Suzy

I had such an amazing visit with my Lady K! We took relaxation and self-care to new levels--over her three day (and a few hours) visit, we did face masks, an incredible spa visit, and did under eye masks. And also got hooked on Riverdale, had some wonderful conversations, did some reading, watched other fun fandom shows and saw Wonder Woman. Oh, and had amazing meals out! It was all just so completely delightful.

But the spa, you guys. The spa. It's the one I went to for my birthday, and we both did massages, thanks to my mother. We had such a good time in the circle of tranquility--the steam room was delightful as always, and we figured out that it's scented with Blue Eucalyptus, so I bought that essential oil. The sauna was almost much nicer this time--not as hot, I guess? But the cedar wood scent was beautifully welcoming, and we lounged and sweated and it was lovely. Then the waterfalls and waters----bliss. The pounding water felt so good on my head and shoulders! The whole place just smells so wonderfully relaxing, and we really enjoyed nibbles and flavored water and tea.

I swear, the massage was the best I've had, right up there with the Lush Beatles massage. It was pine and eucalyptus scented, and was all deep compression and yoga stretches. Not a thai massage (so, yeah, some of those stretches while unclothed made me a little nervous, ha), but something made for active muscles. But it exactly met all of my sensory needs and I felt so good. The deep compression was exactly what I've been craving for months, and I loved the stretches and the rocking. She did this great one on my hand especially. But she spent a lot of time on my hips and lower back, which I loved, and it was bookended with scalp massages. She piled 5 or 6 hot towels on my back to start with, which felt amazing, and did the same on my feet after finishing with them. I am honestly still feeling nice and loose, between that and the time in the steam room. (Sweated so much it was glittery, ha.) If I could only ever have just one massage ever again, it'd be that one. The compressions were just so excellent and so exactly what I need to relax, far more than strokes.

So my date from last week has been texting me a lot this week, too. I am somewhat text averse, at least as a main communication technique, so this is hard to get used to. I do it with my friends, but it's harder with new people. But she is trying very hard, and so I am putting in effort, too. Okay, yes, I took a day to respond to her asking if I was around this weekend, but I was doing better before that. And I did respond this morning, admitted that I was worn out after my friend's visit and late nights (and the whole month of socializing, though I didn't mention that), and asked her to come here for a movie on Saturday afternoon. Which she is okay with, though she needs late Saturday afternoon/evening because she is working this weekend. That's fine, I think, movie and maybe frozen yogurt, and home while it's still daylight. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

I really am tired and worn out, and I really had hoped to spend my two days off and then Tuesday plowing through my stack of library books and not seeing anyone, ha. But the weekend after that, I have an afternoon wedding and then I work the next day, and I can't put this off for two weeks. I figure, it's worth one more date to see if she seems more comfortable and if I am more interested, and then I can decide what to do. And walking in my town to meet her is pretty low stress for me, so I appreciate her coming this way. And I will still have most of Saturday and all of Sunday and Tuesday to hibernate with books, Riverdale and other DVDs I have checked out. So it should be okay.

So far, the only flash of panic I had was when she did a friend request on Facebook. I did not accept it (or decline it, for that matter). She only got my last name by overhearing it at the tea store when I gave my account info, and that's a boundary I am just not into. I am not thrilled with the texting, but can understand that that's mostly on me and my privacy preferences. But there's no need to enmesh social media with someone I may only see one more time, dude. I still have some anxiety about her knowing my full name and place of work, because of the aforeseaid privacy preferences, but I can remind myself she is probably not a serial killer, and it's much less than it was with any guy I went out with. It's harder to brush off as irrational, like I've been able to do with other anxieties this month on the new meds dose, but neither is it entirely controlling things. So that's something.

Let's see, other news. I've been reading the Ghostbusters 101 comic run and enjoying it--the universes of the 80s and 2016 are colliding, and it's fun. The second issue had a retailer special edition with Kate McKinnon Holtz on the cover, and I special ordered it on my birthday. Alas, they accidentally ordered the subscribers cover, which was illustrated and focused mostly on the guys. I was sad, and posted on twitter, and the artist reached out to me to say he had a copy of the Holtz cover and he'd be happy to send it as a thanks for my support. And he did, and I got it today and I am SO HAPPY! It's so awesome, right? HOLTZ!

