Sunday was potentially my last time ever waking up in Baltimore.

I struggled with this decision, but not as long as I might have simply because I wasn't given a lot of time. Doc had informed me not even a full two weeks before the con that there would be a professional kimono consultant and model *and* certified Shinto priestess running a kimono dressing workshop on Sunday--would I be interested? Interested? The woman was pretty much everything I wanted to be in life. I have had kimono lessons before, from Yumiko who owns/runs the Kimono House in Soho, but that had been...Christ, fourteen years ago? More? I definitely wanted a refresher. Plus, the costume I had planned on wearing...I wasn't *quite* comfortable with yet, and the person I was going to cosplay with hadn't been able to make it to the con, so--no. I was going as Crissy, and no one else.

Chris had asked me to give him a call when I was ready to head over to the convention center, because he wasn't confident I'd be too steady on my feet, and much as it chafed to admit it, I knew he was right. So after I ate, I called him over, and we got my luggage down to the hotel lobby and put into baggage, and me checked out, and then over to the BCC. He even waited with me outside of the room until the workshop started at 11.

Let me just say, the workshop was no joke! The people who had signed up as dressers had to take numbers and be fully sanitized before we were allowed to handle the yukata. (Anyone who wanted to, however, was allowed to observe.) Kanawa-sensei instructed us on the proper way to begin a class, before we did anything else; we all bowed and greeted her at once (and it took us a few tries to say it loud enough as well as in unison!) She also introduced us to her assistant Megan, who was very nice and very knowledgeable. Then, she treated us to a short slideshow illustrating the history of kimono, and the different kinds that are worn today. I had read a lot of this information before in The Book of Kimono, by Norio Yamanaka, but it's always wonderful to get insights from a master in person.

Next, Kanawa-sensei divided us into pairs, as there were simply more dressers than there were yukata, and there are so many belts and sashes that are required to hold even just a yukata in place that a second pair of hands is always useful. I suggested my partner go first, as this really was more of a refresher course for me, and she did a wonderful job! She definitely had a better figure for kimono than I do! (That's another reason I had been so keen to sign up in the first place; I was hoping to learn some tricks to make my very Western hourglass figure look more traditionally cylindrical without having to resort to padding. No such luck--pads are necessary. Oh, well.)

I went next, and of course, I had the same problem I always have--I just can't seem to get my collar closed properly in the front, and I have it too close to my neck in the back. (I've been told before I wear kimono like a man. Not my intention!) However, I *did* learn that I had been typing an obi incorrectly--the "wings" of the bow should not be seen straight-on when you're looking at your back, but rather should stand out horizontally. I'll know better for next time!

The class lasted until 2 PM, and then Kanawa-sensei instructed us in the proper way to thank a teacher for imparting knowlege to the class, and then we all bowed again, and our workshop was over. The second group removed their yukata and brought them over to two tables to be packed away. I waited until Kanawa-sensei had a moment, because I wanted to thank her personally. She asked me how I had gotten interested in kimono, and while I didn't give her the whole, drawn-out story, I did mention that I used to work at The Kimono House over the holidays. Her interest in me immediately sharpened.

"Oh? Were you ever taught how to fold kimono?"

"Yes, sensei, though it has been many years."

"Perhaps you would like a second lesson?"

So, Crissy got bonus instruction after the initial workshop. I had folded kimono in the interim; every time I had gone to the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in fact, but I had always done it while following instructions and diagrams in the Book of Kimono--and of course, I had been doing it wrong. Not a *lot* wrong, but wrong is wrong, and the kimono certainly fit more compactly (and more importantly, preserved their lines with no wrinkles or creases). After we were all finished (and it went a lot more quickly with help!) I asked Kanawa-sensei if she would do me the favor of signing my Otakon program--maybe only the second time I had ever asked for a signature. It was really such an honor to be able to learn from her.

I really thought being on my feet for so long was going to knock me (or at least my knees) out again, but I can only guess that because it wasn't a lot of *walking* (standing in one place does not require you to bend your knees much), by the time Chris came to "pick me up" I was still feeling pretty sprightly. Andy and Reinii came over to say goodbye, because they were ready to head out (both had work the next day! Well, so did I, come to think of it), and after seeing the two Pokémon trainers off, I figured I was feeling well enough to head to the Hilton lobby one more time, for one more event: Alyce's birthday party/picnic!

Someone (one of Alyce's other friends? I forget) had brought a birthday cake, and paper plates and plastic forks for all of us, so we camped out on the floor of the lobby and sang Happy Birthday and dove into the cake. Lady Terentia and Avian Firefly joined us, having just finished a last shoot with Dave while dressed as Pokémon Gijinka versions of Espeon and Vulpix. These lazy Sunday afternoons are always both the best and worst times of the con: best, because for the most part you're more focused on your friends and your time together than you are on your costumes and your pictures; worst, because you know you have to leave, and it might be another year before you see them again. People start trickling away, and each one that goes, leaves you a little sadder than you were before.

