I was at CONvergence last weekend, which is always a blast. I look forward to CONvergence every year, and it’s always a highlight of my summer. I counted, and this is my 9th CONvergence. While I have attended CONvergence nine times, I always either learn something new or think about something I want to do next year that I didn’t have a chance to do this year. This year, I went to a photo meet-up, won a board game in a raffle, and debuted a new cosplay.

CONvergence is a four-day convention, although I go for three full days and skip Sunday. Sunday is my day where I recharge my social battery. Since I live close to the Hyatt Regency, I don’t reserve a hotel room. With the constant commuting and high energy of conventions, I need a day to unwind. On Thursday, I volunteered at the Twin Cities Geek table like I usually do. I spent four hours talking to geeks and handing out free swag that we received. From my time at the table, I always get people handing me badge ribbons. Badge ribbons are big at CONvergence, and once you get a badge ribbon, you stick it to the end of your badge. I always have several ribbons by the time the convention ends, and usually it’s because I’m talking to people who happen to have badge ribbons with them. Thursdays are the chillest day because I’m only at the con for a max of four hours. I don’t want to get too burnt out too quickly.

Friday is the day I’m at CONvergence the longest. I always arrive in the morning and don’t leave until 11:30 PM or later. After volunteering for Twin Cities Geek, I went to a cosplay photo meet-up. I didn’t start doing this until last year, but at CONvergence, there are several pre-planned cosplay meet-ups. They go for an hour, and it’s where cosplayers can get professional photos taken. Photos are uploaded two or three weeks after the convention ends. This year, I went to the Marvel photo meet-up as I cosplayed Scarlet Witch. I cosplayed as Scarlet Witch at Planet Comic Con this year. The only difference is that I was able to find a copper red wig to wear. There were two other Scarlet Witch cosplayers, and we were able to take a selfie together and have our photos taken. I can’t wait to see how the photos turned out!

Besides the photo meet-up, I played at one of the Badwolf Adventure Studios tables. I tried a new TTRPG that I have never played before called Monster of the Week. I would describe Monster of the Week as Scooby Doo meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The system itself is easy to learn as it utilizes two six-sided dice for every roll. Our table was high energy, and I liked being able to sit back and watch the story unfold. The session was two hours, which flew by. Towards the end of our session, someone came to our table and offered us raffle tickets. I entered to win a copy of Distilled, which is a game I demoed at Gen Con. I was not expecting to win, as I saw the number of tickets in the jar for this game. Several hours later, I got a text saying I won the game! I can safely say that Distilled is a heavy game to lug around for several hours at the con.

After gaming, I went to two panels. The first panel was tips for how to be a good Gamemaster (GM). Five panelists shared their experience with GMing a variety of systems, including one GM who had experience putting together a LARP (live-action roleplay). They took questions from the audience, which helped tailor the discussion to topics the audience would be most interested in learning about. I have always wanted to be a GM, or I think it would be fun to be a GM for one game. If I were to GM any system, it would be Vampire: The Masquerade or Call of Cthulhu. I like Dungeons & Dragons, but as a system, I’m not passionate about telling a story within that system. The second panel was a cosplay-themed panel where panelists discussed their costuming horror stories. This was an easy panel to listen to, and the panelists were knowledgeable but engaging. Some of the stories were hilarious, and the panelists themselves kept it lighthearted.

To end the day, I went to two comedy events: the first featured several comedians with their ten-minute sets, and the second was Vilification Tennis. Vilification Tennis is an event I never miss. It’s where comedians will stand up and insult each other. The insults are downright diabolical. This show is inappropriate, hence why it’s always at 10:00 PM on a Friday. After Vilification Tennis, my plan was to wander the party rooms. However, my wig headache was wearing on me, and I had my new copy of Distilled that I didn’t want to lose, so I left shortly after the show.

On Saturday, I debuted a new cosplay. I had been putting together this cosplay for a bit. I cosplayed Moonshine Cybin from the Dungeons & Dragons podcast, NADDPOD. I am so excited about how this cosplay came together. I’m going to break this down in a later post. After my volunteering hours at Twin Cities Geek, I went to the Geeks Without God panel, which is a live recording of the podcast. Geeks Without God has been a long-running podcast, but I didn’t start listening until last year. This episode was about AI, and the guests included a college professor and someone who works in publishing. I liked hearing the perspective from the professor, as it shows how much has changed since I went to school. They covered a variety of different topics, and the episode itself was fascinating to watch. After the panel, I was exhausted. For next year, I’m going to arrive on Saturday later in the day. I wanted to stay and go to the party rooms, but I was tired. Friday was a long day, I woke up early to get ready, therefore I left earlier on Saturday.

