This past weekend was Emerald City Comic Con and I had the most amazing time – and, to everybody’s surprise, I also managed to film a video while I was there! I am historically terrible at remembering to film at conventions, so I am quite proud of this feat.

This con has grown to be my favorite one of the year, and between the cosplay, the time with friends, and the incredible art/comic books I walked away with (I am such a sucker for artist’s alley) all I can say is how thankful I am that I get to start convention season this way, year after year.

If I got to meet or talk to you at the con, it was wonderful to do so! I hope to meet many more of you at the other conventions I will be attending in 2015. If you want to see a full list of where I will be, you can do so here.

I was so pleased with my cosplays and will be posting photos of those as soon as I get them back. Be sure to be following my Facebook and Instagram accounts for the most current news on my costumes.

Life has been fun lately. Not to say that it isn’t fun the rest of the time, but I made some big life changes recently and I’m really enjoying it. Between my new job, to really diving into cosplay, to turning my YouTube channel into a book channel, I’m very happy with how I’ve chosen to spend my time lately. I hope you’ve been enjoying what I’ve been creating as well. <3

Hey guys! Are any of you going to Emerald City Comic Con here in Seattle? I sure hope so, because it’s going to be AN EXCELLENT WEEKEND! I figured I would post this a bit early, in case you want to know what I’ll be up to and where to find me this weekend.

First off – I will of course be cosplaying. I have been working my face off, which has been exceptionally challenging in tandem with my new full-time job. Needless to say, after many nearly sleepless nights, I am so, so, so excited to finally show these bad boys off.

Also, I’m going to be on a super-fun panel on Friday that you won’t want to miss!

The Couple That Games Together
Room: Hall J (WSCC 3B)
Date: Friday, March 27th
Time: 2:00PM – 2:50PM

This will be my and Joe’s second time getting to be a part of this panel, and I can’t wait. We’ll be discussing the benefits and challenges of being a couple that games together – be that board games, card games, video games, etc! it’s such a fun and interesting topic to delve into, and people always have so many great questions! We had a great turnout last year and I’m hoping this year is even bigger!

Other than that, I’ll mostly be hanging out in the various “cosplay” areas of the convention (including the main entrance room by the windows) and trying not to spend all my money in the expo hall/vendor area. I am so pumped for ECCC, and glad it’s always my exciting start to convention season. Imagining walking around with my army of Disney Princesses on Saturday is making me giddy with anticipation.

If you’re planning on going to Emerald City Comic Con, let me know what you’re most looking forward to seeing! And of course – I hope to see you there.

Hey guys! Here’s my March book haul!

I’m super happy with the new books I’ve added to my collection, but I’ve also realized I need to take an active stance on not buying any MORE books until I’ve put a healthy dent in the ones I already own. What’s your TBR like? Excessive? Let me know in the comments!

I’ve got a few cool things I want to fill you guys in on, stuff I’m working on and whatnot. I’ll just throw it all together in a little update blog because, why not?

1. I decided (about a month ago) to put my head down and actually start editing one of my NaNoWriMo novels. I am making absolutely no promises about what this means, except that it’s a thing I am doing. I just thought it was worth mentioning that I liked my 2014 NaNo novel enough to focus some serious energy on sorting through the mess that is my first draft, cleaning it up, and potentially giving it to some friends to read to help me turn it into… something.

Mostly I wanted to let you guys know because unlike the thrill of NaNo and writing that first draft, it turns out that editing is an extremely solitary activity with no way of sharing anything until it’s done. So, if I’m quieter online for awhile, that’s probably why. If you were following me during NaNoWriMo you already know this, but the novel is called “Delaney Unlaced”.

2. My Patreon page is still a thing, and I try to take an active effort to keep it new and exciting as often as I can. Especially now that I have a 40-hour-a-week day job, it’s harder than ever to prioritize what I use my extra time for. I’ll never stop making YouTube videos, but after that – Patreon really helps me decide where to dedicate those precious few remaining hours. Want to be able to influence the types of things I’m creating? What new projects I work toward? Here are a few of the goals I’m considering, that you can help make possible by becoming a patron!

