BroadwayCon 2017 - Day 2 & the Curtain Up On Cosplay Panel

A day of Jellicles, that's what Saturday was. So many Cats fans running about in costume, what day! The day started out with the awesome panel I was on! It was called 'Curtin Up On Cosplay' and featured my friend Lindsey of Phantom on a Budget and some other amazing (all women!) cosplayers. It's the second ever panel I've been on at a convention and honestly, it was an honor. (Video of the full panel at the bottom of this post!)

The day was a success. I made new friends, gave away more pins, and saw so many great things. It was such a full day I went to bed early again to get ready for the last full day of the con.

BroadwayCon 2017 - Day 1

BroadwayCon day one, MEOWexander Hamilton makes his debut! He was such a hit! I felt so confident as a founding father jellicle, it was weird and amazing. This year the convention was held in a wing of the Javits Center in NYC so there was much more space but it was a bit longer of a walk than just downstairs. The vendor hall was the main walking area and there were different rooms for the panels. The autograph/photo sessions were at the end of the hall and honestly did not seem as popular as last year. The main stage felt less 'theatrical' and more 'held-in-a-warehouse' but honestly, this year was more about interacting than large-scale events.

The cosplay this year was phenomenal! I put a video together showcasing a selection of great costumes and here's my photo dump from day one:



I ended my day with a free bottle of wine from Felix at the Cassa Times Square hotel and some cable TV (so fancy), and what do you know, Dazed and Confused was on! Our own Anthony Rapp is in that movie! (Ain't he cute?) Half-way through my 'wearing-cats-makeup-4-days-in-a-row' endeavor, I went to bed early.

The Cosplay Music Video of BroadwayCon NYC 2017

Here is the cosplay music video of BroadwayCon NYC 2017!
Thank you to all the cosplayers, for helping make this video happen! You can watch more BroadwayCon videos here! Subscribe for more, like, share and comment on the video as it helps me to make more content! You can also support the videos on my Patreon.

BroadwayCon Closing Number 2017

Here is the BroadwayCon Closing Number! Song starts at 3:15 Sorry it's so shaky, I was getting a bit emotional. I just wanted to film this in case no one else did.

BroadwayCon NYC 2017

MEOWexander Hamilton reporting from BroadwayCon NYC 2017! I didn’t think BroadwayCon could get any better, but this year it did! Please enjoy my vlog of the three-day experience!

Shop my Closet! - Starting my Journey to a Capsule Wardrobe

One of my goals this year is to head towards owning a capsule wardrobe. That means owning less and better quality clothing. It's strange, was never the type of girl to own or wear lots of dresses, yet I'm sad to see these go because of all the memories tied to them. I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl for most of high school and college, however, in my 20s (partially allured by the cute ‘outfit posts’ of fellow bloggers) I started buying new and inexpensive dresses for things like weddings, parties, holidays, and anything else I felt like I couldn't wear the same thing twice to. (Not true! Being an outfit repeater is OKAY!!)

I got bullied in Elementary school for being and outfit repeater, so choosing a lifestyle (or at least giving it a shot) is kinda scary. Though I adore these clothes, I realize they’d be better off with someone who’d actually wear them. I have a few dresses (mostly size: M), some t-shirts, and other things for sale on Poshmark, just click here. (Or follow my Pinterest Board, it updates as they get listed, but not sold.) Thank you for taking the time to see what I've listed.

Sooo sad to see this dress go! (I graduated college in it and it's my Belle Disneybound dress) It just does not fit anymore. :( I kinda hope a Disneybounder buys it. (If so, show me pics!)

MEOWexander Hamilton Makeup Trial Tutorial Time Lapse for BroadwayCon

For BroadwayCon this year I dressed up as my own character, MEOWexander Hamilton. (A cross-over between my two favorite musicals.)It's always smart to do a trial of any makeup or effects before you go to a con, that way you can work out issues with more time. I was completely designing the character so this step was necessary. I decided to film it (video is at the bottom of this post!) and also stream it on Twitch. I've live streamed Cats makeup before but never on Twitch, so there was a whole other level of making sure the stream was going well and I was paying attention to the chat. The character went through several versions, some in the stream and (since I wore the character 4 days in a row) he changed a bit each day. Enjoy the photos of the first version and please watch the video below. 

BroadwayCon 2017 Cosplay Sneak Peek! - WIP Wednseday

I leave tomorrow on a bus to NYC for the second annual BroadwayCon. I've kept my costume, for the most part, a secret. It's a crossover costume of my two favorite musicals, and it's a pun. Feel free to guess, the costume will be revealed tomorrow when I wear it to see CATS! (4th-row orchestra aisle seat!!!) Follow me on Instagram to catch that reveal.

Anyways, please enjoy a few work-in-progress shots (minus makeup) of my costume. Huge shout-out to my mom for sewing all the buttons on by hand. I love you mom!

See you at BroadwayCon if you're going. If not, you can look forward to so many photos, video, etc. in the next few weeks! Meow!

dreams change & post-empire, 4th wall or whatever

I'm debating making this type of content a regular thing. The sort of, stream-of-consciousness/unscripted/turn on the camera and see what happens, type of vlog. I'm calling it at "4th Wall Chat' because of my Breaking the Fourth Wall video.

It's something I wish more YouTuber's did, but I understand why they don't. YouTube is their job, they have to remain brand-friendly, and getting too real is not often the 'safe' thing to do. Since I'm not a full-time YouTuber I can afford to get real.

