Thursday, August 30, 2012

Shout out to Luminous Lacquer and her contest!

So, there is this blogger who has this amazing blog about lacquer and is very talented with nail art. Her name is Kristin Bastas and, in celebration of the Hunger Games DVD release, she has decided to do a giveaway with some awesome lacquer from China Glaze's Capitol Colors collection! All of you should check out her blog, regardless of whether or not you want to enter the contest. Kristin has some great reviews on beauty products and, of course, beautiful nail art that she proudly shows off! Take a peek in the link below!

Luminous Lacquer: Giveaway Time!!!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

New costume // Shout out!

So, as you're all aware, I love costuming and I am suuuuuper strict on how I want my costumes to look when I commission/buy them. (I would say make, but I have yet to actually try to learn how to sew yet. That is probably going to be my New Year's resolution for 2013.) Well, I wasn't sure what to get together for Halloween this year but after a few suggestions from Facebook friends and thinking it over, I'm going to try and get together a Katniss Everdeen costume!

The one I'm specifically going for is probably one of the most recognizable ones, mainly since it is worn for most of the movie. I'll be making her arena costume as seen below.



Yup! I've already found some boots that look really close to the ones in the movie and I've also found an archery company that makes replicas of Katniss' district bow as well as the silver bow used in the arena; I see archery lessons in my future! The pants and shirt should be pretty simple and I already have the pin. I think the hardest part, for me, is going to be the hair. Not only is my hair not long enough nor the right color, but I have no idea how to do any kind of french braids. I'll be keeping an eye out for a good quality wig to help me out here. The jacket I can get through Think Geek or Amazon so I'm keeping an eye on that and waiting for it to come back in stock. As far as the quiver, I'm not too sure how to handle that one yet!

So I'll keep you posted on the progress of Katniss and show you the finish product at Halloween! Anyone else planning on doing a Hunger Games costume? If so, comment below!

Also I'd like to give a shout out to two close friends of mine, Ryan and Ashley Denton. This couple are seriously some fun people to hang around and their costumes are awesome! If you've happened to see pictures from Phoenix Comicon (or maybe ran into me) this past year, you may have noticed that I was walking around with this badass Dark Knight Rises Bane. That was Ryan in that mask and let me tell you that's the most accurate Bane I've seen to date! His beeautiful wife, Ashley, has also completed a Captain America USO which she debuted at San Diego Comicon 2012. Both of them have some more costumes in the works and you should check them out! They have a Facebook page where you can follow their costuming endeavors!

RAD Costuming

That's all for now! Hope you all are enjoying the posts! Also if there's something you guys would like for me to talk about one week (let's try to keep it on the geeky side ;) ) then post a comment below or on my twitter page @geekyambitions!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

An update (FINALLY): Vacation in July!

Okay it's been well over a month and I'm WAAAAYYYY overdue to give you guys an update!

So I was on vacation, as you all probably know, from July 19th to the 30th. On this trip we went up to Montana for a wedding where I met Steve's longtime friend Lindsey. She got married on July 21st (a month ago today!!!) to her lover of ten years up near Glacier National Park on this BEAUTIFUL lake. The wedding, needless to say, was amazing. It was perfect outside, there was lots of dancing, laughter, and of course some tears. I really enjoyed myself even though I didn't really know anyone there!


Here is the altar where the ceremony was held.



We stayed in a hotel room from the 20th to the morning of the 22nd so we could have a place to shower and get ready for the hotel and look nice for the wedding. But after that it was all camping for the rest of the trip! On the 22nd, I went ziplining for the first time ever at Whitefish Lodge in Montana. It was absolutely amazing and totally exhilarating. We had rented a helmet cam, which was surprisingly not too expensive, and Steve and I shared it back and forth so that each of us could get the other ziplining and some nice views of just what we were flying over. When I get a chance I'll have to get the video from Steve and upload it somewhere for you all to see.


