I look forward to NDK every year.  It was my first out-of-state con and has always been my favorite.  I have made so many amazing friends there and sadly I only get to see some of them once a year.  The masquerade is always full of INSANELY talented people and competing is always a blast.  This year, however, the World Cosplay Summit preliminaries were also to be held there.  As some may know, planned to make our 3rd attempt at summit this year with our pairs group "Green Jello Cosplay."  So it was so much added worry that it would be held amid so many talented people, but our other options were Hawaii or Maryland.   So since Denver was closest, we decided to go for it.  I opted out of competing in the masquerade on top of summit stuff, so it was a little strange to not be in the cosplay contest on Saturday.  Still, had tons of fun.  Friday got to take some pics with Pas and Deej in Tsubasa, then derp around in Princess Serenity and take pictures with the amazing Inoli (And Kimu and all the Paopu Guardians joined us at one point or another XD).  Afterward, got to run around in Matsumoto for a little while, then it was back into Serenity for summit judging. (judging was on Friday, performance was on Sunday)  Much to our surprise Inoli turned out to be one of the judges!  
Despite all the stress and hard work, I felt really good about our choices for summit costumes this year.  We both really love Sailor Moon and it's been a big influence in our cosplay and I know for me it was actually my first anime.  I've wanted to make that dress since I was only 14. XD  So I felt a lot less stressed during the interviews and judging.  Even if we didn't win anything, I felt like I made something that made me happy and I will treasure always.  It'd been a long time since I had made a 'pretty' sort of costume; usually I play the boyish characters. XD  At judging we also got to meet the other two teams, who were also really awesome. I am always so impressed by the costumes that summit competitions bring in! It's scary and exciting at the same time.
Saturday came and I got to do some Steampunk style DuRaRaRa with some of my online friends.  We also joined forces later to do (fem)Avengers and then I got to shoot with Noel and Kat in Inuyasha stuff later in the night!  
Biggest and most amazing surprise of the whole con was that night when we all met for dinner after masquerade(it's become a tradition I think!).  I came down dressed in my normal-people-clothes and saw an army of florescent green shirts coming toward us!  Pas and Maya and Kay and Mik and all our Denver friends had made "Green Jello Cosplay" t-shirts to cheer us on.  It was so incredibly touching and I feel I am really so lucky to have such sweet and amazing people as friends. We worked so hard to get to summit these last few years that it meant so much to know there were people rooting for us and wishing us luck. <3  Much love guys!  
Sunday was the competition itself.  I'd been feeling a bit panicky about it all con, but Elrowiel helped me calm down before the skit and I felt like it went off pretty well!  Seems like no matter how many times we practice, some tiny things manage to go wrong, but overall I was really happy with it.  We didn't win, but our friends Lilacware and Mandi had a really incredible FF6 skit that will be sure to impress in finals! Lilacware was so sweet and Mandi was all smiles.
After the contest, I was thrilled to get to do photos with Lynleigh Sato's Queen Beryl!  We'd also planned to do a Tales of Symphonia shoot, but our poor Genis wound up with a bad leg injury.   I'm sure we'll get to do it in the near future though!  Tales photos must happen!  
Before we knew it, the con was over and we were headed home.  A bit disappointed, but it was hard to ignore the warm fuzzies of the con. It's always a little sad to have to leave our friends, but then look forward to seeing them again soon. ^^

Imagine my surprise when I went to work a few days later and found an email from World Cosplay Summit telling us we were the runner-up team in Denver and that we were also invited to compete in the summit finals!! I literally screamed at my phone (and my sister wondered what on earth was wrong with me) and blew up Elrowiel's phone all morning until I could share the news. XD  It's going to take some tight budgeting since we didn't win the paid trip, but it is so very worth it for a second chance!  Haha, I felt like I must know how Chris March of Project Runway Season 4 felt when he got called back to have another chance at fashion week. XD  So we are re-working the skit and should have some fun new stuff to show in Maryland in February!  So excited!!

Trying to cut back on cons has proven a failure though, as I've plans in the works for Anime Banzai, Anime Vegas, Anime LA, and Sakura-con in the coming months too. @_@  Most of them are small little weekend trips though and not too far away, so should be fun!  Also should be posting some new pics soon and maybe even some drawings and comics.  Thanks for reading!