Writing for Twin Cities Geek gives me the occasional perks such as seeing Taron Egerton in Robin Hood for free on Monday night. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to score Aquaman seats from Twin Cities Geek as another reviewer snagged them before I could. However, through the Warner Brothers website, I was able to score two tickets to the advanced screening show which made the boyfriend happy.

On the day of the advanced screening, me and the boyfriend left about 3 hours early because it was a 40-minute drive in rush hour traffic. When we got there, we were surprised at how many people were camped out already. We thought we were getting there early, but not early enough. The line wrapped around the theater towards the back entrance where me and the boyfriend found the end of the line. I was a little nervous we weren’t going to make it into the theater.

For those who have never attended a pre-screening event, the tickets we had didn’t guarantee us seats. It was on a first-come, first-serve basis. This was a huge lesson learned for me if I ever attended another screening like this. The earlier you show up, the better. However, after waiting in line, I was elated to see us entering the theater and we were able to get seats right in the front row.

Since Aquaman hasn’t been released yet, I won’t say too much about the movie until others have had the chance to see it. I will say this movie is visually stunning and Jason Momoa does a great job of portraying Aquaman on the big screen. I will never forget when I met Jason Momoa and he told me this movie was going to be great and he wasn’t wrong.

I haven’t written a fitness update in a while. The last post I wrote was an update on the personal training sessions I had been doing at Anytime Fitness. However, I don’t have a personal trainer anymore. The boyfriend got a job working at Lifetime Fitness which comes with fantastic benefits including a free membership for me. I couldn’t justify paying for a gym membership when I was given one courtesy of my wonderful partner. Since Lifetime offers a variety of different group fitness classes, I have been leaning towards mixing it up between cycle, barbell strength classes, and occasionally yoga or barre. I enjoy the variety in my workout routine because it’s engaging, different and motivating.

Additionally, I have my new Fit Bit Versa which I’m in love with. My company puts on one heck of a holiday party complete with prizes given out for hard-working employees. The grand prizes of the night were a Fit Bit Versa, Vikings vs. Bears tickets at the new Vikings Stadium, Blake Shelton tickets, and Jingle Ball Concert Tickets. None of the prizes stood out to me besides the Fitbit Versa. I put my name in for the Versa and I had talked to my coworkers all night about how awesome it would be if I won. When they were pulling names for the prizes, my coworkers were crossing their fingers hoping I would win. When they called my name, I almost cried tears of happiness. I don’t think I ever ran so fast up to the stage to accept my prize. I was hugging my Versa and my heart was racing because I didn’t think I would win because I never win anything.

Initially, I had never owned a fitness device, but I had been considering purchasing one for a while. The day after my company’s party, I was experimenting with the Versa. My current home screen for my Versa features a kitty who when you walk, you feed it. If you don’t walk enough the prior day, the kitty disappears, which at the moment the kitty has disappeared because I played too much Batman Arkham Knight yesterday. If you don’t have a fitness device, I do highly recommend purchasing one.

Another update to my health, and nutrition routine is eating more vegetables. This is a HUGE struggle for me. Living on my own, I have more control over how many vegetables I eat, but because I didn’t grow up eating them, I’m picky with what I like. I have been roasting vegetables such as asparagus, sweet potato, butternut squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. This has been a game-changer for me! I’m really proud of myself for accomplishing the task of eating more vegetables.

Overall, I’m super thrilled with my health achievements this year. Notice how I never mentioned my weight in any of the above paragraphs. Weight is a number, but it isn’t the best indicator of health in general. I have never felt better in my 24 years of life and I’m making better food choices now. I would love to hear any health, nutrition, mental health, etc. changes you made this year in the comments below.

It’s been a week since I published a new post due to traveling for Thanksgiving. I had a wonderful time with the boyfriend’s family and visiting my friend in Chicago. Since driving back to Minnesota, I have been reviewing all of the exciting moments happening in my life right now and I wanted to share them below. so

C2E2 Press Badge Application Accepted

This is probably the most exciting news I have received, but yes I will be attending C2E2 for the first time in 2019 along with getting accepted for a press badge. As I was browsing C2E2’s website, I was curious if my experience writing at Twin Cities Geek along with this blog would be enough to procure a press badge and with nudging from the boyfriend, I decided to apply to see what would happen. I certainly didn’t think I would get it because this blog isn’t famous or anything. However, I turned out to be wrong and this press badge is mine.

Chicago for Thanksgiving

When I was in college, I met one of my friends through my major classes. We lived together for a full year before she moved back to the Chicago area. Anytime I’m near the boyfriend’s family in Milwaukee, I try to visit her plus it gives me an excuse to roam around Chicago.

