DCI

After we visited Beth and came home for a day, we left again to go see two DCI (Drum Corps International) shows: one in Charlotte NC, one in Salem VA.

Damson enjoying the Blue Devils show, "Fellini-esque" (they're in first for the season so far)

Chilling by the rooftop pool in Charlotte

The view from the rooftop pool

The view off the side of the roof at the hotel

Ahh, poolside relaxation

 

A tiny glimpse of the mountains, driving from Charlotte to Salem

Carolina Crown (my personal favorite corps and 4th in the season so far)
does an encore presentation at the Salem show while judges calculate scores

If you've never been to a DCI show, you should check it out sometime. There's just nothing like having your face blown off on the 50-yard-line by a spectacular horn line, and DCI has the most spectacular of them all. Plus, supporting the arts is always a good thing.

Cosplay

Have I mentioned that I'm going to NYCC in October and that we're cosplaying as Game of Thrones characters?!? Well, this past weekend, Damson and I took a trip up to Fairfax to visit my friend Beth, who is the creative genius behind the costumes, so she could start making my Margaery Tyrell dress!

Since the fabric for the top was specially ordered (and dyed at home)
we made a practice top out of plain white cotton. Damson and Piper observe.

Beautiful beautiful pattern on the top piece!

All the pieces are cut for the top.
Around this time, I stopped taking LV photos and started helping Beth, so we skip to...

The mostly finished product!
We still have a few little fixes to work on, but this is it!

For reference, the original dress we're trying to match looks like this:

Hooray for Beth! Damson and I learned a lot... like how to lengthen a skirt from a pattern, how to iron velvet (hint: extremely carefully), and to always check to make sure the snap pieces match up before sewing them on.

We also snuggled with the kitties during our short breaks:

Tyrion gives Damson a kiss