All good things must come to and end. On Sunday, I debuted my Elle Woods (Legally Blonde: The Musical) cosplay. It seem strange to do so at an anime convention, but recently, it has been much more acceptable to cosplay from various media sources at anime conventions nowadays. Anime Los Angeles has a reputation for welcoming Firefly, Harry Potter, and Star Wars costumers. I was surprised that people recognized what I was dressed up as. Even Fer and Angelica told me they were watching Legally Blonde the night before.

I showed up at the Phoenix Wright gathering to see if those lawyers would be able to "get" my costume, or at least notice the Harvard Law ledger I had with me. No luck. What kind of lawyers are they?! Though Tiffany did suggest to totally bling out my Harvard Law ledger. Maybe next time.

Sunday had a few cosplayers running around. The CLAMP gathering was alive and kicking. I talked to Julia and Caitlin about what they thought about their masquerade experience. I went into the con suite for a quick breakfast. Thank the ALA gods for the con suite. Your registration money at work!

I completely forgot to visit the dealer's room all weekend. Kevin Lilliard has his photo booth set up there. So that's where he was! I also took a look at the costume exhibit as conceived by my good friend Tiffany. I really liked the idea. Hopefully, ALA will expand on this idea in future years. I'd love to see a room dedicated to various anime / popular media costumes on display

The dealer's room had a decent selection of goods. I was able to score a few volumes of X/1999 for $5 a piece. I also picked up a butterfly accessory from a Renaissance Faire dealer that I need for my Yuuko (xxxHolic) costume. I wasn't expecting to buy anything from the dealer's hall, but I ended up buying a few things for myself.

I spent most of Sunday morning with Jared. I suppose he could pass for Emmett Forrest in act 2 in his black suit ensemble. Many thanks to Darci and Caitlin for taking our photos.

After Jared left, I just spent time walking around the convention (in pink high heels) just taking pictures of cosplayers. Our terrorist friends at Cobra promoted their bagel endorsement. Stan ended up starting his own band with the Three Lights.

There was a Gothic Lolita fashion show. Rene Twaite of White Peacock showed off her designs. I rain into Postman and Tom. I also ran into an Edgeworth cosplayer. Pink lawyer gatherings for the win! Yet, is Edgeworth gay or European? I say both.

Tom and Deb were in their Fruits Basket costumes. They decided to do cosplay couple pairings for Sunday. Nothing like a love / hate photoshoot at my favorite photo spot at the hotel lobby.

Tom, Deb, and I decided to hit Champions for lunch. Deb and I shared mozzarella sticks for lunch while Tom had his Reuben. We caught up on masquerade talk back. Tom felt like biting people and eating dogs.

Then Tom got mad at Cobra Commander. He's gonna start a fight. We're all gonna get in a fight.

The Traveling Valentine team swept the dealer's hall for any last minute shopping. We also said our "bye bye for now"'s to our friends. Tom had to get going to his afternoon Southwest flight. Deb and I parted ways with Tom from there. The rest of Tom's adventures and photos including the Phoenix Wright gathering are online at Associated Content.

By 3:30PM, the convention was slowing down. The courtyard that was crowded with colorful costumes was now empty. Though the clearing did make it possible to finally do a few single shots of Elle Woods.

Many thanks to Captain Gundam for taking the photos. It has been my dream to cosplay as the blonde Harvard student for a while. As strange as it may sound, Legally Blonde has been my source of inspiration to keep me getting forward when I was en route to graduate school. No one believed that I could get into graduate school, but I kept it positive and look where I am now. Not to mention, being yourself never goes out of style.

For the most part, I sat down with Caitlin, Julia, and Nikki until it was time for them to help take down the decorations. Sarah mentioned that I could take home the Traveling Valentine Fansview portraits that were posted on the wall. I was able get the Mad Hatter and Mulan poster.

I briefly ran into Fer, who I had not seen all weekend, nor did Tom had a chance to drop kick because of her petite size. Postman nicknamed her Pinky. Ergo, her boyfriend, Matt Matt is The Brain. Several of my friends were already heading out. I said "bye bye for now" to my brilliant cosplay sorority sisters - Sarah, Tiffany, and Fer.

Stan, Deb, and I stuck around until 6:30PM. As Stan had to run some errands, Deb and I started to get cabin fever at the convention. We were sitting with Kevin and Shane. At one point, we were talking about how much we love chocolate and making facetious remarks to any remaining cosplayers in the area. At one point, Deb and I started singing "Cabin Fever" from Muppet Treasure Island and making up our own techno song called, "We Like Dem Chocolates." Starbucks is one hell of a drug.

Stan drove us back to my place. For driving me home, I gave Deb and Stan corn beef with a side of sauteed onions and cheesecake. We had one long weekend. It was a bittersweet end to the weekend. However, it was great way to kick off 2009.

Pictures are copyright by Traveling Valentine. If I took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by the font Dance Club. Many thanks to Chaz Boston Baden for the image resizing and watermarking program.