Hello, Nerds! Well, after some recovery time, I can finally report back to you on how absolutely amazing C2E2 2017 was! There’s three days of fun to cover, so make sure you have some sort of delicious snack handy as you read on.

Friday

As you know, C2E2 2017 was my 5th year attending the Chicago-based convention, and I had high hopes for the weekend. My friend, Amanda, and I got to McCormick Place in the early afternoon to walk the showroom floor, and discovered that while it wasn’t nearly as busy as we were used to, it still held treasures for us.

One of the main highlights from this day was the epic, impromptu meet-up with Jordan of Jordandene, Rose of FanMail Box, and writer friend, Ora.

I’ve met Jordan in person once before, but this year I got the chance to chat with her for a longer period of time. Plus, I got to snag some cool nerd swag from her and from Rose’s booth:

As we were meandering, we came upon the Simplicity booth, which had a small selection of patterns and cosplay ideas. The booth was luau-themed, and there was a photographer standing by to take pictures of people who were dressed up. At the counter, though, were beautiful pattern booklets of the special edition Star Trek costume patterns that were released last year for the 50th anniversary. Of course, I had to snag one of those:

At one point, my friend, Amanda, and I walked over to wait for Zachary Levi (voice of Flynn Rider), and after much time had passed, he finally emerged. He was so nice, super chatty, and played Huey Lewis & The News. He also pinky-promised Amanda and I that he would bring Nerd HQ to Chicago.

After we walked around a bit more, my friend and I decided to call it early to go back and rest up for the next day. I also had to get my Batgirl cosplay prepped and steamed for its big debut!

Saturday

This was the day I had been waiting for since October: I was going to finally be Batgirl!

I had the hotel room to myself for much of the morning (my friend had to run an errand in the city), so I took as much time as I wanted to apply my makeup, get dressed, and head down to the C2E2 shuttle. Slowly but surely, I transformed into Batgirl, and I could not be happier with the results:

From the get-go, I noticed how much children–especially little girls–absolutely ADORE Batgirl. One girl in a Harley Quinn dressed was so thrilled to see me that she started clapping. Many parents urged their children to politely ask me for a picture, which made me feel like I was a Disney World character. Another girl, around the age of 8 or so, was dressed up as the DC Super Hero Girls Batgirl, and her mom took a picture of the two of us together.

The two high points to my day came when an older woman in a wheelchair asked to take a photo with me. She was decked out in garb that featured Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and my version of Batgirl. She was so pleasant and kind, and told me that I “made her day.” The other instance happened when I was out in the main vestibule, and this man approached me for a picture. He asked me to hold a sign that said, “Happy Birthday, Peyton!” I took the picture, and asked who Peyton was; turns out that Peyton was a friend’s daughter, and he was gathering pictures of her favorite female superheroes as a birthday gift. I was close to tears.

Saturday is also the big cosplay day, so many cosplayers were wandering around, which made for excellent photo opportunities–particularly with Jokers. There was also an incredible Black Panther cosplay, spot-on Captain Marvels, and an adorable Squirrel Girl, among others.

During the whole weekend, I got to pester my artist friend Victor of Vantage:InHouse Productions, who’s a self-publish comic book creator. I picked up three of his comics, and was gifted a short book he wrote. While chatting with him, who is at the booth next to him but Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC! Naturally, I had to seize this opportunity to meet him, and he was super friendly and charming.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but I had an amazing time as Batgirl. I think my cosplay was a HUGE success.

Sunday

Sunday rolled around, and my friend, Amanda, and I kicked off our last day with shakes from Shake Shack. We still had unfinished plans we wanted to accomplish, like meeting Jason Isaacs and other celebrities. I was also dead set on getting an issue of Patsey Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! signed by Kate Leth. Her booth was my first stop, and she was AMAZING.

Not only did she sign two of my issues, but she also posed for a picture. I picked up a super cute ghost pin from her booth, as well.

Amanda and I wandered around Artist Alley for a while longer, where I discovered an extra spoopy Halloween booth, and the artist who runs it. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve likely seen his superbly Samhain work:

When you find an artist that understands the importance of celebrating Halloween every day! I picked up these goodies last weekend @c2e2 from the crazy awesome @drewrausch 👻🎃 These items will get me by until October 🖤 #halloween #spooky #spoopy #c2e2 #artistalley #conhaul #blackcat #jackolantern #pin #enamelpin #pingame #pingamestrong #comics #comicnerd #comicbook #halloweeneveryday #happyhalloween #trickortreat #spookygirl #🎃 #👻 #samhain #blog #nerdblogger #nerdilyblog

A post shared by Nerd•ily (@nerdilyblog) on Apr 29, 2017 at 11:06am PDT

When our other friend made it to the convention center, we headed for Jason Isaac’s line. Unfortunately, I missed his one and only photo-op of the day, but resolved to get his autograph instead. As soon as he arrived to his signing table, I was in tears. He couldn’t chat for long, but I at least shook his hand and spoke my peace to him. Oh yeah, and I got his autograph:

I also did a great deal of my shopping on Sunday, so my bags were a tad bit heavier going home than they were when I left.

Overall, this year’s C2E2 was better than I could’ve ever hoped for. I had a damn good time seeing old friends, making new one, adding nerd swag to my collection, and fulfilling a long-time dream of becoming Batgirl.

I do want to extend a thank you to all of my followers who watched the slow creation progress of my Batgirl cosplay. You all were so incredibly supportive, and it made the process even more enjoyable. I will have a full recap of its creation up on the blog soon, so look out for that if you were curious (see Part 1 now).

If you went to C2E2, or you’re getting ready to go to your favorite convention, let me know in the comments below so we can nerd out together!

Life was meant to be lived nerdily, so what are you waiting for?