DragonCon 2015: Amy and Rose and River: Oh My!

It's that time of year again! The annual DragonCon blog.  The time when I try and remember as much as possible about all that happened in the most amazing weekend of the year.  And this year brought the fun full throttle.  By far the best experience I've ever had at the con and that's saying something!  It's an indescribable feeling to be among people that love the same things you love.  That understand what it is like to 'geek out' over something.  To love something with your entire being and not be ashamed to show it.  For anyone that has ever loved their fandoms to be point of obsession, I highly recommend attending this con at some point.  You'll never be the same once you do.   One thing I can say with absolute certainty is that nerds know how to have fun! And this Labor Day weekend was definite proof of that!

Captain's Log: Day One:
                       Thursday:  The first day started like they usually do.  The drive to Atlanta.  Tabatha and I set off from Alabama towards Atlanta. Nothing of much interest happened here.  We drove to the hotel... checked in to the hotel and went to con registration for our badges... and got ready for the first night out.  This was my first year to stay in the Marriott.  And it was WONDERFUL.  I hope to stay here every year.  (Of course managing to get a host hotel isn't always that easy.  So already nervous about booking for next year!) The Marriott was a giant party every night.  It was amazing! But I'll get more into that later.  We ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and it was great, of course.  Again, nothing much happened.  We walked around the hotel for a while that night checking out the Cosplay and meeting people.  We went back to the hotel room decently early to try and get the last bit of sleep we would get for the weekend.

Dinner at Hard Rock!

View from the room

Day Two:
               Friday:  First official day of DragonCon!!This was to be our first full day of business.  This year I premiered my first ever Cosplay.  Amy Pond from the Eleventh Hour.  BUT since I just have the one so far and knew after three days people would start to wonder if I actually owned any other clothes I decided to wear my "If Lost Please Return to Oliver Queen" shirt.  I completely stand by the sentiment of it.  If you find me... Let Oliver know. I'm sure he's very worried.  And do you know how hard it is to be a successful vigilante and shoot an arrow with any type of accuracy when you are busy stressing out on the whereabouts of your one true lady love?  Exactly.  I can't be responsible for what all happens and you shouldn't either.  So, you know, keep that in mind if you find me.   Also, I decided to wear my hair curly for this day, which anyone that truly knows me can attest to what a big deal this is.  And even though I spent the whole day feeling weird about it, it really wasn't too bad.  I even had one extremely sweet random person walk by and tell me that I had fantastic hair.  Thank you so much random person, I REALLY needed to hear that!

So after getting dressed and eating breakfast our other adventurer for this epic weekend arrived.  Lana! Our Always River.  I'm so very glad that she was able to come.  The three of us had the most amazing time together and we really got along so well.  I like to think we were the three coolest chicks at the con.  As does my BF Oliver Queen.  Again, you  know, if I'm lost..

Once Lana arrived we decided to really get this party started.  Pink style.  Because that's really the only way.  We headed to the Westin for our first official panel.  The American Horror Story: Freak Show cast.

Naomi Grossman, Rose Siggins, Erika Ervin, Mat Fraser

It was an awesome panel with lots of insights from the show.  They all seem like very nice people.

After the panel we headed back over to the Marriott. On the way we grabbed lunch from the mall and found some floor space and grabbed a seat to eat.  Comfortable places to sit are basically impossible to come by.  Just just sit or lean anywhere you can find a spot.  To say your feet, legs, and rear are killing you by the end of the day is a gross understatement.  Unless you are my parents.... but I'll get into that later.  (I never in my life thought I would wish I had a Forever Comfy.) After we ate we went down and completed our photo op purchases (because you can never have too many... no matter WHAT your bank account tries to tell you.  *wah help me I'm poor wah* whatever bank account. This is mad important.)

