Last weekend, my husband and I went to Chicago to see Critical Role live. Around October last year, Critical Role announced live shows for their tenth anniversary. There were live shows in Australia, a live show the same weekend as Gen Con, and live shows in New York and Chicago. Being from the Twin Cities, Chicago is easy to get to, so I waited in the online queue and bought tickets. I had never seen Critical Role live before this, so I didn’t know what to expect from the show. It was so fun, and I’m glad I went to the show.

For the live show, I decided to cosplay as Keyleth. This time, though, I wore my green contacts for the first time. I bought them late last year, so I didn’t have a convention to wear them to. I had been saving them for the live show. I found the contacts to be comfortable to wear for hours and didn’t have an issue with my eyes being dry or the contacts being blurry. As part of my Keyleth cosplay, I had the orange wig and the crown, which were the most uncomfortable parts of the look. I only ended up wearing my floral crown for twenty minutes before having to take it off because it dug into my forehead. While I had a wig line on my forehead from wearing the wig for close to eight hours, it was worth it. Being in cosplay, I felt it contributed to the energy of the live show.

The live show started at seven, but I was scrolling through the official Critical Role Discord, and some fans mentioned that a long line was beginning at the merch line. I convinced my husband we needed to get there early, so we called Uber and arrived at Wintrust Arena at 4:30 PM-ish. The merch line wasn’t nearly as long as I feared, but we immediately went to the line to wait. While waiting in line, several people handed me trinkets. Some fans made stickers, pins, buttons, and bracelets and would hand them out to people regardless of whether they were cosplaying. While in line, I received several stickers and a Pâté charm. I received so many trinkets that I had to start handing them to my husband to hold because I had no pockets. When we entered the arena, a Pike cosplayer handed me a Keyleth friendship bracelet. I am obsessed! I will never be taking this off and will wear it every day.

I didn’t buy VIP tickets, so we entered the arena at 5:30 PM when the doors opened for general admission. The stage was exquisite! It was lit up with blue and red lights. It gave off a darker carnival type of mood. The live show started on time and went till 12:15 AM or so. I wasn’t sure how long the show would be, as I know Critical Role’s streams are longer. I’m not going to spoil the live show, as the recording of the show won’t be uploaded for some time. It was entertaining, to say the least, and the energy within the arena was exuberant.

I am so happy I was able to attend the live show! This is my first time seeing Critical Role, but it might not be the last. I’m not sure how far I would travel for a live show, but if they are ever in Chicago again, I will be there.

Last weekend, I drove to Kansas City, Missouri, for Planet Comic Con. I have family in the area, so I’m fortunate to stay with them, making it a pretty cheap trip. I look forward to Planet Comic Con every year. I always go on Fridays, which ends up being one of the less crowded days of the convention. On Saturday, I spend the day with family roaming around the city, and then I drive home on Sunday. Planet Comic Con was successful, as I bought new comics to read and debuted a new cosplay.

At Planet Comic Con this year, I wanted to buy comics to have something new to read. There are several comic book vendors, but they mostly sell single-issue comics. I used to read a ton of single-issue comics when I went to my local comic book store regularly, but now I have switched to reading trade paperbacks or graphic novels that contain five issues in one book. It’s much easier for me to keep up on a series than trying to purchase each issue separately. I found two vendors selling graphic novels at half off or significantly discounted. I purchased four new graphic novels: Dark Ride Volume 1 Hell Ticket, Crossover Volume #1, Moonknight Volume #2, and Snotgirl Volume #3. I haven’t started them yet, but I plan on reading them in the next few weeks.

Besides shopping for comics, I debuted a new cosplay! I have wanted to cosplay Scarlet Witch for a while, as I loved her in WandaVision and the various Avengers movies. I have also been reading Steve Orlando’s run on Scarlet Witch. There are a lot of different ways to cosplay Scarlet Witch. There’s her traditional look with the red leotard, all her looks from the movies, and her darker look from Doctor Strange. I found a costume online from her look in Avengers: Endgame with the red coat. I ordered it, and it worked out great! I will write about this in an upcoming post, so I won’t go into further detail right now.

On Saturday, we went to City Market, an outdoor market I had never been to. It’s funny; I have been to Kansas City several times, and each time I go, I always end up going somewhere new. I purchased some candle melts from one of the vendors there, and after, we went to a few breweries. Kansas City is known for its breweries. We went to River City Bluff Brewery and Callsign, the latter being owned and operated by veterans. Both were breweries I had never been to before. We ended up having lunch at J Rieger & Co, a historic distillery, before finally ending up at Boulevard, a brewery that I have been to several times and ends up being a go-to.

It was a fun filled weekend! It’s nice to be able to leave Minnesota every now and then. I love how Kansas City is only six hours away because you can get away without being too far. Planet Comic Con was a blast as always and I can’t wait for next year.