Whitefish Lodge


Also before we went ziplining, we headed down to a nearby lake to relax for a while. There we saw a bunch of people with their dogs who were enjoying the sun and swimming out to catch sticks that their owners would throw it. They seemed to be having a blast with it.

Coolest looking dog there. He was a sweetheart too!



After we were done ziplining, we went into Glacier National Park where we camped in the park itself. We had to be careful with food and other items that might carry scents that attract bears while we stayed. For someone who had never been around bears before, I can tell you that having to get up in the middle of the night and walk down the road in the campground to get to the bathroom is kinda frightening. I felt like I was in some thriller movie... except my murderer would have been a big gigantic ass grizzly bear. Luckily for me though, I never came face to face with a bear during the trip, but you can bet your ass I was clutching that bear spray at night!

Anyway, we stayed in Glacier for about two days or so. One of the days we took the opportunity to drive through the entire park and see as many glaciers as possible. It was much much colder once we got to the glaciers, but the sights were beautiful. I was even able to walk down to one of the Glaciers and touch it. I got some awesome shots. Unfortunately, the best ones happened to be on Steve's camera which I have not gotten yet. But here are some of my shots from my own camera and iPhone.

Toward the afternoon/evening we decided to go hike down to see a waterfall. It was backcountry hiking and we were pretty much the only two people on the trail. There was also a warning about bears so we were also constantly looking around. We saw signs of bears having crossed the area since there were some trees that had some of the bark scratched off of it, but still no grizzlies to be seen. The hike -- for me anyway -- was long and it was all downhill to the waterfall. But man once we got down to it, it would make the hike back up completely worth it. Here's some pics of it.



On the last day we had breakfast on the lake at our campground. It was cold and windy that morning, not to mention overcast, but it was still as relaxing as you can imagine it to be. That happened to be the morning of my birthday. Unfortunately, the rest of the day was spent driving all the way down to Utah to get to our next campground to stop for the evening. We only spent one night at this campground in northern Utah but man was it cool. We happened to get a campsite that was a lot more secluded from all the others. It was in the middle of the area and we were absolutely surrounded by bushes and trees and it was like we had a little "yard" in our campground. It was nice. But unfortunately I don't have pictures of it.

The next day we headed to Bryce and stayed out in a campground about 17 miles away from the National Park. It was in the middle of no where. Like seriously. You had to take a dirt road for 7 miles from the main road before you even came across the actual campground. At first we were iffy and we were about to eat the cost of the reservation for the four days. But after checking it out and staying for one night, we found that it was pretty freaking awesome. There were no lights anywhere near the campground so at night we could see all of the stars. It was neat. The ironic part was I had 3G coverage in this campground in the middle of no where. Weird!

Anyway, from July 26th - July 28th, we stayed in this campground. On the 27th we took a day to go out to Bryce and checked out all the views. Even though it was completely different from Glacier, Bryce definitely had its own kind of beauty. We also took a long hike that I believe was about 8 miles or so (I can't remember) that took us all the way down into the canyon and all the way back up the Grand Staircase. It was a 4 hour hike, but we were also stopping a lot to take pictures and mess around, because that's just how we are.


We also found really cool-colored rocks on one of our hikes in Bryce



On the 28th, we headed down to Zion. In retrospect, we should have made sure to go to Zion two days in a row since we didn't get to see all of the park at all. However, we did get to hike through the Narrows. Now this hike was awesome because once we got to the river, we were able to go through the river back into the Narrows. At one point the water got so deep that it was almost to my chest. I had to hold my pack up above my head and Steve definitely had to make sure his didn't get wet because he had his handgun with him the whole trip. That hike was probably the coolest hike I have ever been on. Luckily for us, we had bought hiking sticks the day before in Bryce and we were able to use them for the river hike. That hike, in total, was an 8 mile round trip hike that took up most of our day.

Whenever I am able to go back to Zion, I want to do another hike to their Emerald pools and see the rest of the sites.