After we ate, Lana headed up to the atrium floor for The Flash panel and Tabatha and I wandered around until time for her photo op with John Barrowman. When Tab lined up for her photo I waited in the photo op area just lingering around.  This area can get EXTREMELY crowded so I was very happy to find a small spot out of the way to lean.  John Barrowman is VERY popular, with good reason.  He's amazing.  There were A LOT of people lining up to get a picture with him.  As I was standing around I happened to see walking towards me was CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS himself.  Let me just tell you... not only is JB amazing, but he is VERY handsome.  After muttering to myself "be cool boss" (inside joke but you get the gist) we made eye contact and I said what I think was a casual "hey" and he said "Hello".  So maybe it wasn't a scene from Shakespeare but it was flipping awesome to me! Captain Jack Harkness threw me a hey.  That's pretty amazing!

A few minutes later, Tabatha came out with her picture (which was adorable) and then Lana joined us.  She and I had a photo scheduled next with Barrowman and Stephen Amell (Malcolm Merlin and Oliver Queen).  I'll give you a minute to just let that sink in.

Yeah... Barrowman and Amell.  I don't know EXACTLY how I lived through it, but somehow I did.  Amazing.  SOOOO good looking.  And nice.   And good looking. And tall.  And good looking.  Hello Oliver.  He was very pleased to see I was wearing my shirt that would help him locate me if I was to get lost.  He spends a lot of time worrying about me,  you see.  (I mean he didn't come right out and tell me this, but I could see it in his eyes).  See?  Check out those eyes.  Worry and Love.  And good looking.

John Barrowman and Stephen Amell

After our photo ops we headed up to the infamous Walk of Fame.  Or as I like to call it, the best place in the universe.  Doesn't really roll off the tongue as well, but still.  Gets the meaning across. In the WoF Tab gets her picture with three of the ladies from Once Upon a Time.  Lana and I both also get a picture with Kristen Bauer. (Pam from True Blood) Let me just tell you, that woman is gorgeous.  She's tall and beautiful.

Kristen Bauer

Afterwards we walk around the WoF but I didn't get any more pictures that day.  Wanted to save them for when I was wearing my Cosplay. I did grab Sylvester McCoy's (aka the cutest man in the world) autograph. Next, we head back up to the atrium to get in line for the Stephen Amell panel.  We actually got a pretty decent place in line.  It was outdoors but wasn't too hot.  We were in line for around an hour and a half.  It only started raining on us about the last fifteen minutes... but nothing too terrible.  I would face much much worse to stare at the lovely Stephen Amell, let me just tell you.  It could have been four hours standing in Satan's armpit while listen to Gilbert Godfried sing What Does the Fox Say on repeat and I would have gladly done it.  And good looking.

The panel was amazing.  It was an hour of him answering questions and telling stories.  At one point in the panel his cousin Robbie Amell (HOT) shows up and we are treated to looking at both of those face melters.
DEF worth the wait.   After the panel we decide to venture out and find dinner.  We decide against a Pub when we see the wait (and find out later Stephen and Robbie ate there.  Of course they did) and end up at a Diner up the street.  It was awesome in there.  Great music.  Great good.  Great drinks.  (Also saw a pretty spot on Snape cosplay.  He was perfect).

After dinner we walk around the Marriott some more and then head up for bed.

View of all the people partying in the Marriott

 Day Three:
                  Saturday: The day I premiered my first ever Cosplay.  I can't lie, I was so excited!!!! I had no idea if it would look good.  If people would like it.  Would anyone ask to take a picture of/with me?

Amy Pond Kiss-O-Gram

I gotta say, I was very pleased with how it all came out.  I may not look ANYTHING like Karen Gillan (obviously she's GORGEOUS) but it really looked pretty good!!!  I was going as Amy Pond.  Tabatha as Rose Tyler from the Idiot's Lantern and of course Lana Always River as River Song.  And, you know, basically we looked amazing.  If I do say so myself, and I do. But don't take MY word for it. (reading rainbow nod there).

Always River, Amy Pond, And Rose Tyler

We headed out into the busiest day of DragonCon dressed like our favorite fandom and ready to have an amazing day.  It didn't take long before we were being asked for photos right and left.  It was AMAZING!  We didn't have any panels planned until in the afternoon so after walking around a little we headed into the WoF.