Last weekend, me and my husband went to the Minnesota Ice Castles. The Ice Castles are exactly what they sound like. We went to this event several years ago, but it was in a different area. This year, it was at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Near the Ice Castles, there was an ice sculpture park where you could watch contestants create ice sculptures. Someone made a Trojan; another sculpture was a beer bottle from a local brewery.

It’s nice to have outdoor events in Winter. I don’t mind Winter as a season, but these months can drag on.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends had marked that they were interested in attending the Book Fair at Inbound Brewco. I’m all for supporting local bookstores and I’m a beer drinker, so the event sounded like it would be fun. On top of that, it’s cold in Minnesota this time of the year, so it’s nice to have something to go do inside. The event happened this past Saturday and I was excited to see how many people showed up for this event.

Me and my friend drove downtown which is where Inbound is. As we approached, there was horrendous traffic everywhere. I haven’t seen traffic like this unless it’s a sporting event such as the Twins or the Vikings playing. I knew immediately that this would be people who wanted to attend the Book Fair. We drove away from the traffic and parked several blocks away which worked well. We walked several blocks and approached the brewery to see a massive line! The line was out the door, all the way down the street, turning left and down a side street. Me and my friend were committed, we already paid to park and had friends we were meeting up with, so we ventured to the back of the line.

One thing I always appreciate about a situation like this is meeting new people. I have stood in long lines at conventions and always ended up chatting with those around me. There was a woman and her friend behind us who would jump into our conversation every now and then. We found out that we were reading the same book and would chat about the various books we liked to read. It gives me a sense of community that we are all united in attending this event because of our love for local businesses and books. After an hour and forty-five minutes of waiting, we were ushered into the tap room.

I’m not complaining about the wait time to get into the brewery. I’m not an event planner and I could never be an event planner. I have massive respect for event planners for this reason. I think the brewery did not anticipate this many attendees which is why the line was so long. Inbound is one of my favorite breweries, but it’s not big enough to handle this event. However, if the event were in summer, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal to wait. Me and my friends were not dressed for the weather. My feet were freezing and I should have worn fleece socks. I didn’t bring gloves and trying to call friends and let them know where we were in line did not help. I’m choosing to focus on the positive things about this event which is how exciting it is to see this many people show up. It was fun to chat with different people and be in the atmosphere. After the event, I drove home and didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. I felt I had too much social interaction and needed to recharge my social battery.

With that said, I’m happy I went. Me and my friends survived the cold together. I would attend an event like this in the future, but knowing how popular this event would be, I don’t think I would attend again in January.

At the end of the year, there are two posts I always write. The first is my “End of Year Book Survey” where I review all the books, comics, manga, and graphic novels I read. The second is my “Pop Culture Year in Review” where I reflect on the shows and movies I watched and highlight fun moments throughout the year. I wanted to add another post to this end-of-year post series. This post will link to some of my favorite posts I wrote this year.

Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s

Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s is pretty self-explanatory. I took time to remember my 20s and what I have learned as I enter a new decade. This post is arguably one of the most vulnerable posts I have ever published. I have grown so much from when I was 20 to being a few months into being 30. I had this post in my drafts for several months and each week I would write a little bit and then move on to something else. It took me at least three months for a rough draft to be written, but it was well worth it. I find myself re-reading this post from time to time and every time, I’m proud of the post and how I have evolved into an even better person than I used to be.

Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs

Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs came out of harassment I received online. I like how I turned something that was initially negative into something positive. On top of that, I think the pay-to-play format is becoming more popular thanks to StartPlaying. I had a few people reach out to me privately asking for more information, so I’m glad my post came off as informative which was my original intent.

Favorite Moments of My 20s

Favorite Moments of My 20s sounds similar to my Life Lessons post, instead, I talked about memories that stood out to me throughout the past decade. I wrote about trips I took or major moments during this time of my life. When I wrote this post, I forgot how many trips I had been on. It’s funny how that works. When I had to pick and choose which trips I would highlight, I had a hard time narrowing down what I would write about. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel so much in my 20s. I want to continue traveling in my 30s, but it will feel different in the best way. I don’t enjoy being gone for more than a week as I find value in my day-to-day routine. I find a lot of joy in traveling for three full days even if it’s a quick trip for a weekend. I wrote about how I purchased my car and graduated from college. In my 30s, I probably won’t have those milestone moments, but I think that’s a part of finding stability in my life which is comforting.

How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story – Axis Campaign

How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story had to appear on this list. I don’t write a lot about the D&D campaign I’m in. I like having the privacy of my home game and part of the story isn’t for me to tell since it doesn’t revolve around my character. I would never want to tell a story that isn’t mine. With Vesper though, I was re-reading my notes from our sessions and those campaign moments stood out. It’s funny how they both revolved around rolling a natural one on a dice roll. My goal with this post is to put players at ease who may feel scared about lower rolls. While natural 20s are exciting, natural 1s can add to the story and I can speak from first hand experience as to how that’s the case.

Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay

Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay is another post I wanted to include, but not because of the post itself. It’s more about how I’m proud to have improved how I cosplay. I took a risk and tried something new which can be scary. Putting in contacts was something I was not good at, but the more I did it, the better I got. I would see cosplayers wearing colored contacts and didn’t know how they got started. I had to figure it out on my own to some degree and I’m glad I did. With colored contacts out of the way, maybe it’s time to figure out how to apply body paint.

Undergoing Genetic Testing

Undergoing Genetic Testing is the last post I wanted to promote. Before undergoing Genetic Testing, I didn’t know anyone else who had. I think it’s a topic that’s out of sight out of mind for most couples who are going to become parents. For us, it was a must to have Genetic Testing completed, but I would encourage anyone who is thinking about having children to get tested. I walked through how I started the process which I hope would be helpful to those who were thinking about it.

If you have a moment, I’d love a little extra love on some of these posts. If you haven’t liked or commented on these posts, I’d appreciate the sentiment! I am curious to see what I will write about in 2025.

While driving home from Milwaukee, my husband pointed out a billboard. The billboard was an advertisement for Boards & Bricks, a board game and hobby store in Osseo, Wisconsin. Osseo is outside of Eau Claire on the west side of the state. My husband agreed we should stop there and check it out. When we walked in, the store was massive! There were lots of Magic: The Gathering, Disney Lorcana, and Dungeons & Dragons products each in their specific section. There was a LEGO section and a shelf for puzzles. I bought a few things and I wanted to share what I purchased.

On the counter, there were several stacks of dice. I picked up each set and examined them as some sets had items or animals in the dice. I chose to purchase the coffee bean set. The dice are a pretty brown color with gold specs. Inside the dice are actual coffee beans! I thought these were two cute and I couldn’t resist purchasing them.

LEGO came out with these Dungeons & Dragons surprise sets where you open it and you’re not sure what you will get. I talked about how much I wanted the Strahd one. The store associate helped scan the boxes and chose the box containing Strahd. I’m going to put Strahd on my TTRPG shelf in our bedroom next to Levenia, as she got the final killing blow on Strahd in our game. Next to Strahd, I have four d10s. Vampire: The Masquerade uses d10s and I wanted extra dice in case I need to put some dice in dice jail. I picked out any that looked red or would fit the darker vibe of the game. I will set them aside in a separate dice bag for when I play Vampire.

The final purchase I made was stickers. I like to decorate my TTRPG notebooks with stickers because it personalizes my notes. The two stickers I bought were Sorcerer and Paladin. Those are classes I have played, so I felt a personal connection to them. I’m going to stick them in my notebook before our next session.

Boards & Bricks is a store I would stop in again. It’s nice to have these local spots because it makes the five-hour trip from Minneapolis to Milwaukee much more enjoyable.

Last weekend was Twin Cities Con at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I look forward to Twin Cities Con every year as it always feels like a last hurrah to end convention season. I like how Twin Cities Con is in November and right before the holidays. I volunteered at the Twin Cities Geek booth like I usually do which I always enjoy. It’s great to talk to local geeks and many of the people I talked to said Twin Cities Con was their first con. I wanted to summarize my thoughts about this year’s convention as a whole. This will be broken up into two parts: the first will be my experience at the con and the second part will discuss the logistics of the event.

I had a blast at Twin Cities Con. I was there both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I was there for two hours and Saturday I was there for 4 1/2 hours. Saturday was the busier day by far. I was shocked at the amount of people waiting in line! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s clear Twin Cities Con has grown in the years since they have been putting on the convention. After volunteering at the Twin Cities Geek booth, I wandered the vendor hall. The crowds were there! It felt like I was at C2E2 or Planet Comic Con. As far as the vendors, I saw quite a few artists and a lot of vendors selling TTRPG stuff. There were a few dice vendors and I had to refrain from spending too much money. There seemed to be a good mix of vendors selling a variety of different products.

One of the highlights of my day on Saturday was attending a panel. I went to the “Women in Cosplay” panel on Saturday at 3 PM. The panelists did a phenomenal job at making the panel light hearted. It was equal parts talking and engaging the audience. They took questions on social media, so if anyone felt shy to ask a question directly, they could submit it instead. I liked this a lot. It made the panel more personal than other panels I have been to in the past. I would love to tell you who was on the panel, but on Twin Cities Con’s website, it doesn’t list who the panelists are which is a bummer. I believe the cosplayers were from South Carolina, but that’s about all I can tell you.

