So, finally organized all my thoughts for the usual grand AC journal.

I'm only gonna do the icon thing once per person cause we met up with a crapload of people and if I do it too much it's gonna error out by the end. :p Also apologies to people I leave out, or for anything I get wrong. It was a whirlwind weekend. I know I had fun, but some of it has already blurred together.

 l0st and I caravaned in to Pittsburgh with  jousterl Along the way we picked up  mechanicalchicken and  frozenfox at the airport. The trip was uneventful, but having walkie talkies to chat between cars made it go nice and quick.

Once we got settled in the courtyard hotel, we wandered over to the zoo, eventually our whole group met there and we went to dinner with (deep breath)  sekh765  andreus  enixh  lordborel  reverendbrowning  faust_the_closet_fur  lone.companion  saidan  cygnovum  ben56  felixfox  nandrattle. I think there may have been others. We had like twenty people. So we went to dinner.

First dinner was at a fantastic Belgian styled beer and dinner place called Sharp Edge. Incredible food, great beer selection. After that it was to the zoo to hang. Unfortunately the air conditioning hadn't been cycled up enough, so I was kinda fying in the heat, especially cause I went suiting a bit to test things out. I ended up retreating to bed about midnight.

We woke the next morning and hung out for most of the day, hitting the reg line when it opened to get our badges. A few people in our horde didn't pre reg and ended up waiting a while, but even with the computers going down for a bit it wasn't too bad considering the number of people in line. I think on that day we also met up with  micksam7  twilight_saint  pathia  procyonid and some others. We had some good fun, and I think we might have suited a bit to play around? We ended the night in the zoo playing room party I think, then went to the dance in suit, which was a blast. :D

Friday we hit the line for our fursuiting badges from ops, which was fun thought a bit long. After that we hit the dealers den, then went to our usual group outing to August Henry's. Fantastic food and service there, totally worth hitting it up when you have time.

Friday night I went dancing again, and I believe we ended the night in the zoo playing some game or another. I think that was the night Sekh and Felix brought out Booze Cube, a drinking game variant on Magic the Gathering. Or that may have been Satuday. I know early on we went suiting and saw the fireworks on the roof of the convention center, enjoying the beauty and teasing Andreus by wishing him a "happy treason day" :D

Saturday was more time in the dealer's den, and followed by my first fursuit group photo and parade. Andreus in  vexfursuit and I ended up heading up a flock of birdbrains including Jouster, Lost, and  ryujikimura. and we're basically dead center in the group picture. :D

After the parade we desuited and chilled some, then did dinner and ended went drinking for a bit before going to Whose Lion is it anyways. Only weird thing of the whole con was some of our dinner group got a little more hammered than usual from the $6 long islands they had at dinner at August Henry's I guess unfortunately when they make big batches some end up pretty strong. So some minor issues occurred finding places for people to safely sleep it off, but no real harm done. I danced some more before Drinking and Whose Lion too. :D

Sunday was a final round of the dealer's den. I ended up commissioning Ben56 for some pics while before he left, and also got a commission in the artist alley, along with some prints and other things. Sunday night we had dinner at Sharp Edge again, who had discovered to their horror that furries eat. A lot. They literally ran out of french fries and sweet potato fries while we were there, and were down to their last bin of salad. Our waiter that night though was super cool and fun, and we had a good time. Sunday night we ended the night gaming in the zoo, and I was so beat I turned in early.

Monday morning we got packed up, and carvand back to Columbus with Jouster, dropping Frozenfox and MechanicalChicken back at the airport as we left.

Overall Highs -

Suiting, especially dancning in suit, was amazing, incredible fun, and I can't wait to do it again. I'm hugely in love with suiting and hugely, terrifically happy with the suit I got from  kilcodocostumes

Getting to see and spend time with all my friends from online was an amazing and wonderful rush, and something I cherish deeply. It was so great to have the opportunity to talk to everyone face to face, and revel in just being togther and having fun for nearly a week. For as long as I live, I will always love those moments.

AC itself was as wonderfully well run and the city as amazingly friendly as it could possibly be. It's always such a tremendous thing to see the local businesses and people be so amazingly accommodating and welcoming. it truly feels like coming home every time we're there.

The few lows -

Fursuiting is very warm - Even with the nice weather there were definitely times I struggled in suit a bit. I really need to lose some weight and improve my endurance. I also need more heat gear leggings and shirts to wear under my suit, those were really, really helpful. That said, I was happy with the time i was able to spend in suit, I think it's honestly far more fun and uplifting than I thought it could be. I was also majorly pleased that getting partial worked out really well for me, since I could drop off the sleeves and leggings in favor of long shirt and pants instead to stay cooler as needed.

The new zoo wasn't the greatest - It was an experiment on AC's part, and I applaud them for trying something they knew might end up not working. While the extra space was great, the location didn't work well for suiters, and felt very cafeteria-esque. Not nearly as inviting and warm and friendly as the Westin room it was normally in. Hopefully the staff can make it work better or make the old zoo location work a bit better for the number of people we have.

PCD - Damn I got hit hard. Just getting up Monday morning and knowing what it meant I was tearing up, and I basically broke down crying for a bit after we left the airport and were back on the road home. I've had some mild PCD before, but this year it hit me like a truck full of bombs. Honestly I think a big part of it was knowing it'd be a while till I could suit again, and having so many close and wonderful friends that I knew I wouldn't see until next year. Con's are amazing and heady highs but the downside is coming back to real life is just a huge crash when you come back to the normal world.