Quick interlude:  I have read/seen Bridget Jones's Diary about 4 and a half billion times.  It is one of my favorites of ALL time.  Another movie I love is Austenland.  Well, Mr James Callis is in both.  He played Tom in the movie and sequel.  So OBVIOUSLY I had to get a picture with him.  And let me just say, he's very handsome.  He said, "You look great!  This is Doctor Who-esque?"  So yeah... YOU look great, sir.  SO nice.  So excited I was able to meet him!!

James Callis

 I saw a lot of people in the walk of fame, even if I didn't meet them all.  Hodor! He's a giant! Carroll Spinney (Big Bird).  Percy Weasley.  Felicia Day.  Jesse Rath.  Julian Glover (From Game of Thrones.  Lana got his autograph and while we were standing there  he said "You aren't a very scary police woman".  he's so adorable.  Like seriously) Erin Gray.  Jerry Hardin.  The men from Bitten (which is a show I've never seen but will now be watching.  OMG HOTNESS. Let me just tell you.  The three of us walked by their table about five hundred times just to get a glimpse.) Finn Jones (from GoT.  Who we saw in the lobby on Sunday.  With his finger in his nose, but you know... it happens.) Michael Trucco who is VERY attractive.  We saw him quite a few times.  Lots of eye contact.  And the list goes on.  Also we ran into Terry Farrell in the bathroom.  It's so strange to see how "normal" celebrities are.  I guess it easy to forget sometimes.  She and I were talking about how hard it is to get the sinks to work and germs and all.  She was SO nice and normal.  Which again, of course she was, but you know what I mean. 

After the WoF we grabbed lunch at the hotel restaurant (which was very good) then headed to line up for The Flash panel.   We were pretty far back.  All the way around the building, but still managed to get decent seats.  The panel was very good.  Immediately when it let out we tried to get in line for The Arrow panel.  And we thought we did.  We got in the line that were were TOLD was the line.... yeah... turns out it wasn't.  We stood in "line" for an hour and a half in what was NOT the line.  So we gave up on getting into that panel and headed back down to the WoF.  I immediately got in line for a pic with Robbie Amell.  Because, I mean... LOOK at him.  Hotness runs in THAT family for sure.  When I got in line he wasn't at the table but the handler told me he had just run to the bathroom.  Cut to forty minutes later.  I said... Ummm... maybe I DON'T want to meet him.  He obviously has a stomach virus... or needs more fiber in his life.... Finally he showed back up.  Turned out he had crashed The Arrow panel briefly so that's where he was.  Seriously though, I was like dang is he okay? That's a long time to be in the bathroom.   He was TOTALLY worth the wait.  SO CUTE.  He said I looked great.  He liked my cosplay.  Robbie Amell said I ME THIS PERSON HERE looked great.  Yeah, that happened.  But seriously, LOOK at this guy.  The Flash.  The Duff. Max.

Robbie Amell

After WoF Lana headed up to the Lost Girl panel and Tabatha and I headed to the vendor room and to sit down a little bit.  My feet were KILLING me.  Loved the cosplay.  Hated the shoes.  (And yes throughout the day had taken quite a few pictures with people who liked the get up.  So awesome! I loved it every time).

After the Lost Girl panel we searched for dinner.  While walking I passed a man playing drums and singing and he sang. "Oh Police Girl you make me want to get arrested".  First time anyone has written me a song.

 We ended up eating at a place right by the hotel called Big Kahuna.  It was actually pretty good.  While we were eating we saw a woman come out of a building and LITERALLY take off her top (no bra) and walk down the street in basically tiny little booty shorts.  Like legit that happened.  We began talking to the table next to us about it for a bit and then turned to finish our dinner.  When we were about down our waitress comes to us and says "The table next to you wants to pay for your dinner."  We were like "huh?"  That NEVER happens to me!  So we begin talking to them again and turns out it was a manager of some of the celebs at the con.  John Weshley Shipp, Terry Farrell, and Barry Bostwick! (Oh Brad!).  He is also Patrick Stewart's manager.  Patrick Stewart's manager bought our dinner???!!!! What the what?  We talked to them for a while and they told us to come by and see them in the walk of fame the next day.  SUCH nice people!!

