IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME.

So I put off this report for several reasons, all of which can be found at the end with the personal stuff. If you only want the personal bit, skip to the dashes!

I apologize for things I may have left out, it's been a while.

#WanderCon2014

Soooo Wednesday we left. That's about it lol.

Thursday:

We arrived in Pittsburgh around 5 after sitting outside the city ALMOST AN HOUR. Literally moving a mile every thirty minutes, twas ridiculous. Got all our stuff up, had to fight for wifi (I don't think I'll be staying at the Omni again) and then headed out to register. Immediately found in Torch and , said hey to them before heading off to register. Afterwards I suited up and wandered around the con for a few hours, just meeting and having fun, before going to meet at the hotel before heading to Furnando's. After that I went to sleeeep.

Friday:

Got up around 11 to go to the "Your First AC" panel. At this point me and my roommates kind of split up. I went to the panel with and stayed there for the "Furries in the Media" panel afterwards.
That's one of my favorite panels, it's always great!

The rest of the afternoon was spent just wandering around and speaking to people, having a nice time. I met up with and to go watch the fireworks, which was great "much boom very work" and then went out for subway!

Saturday:

WHAT AN AMAZING DAY! Got up REALLY early to go to 's panel on Fursuit Handling which was absolutely amazing! A must watch for any fursuit handler (I'd recommend it to fursuiters as well). He was very friendly and educated which was awesome.

After the panel I ran to grab a snack before heading over fur the fursuit parade lineup. I found once again and we walked in the parade together. Guys in front of me kept stopping waaaay too much, but other than that it was great! Got to meet in the line, she's so sweet and her suits are amazing
go check them outtt.

After that I went and met up with and for a LazyLupe pic! I loved meeting these two, they're both so friendly and fun to be around! I found them a few more times during the convention ("I need a bunch fursuiters to do the nay nay song with me") After that I scurried over to 's panel on fursuit performance which was so fun! I'm glad I made it this year!

I think I bought some things at this point XD I'll post pics later.
Grabbed some dinner after that before heading over to the fursuit lounge for 's fursuit dance video! I am so glad I decided to participate in this, one of the most fun nights I've ever had, and met some great people like and ("twerking is the best exercise! my abs
burn!")

Sunday:

Sunday was my out-of-suit day. I went back to the dealer's den a little bit before heading up to wait for the dance comp. I met up with and , ending up sitting with them which was awesome! ("Babe, when the music goes hard, I can't control it"). Dance comp was STELLAR, can't believe some of those performances!!

I spent a while just wandering around, talking to some more people and getting hugs ("you're popufur now, you're life is over"). Later that night I went up to the zoo in suit and, with some strong encouragement from Layla and Caw, allowed myself to be dragged into the dance circle! I had a blast that night and I'm so glad I decided to go back out.

All in all, this con was an absolute blast and I'm so grateful for all the people who made it amazing!

---

Here's the personal bit. The reason I took so long to make this post was that this con made me think about my life a lot and where I'm headed. I went to this con knowing full well it could be my last con for a while. My school schedule is very intense and I'm expected to have a full-time internship next summer (I'm a stage management student, if you didn't remember).

This weekend made me realize that my plan of just giving up cons and being mostly online, only going to like a meet a year and occasionally seeing my friends was NOT going to work. As silly as it sounds (and please don't mock me for this), this fandom has changed me for the better. I grew up and all of my happiness, enthusiasm for life and love of other people was taken out of me, because everyone told me I was too excited, too happy, and that was awful and immature. This fandom has taught me that it's okay to love life, and I'm slowly becoming more of the person I used to be, the person I WANT to be.

As if fate was on my side, the week of my return from AC I spoke to a friend in my program at school. They are a year ahead of me, and just got back from SMing for a con in Illinois. While there, they were offered another job with a band next summer. Then I realized: bands may be more my style. Then I also realized: cons need stage managers. And organizers, and scheduling help. Things I could do.

I can't for sure say what my future will be, but I've realized that's it's NOT what I thought it was. I can say for sure that the furry fandom will always have a place in my life, and I've finally found that I don't have to choose.

Enough of this mush for now. AC was amazing and I love all ya'll <3