2018 Leaky/Potterversecon Report

[alisanne]

*waves sheepishly*

Hello, my name is Alisanne and I used to post here a lot...

I'm joking (sort of) but I'm sorry I've been MIA this week. I blame it all on Trump this new game I'm addicted to (and Trump).

Anyway, I know I promised updates on all sorts of things, so Imma start with con updates. :)



So I had a couple of RL friends' destination wedding to attend in San Francisco, and I had to fly directly from there to Leaky on my birthday. *g*
When I arrived at the con hotel, lilyseyes and dementordelta were waiting in the lobby, and we had a bouncy reunion! :))

Since it was my birthday, they had pressies for me! Eeee! I got all sorts of fun Harry Potter gear (Y'all, I have SO MUCH Harry Potter stuff and I LOVE it!).

We went out to dinner at a local Asian place (I love Asian food, mmmmm) and then returned to the con hotel.

I should say, the con hotel was nice, but I was not happy with how far it was from the convention center, where all the actual activities were happening. That was disappointing, especially since there's a perfectly good hotel attached to the convention center! If we'd known that we'd have stayed there! *shakes head*

The next day we went out to breakfast, and we took the hotel shuttle, driven by Rory Williams! Neither Delta not Lily got that reference, but I was super stoked. *g* We had yummy omelettes, Lily and I split some strawberry lemon pancakes (OMG, so good!) and we went to the con (yes, Rory came back and drove us there). Heh.

We then got sucked into the amazing dealer's room. Well, Delta got sucked in, not that Lily and I hated it, but Delta was in heaven. Admittedly, there was some pretty fabulous stuff there, and I did my fair share of shopping, and even Lily (who never usually buys anything) bought stuff.
It always amazes me how creative crafters are. They are always coming up with ways to separate me from my money, LOL. There were HP themed soaps that were divine (I bought several and had them shipped home, I'm currently washing with Pygmy Puff soap *g*), there were wands (of course), all sorts of jewelry (and you know how I love the bling), tea, purses/bags, clothing, pins, magnets....I can't even explain all the stuff.

We did venture out of the dealer's room for a couple of panels. One was about bodies in the WW, which was a discussion about how trans wizards would manage. It morphed into a discussion about medical procedures, which was especially interesting to me. We also made sure to see drinkingcocoa's talk about Snape, and the cosplay parade, where there were a ton of Luna Lovegoods and the most adorable baby McGonagall! Eeee.

When we were done for the day, Rory came and collected us, and we returned to crow over our loot. :) We decided to have dinner in the hotel and ran into Lita Skeeter there. It turns out the hotel had a HP themed menu, so Lily and Delta and I indulged in several alcoholic butterbeers over our pasta, and they were tasty.

Since it was firewhiskeyfic night, we then returned to the our room and I managed to persuade Lily to write. I did my best to talk Delta into writing me something, but alas, she went to bed instead. :P

Sunday we were all leaving mid-afternoon, so we went back to the dealer's room for one last sweep, bought more stuff, of course, and then headed for the airport. And because Delta and Lily were at a closer airport, Rory took them. *pouts* I had to take a regular taxi.
Still, it was fine. My plane was essentially on time, we didn't crash, it's all good. :)

Alas, I had to work for a few days between cons, but then came Potterversecon!

Now, just as an explanation, last year this con was held at a hotel in Baltimore's inner harbor, so when we signed up, I assumed, even though they changed hotels, we were still in Baltimore, so I flew into that airport. That was a mistake. I took a cab to the con hotel and it cost $100 because it was practically in another state!