After dinner we headed back into the hotel, which was at this point PARTY CENTRAL.  It was amazing in there! People EVERYWHERE.  Music.  Dancing.  We legit watched a dance battle between power rangers, silent Bob, and daredevil (who took the time out to hit on us lol).  It was soooo amazing!

Geeks Gone WILD for real

Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story) walked right by us just drinking a beer.  Like no big deal.  It was the most fun! After a good while we headed back up to the room to try and sleep a little before beginning another jam packed day.

Day Four:
               Sunday: There was another Arrow panel scheduled for this am and we DEF didn't want to miss it.  Once again the line situation was all kinds of messed up. BUT somehow we managed to be in a pretty decent spot in line.  And we had pretty good seats!! After another hour and half wait of course.  But so worth it!!! Unfortunately to make this panel we had to miss the John Barrowman solo panel.  Too bad because he wore red heels and a TARDIS dress which I would have killed to see! Love that man!
But still, The Arrow panel was worth it.  SO MUCH FUN!

The Arrow Panel

After the ARROW panel we ate lunch at the diner again because we really loved that place and then Tab and I headed back to the WoF and met up with our new friends.  Bob (the manager) hugged us like were were old friends and asked where Lana was.  She was getting autographs with John and Stephen.  We talked to them a minute and Barry Bostwick is just sitting right there.  Like right where we are.  SO COOL.  And then John Wesley Shipp just walks up to us and we talk to him for a minute.  Seriously so cool.  It was like no thing.  Afterwards we headed down to the photo op area to meet up with my mom.  Mom and Dad had come to the con for Sunday only.  I'm so glad they did.  They had such a great time and got some amazing pics! (Also, somehow my parents kept managing to find wonderful soft couches to sit on when this entire weekend we had barely found any free FLOOR to sit on) Dad was getting a photo so Tab and I sat with my  mom.  While we were sitting there Stephen Amell walks RIGHT by us.  Phew.... And good looking. Tab gets her photo op with the lovely Karen Gillan and then after a while we meet back up with Lana and head back up to the WoF.  We see our manager friend again and talk to him for a while.

While we are talking to him (and I didn't see this but Tab and Lana did) apparently I get checked out by the cute dude from The Hobbit (Dean O'Gorman).  Now again, I didn't see it, but they swore it happened and was obviously.  You know me, so of course I tend to believe he had other reasons for looking.  But still.  It happened.   After we fan girl about that for a minute and walk by his table a couple of times, Tabatha decides to get a picture with Tony Curran, whom we all LOVE. Tabatha is up at the table and they are talking and Lana is telling him something and he kinda just turns to me and says, "I'm sorry but i have to tell you, you are HOT." And I just became kinda of stupefied.  Everything that happened after that is me trying to piece together the bits and pieces I remember because my mind was blown.  He said something like "Must be the woman in uniform thing" and then he said some more stuff like he wasn't trying to be crude and asked if I was going to arrest him and I said "I'll allow it".  and I told him "Thank you because this is something that NEVER happens in real life!" And he said something like Oh he didn't believe that and said "You're eyes are beautiful,"  I'm telling you, I wish I could remember what all happened! But I was just messed UP at that point.  After the photo we walk over and fan girl again for a moment before we are told to not stand in the walk way. Excuse me, but do you not realize how IMPORTANT it is to get the fan girling out? ESPECIALLY when a celeb tells you you are hot? We need a moment.  Give us a break, dude.   We decide to go get a picture with Dean O'Gorman since... you know... of course.   He's VERY hot and the accent....  I can't say enough about it.  And good looking.

Us and Bob Castalano, our new friend

Tony Curran and Tabatha

Dean O'Gorman

 We meet back up with my parents for a little while and then head back out of the WoF.  We don't have long before the Doctor Who Ball starts so we head out in search of dinner.  As we are waiting on the elevator we see one of our new friends again and he is with Barry Bostwick and so we talk to our friend and there's Barry Bostwick.  He asks where we are eating dinner (not Barry) and we tell him we are gonna try the sports bar and then they head off.  Cut to us walking there and there is an hour wait.  Long story short we end up back at Big Kahuna's.  And while we are eating our new friends walk in.  So funny that we ended up in the same place.  So we talk to them again for a while.  Love these guys.

