Last week was ‘House Pride Week’ on Pottermore, and even though I don’t ever use the site anymore, I was still compelled to make a video for their event. I was, of course, a week late since I only found out about the whole thing via an @reply someone sent me on Twitter, but better late then never, right? I’ll blame it on my owl getting lost while bringing me information about the project.

Anyway, I made this video musing a bit on my thoughts about being sorted into Hufflepuff (since I’ve had three years to think it over) as well as giving some reasons as to why I’ve finally come around to it. Fellow Hufflepuffs will enjoy this video the most, but there’s a deeper message I think that can be related to by everyone. 🙂

Emerald City Comic Con is this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited! This is definitely one of my favorite cons of the year – not only because it’s right here in my backyard (travel is so easy!), but also because it’s just totally fantastic. I’m going to be speaking on a few panels, exploring Artist’s Alley, and trying out my very first cosplay experience! If you’re also going to be there this weekend and you see me wandering around – please say hi! I’m pumped to get to meet some of you!

I’m only moderately busy at this convention, which should hopefully lead to a good mix of relaxing/hanging out and running around to get to things on time. In case you were curious where I’ll be at the con, here’s my personal schedule:

Friday: Nothing! A day totally to myself to hang out, walk around, meet people and go to panels!

Saturday: This is my big cosplay day. My roommate Eia and I are going as Anna and Elsa in their coronation dresses, and I am equal parts SUPER EXCITED and… a little nervous. If you see me walking around on Saturday, please feel free to talk to me or take a picture. We’re so pumped about these costumes and can’t wait to show them off.

I’ll also be on the following panels:

Makeup For Geeks at 3pm (Room 2B)
The geek-beauty channel I’m part of (OneUpMakeup) will be teaming up with Espionage Cosmetics and Atomic Cosmetics to talk makeup! It’s going to be a good one, with creative giveaways and fun geek banter – if you’re interested in makeup or beauty tips at all, I highly recommend attending!

The Couple The Games Together… at 5pm (Sheraton Issaquah Room – GAMING)
I am probably the most excited about this panel – Joe and I (along with three other fantastic geeky couples we know) will be talking about the trials and tribulations of being a couple that games together. I’ve never been on any panel like it, so it should definitely spawn some fascinating discussion about gaming with your s/o!

Sunday: Another relatively open day, thankfully! However, I will be at one event you won’t want to miss if you’re a fan of my web series…

Job Hunters Screening at 1pm (TCC LL2)
Season 2 is right around the corner, so why not prepare yourself by doing a re-watch of Season 1 with members of the cast and crew? We’re also going to be showing the teaser trailer for Season 2 on the big screen, which we’re pretty excited about. The space doesn’t allow for an official Q&A, but if you stick around after the screening and we’ll be happy to answer your questions – but no spoilers!

I’m also interested in attending the following events and panels (though I have nothing to do with them in any way… just a fan!)

Friday:

11:00am – Intro to Costume Craft and Cosplay [Room: TCC 302]

12:00pm – Cosplay Is For Everyone presents: Ani-Mia [Room: TCC 302]

2:00pm – ECCC presents Eliza Dushku [Room: MAIN HALL (6ABC)]

5:00pm – Punk Rock Business: A DIY Model to Releasing Your Own Tabletop Game [Room: GAMING (Sheraton Issaquah Room)]

6:00pm – ECCC presents Cary Elwes [Room: MAIN HALL (6ABC)]

8:00pm – Welcome To Night Vale Live Show and Thrilling Adventure Hour movie Sneak Preview [Room: MAIN HALL (6ABC)]

Saturday:

12:30pm – ECCC presents Andrea Libman [Room: HALL A (611-614)]

5:30pm – ECCC presents Cree Summer [Room: HALL A (611-614)]

8:00pm – NERDprov: The Return  [Room: HALL A (611-614)]

Sunday:

10:30am – Welcome to Night Vale: Turn On Your Radio and Hide [Room: HALL A (611-614)]

11:00am – IDW: The Super Secret Cartoon Network Panel [Room: TCC 301]

12:00pm – Feminism & Gaming  [Room: GAMING (Sheraton Issaquah Room)]

1:30pm – ECCC presents Jeremy Shada [Room: HALL A (611-614)]

4:00pm – ECCC presents Karen Gillan [Room: MAIN HALL (6ABC)]

Only a few more days! If you’re attending the convention, let me know in the comments below! Are you cosplaying? What are you most looking forward to?

Many of you saw pictures a while back from a secret project I flew down to NorCal to help out with and were dying to find out what it was for. Now that it’s released, I can finally tell you!

The super awesome costume/hair/makeup I got to wear on set.

The project was a favor I did for Wyrd (the company that helped Joe and I make Jetpack Unicorn) and their new app-making company Drawn by Clouds. We were filming a fun little web series called “Dev” to help promote their Kickstarter – and it’s live now!

This project was a bit different from ones I’ve worked on lately, ie. it was very low budget and a little silly (but ultimately still a lot of fun). It was deliberately made to look amateur-ish to show the struggles of an indie game company trying to bring a game to market, and it shows the team (of which I play the extremely grumpy lead developer) getting their project ready for a fictional kickstarter that runs in tandem with the real one:

It’s pretty rough around the edges, but I love these guys and I super want their game to succeed. No matter what you think of the web series, I highly recommend you check out their game’s Kickstarter because Fall Schematic looks like it’s going to reach extreme levels of awesome and I can’t wait to play it.