I can’t recap Twin Cities Con without talking about the logistics of the event. I have been following several social media posts made on both the Twin Cities Con Fans and the Twin Cities Geek Facebook groups. There were several people who expressed frustration with how Twin Cities Con was organized and I feel it’s necessary to summarize some of this if I’m going to talk about Twin Cities Con effectively. One of the major complaints was with the security line. This year, Twin Cities Con had a security line with metal detectors outside of the Exhibit Hall. Once you pass through the line, you can find the photo ops area, celebrities doing autographs and the vendors tabling there. However, once you leave the Exhibit Hall (let’s say to go to a panel or to play a TTRPG game with Badwolf Adventure Studios), you would have to wait in the security line again.

Why does waiting in a line matter? Depending on what time of day and who you ask, I have heard of people waiting in line for 45 minutes or over an hour. This matters if you were someone who bought an autograph or a photo op with a designated time slot. For a security line, I would expect to wait 20 – 30 minutes, I feel that would be reasonable. It seems that lines for Twin Cities Con were much longer than that. As a side note, since I was an exhibitor / volunteer, I could go through a separate line versus the longer security line, so I didn’t have to wait long. I think this is important to mention because this probably plays into why I had a good time at Twin Cities Con since I didn’t have to wait as long as others.

I do want to take a step back and compare Twin Cities Con with C2E2. C2E2 does have security, but the way C2E2 does it, you go through a separate area that’s right across the aisle from the exhibit hall. Once you’re through security, you have access to everything. The exhibit hall, the food area, alcohol, and the panel rooms. The only reason you would have to leave is if you were done for the day or you wanted to go out to eat at a sit down restaurant. When I have gone to C2E2, I have never had to wait longer than 10 minutes to get through the security line. Seeing how other conventions handle this, I think Twin Cities Con has room for improvement in creating a seamless experience for anyone attending the con.

What’s the solution for something like this? I am not an event planner, so I can’t say how much of this is on Twin Cities Con or how much of this is on the Minneapolis Convention Center. I saw someone suggest moving the entrance to the security line to the front door of the Convention Center. While this isn’t a bad suggestion, this would also have people waiting outside to get in. The weather this year was mild, but November in Minnesota can be a hit or a miss. For cosplayers, it sucks to have to bring cold weather clothing and then carry it around for the entire convention. Another suggestion I saw was putting stickers on badges for those who already went through security, so they could come and go as they please. There is a safety risk for this. Let’s say someone goes through security, then decides to bring in something they shouldn’t. With big guests like Hayden Christensen, there does need to be some way to make sure guests feel safe attending a larger event like this. I am not sure what the solution is for this. I hope Twin Cities Con listens to some of the fans and offers an alternative for next year.

With all that said, I have a few minor critiques for Twin Cities Con. The first is to list who the panelists are on the panels. I’d love to shout out the panelists for the “Women in Cosplay” panel. Another critique is when you go to Twin Cities Con’s website, it lists vertically all the panels and events for each of the days. It’s difficult to read because when you scroll down, it’s not clear which day you’re reading from. I think it would be cool to see a virtual convention book online or even printing a few convention books to have on hand. It would make it a lot easier to plan out my days and what I want to do on what day. These are all pretty minor tweaks versus the security line being called out by many people.

I was not expecting to go into this level of detail over Twin Cities Con, but here we are. As mentioned, I like Twin Cities Con and I will be back next year. I didn’t experience as many of the pain points that other people experienced. I think it’s important to mention that everyone’s opinions and thoughts are valid even if you disagree with them. I think Twin Cities Con could improve on a lot of things, however, I’m glad Twin Cities Con is here. It’s nice to not always have to travel several states away when I want to attend a bigger convention.

By the time this post is live, I may or may not have secured tickets to one of Critical Role’s live shows. I was at work when I heard about Critical Role’s live show announcement and could not be more excited. I told my husband repeatedly that if Critical Role was in the Chicago area or a city nearby, I would make the time to see them. My husband is so sweet and offered to go with me, so I wouldn’t have to go alone. Since I’m a Beacon subscriber, I get early access to purchase tickets. I’m trying not to get overly excited in case I can’t get tickets for their live show.

Another exciting portion of this announcement is their live show in Indianapolis. I quickly confirmed that Critical Role will be in Indianapolis the same weekend as Gen Con. This makes me hopeful that Darrington Press will also be at Gen Con promoting Candela Obscura and Daggerheart. It’s too early to tell if that will be the case, but I missed seeing Darrington Press at Gen Con this year.

No matter what happens, I’m happy to see Critical Role hosting live shows. I went to NADDPOD’s live show a few years ago and it was great to be around fans. TTRPG live shows are a unique experience and I’d love to be a part of the audience at one of these live shows.