We head up and get ready for the Doctor Who Ball.  As we are heading back down (and you must know what a feat getting an elevator that has room for you is in the hotels) the doors to the elevator open and it's pretty crowded.  The people tell us to get on and Lana asks if they are sure.  Once we are on she says, "because earlier this jerk crams on and ....." (I won't go into what the guy did.  It wasn't that it was so bad or anything. Just don't' want to diss anyone in case they somehow are one of the four people that read this) And a guy in the back says, 'Well are ya'll going to be jerks?" And Tab and Lana say, "No but..." and then proceed to complain about this dude the whole ride down so right before we get off I say, "So to answer your question, yes are are going to be."  We laughed SO HARD.  Because we WERE jerks.  We were crying from laughing.  I don't know why but it just really hit us hard.  Delirium from exhaustion I assume.  

We make the few block walk over to the Sheraton and find the ballroom.  It's surprising to me how much checking they do before you can get in to the ball.  Searching bags and pockets and all.  And while I am very grateful I just can't believe they haven't checked us for any of the other things we have gone to.  I've been in rooms with thousands of people and celebs and they didn't check.  So strange..  Guess they expect the Whovians to get crunk.  And good looking.

There is no way in the world I could ever describe to you the greatness that was this ball.  It was the most amazing thing I've ever been a part of.  We had SUCH A GOOD TIME.  EVERYONE there was dressed up and mostly as Doctor Who characters. There were Tens and River's and Elevens and Daleks everywhere! It was so amazing! We danced and laughed and took pictures.  We did the Time Warp and Cupid Shuffle with Doctor Who characters.  It was so amazing.   It really was the time of our lives.  We all three had such an amazing time we never wanted to leave.  Finally around midnight we realized we had to get back to the room.   It was SO FUN.  I hope they do it again next year.

 Day Five:
               Monday: And so we come to the last day of the most wonderful weekend EVER. By this day I am basically a walking dead walker but not one of the fresh still pretty active walkers, no, but one of the walkers that have been stuck in the attic alone with no flesh to eat for the last 18 months.  Even walking to the restroom feels like walking 500 miles across the Sahara.  Everything on my body that can possible hurt, does.  I was the evolutionary chart for the first ten minutes I was up.  Dragging knuckles then I slowly was able to stand.  Yeah... but still... SO worth it.   I get up before the other two because I have a picture scheduled bright and early with Karen Gillan and Tony Curran and don't want to be late or look as bad as I feel.  

Cut to me standing in line right on time but the photo not taking place until almost an hour after it was time.  No worries.  Stuff happens.  Meanwhile Tabatha and Lana have secured us an AWESOME place in line for the Karen Gillan panel.  We were unable to attend her panel the night before because the line was UNREAL.  It went for blocks and blocks and most of those people didn't get in.  But on Monday, we got an AWESOME spot in line.  And kudos to the wonderfully nice man in line behind them for letting me skip in line to be with them after my photo.  Speaking of the photo.  I LOVE it.  Ginger power! And Tony commented on this.  You know us gingers have to stick together.  Karen laughed really hard RIGHT as they took the picture because she realized how Tony was standing.  That's why she is half squatting and doing something weird with her face and hand. Still gorgeous though.  Awesome picture!!!

Ginger Power

So we get into the Karen panel and it is AWESOME.  She's so adorable.  Love her!

Karen Gillan

And then after the panel comes the saddest part.... it's time to leave..... we do manage to get our stuff onto an elevator and down to the car relatively easily which first thing that AM seemed like an impossible thing to do.  Then we say our goodbye and head home.

All in all, if you haven't gathered, this was the best weekend!!!! So many WONDERFUL memories.  So much happened!!! And I'm sure I forgot so much! There were lots of inside jokes made. #IblameRob #bewarethefallout (don't ask.  we won't tell anyway *wink*) So much laughter.  SO so many good times.  Is it next year yet??

Dragoncon, you NEVER disappoint!!!!     Aaaaaannnnnnndddddddd good looking.