One question though, can you call it post-empire when there was no ‘empire’? Heh.

Anyways, if you enjoy watching creatives create live then please follow me on Twitch…no, this is not a joke, stop laughing. https://www.twitch.tv/magiccatjenny

2017 Goals

The last time I wrote about my goals was last summer and about 50% of those were completed. But I haven’t done a big 'start of the year’ goals post since 2015. I never did a ‘In 2015 I…’ post despite many life-changing and amazing things that happened that year. The truth is, the following year was tough, and I’m not going to pretend that those reasons are magically gone due to a revolution around the sun. The feeling of renewal at the new year is in part due to tradition. The thing is, humans love traditions. So, I’m just gonna go with it. Here are my 2017 goals. Through this ‘blog' slash 'online journal' slash 'chronicles of me,' I’ll be keeping you up-to-date on the progression of said goals. They might become short updates or full posts. Anyways, enjoy.

Life Stuff

•  Read (at least) 25 books.

A book's a book, so picture books and comics (TPBs) count. ;)

• Shop more consciously.

Research and learn about the options that are out there and the consequences of shopping at different places. Use that knowledge to weigh my options. Think about environmental impact, human rights, and health; but also take price and my current financial situation into account. 

• Waste less.

As much as I can, when I can, try and lower my carbon footprint.

• Start my journey to a capsule wardrobe.

Always feel confident and comfortable in the clothing I wear. Learn more about the issues regarding 'fast fashion'. Maybe sew some clothes myself...

• Don't put my life on hold due to fears.

A little cryptic but this applies to many things in my life.

Internet Stuff

• Write about my 2015.

• Write about my 2016.

• (Finally) post wedding photos.

• *Secret* project (shhhh) <—totally a link to it. pls follow…? and share ♥ 

• Sort out my digital life. (*sings* digital style!)

This one might need some explaining. I tend to start a lot of projects, join a lot of Facebook groups, enter into different online communities, and then run out of time for everything. I want to start over, in a way. My time is valuable and I don't want to spread myself too thin. This also references my files and hard drive situation...and it is a 'situation.' Oh and if you know what 'digital style' is from...wow look a bar graph!

My Dream Author Confrence

This month I’ve been writing down a list of goals for the new year and one of those goals is to blog more. So that’s why, when I heard about the 'dream author conference' post trend, I thought I'd give it a shot! The trend/post idea comes from Eventbrite a website you can use to find conferences and convention in your area. It's where my BroadwayCon ticket is! (For clarity, this post is not sponsored, and I'd love to read more. So kind of think of it as a tag...and I tag you!)

Okay, so, who would I love to hear talk on a panel about books? They can be authors alive or dead, or even characters. Honestly? I’d love the panel to be focused on the writing process, world-building, and how to keep long series interesting.


World Building - Tolkien
First up would be the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien. His ability to create an entire world, complete with different languages and lineages is amazing. I love getting lost in descriptions of his. The beauty and detail of his world is something I don’t know if I’ll ever begin to come close to, but it’s inspiring.


Drive and Confidence - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Next, would have to be Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. She wrote a vampire series, starting with 'In The Forests of the Night,' when she was 13 years old. I’ve written countless stories since I was that age, but nothing complete or even near being published. I have not re-read her books since I was her age but I remember loving them. I'd love to have that kind of drive to write what I wanted, despite the voices (from myself or others) saying it's not likely to happen.


Endurance - K.A. Applegate
I'd want to learn how to keep a series going for a very long time without losing the interest of your readers. There are so many series that span many many books but the one from my childhood that springs to mind is Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. I’ll be honest, I did not read every single book in the series but I read most. (Including the Megamorphs offshoots and other specials about other alien races in the universe.) That kind of series endurance would be so great to get right.


Foreshadowing - J.K. Rowling
Lastly, I can't forget J.K. Rowling. The foreshadowing in her books is so much fun, especially on a second or third read. I'd love to learn how she planned everything out, if she knew each and every plot twist and turn at the start or if the story reviled it'self to her as she went and cleverly took things that already were there to make all the connections. I want to learn how to do both.




There are so many more people I could add to this list but these four feel like a good start. Thank you Eventbrite for the great idea...now I feel like opening scrivener to start planning my epic series...





Project for Awesome 2016

There's one more day left of P4A! This year it happened during my travels so I have not been as good at promoting as I have been in last years. For those of you who don't know, once a year the YouTube community comes together to raise money for charities and non-profits. It's called Project for Awesome. This year, I am supporting the World Resources Institute. Their mission statement is to “move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.”
 
For more information on P4A: http://www.projectforawesome.com 
For more information on Heifer International: http://www.wri.org/ 
Don't forget to comment on the video to help!

I'm going to be on a cosplay panel!

BroadwayCon is coming back and guess who gets to be on a panel about cosplay? Me!! That is, if I can get my costume done in time... With my consulting work, Etsy shop holidays traffic, and traveling to CA for 3 weeks (3!!), I'm really really running out of time.

So far the only information we have on the panel is that it's called 'Curtains Up On Cosplay' and it's moderated by my new friend Lindsey of Phantom on a Budget. The other panelists are Enchanted Sea, Viscountess Designs, and Inked Alchemist. 

More news will be updated here as it comes! If you're attending the convention, please come to the panel and say hi!