We settled on going to the Adler Planetarium because it’s the only museum downtown I haven’t seen yet. It was a smaller museum easily doable in an hour or so. For ten dollars, it was worth it to learn more about astronomy.

Chicago is fun this time of year because of all the Macy’s Christmas decorations. Each individual window has a holiday-themed decoration set along with wreaths lining the buildings. It’s fun to walk around and get more into the holiday spirit.

Before we left downtown, I walked to Graham Cracker Comics which is located approximately right across the street from Millennium Park. They had a buy one get one 50% off on trade paperbacks which led me to purchase Paper Girls Volume #4 and the famous Hush Batman graphic novel. I have a lot of new reading material now!

Orlando Feb. 2019 for Harry Potter World

Every year me and my family go on one big family vacation. This past year, it was a road trip to Boston. We decided to visit Orlando primarily to see Universal Studios. I have never been to Florida in general let alone a huge theme park. I’m super excited to be able to experience Hogwarts, drink butter beer, and walk down Diagon Alley.

Starting My Harry Potter Re-Read

Since I’m visiting Universal Studios, I want to be fully caught up on all of the lore again. The Harry Potter universe made me the geek I am today, so it’s fitting I would read the series again before I fly to Orlando.

I’m incredibly thankful for all of the experiences I’m able to be a part of. 2019 is going to be a busy year filled with more traveling and geek adventures. I wanted to wish anyone who reads my blog a Happy Holiday season and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday with friends or family.

There’s 365 days until Halloween next year. My Halloween was a chill night spent drinking beer with friends and staying out later than I usually do. Toward the end of September, I wrote a blog post about the October Bucket List items I wanted to accomplish. As always, my goal list was ambitious and I didn’t complete every task on this list. I wanted to do a brief recap of October 2018.

• Watch the Classic Horror Movies! I own Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy.

For me and the boyfriend’s 4-year anniversary, we watched the original Frankenstein although it seemed familiar which makes me think I watched the original in some high school or college class. The boyfriend ends up falling asleep throughout the movie which is unlike him.

• Watch Rocky Horror Picture Show *the original* which I have also never seen before.

Nope, but it’s in my Netflix Queue.

• Visit an Apple Orchard

Me and the boyfriend had plans to go to an Apple Orchard, but the weather didn’t cooperate as we had quite a few rainy days.

• Attend a Halloween Costume Party

On Halloween, me and a couple friends drove to a brewery that was hosting a costume party plus beer samples. Not necessarily a costume party, but I’m going to count the brewery as succeeding in this goal.

• See the new Halloween movie in theaters

I want to see this still, but I haven’t gotten around to it.

• Carve a Pumpkin

Carving pumpkins is messy which stopped me from completing this goal

• Watch Nightmare Before Christmas on Netflix

It’s on my Netflix list!

• Play a Horror-themed D&D campaign I linked my Call of Cthulhu D&D session.
• Attend the Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl

October 2018 was a blur because I was busy almost every single weekend. I’m sad to see October is over, but now I have these cute pictures to cherish forever ❤

I’m grateful to be living in a place that has a strong geek presence. I became aware of this community when I started writing for Twin Cities Geek in the summer of 2015. Three years later, Twin Cities Geek has allowed me to become comfortable in this geek community. Every year, Twin Cities Geek tables at Midwest Comic Book Association (M.C.B.A)’s two comic-themed conventions; Spring Con & Fall Con. Last weekend was Fall Con and I had the pleasure of attending this volunteer-run convention.

As I mentioned, this convention is run 100% by volunteers. This isn’t a for-profit show and the M.C.B.A. wants to highlight all of the Minnesota comic talent living and thriving in the Twin Cities area. This is a spending convention meaning it’s designed for people to show up, bring cash, and support local creators. However, I only brought $20 in cash, and I still left with two comics I’m looking forward to reading. You don’t need a lot of money to be able to support creators. $20 goes a long way.

An extra added bonus is the M.C.B.A. volunteers provide lunch to everyone who tables at the event. They always have hot dogs and pulled pork to share along with chocolate chip cookies and hot coffee. I gravitated to the hot coffee because I happened to be running on 4 hours of sleep. It’s especially appreciated by creators who are at their booths for hours. It’s easier to grab something quick to eat on site than to leave their booth to get food which risks losing sales.

Another nice feature of the con is the M.C.B.A. always gives away free stuff. They do raffles and draw tickets fairly often. In fact, when I received a ticket, it was automatically the winner. I could choose from coloring books, comics, and complete comic series. I ended up picking Spider-Gwen #2, Mockingbird #1, and Scarlet Witch #1. At Spring Con this year, I won a Lois Lane Bombshell figurine along with a graphic novel. It’s fun leaving the convention with free comics and comics I originally paid for.

