As per the usual for Sundays at Otakon, I woke up, dressed up, and packed up, storing my bags with the hotel until it was time to leave, and then I made it over to the Marriott. Only Lauren and Stevie were at the con, so I decided to join them for yet another panel: the AMV showcase...from 1994. The year of Otakon's founding. I'm not sure I had even heard of anime in 1994. It's nice to be reminded that there are SOME aspects of the fandom that are older than I am!

After the AMV showcase was over, Lauren, Stevie and I went to Artists' Alley to meet up with Alyce and Beth. They were just about done there, so we decided to head over to Dealers Room--it was Sunday, and I hadn't bought anything yet! We found Phoebe and Owen there as well, so we formed a party and started shopping. Or I should say tried to shop, with Sailor Moon being so popular again, and with all of us matching so well, we kept getting stopped for pictures! I have to be honest, that never gets old. I did buy myself a fancy Otakon martini glass, because I am a classy adult.

In the theme of the weekend, my feet were already starting to hurt, so Alyce and I decided to go back to the Marriott atrium to rest and relax a bit--it really is a pleasant, comfortable place to hang out. I also liked getting the chance to Alyce one-on-one, because she and I are around the same age and thus older than most of the rest of our friends, so she "gets" some of the issues I've been struggling with lately (like, how much longer can I keep dressing up as a fictional Japanese teenager?) But before too long Lady Terentia joined us in her Mercury costume, so we called the rest of the girls so we could all take pictures together.

Taking the photos was fun! We took turns taking solo shots of each other, but were wondering how we were going to handle the group shots, when we were approached by Lee AKA Eddy, the photographer who had snapped our Marvel costumes on Friday! He hadn't even recognized us, he was just looking for, in his own words, a group of Sailor Moon cosplayers, to try to recreate the poster for the movie Bridesmaids. It turned out we had the exact right amount of people! Things do work out sometimes.

My departure time came far earlier than I would have liked it to, but let's face it: I could spend a week with my friends and not be ready to go home. But I had family obligations and work waiting for me back in New York, so like a good girl I said my goodbyes, went back to the Henley Park Hotel, and got my bags. I changed out of my fuku and into normal clothes, and gave my ticket to the valet so he could bring my car around. While I was waiting, I started talking with the concierge, who believe it or not, remembered me from last year! I am far from the only cosplayer to be staying in the hotel, but since the hotel is rather small, and I'm probably one of the few cosplayers who both a) stays alone and b) uses the valet service. At any rate we had a nice time talking while I was waiting for my car.

I had a relatively uneventful trip home, and found that people had managed relatively okay in my abscence, though it was well that I came home when I did. And I made great time, so I was actually able to eat dinner and decompress a bit before having to get to bed to be ready for work the next day. I think I even unpacked a little. And, thank goodness, no calamities from on high came down to punish me for daring to take a little time for myself (at least, not that time--wait until my next con report.)

I'm glad I went. I will say that I didn't get to see as many people as I would have liked (which I suppose is par for the course--you never see EVERYONE you want to), nor as many as I usually do. But considering I had been uncertain about being able to attend virtually days before the con, due to having done my core planning months before, a little bit of luck, and as always, the love and support of my (much more organized than I am!) friends, I ended up having a wonderful time.

Seriously we had JUST gotten down the escalators

Not that I'm complaining!

Naturally we have multiple poses memorized

Attack poses and speech poses

Now picture this times like 50

HEY I got my phone to work

Sometimes I hate the stupid faces I make

But I love my friends

Senshi go up the escalator...

...senshi go down the escalator.