When I arrived, I checked in, went to registration (which this year ran like a well oiled machine), ended up registering cruisedirector as my BOGO, and then wandered the dealer room, where I got into an involved discussion with a wandmaker. *g* And yes, I ended up with another wand (I suspect no one is surprised).
Again, they had a lovely dealer's room, although smaller than the one at Leaky.
I got a text from titti and she and her friend J came to my room where we chatted for a while. Since Delta was delayed, we went to dinner in the hotel. Oh, and that was on the hotel, too, since I'd reserved a room with two beds and they ended up giving us one with a king instead. :P Anyway, I got a dinner voucher out of it, so it worked out. :)
I had some yummy salmon which Titti and J had dessert, and then we met up with Delta back in the room.
Turns out Titti is a morning person, which Delta and I are not. Still, her prodding got us out of bed earlier than usual so we dod more than we usually do at cons. *g*
The following morning we planned a big fandom breakfast with me, Delta, Titti, J, cruisedirector, apaulled, treewishes, her Ravenclaw sister, and torino10154. Tree and her sister ended up skipping breakfast because they had already eaten, so we went to the Original Pancake House, where Torino joined us, and where there was much hugging and squeeing.
We all had yummy things, but I have to say, my BF was especially delicious because I substituted butterscotch pancakes for the regular side. OMG, they were tasty. YUM!

After hugging Torino bye, we returned to the con, where we got dragged to several talks (Titti is tiny but tough, y'all!) in between shopping. *g* No, but seriously, there were some fascinating talks. I especially enjoyed Snape - our problematic fave, Dumbledore, What's next in HP, and the HP Jeopardy. :) And, as they did last year, they had a wrap up session where they solicited feedback about the con - but I'll talk about that in more detail later.

We decided to have Chinese food for dinner (YAY!) so we went to a local place Cruise was familiar with, and shared a ton of food family style. Since Cruise and Delta are vegetarian and the rest of us were not, we ordered separately, but in the end we all tried almost everything and it was all super tasty. The kung po tofu was fabulous. :)

Returning to the con, we went to another talk, then stopped for dessert at the restaurant (I had my heart set on the sticky toffee cake since Titti'd had it the previous night and it looked so good) and we had their version of alcoholic butterbeer (also yummy).

There was a ball, but it started at 11, and I'm old, so we went back to our room instead, and Titti and J joined us (in PJs, where we planned to drabble but instead ended up reading badfic to each other aloud *g*)

The next morning we went to a talk, wandered through the dealer room one more time, and then went for breakfast at a local bagel place, where Cruse and Apauled met us. And props to Delta for driving us all around all weekend. :)

When we returned, we went to the feedback talk, where we told them our comments about the con. My biggest issues were the timing and the location, although I did like the hotel. if they have it there again, I'm definitely going to another airport. As they were last year, they were receptive to the comments, and I'm hoping that despite the lower attendance, they still have it next year (just not the weekend right after Leaky). We'll see.

After that, Delta packed up and Titti and J headed out. I texted Tree and Cruise to see if they were interested in dinner (I had booked the room until Monday morning) and we went to a local pizza place. Which is where Tree introduced me to Lyft and I booked a car for my return to the airport for almost half the price of the taxi. Oi. I admit, I love how you can track where the car is, and how you can pay ahead of time. :)

I got home safe and sound, and have been here several days, I've just been buried in my game. Thanks to brumeier for poking me and spurring me on to come online again. ♥

I totally owe you all replies and I will prolly be slow doing it. Be patient with me, please. :)


Clockwise from the top:
McGonagall's wand, random wand, Slytherin scented bath salts, Harry and Severus magnets, Harry cup cozy, Morning Stroll scented lotion (my new fave), Slytherin owl pendant, cup rest, Slytherin makeup bag, and in the center are Harry and Severus lego pendants, assorted pins, necklace and earrings.

And finally, if any of you are interested in con fun, next year is Misticon, which I plan on attending. I hope to see you there! <3

Comments

[alisanne]

While I PM, you can check out my latest post about upcoming 2019 HP cons. How much vacation do you get? *g*
And yes, I'll take the reservation number.

[titti]

It's my office and since I can never take long vacations because it's bad for the business, a day here or there doesn't really affect me. My husband might complain. *g*

I'll see what there is.

[alisanne]

Yeah, I understand what you mean about it being bad for business.
If I don't work, I don't eat.
Still, I do love a good con. :)

[titti]

For me it's more than that. With cases, I can't just close for two or three weeks. The cons actually make it easier because I can take a few days here and there and move things around.

[alisanne]

Ah, yes, that makes sense. *nods*