CONvergence was so much fun. Besides arriving later on Saturday, I want to commit to volunteering at CONvergence. As mentioned, this is my ninth CONvergence, and it’s about time that I pay it forward. I won’t miss anything if I volunteer, and for me to enjoy the con for all these years, volunteers made that happen. I’d like to be able to make that happen for someone else. Additionally, I’d love to get back into being on panels. I was a panelist several years ago, and I keep missing the cutoff for signing up to be a panelist. Those are my goals for the next CONvergence and the one after that.

Italy was our big trip this year, but before we planned out Italy, we booked a trip to The Black Hills with my husband and his parents. While I live in Minnesota and South Dakota is a bordering state, I have never been to The Black Hills. My husband’s mom is from South Dakota and wanted to book a trip, so I could experience The Black Hills for the first time. I have been to South Dakota before, but the farthest I have been is Mitchell where the Corn Palace is. I had no expectations for this trip and one of the biggest takeaways was how beautiful this area of South Dakota truly is.

We were in The Black Hills for two full days and were able to cram in a lot. On our first day, we went to Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and Needles Highway. While driving to Mount Rushmore, all the roads were uphill and you end up driving through the hills to get to it. As we parked and walked up, there’s a walkway taking you straight to the scuplture. Lining the bridge are all the U.S. state flags. My mother in law was sharing how much Mount Rushmore has been built up since she was a little girl. There are several walkways to get closer to the presidents and plaques with the history of how Mount Rushmore was built. It was more extravagant than I thought it was going to be since I thought it would be Mount Rushmore and nothing else there.

After Mount Rushmore, we went to Custer State Park. There’s a loop within Custer State Park called Wildlife Loop where you’re the most likely to see buffalo. We saw plenty of prairie dogs and a few antelope. It wasn’t until we took a detour that we saw buffalo up close. By up close, I mean they were a few steps away from our vehicle. I have seen buffalo before when I went to Wyoming last year, but nothing like this. There are many signs that state to not approach the buffalo which makes me laugh because it wouldn’t surprise me if there was someone who rushes the buffalo for a picture. Buffalo are aggressive animals and that would end poorly.

To finish off our first day, we drove on Needles Highway. Needles Highway is a scenic drive and the roads are so narrow. There are tunnels that only have room for one car to pass at a time. Thank goodness I wasn’t driving because that would have stressed me out. You would have to look ahead to see if a car was already in a tunnel before making your way through. There are these rock formations that are narrow and tall that are nicknamed needles hence the name Needles Highway. I’m glad I wasn’t driving because I could look out the window and take it all in.

On our second day we went to Crazy Horse and The Mammoth Site. Crazy Horse is a cooler version of Mount Rushmore. It’s a sculpture dedicated to indigenous tribes, but what’s unique about Crazy Horse is that it didn’t take government funds to build. It’s entirely self funded. They started Crazy Horse in 1948 and as of 2025, they aren’t finished yet. However, they have the face all carved and parts of the fingers. It’s estimated that they could be completed in 10 – 20 years from now. They also have a bin of rocks that they collected from sculpting Crazy Horse that are free to take. We now have a portion of Crazy Horse in our garden.

After Crazy Horse, I wanted to go to The Mammoth Site. The Mammoth Site is a live excavation where palentologists are still finding preserved Mammoth bones. As you walk in, there’s a big dig area and each portion has audio recordings, so you can listen and match what you’re looking at. There are several walkways and plaques describing what was occurring. Interestingly enough, the mammoth is a relative to the elephant, so sometimes scientists will reference elephant anatomy if needed. Isn’t that neat? Once you exit the dig area, there are several stations where they tell you about this time period, what happened to the mammoths since they are extinct, and the different areas in the world and what was going on there. It was like a mini science museum devoted to mammoths.

While we did a lot in two days, this could easily have been a week long trip. We didn’t have time to do Devil’s Tower in Wyoming or Wind Cave. This would be a fun trip to do with kids since there’s enough going on to keep them interested. The Black Hills was fun to visit and I want to go back. As far as the rest of my travel plans for this year, this should be the last trip. I’m looking forward to being home for the rest of the year and planning out trips for 2026.

This is the final post in my three-part Italy series. When we planned our itinerary, I told my husband that we had to go to Lake Como. Lake Como, specifically Villa del Balbianello, is where portions of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones were filmed. Lake Como is located in the northern part of the country, close to the Switzerland border. We took a train from Florence to Milan, stayed in Milan for a day, then took a train from Milan to Lake Como. Lake Como was gorgeous and one of the trip’s highlights.

When we got to Lake Como, the train station was right near downtown. Lake Como is a small town with shops and several clothing stores. Approaching the lake, Lake Como is surrounded by grassy mountains. Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It makes sense that portions of the prequels were filmed here. I was in awe of how pretty the lake was. I don’t want this paragraph to be repetitive, but I can’t help it. Lake Como was stunning.