 My first thought upon receiving this month’s Ipsy bag was “ugh, what a terrible makeup bag design”. I immediately felt guilty, of course, when I read that this is the first month they’re starting to feature artist’s work on the bags. *facepalm* This month’s is from a piece called “Street Anantomy” by Klari Reis, and I’m sure it’s a lovely work of art usually – it just didn’t translate very well to a makeup bag (in my opinion). I really love this new idea though, and am very much looking forward to seeing the other styles of art they decide to feature on future bags.

Anyway, onward to the makeup!

NYX “Love in Rio” 3 Color Shadow Palette: Right away I didn’t like this product very much – the colors are all shiny and I tend to like at least one color in a palette to be matte, and the lightest one didn’t go on as evenly as I would have liked. It took me a bit longer than normal to make it look good, but once I finished my eye shadow, it did end up looking pretty nice. I don’t know how often I’ll use it though – why work that hard when other eye shadow brands are so much better to work with?

Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer: Before I started really getting into makeup about a year ago, I was totally clueless when it came to skin products. Foundations, concealers, powders – it’s totally overwhelming! In fact, I didn’t even know until very recently that primer was a thing you’re supposed to use on your face. For eye shadow, yes, but for the rest of your face? Who knew? Anyway, I’m still very much in the trial and learning stage of primers, so I was happy to get one in this month’s bag – but I don’t have much of an opinion yet. I do like Pixi products, so I’m hoping this one will be good. Generally with skin products, the only thing that really matters to me is whether or not it makes me break out, and that is yet to be seen. So, fingers crossed!

Chella Eyeliner Pen in “Indigo Blue”: This was a really interesting and fun product! I usually just wear boring old black eyeliner, because I really enjoy the pen style liquid applicators and they usually just come in black. I haven’t tried too many felt tipped eyeliners, but this one is quite nice and is a really vibrant blue. This is probably my favorite product of the month.

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in “Get Ready”: This lipstick is great. The color is lovely, it smells delicious and it doesn’t feel too sticky on my lips (which is always a deal breaker for me with lip products). I am exceptionally picky when it comes to what I put on my lips, so good job, Bare Minerals. Big thumbs up from me.

This picture shows all four ipsy products for the month combined with my normal daily routine. Is it just me, or did Ipsy bags used to have five products? Either way, I was pretty pleased with this month and I hope they stay on this better track, especially through the summer. As always, if you want to get fun products delivered to you each month, you can sign up here! If you’re already a member of Ipsy, let me know which products you loved the most this month.

Yesterday I posted this brand new video on my channel – it’s a drugstore makeup haul I acquired on an impromptu late-night shopping trip with my good friend and fellow YouTuber Mallory!

If you want a serious trip down memory lane when it comes to beauty products, I think you’ll like this one!

Have you ever been invited to the beach and just as you’re heading out the door, realized that “fuzzy” isn’t a strong enough word to describe the state of your legs? What about trips you go on in the winter, when “being beach ready” isn’t even something on your radar – and it turns out your hotel has a pool? No one’s gonna pass up a bit of pool time, but how do you handle those hairy legs?

I’m not saying it’s totally unacceptable to go au naturale – I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve thrown some nude tights over my unkempt legs and called it good. I am a walking ad campaign for shaving laziness since nine months out of the year, it’s really not necessary to even pay attention to your legs, as Seattle does us a solid and offers perpetual pants weather.

Thanks, Seattle! *high five*

But those three months we DO get to bare our legs to the world, it is quite nice to be smooth as can be. And for the emergency moments when I know my legs will be mingling with the great outdoors and I wasn’t prepared, I’ve resorted to some funky solutions. Grabbing a crappy two blade razor from the front desk at a hotel, “borrowing” a razor from a friend and hoping she won’t notice, or even just grin and baring it – hoping no one will notice the two months of apathy growing out of my legs.

We carry around gum, lotion, sometimes even emergency toothbrushes for similar situations, but it was never very practical to carry around an emergency razor – until I found out about the Venus Snap! I realize this sounds very product placement-y, but at the same time, I have no problem talking about products that are legit lifesavers.

These are so great. All the conveniences of a normal razor, in a cute little compact case that won’t raise as many questions as a normal loose razor would floating around in your bag. I can say with confidence that this will be a permanent staple in my travel bag, regardless of where I am going. You never know when you’re going to need it!

A few of my other favorite travel items, in fun little “airplane friendly” sizes.

This discovery came at the perfect time, since I’ve spent most of this week getting ready and packing for a family trip to Vegas for my uncle’s 50th birthday party. It’s supposed to be in the 70’s and I heard our hotel has a pretty sweet pool. Bring it on, Vegas. My legs are ready.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I posted a new video today that I am quite excited about – confessing to your embarrassing old usernames! Many of us did it – we signed up for our hotmail accounts and our aol instant messenger screen names and our livejournals with names we’ve long since tried to forget. But come on – why not laugh about them together? In today’s vlog, I encouraged everyone to come clean about the internet personas they used to use.

Leave a comment telling me yours, or make a video! I’m dying to know I wasn’t the only one with a long list of terrible user names.

This week marks my 7 year anniversary of making YouTube videos, and I’m sort of in shock thinking about how long that actually is. SEVEN YEARS of getting to interact with you guys on a regular basis, seven years of memories, and seven years of growth as a content creator.

I’m feeling really nostalgic and excited this week, so I’ve made a Subblime list highlighting some of the most pivotal things that have influenced my channel and my personality over these past seven years. You also have a chance at winning the new special edition paperback box set of Harry Potter, with those gorgeous new covers. Don’t miss it!

I also talked a little about Patreon and my future plans for my YouTube channel, which will hopefully include some fun new writing-related projects! Be sure to check out my Patreon page for information about that and how to get involved.

Thanks to EVERYONE who’s ever consumed any of my work, and I truly hope you’ll stick around to see what the future brings.