Doc came around to say goodbye, too--since we live close to each other we hang out quite a bit during the year, but he had a few special presents to drop off. He had heard that Dave's long time Otakon wristband had finally bitten the dust, and even though this was the last time Dave planned on attending Otakon, Doc didn't want him to be without one, so he brought a blue one for him, and then other Pokémon team color wristbands for the rest of us. (I'm Valor, natch.) He also had a beautiful fan from the opening matsuri for me, which I will treasure forever.

Teren and Avi both had to leave next, so after saying goodbye and a final Happy Birthday to Alyce, Chris and I saw them off, and then decided to grab lunch so I could take my last dose of medication before I started my own long drive back. He showed me pictures from his most recent trip to Seattle and we tried to figure out whether I had taken my morning pills or not ("One plus two plus two plus one?") and just generally had a chance to chat and catch up.

We both had a little time to kill--I was in no particular hurry, and his flight wasn't leaving for a while--so I offered to give him a ride to Baltimore's Little Italy (which I had just learned existed last year) so Chris could visit Piedigrotta Bakery, whose proprietor, Carminantonio, purportedly invented the tiramisu. Chris bought me a mini pastry as a thank you, but shoot--I was just enjoying having the company. It was funny; the first year Louis and I came to Otakon, one of the first things we did was walked VERY much the "wrong way" trying to find a deli to buy snacks in , and we were surprised by how quickly the neighborhood changes; now, while Chris and I were trying to find our way to the bakery (Chris knew where it was by sight, not so much the address) and then back to the hotels (I did have my GPS on, but there was a ton of road construction and thus detours), I was reminded again that not every block looks like the Inner Harbor. Tons of nostalgia all around this weekend.

Before long, however, it was time to say goodbye, drop Chris off, and point the nose of my car north towards New York. I wasn't really prepared to say goodbye, but I don't think there was any way I *could* have been; I had thought it might have been nice if the girls and I had taken one last photo on the skybridge where we had done our Walk Home photoshoot back in 2007, maybe clasping hands and taking a final bow before the Inner Harbor's skyline, but between my workshop and the girls' photoshoots schedules it just didn't work out. It's probably just as well; I'm not sure how much I would've wanted to be photographed with red eyes and a dripping nose anyway.

How do you wrap up twelve years of convention memories? Date nights at the Wharf Rat? Shenanigans with Usa and the rest of the Kous, including matching pictures a decade apart? All the wonderful people I finally got to meet in person after years of talking to them online, first through LiveJournal, then through Facebook? How many lunches with my soul-sister, Hime-chan? How about the time I organized my own Revolutionary Girl Utena photoshoot through Cosplay.com? How many photographers had I met, worked with, and eventually befriended? What about the dip bowl? Finally meeting Patti and Steph in person. The Crew visits Otakon. Skye being there for me my most difficult year. Pat and Lauren and Natty Boh. Jez and Oshidori, King and Queen Loli. The fire alarm evacuation. Doc's stints as con chair. Finally having a Sailor Moon group with every major character represented. Finally having a Sailor Moon group with EVERY character represented. Our epic Magic Knight Rayearth costumes.

Meeting OPIB. Joining OPIB. Being in each other's weddings. Going through breakups together, going through horrible medical calamities together. Celebrating holidays together, surviving losses together. You know, if we were just a group of girls who did matchy-match costumes together, I'd *still* count myself lucky, and be incredibly thrilled. To have gotten a...a family out of traveling 200 miles to play dressup is just... I don't have words. But that's not true, either. These are my words. Everything I have written in the past twelve years, is my love letter to my friends, to Otakon, to Baltimore.

To *everyone* who met up with me, talked to me, ate with me, walked with me, or even just smiled for me when I asked to take your picture. It has been a great honor, and my very, very great privilege. You have made my life more beautiful in a thousand amazing ways, and I appreciate you all. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

The first group again

Listening to sensei

I shouldn't have worn jeans.

At least I wasn't the only one

I'm still too top-heavy to look good in kimono

But at least I brushed up on my obi-tying skills!

I wish we had all looked over the same shoulder...

...but we didn't think to coordinate.

Like trying to herd cats, I'm sure

Everyone did a good job!

I'm so not graceful

I would gladly apprentice myself to this woman.

I caught Pokémon!

I'm helping!

Just your average "fangirl" (second time in my life I've made that joke, so sue me)