After checking into our Airbnb, my husband suggested we take the Cable Car. There’s a cable car nearby downtown that will shuttle people to Brumate, a town on the mountain. I don’t do well with heights, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t do it. The line for the cable car can be long; however, two cable cars run simultaneously, so I felt that it kept things moving. It was cloudy by the time we made our way to the station, so the line wasn’t very long. The ride up to Brumate was smoother than I anticipated, especially because it was at a steep incline. At the top, there are several hiking trails, one leading to a lighthouse. We walked around, but only ended up staying for about thirty minutes before taking the cable car back down. We lucked out because about an hour after that, it started to rain. It was good timing that we were able to buy tickets, hop on the cable car, walk around, hop back on the cable car to make our way back to Como, all before the rain started.

The real question is, did we visit Villa del Balbianello? We didn’t. Most of the villas that we could tour weren’t within walking distance of where we were staying. For Villa del Balbianello specifically, there was a bus you could take to get there, but it doesn’t drop you off right in front of the villa, so you’d have to walk up to get there. We could have taken the ferry, but the lines for the ferry were extremely long, much longer than the cable cars. It was odd because you think that for something so well-known, it would have been easier to get there. It would have taken us a full day to navigate there, and I didn’t want to take up that much time. While I didn’t visit the exact villa Star Wars was filmed in, I was close enough to Naboo, and that was good enough for me.

If I could describe our time in Lake Como with one word, I would say it was relaxing. Our first day was packed with the train, walking around, checking into our Airbnb, and riding the cable car. The other days we were there, we had no plans, and it was needed. I enjoyed the time when my husband and I would get an espresso to go, and I’d bring my book to read while we sat on the bench near the lake. After spending a good amount of time on the lake, we took the train back to Rome, toured the Vatican, and flew home.

It’s been fun to reminisce about our trip to Italy! With that said, I’m looking forward to being home for the rest of the year. I don’t have any other travel plans for this year, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

This is the second post in my three-part Italy series. We spent a few days in Rome before taking the train up to Florence. Florence is about an hour from Rome and is known for its wineries. We didn’t do a wine tour, instead, my husband booked us a cooking class where we learned how to make three different types of pasta. The cooking class was one of the most memorable parts of our trip, and while we were only in Florence for a few days, we made the most of it.

Once our train arrived, we were able to check into our Airbnb early and drop off our luggage. One of the most notable places to visit in Florence is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This cathedral is massive! It’s so exquisite to see up close. If you look at any photos from Florence, I can almost guarantee that the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore makes an appearance. Earlier in the day, there was a torrential downpour of rain, but fortunately, it didn’t last long, and the sun came out. All these photos have not been edited in the slightest, it was that nice while we were in Florence.

Another famous landmark in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River in Florence. While walking on the bridge, there are a variety of different shops selling jewelry, watches, and other local goods. We walked on this bridge several times throughout our time in Florence.

Our cooking class was on our second day in Florence. The cooking class was in the back of a restaurant. As we proceeded down the hallway, we were led to one of two rooms. Two cooking classes were going on simultaneously, with a barrier between the rooms. Each room had three tables, two wider tables with a narrow table up near the chef’s area. Each setting has flour, two eggs, and a variety of cooking utensils for everyone to use.

I was slightly nervous as the cooking class approached. I like to cook, but I’m not an expert, and I’d hate to mess anything up since we have to eat what we make. However, our chef had great energy and was walking around helping out if needed. The three types of pasta that we made were: Tortellini, Ravioli, and Pappardelle. Tortellini was by far the hardest to make. Our chef showed us the process, and I was lost. He showed us again, and it wasn’t until I watched my husband do it first that I started to understand how to fold the pasta appropriately. Ravioli is easy; the pasta is laid out, the ricotta is put inside, and the Ravioli is folded and cut into squares. Pappardelle was also easy, as you simply had to cut the pasta into long strips.

Once we had made the pasta, we collected it, and our chef made the sauces for each type of pasta. We had unlimited wine in our cooking class, so we sipped on wine while we waited for the pasta to cook. Everything was delicious! Looking back, I had no reason to be nervous, as these types of classes for tourists assume that everyone is new to making pasta. This cooking class was out of my comfort zone, and I’m glad I did it.

It was a jam-packed two days, but I felt we were fully able to explore Florence. The only thing we didn’t do was go to a winery or two. The wineries are up on the hillside in Florence, so they aren’t walkable. There are bus tours that can take you up into the wineries, but we didn’t want to book that on top of our cooking class. I felt the cooking class was well worth it, so I’m glad we chose to do that instead. If we are in Florence again, that’s something I’d want to do.

The final post in this Italy series will be our trip to Lake Como and Milan, which is even farther north than Florence.