I’m always curious to know which of these ideas/projects people are the most excited about (and there are of course other ones listed on the site; these are just the bigger ones). If these sound interesting to you at all, or are things you’d like to see me do, consider checking out my Patreon! I would never ask for something for nothing, so in addition to these overall goals, there are other perks available for becoming a patron (including being part of the Secret Facebook Group, getting your link in the sidebar of this website, joining my monthly Google Hangout, etc).

Again, don’t feel any pressure to use Patreon. I’ll never make it a requirement for watching my content and I won’t think less of you if you don’t care to use it. But I do have to make sure that potential new readers/viewers at least know it exists at all!

3. Costumes, costumes, costumes. I’ve been hard at work getting my cosplays together for Emerald City Comic Con, and it’s been a crazy amount of work – especially Rapunzel! Curse you, Rapunzel!! There will be pictures to come, of course. I seriously can’t believe how much work it’s been. If I seem a little crazy over the next few weeks, it’ll be because of this costume. Dear god. So much hair. There’s so much hair!!

That’s about it for me right now. Be sure you’re following me on Twitter and Instagram for more frequent updates about costumes, what I’m reading and general news. It’s been really difficult not having the same amount of time to interact with you guys, which is why I am so adamant about keeping this blog current.

I don’t want it to feel like I’ve gone away. I’m right here! I’m still making things! Love me!

Until next time,

Kristina xoxo

Okay. I am determined to keep current with my videos on this blog, STARTING NOW. However, this was not the case for a few months there, and because of that, we missed a good chunk of videos I posted on YouTube. So! This post is going to be another good ‘ol fashioned roundup of the videos of note over the last 2 months.

So, first – Joe and I buddy read Ready Player One, which was an amazing book that we both loved. Here is our joint review:

Then I wrapped up all the books I read in January:

It was feeling pretty book heavy up in here, so I took a little breather to talk about something extremely important for Valentine’s day… which is, of course, OTPs:

Then I shared my favorites with you, for the month of February!

I posted a number of other fun videos, including books hauls and unboxings, but to find those you can go check out my channel directly. Which of the types of videos that I make are your favorite? What do you look forward to the most? Let me know!

Here are the books I completed in February! I read a total of 9 books, hitting 9 of the challenges in the Popsugar Reading Challenge.

I am zooming ahead of schedule for reading 50 books this year, but I have a feeling that convention season is going to slow me down a bit — and that’s just around the corner!

What are you reading right now? Have you read any of the books I talked about in this video?

There’s something incredibly magical and infectious about knowing the weather is getting nicer. I realize it’s only March, but here in Seattle the sky has opened up and the sun’s peaking through, and I can feel it in my bones.

Seattle’s a funny place, because when the sun comes out, we know our time is limited. The sun is a finite resource here, and when we have it – we use it to its full potential. As soon as those clouds part, the city goes crazy. We plan vacations. We have picnics. We start jogging again. We sit on our decks. We make lists, we spring clean, we dust off old hobbies and vow to start doing them again.

This happens to me every year, and I am always thankful for those first, early rays of sun that really get my muscles pumping (both actual muscles and creative muscles). And after a solid three months of adjusting to my new job, I think I just might have started to find some semblance of a life/work balance again, which means I actually might have the capacity to take on these new summer plans I’ve got churning in my mind.

I am a chronic over-achiever. I mean this in every sense of the word – while I love saying yes, yes yes to everything, it often leaves me with not enough time to accomplish everything I set out to do, stress knots in my shoulders, and a to-do list that would make even the most organized cringe.

But at least when the weather is nice, I have that extra something on my side. Energy. Motivation. Positivity. The promise of long car rides with friends, inspiring conventions, seeing people we never get to spend enough time with, camping trips, and best of all – getting stuff done.

I have a lot of things I want to do this year. My convention list has eight events and counting, I’ve got a laundry list of cosplays I want to make, and I’m trying to bite the bullet and finally edit one of my novels. I miss doing Team Hypercube regularly. I would love to take a personal vacation for once. I’m still trying to read 50 books this year, work exercise into my routine, and keep in better touch with the people I care about.

It’s going to be a crazy summer. But somehow, the sun on my face on this chilly March morning is telling me I can do it. And whatever I can’t accomplish – that’s okay too. Because we’re only capable of exactly what we’re meant to do.

What are your plans for the good weather season? Does the hint of sunshine ramp you up? Let me know in the comments, and let’s all try to encourage each other!