A lot of my readers probably aren’t from the Minnesota or Midwest region of the U.S., however, if you are, this is a con you have to attend. Everyone is incredibly friendly and I have never had a negative geek experience at any of the M.C.B.A. conventions. I cannot wait for Spring Con to happen in May 2019.

Last weekend, me and two of my friends went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. This is my second Renaissance festival this year and even though I had to wait about an hour to get parked, this was my favorite Renaissance trip. Not only was it my friend’s birthday, but my other friend had never been to any Renaissance festival before. They both had a great experience filled with shopping, eating, and watching Fandazzi perform their annual fire show.

As I mentioned, the worst part about the Renaissance Fest is waiting to park the car. I saw more volunteers leading cars into the lot this year versus the other years I have attended. The line seemed to move quickly and I think it helped our group go on Sunday versus a Friday or Saturday.

Their first Renaissance Festival

One of my favorite parts about the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is all the vendors. Unlike the Bristol Renaissance Festival, I think the Minnesota Ren Fest has cooler items to purchase. I purchased a leather cup holder for my coffee thermos and it looks like Cthulhu. It’s green and it has a huge octopus on it. It was an automatic purchase for me because as soon as I laid my eyes on it, I had to have it. I also purchased two necklaces: one is a Cthulhu/octopus carved into metal and the other is two unicorns joined on top of a purple gem. Renaissance festival jewelry always adds something unique to my closet and I like being able to wear geeky jewelry at work with my professional attire.

Part of the reason I attend the MN Ren Fest is to eat good food. Every time I go, I always order the chicken wild rice soup in a bread bowl. It’s filling and extremely satisfying. I also tried the calzone for the first time which wasn’t too bad. Finally, to finish off the day I drank an apple cider float with cinnamon ice cream. It’s way better than a root beer float.

Ultimately, the more I think about it, the more I prefer the Minnesota Renaissance Festival over the Bristol Renaissance Festival in Wisconsin. This is an event I try to attend every year even though I was unable to attend last year due to being overworked. I can’t wait to start wearing my new Cthulhu necklace to work. 😛

Two weeks ago I visited New York City with my best friend. I had never been to NYC before and I didn’t know what to expect. I try not to create expectations about a certain city or country because I find if I do, I’m going to be disappointed. Case in point I visited Nashville last summer and was disheartened when I didn’t like Nashville as much as I perceived I would. Visiting NYC was an amazing experience and I cannot wait until my return trip.

We flew into JFK airport at 11:30 PM and we didn’t get to our Air B&B until 1:30 AM – 2:00 AM. JFK airport is past Brooklyn and Queens as our Air B&B was in Harlem located in upper Manhattan. If you look at Google Maps, you can see that it’s a long trek from the airport to our Air B&B. Plus we took the wrong subway which was our more direct route to getting to Harlem and took the longer route which went all the way through Brooklyn and up through Manhattan. My biggest advice for visiting NYC is to download the NYC Metra Subway app. It can give you detailed directions on which subway to take to get to a tourist area. We tried to use Google Maps which doesn’t work since you’re underground with no cell service.

On Friday, we explored Manhattan by walking around Central Park, visiting Times Square, and walking through the 9/11 memorial. Central Park is massive! We probably only walked around a fourth of the park and it’s easy to get lost. It’s mesmerizing in a city filled with millions of people lies a park filled with trees and beautiful flowers. Times Square is probably one of my least favorite parts of New York because it’s a tourist trap. There are people everywhere and it takes forever to walk around because of the groups of people that stop in the middle of the sidewalk as you’re trying to walk.

My favorite attraction we did on Friday was the 9/11 memorial. I was in 2nd grade when the two planes hit the Two Towers. My 2nd grade teacher had the footage on our TV set and my parents had the news on in our living room. If you’re ever in NYC, please visit the memorial. There were so many brave individuals who lost their lives that day to help save anyone they could from the towers. I was looking at all the items on display and my eyes welled up with tears thinking about how many lives were changed on that day.

On Saturday we visited the MET Art Museum. The MET Museum is also the site for the MET Gala where celebrities get together in fancy outfits and have dinner. My friend wanted a picture in front of the big steps of the MET because of the Gossip Girl TV Show. The pictures are neat because they show the big steps and the MET banner in the background.

On our last day in NYC, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge and explored Dumbo a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It’s right along the water separating Manhattan and Brooklyn. It reminds me of Minneapolis in a way because of the brick streets and the brick buildings. It’s a different side of NYC than just seeing Manhattan.

NYC is such a vast city and there’s so much to see. It’s overwhelming trying to see everything in the short time we were there. I’m envious of anyone who’s attending New York City Comic Con this year as I would love to go. I’m thinking next year of trying to purchase at least a day pass so I can explore this city one more time.