I ended up not signing up for Fic Corner or RarePairs, since I was uninspired by prompts, and pinned my hopes on FemslashEx. Which needs a new mod, so fingers crossed that it happens! I want Diana/Etta, and Genevieve from Parasol Protectorate! And, of course, Ghostbusters. Heart eyes.

Oh, MAN, she just sent me a video of her performing with her musical theater class and it is hilarious and awful and amazing. I wish I could take a musical theater class, ha. And she can get here in time to do a matinee priced movie, so, that works great for me.

Okay. It is so oddly quiet here without Krissy, sigh. I miss my friend. I think it is time for bed. Rest will help!

I had a three day pass to C2E2 this year, but ended up only doing Friday and Saturday. I am a little bummed I am not there right now, but I think it was the right call--I've been tidying my place, putting up new art, resting, etc. (Soon there needs to be writing, too, ha.)

I really did have a fun time, though. None of my friends who agreed to go with me were able to go, which was disappointing and made me nervous, but Celli hung out with me yesterday and that made it all better! Friday was mostly good--I took breaks, bought cool things, and only really had anxiety around leaving and making it work with the train schedule. Saturday started with a 50 minute wait for a shuttle, but got much better from there, with no anxiety about the return home and perfect timing for the train I wanted, plus buying all I really wanted!

I must have been super telegraphing my nervousness about con solo-ness on Friday, because I got into line and a guy asked if I was doing the day on my own. He fistbumped me when I said I was, and called me brave. He also introduced himself and offered to spend the day with me, but I said I just planned to wander and beelined off, ha. Which sort of set the tone for my interactions--a few could have actually turned into something fun, and I'd either think of what I should have said minutes later, or I just sort of froze up a little. Not surprising, really, but I wish I could have followed through on some.

I wish I'd been better about complimenting cosplay and asking for photos, but it just wasn't in me this year. :( Awesome ones seen: Rey-punzel (Rapenuzel dressed as Rey!), The Flash dressed up in a Dalton uniform, four Agent Carters (three blue suits and a Cap!Peggy), a little kid Clint Hawkeye, a Kate Hawkeye (in a great purple dyed denim jacket with things like "Bro" written on it), a few Squirrel Girls, a group of DC Bombshells including Arthur, and a few gorgeous Disney princesses including a gorgeous Aurora in pink and a steampunk Snow White. BB-SK8 was back, but I didn't see her this year.

There were a number of original Ghostbusters, and a handful of 2016. I saw two Holtzes in overalls on Friday (one was the second costume I saw, I was delighted), and three in uniform on Saturday. One flirted with me, which was great, ha. (I was wearing my Ghostbusters cardigan and a tshirt of the girls chasing Slimer. I should have gotten a pic of us!) The flirty Holtz was there with an Abby, and they had the BEST proton packs--filled with glitter and they lit up! I also saw one guy dressed up in a 2016 jumpsuit.

No fandoms stood out as being highly represented this year, for some reason. The usual strong representation of Harley and Deadpool, a good number of Caps, a fair number of Elevens from Stranger Things.

I basically spent my two days on the show floor, ha. Never made it to any panels, oops. I did find the booth where I bought my beloved Tardis headband a few years ago--I was so upset when it broke because it was the only headband that ever fit me comfortably. I bought a sparkly Tardis and a Wonder Woman this year, and found out that they buy the headbands wholesale but she'll send me the etsy shop where she gets them because she thinks they can be bought in a batch of ten. SOLD.

Friday haul:

The Tardis bag was only $20, and it's so much roomier than I thought! (Fitting.) I love the DC Batgirls, so I was thrilled Ant Lucia was selling a print of them--now I just need Kate's baseball card signed to Maggie. The Holtz print was an impulse buy, but I can't regret it--I love it, I just need to figure out a good place for her. (Though it's so weird to see her without her necklace!) I felt bad, because a woman stopped me an hour or two after I bought it and asked where I'd gotten it--and I couldn't remember the artist!!!!! ACK. I even checked my phone to see if I had a virtual receipt, and didn't. I apologized, said I was sure it was somewhere close to the middle aisle we were in, and on the right side. She said she'd look for it. I turned right, down the aisle we were standing next to, and the artist was the second booth. I looked for the lady, but couldn't find her. I hope she turned right, too, ha.