The night of the 28th, we had decided to get a hotel room. It had been almost a full week since I had gotten a proper shower and although I was a little sad that I could not continue camping one more night, I was relieved to be able to take a shower. Also the jacuzzi they had there made up for it. That was nice too. Since the Olympics was on at the time, we spent that night watching swimming and, I believe, women's gymnastics. It was still a nice last night to our vacation.

The last day, July 29th, was spent driving home. But we stopped at the Grand Canyon since Steve had never been before. We went along the north rim and did a 2.5 mile hike down into the canyon. We would have gone further, but we had gotten there late and still had to drive four hours to get home.

Steve at the Grand Canyon





All in all, the trip was amazing, relaxing, exhausting, exhilarating... and just all around wonderful. I had an amazing time with Steven and I hope that we can have more vacations like this one in the future. Steven did the math and all together we hiked about 38 miles total between Glacier, Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyon National Parks. Needless to say, Steven has turned me into a hiker after this trip!

If you would like to see more pictures, head on over here!

July 2012 Vacation Pictures!



I apologize in advance for the pictures being out of order and/or turned sideways. I'm way too lazy to organize all these photos in the right order right now but I will at least try to make sure all of them are rotated for you. :)

Well this blog post got WAY long. If you're still with me, KUDOS for reading through all of that. Seriously, I applaud you. I don't have that much of an attention span.

Look for another blog post soon! I have plenty of updates, but this one deserved its own post!

Friday, July 20, 2012

A moment of silence...

This is so important to me that I wanted to make this post on vacation, and on my phone (So don't mind any typos. You know how autocorrect is).

Today I woke up to a horrific tragedy that happened in Aurora, Colorado in my hotel room. There had been a shooting at the theatre about 30 minutes into the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. The suspect, a 24-year-old neuroscience PHD candidate, had burst into the door at the front of the theatre, through some kind of gas into the crowd, and opened fire. Long story short, he shot a total of 71 people, with 12 casualties. He is in custody now, thank goodness, and he is due in court on Monday.

But even if he is condemned to a life in prison or even if he goes straight to the electric chair (some could only hope), this still will not make it easier on the families and friends of the victims. Losing a loved one is one of the most unbearable things we, as humans, endure. I would like to take a moment of silence for all of those that were injured or lost their lives as well as their family and friends...


Also I would like to pass along the word that two fellow costumers and friends, Ryan Denton and Todd Cook, are working on a charity event to hopefully raise money for the victims of this tragedy. They are looking for a high-traffic location and as much help as possible. If you could spread the word to other local costuming groups, friends and family, comic book shops, or anywhere else you can think of it would be highly appreciated! We want to show the world that there still are some heroes out there even in dark times.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Birthday Presents and Outdoor Geekery

There's such things as outdoor and camping geeks right?

Well if not I'm starting a new trend. From the July 19-29 or so I'll be heading out on a camping trip of a lifetime. It's going to start off with a two day drive all the way up to Montana for a wedding in Glacier National Park. The bride is a very old friend of my boyfriend's and they're getting married on the 21st. And they're getting married in a National Park that I hear is VERY gorgeous. Kudos to the bride and groom for picking an awesome place to get married! After that it's going to be about roughly a week of camping in 4-5 national parks total. I believe the stops on our list will be Glacier National Park (obviously), Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon if we have time on the way home. Needless to say it's going to be an epic time of beautiful sights, lots of hiking, and a LOT of much needed relaxation in the great outdoors. Knowing me I'll get through a book or two on this trip too when we aren't hiking.

Now the really geeky part of this is my boyfriend told me to pack my Battlestar Galactica double tanks and dog tags. Why? I have no idea! But something tells me we are probably going to be taking some pics out in the wilderness possibly of us looking like we're running from cylons or something. Either way I'll let you know what geeky shenanigans ensue.

Since I will not be home for my birthday (we'll probably be in the middle of Grand Teton or Bryce by this point) my love gave me my birthday presents early! One was a Gerber knife that I can use on the trip. It's pretty small and sharp and awesome. And it'll probably be totally useful on this trip. But what totally made me ecstatic was getting Lollipop Chainsaw from him. As you can imagine, I had an inner geek out and had to resist jumping on him and squeezing him to death. That and I had a laptop on my lap at the time. It would have been a disaster for that computer if I had actually done that.

