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?

When OneUpMakeup first started, I took on more of a producer/technical/model role in the project. Really all the jobs except doing the actual makeup, because I knew very little about applying makeup to my own face (let alone someone else’s!). But over time I’ve picked up a good number of tips, I’ve grown my own makeup collection and I’ve done a heck of a lot of practicing. Before this I’d made a video showing you my personal daily makeup routine and I did a sort of simple 1920’s look, but today I give you the first look I am really actually kind of proud of… Anna from Frozen!

This look was the follow-up to the Elsa look Mallory demonstrated on me in the previous week, and I’m not sure I’ve ever had more fun with a OneUpMakeup collaboration. Mallory is adorable and fun and probably my biggest makeup influence (I’ve spent hours in the chair while she made me look fabulous for Job Hunters). I hope you enjoy this video and I also hope my makeup skillz are improving!

I’m very happy OneUpMakeup is back. Being part of this all-female run production is incredibly empowering and I’m glad the people who watch our videos seem to be having as much fun as we are.

For those of you not in the know, my girlfriends and I have a fun little makeup channel we created together called OneUpMakeup that we used to post weekly videos on. It was part excuse for the six of us to get together for girl’s nights, part a method of learning a bit more of the technical side of running a channel (directing videos, setting up lights and multiple camera angles, etc.) and part a chance for ALL of us to grow and develop and learn from each other as makeup artists.

The channel did surprisingly well, except for the fact that filming Job Hunters last summer (a project five out of the six of us are heavily involved in) caused us to take a much needed six month hiatus from uploading anything.

But! Now that we’re totally wrapped on principle photography, we’re gettin’ the gang back together! OneUpMakeup is one of my favorite little side projects, and I think it’s pretty readily apparent how much fun we’re having in every single video we post on the channel. Each video is a different combination of girls – we’re constantly switching up and doing makeup on each other. No one is just a model, or just an artist, or just a camera person. This is a project where everyone does everything, and that’s what I love so much about it.

Our very first comeback look is probably one of my personal favorites in the history of OneUpMakeup, and I’m not just saying that because it’s on my face. Mallory recreated a stunning Elsa look, inspired by Frozen, and I am quite proud to show it to you:

Keep an eye on the channel and be sure to subscribe to see what we create in the future… especially next week, when I make the companion Anna look to this one on Mallory!