The pins went perfectly on my Tardis bag for walking around Saturday! They are I Know My Value, Let Me Be Brave and Nevertheless, She Persisted. The little pop figures are the most adorable magnets ever.

Saturday Haul:

Lady Killer was free--it's an awesome graphic novel from Joelle Jones, and I told her how I'd loved it and immediately passed it around to my dept to read. (And then I pushed Celli to buy a copy, ha.) Celli found me the Steggy poster, it's perfect for my hall of superheroes. I'd had my eye on another booth with a similar aesthetic, but something about his art style didn't quite sit right with me. This was perfect, and I'm thrilled with it! Also thrilled with my tea and pinup girls. The big one is Haunted Mansion; she also had a Futureland one and...another, hmm. Her Staypuft Marshmallow girl was cute, but only in a big size. She does pinup girl commissions, and I debated doing one, but couldn't decide what I wanted. Turn a character pinup? (I wore a khacki shirtdress last week and realized it would be perfect for a Ghostbusters pinup cosplay!) Original? Me? Maybe next year.

And, of course, I am utterly thrilled with my newest SuperGroupHug! Erin draws hugs, and they are adorable. Last year I commissioned Kate and Clint, and I've known for months I wanted to get a Holtzbert one. Erin said it was her favorite to draw so far that weekend. <3

Closeup:

Framed, with Kate and Clint:


Okay, true, I'd asked for casual Erin, because I like her relaxed flannel style at the end of the movie, but she is so dang cute that I can't really complain. And Holtz with the crop top and overalls is just classic. Twirl.

Other cool things I saw: A retro style Haunted Mansion bride with a bloody cleaver (I was super tempted, it was lovely), from an artist who loved my Ghostbusters top and we talked about her plans to cosplay. She was currently dressed as an amazing Honey Lemon, too. Oh, and she had this great print of Merida dressed up as Hawkeye, which was gorgeous. Sunnydale SMS alumnus necklaces, ha. Some cute Hamilton art, including a modern day Schuyler Sisters, and a wrestling style battle poster for Hamilton and Jefferson. Kate Leth is gorgeous and amazing, and had a super cute Kate and Maggie print I kept coming back to check out, but wouldn't go with my aesthetic. If she's back next year, I hope she has her new cover of Kate and America that comes out in July. Jen Bartel had an amazing Bucky/Nat picture of them about to kiss that I super loved and was tempted by, but again, it doesn't go with any other art I own. The guy that does the adorable Buffy and the Scoobies art, among others, has a print of Little Agent Carter, which was adorable. There was a leather booth that had amazing Cap and Winter Solider leather jackets. A batik Tardis lap quilt--she sold the pattern and a kit, too. I should have bought it, it was seriously cool. But I can get the pattern from her online store at least. A purple Pawnee Goddess sweatshirt that I was soooooo tempted by.

Saturday was essentially a Funko Pops hunt with Celli--she wanted all four new Ghostbusters, so we stopped at every booth that sold them. And I swear, every one had new ones we'd never seen!!! It was hard, apparently a lot of places sold out fast--one booth sold their three Pattys in under an hour on the first day. She did eventually get all four plus Holtz in the Ecto-1, and 6 others, ha. I seriously considered Winter Soldier, who was so freaking cute, and the Ms Marvel that had been a Walgreens exclusive. I don't normally browse those booths because I know if I get too sucked in, I will have a problem (I currently only own Peggy and Cap, 40s Peggy and Cap, Nat and Bucky and Holtz), ha. They have to be at a certain status of major love to pick one up. Though if they'd had 40s Steve Rogers, I'd have shelled out in a hearbeat!

I'm sure I will remember more as I go! But I think I need to take a walk and enjoy the sunshine after two days locked onto the show floor, ha.