I played it a little bit last night. So far it's pretty ridiculous, vulgar, and a down right good time. But I'll give a better review when I finish the game and let you know my thoughts about it. Of course with Jessica Nigri basically being the official Juliet from the game, all I see is her face when I'm playing Lollipop. So I feel like I'm playing her. Or playing with her. Slightly awesome.

Anyway! I'm going to try to make a point to upload at least one picture a day while on this vacation. If you would like to follow along and you happen to have Instagram, you can find me on there at geekyambitions! Otherwise I will post up an album when I get back. So until then! :D

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Costuming: Why are you judging my hobby?

So, as all my friends know, I wear costumes and I have a huge wish list of the costumes I'd love to do despite my inability to sew or anything that is required in order to make them. I do it for fun (Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year after all), but most importantly I love the charity work that I can do in those costumes. Bringing smiles to children's faces and raising money for the various organizations out there (ie. American Cancer Society, Phoenix Children's Hospital, etc.) brings a certain sense of fulfillment to me because I am helping those in need, while at the same time bringing joy and awe to others. Of course, I still do other events that are simply for enjoyment. I am sometimes in costume because I am a fan of whatever character I happen to be dressed up as and the universe said character is in. In a way, I'm showing my support to the artists/creators/what have you who had the incredible talent to come up with the design of this costume that I attempt to replicate authentically.

Therefore when I see people harping on the hobby, I can't help but be disappointed and irked. I recently saw some picture on Facebook of a conversation on another costumer's page. In short, the guy was rude and told him he was a weirdo who liked to dress up as a cartoon character or something. He was ultimately blocked off of that person's page in the end, but I couldn't help but feel pretty perturbed by it.

We all have hobbies and while my interests may not match yours, I still respect whatever it is you spend your free time doing. However, when that respect is not returned it down right pisses me off. Do I come to your baseball games and call you a big dumb jock or go to your Dungeons and Dragons meeting and call you a bunch of lame ass nerds? Then what gives you the right to go around making fun of me because I like to dress up in costume and go to Comicon or do charity work in costume? There are various hobbies out there, some a little more unique than others, and I feel that anyone making fun of any hobby is just absurd. Without hobbies, our lives would be mundane and boring. We would continue to go through our lame routine out in the "real" world. I find hobbies to be an escape from the normal routine where you can thoroughly enjoy whatever it is you decide to do. Whether it's from playing violin, making jewelry, costuming, playing sports, reading, or writing, I feel we all should be able to do whatever we damn well please with our spare time without being judged.

Just saying! :)

Sunday, July 1, 2012

So what's all this about?

Okay, so I like to write. And I'm a geek at heart. But this blog really isn't going to be JUST about "geek"-related things probably. I guess it's just something you all can stalk me through when I post on occasion. Hell I don't know...

So, uh, for my first post I'll go ahead and mention that I am utterly disappointed that I have to be stuck at work tomorrow while the Batman Tumbler will be out in Phoenix and a friend of mine will be there for a while dressed in his Dark Knight Rises Bane to be a badass with it. However, I'm considering heading out to Tempe Marketplace on the 4th when it will be there all decked out in my Harley Quinn. The question is, do I really want to get all that makeup on and put on that costume just to stand out in 100+ degree weather with possible thunderstorms? .... Yeah I kinda do. Even if it's just to get a few photos next to the Tumbler. C'mon. Hot nurse Harley on the Bat's Tumbler? What more could a gal ask for? Just saying!

Other than that, just slooooooowly preparing to head out on a camping/wedding trip that's going to last the last half of July. Am I excited? You bet your buns I am! However, I should be in bed so I guess I'll end this post here. But I will leave you with info about the Batman Tumbler tour in Phoenix this week for your perusal. Enjoy!

Batman Tumbler Tour