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By Day 3, I was exhausted. Partly cause I was in a lot of pain in my wrist. Partly cause I ran 6 miles Saturday night after the convention (another post to come). I was dizzy and out of it, so I drank coffee all morning. But the adrenaline kicked in when we entered the exhibition hall, and we rocked out another day. 

Sunday was kid day, and it was awesome watching Steve interact with the children. They loved him! It was also awesome seeing people get so happy with their cat drawings. 

Friends!

This costume was awesome.

Friends at the Chicago Comics booth!

I sort of flipped out when I saw this costume--perhaps my all time favorite of the weekend:

Maurie and Flaurie of Superdawg!

Mid costume swoon, I heard Maurie call my name. Guess who was inside!

My old friend David Facchini! Which made it all the better! My friends are so cool!

There was a cat drawing contest! Steve was challenged! I gave them the topic of "a cat on a boat."

Steve lost.

I took photos of everyone who bought a drawing. This one was another friend!

More friends! So many happy reunions.

Finally, it was the end of the day. Steve and I had survived 25 hours of the convention and extra travel and set-up tear down times on each side each day. But WE DID IT!

Thanks, Steve, for a great weekend!

This past weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of attending the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) as an assistant to the Exhibitor Steve Gadlin. As you all know, Steve was one of my first friends in Chicago and is my producing partner and the genius mastermind behind Blewt! Productions and I Want to Draw a Cat for You. He had a Cat Drawing booth, and I got to go along for the ride. It was 3 (long) days of magic. Here are some highlights:

The Booth! It looked great!

We were in Artist Alley. Day 1 I wore my Two Film T-shirt!

DORKS!

Friends!

Drawing in action!

Friends!

Steve loved it!

Friends!

Doing some shopping.

This costume was hella impressive. The wings were retractable. At one point, I saw the wings go out and hit a girl in the face. Luckily, they were padded and made of foam. It was awesome.

Friends!

I stalked Sarah and Clint from Ink Master (I love me some reality TV, and reality TV about tattoo artists is my jam.) They were buying skateboards, and I interrupted them to get a photo. I got stupidly nervous. They were nice.

Shortly after that, I met Anthony, the winner of the last season of Face Off (another Team Gerdes favorite). He was awesome, and we had a great conversation. I love it when people are nice and real! 

Also this!

End of Day 1!

I am speechless. Actually, this moved me to tears. One of my favorite bands, and with an absolutely perfect video. Brilliance.

This Beach House video is amazing, directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric.

Marathon write-up, continued.

In the marathon info booklet, we had learned that there was going to be letter markers at the post-race party to meet up with your family and friends. I said early on that we would meet at Q. So all weekend we talked about meeting at Q. When Fuzzy finished, it wasn't hard to find him, cause I was right there, and so was he. So when we were walking around to get our free beer, etc etc, Fuzzy suddenly said "Oh! There is Q!"

So we looked for each other at Q.

But couldn't find the other.

Turns out, we were on opposite sides. We eventually found each other.

Marathon Super Hero!

After a shower, we met up with Chad and Elizabeth, who met us down there for the day! Happy fun times! They are the ultimate foodies and drinkies, so they introduced us to some amazing new restaurants and bars.

Oh! But first, I saw this cat IN a table at a cafe!

Floating kitty!

Elizabeth models the classy "I'm what happened on Bourbon Street in New Orleans" baby onesie.

C&E at the Wine Institute of New Orleans.

True Love!

We had an amazing dinner at Domenica, then hopped over to the amazing Sazerac Bar  for a nightcap.

The next day, we packed and checked out of our hotel and ventured on our last day in the great Crescent City.

"Yes, I DID run the marathon. How did you guess?"

Breakfast!

SNAKED!

Handsome!

Fuzzy had a drink with Chris Owens!

Watch for "ARRRRS"

Good food! Great Friends!

We ate outside in the rain!

Pretty Signs

Then we said goodbye to C&E, and did a bit more exploring.

And had more beignets!

Oh, New Orleans, I love you so. I can't wait til the next time!

Oh man, Latte is still celebrating Mardi Gras. You can't stop her from partying.

WOOO!
If I have a weakness for anything, it's for concerts. Especially so when it is for bands I am obsessed with. Thus, concert number 3 of SOUNDGARDEN. I am making up for lost time.

(The show was at the Riv, though Chris Cornell kept saying we were at the Vic. In his defense, they do look the same on the inside.)

I went with my best girl Hanson, as she shares the same obsession I do (on many levels of pop culture) and neither of our husbands care for the band. We met up for a quick bite, and then stood in the rain along with some new friends we made at the pizza place.

Rebecca has a tradition of taking a photo with your concert stub. Which is great, cause the scan machine was down at the venue, and they ripped all the goods off of that ticket when we entered. Photo by Rebecca Hanson.

Photo by Kevin or Joe. Look at those hotties!

Oh man, It. Was. Amazing. I mean, I zone out at a Soundgarden concert.  I get sent back to being a teenager, and I just let it all go. I danced, I sang, I smiled, I was on another level. It was amazing. It felt amazing to just rock and not think.

We opted for an elevated spot at the front on a rail, which was awesome for 3 reasons. 1) We could see the stage beautifully. 2) No one was in front of us. 3) We had our own private bartender sort of. He was on the level below us, and when he wasn't slinging drinks, he was playing air-guitar and singing along. We highfived a lot. He was awesome.

Damn, can these men rock. It. Was. Amazing.

New Songs. Old Songs. Perfection.

Oh yeah, and Chris Cornell. He's pretty ok, too, I guess.

Last 2 photos by Rebecca Hanson

I feel at home at a Soundgarden concert, as it is bunch of folks in their mid to late 30s wearing all black. My people! Rebecca noticed that there weren't a lot of women there, especially not a lot of women there not with their husbands or boyfriends. The fact that we were 2 kickass ladies who have seen the band multiple times there without men made us feel pretty badass. Yeah, we know we're cool.

Set list here!

This video is sheer perfection.