was still light out. I was sorry to leave early, though, as I had a wonderful time seeing all of my wonderful friends.