2/12 - Pre Katsucon Blog

Ahhhh hi chat! Today I am blogging from National Harbor MD!! I am in the area for Katsucon later this week, I am super excited!! National Harbor is always my favorite spot to go to for vacation, I've been going to Katsucon almost every year, and last year in August I stopped by for a day trip with my friend Jordan to show him around!!

However... it was not in my initial plans to already be here! My initial plan was to leave today from RI to drive to PA, and then drive to PA to here on Thursday. However, my parents were panicking about me driving in the winter storms... which caused me to panic... so I ended up leaving on Monday evening for Philadelphia, and drove down to National Harbor Yesterday!! 

I learned I enjoy driving to cons because it saves me money as train tickets are expensive if I forget to buy them months in advance and I'm not super restricted to a specific schedule. Last year I drove to PA and back (about 5-7 hours each way depending on the area) like 10 times, so this is NOTHING!! I also have my older sibling who lives in PA which allows me to break up the trip into two legs. 

But, with the race to beat the snow, I left for PA at 5PM! I actually was waiting on a cosplay for the con to get delivered, and it made it earlier than expected! 

Nothing very exciting to report about the PA stay, since my older sib and their husband work, they were already getting ready for bed when I arrived and I went to pass out, and they were working when I woke up. I did get a pic with my cute puppy niece!

Then, it was the race to beat the snow! I didn't take any pictures of my drive LOL. But I did have 3 people at one rest stop ask me about my labubu/lafufu collection. The most obviously lafufu was the favorite of all three... which is very funny to me!

I got to the harbor around 1PM, but my hotel checkin wasn't until 3. To pass the time, I got a manicure at the nail salon by the parking garage. I didn't take any pictures... you'll see them once I blog Katsucon weekend. I just went with some basic short light pink glitter nails. The options at the salon made it seem like they'd be suuuper glittery but they're just... a normal amount. I was just thankful to be in a warm space while I waited on the hotel. It had started to snow at this point and the staff and patrons were so enamored with the snow!! I was like hm... this is nice but we had had snow twice in the past two weeks so it's not as exciting for me anymore!! But I did ask a lot about snow and stuff since I am about 500+ miles away from home. You don't realize how different weather can be for different parts of the United States.

After I checked into my hotel, I rested a bit and then went downstairs to get some dinner. I got a nice steak and martini!! It was very good. I've eaten here before in the past and have never been disappointed.

I also took a picture as it was snowing outside last night... so pretty.

Then... I dyed my hair a straw berry blonde and when to sleep. And we're at today! I am actually working today, and I got most of my big tasks all done. I'm taking a break to blog before I get to my next big task, but I usually get tired after a lunch.

I did take a walk to try and get some nandos, but it was closed! A lot of stuff was actually closed due to weather. I stopped into Cadillac Ranch and my inquisitive self asked if national harbor was usually this inactive in the week, but it seems the snow has caused a huge halt. In New England if this was the amount of snow we got, we'd all drive through it, but I learned this and the last snow they had back at the end of 2024 was the first snow they had in YEARS!!! And the interesting thing about the US is different areas have different... things(?) based on their weather conditions. Like further north you have more tools capable of handling snowy terrain, and other places may not worry about snow but may have more hurricane proof stuff. I will say the harbor had a good amount of people plowing the roads, parking lots, and the sidewalks, so it is not hard to walk. It's also supposed to rain, so that will probably melt a lot of the snow away.

For the rest of the day, it's catching up on work, figuring out dinner plans, and then self tan before tomorrow! I have to change hotels as I saved money by staying at one with cheaper tues/wed rates, so we'll see how tomorrow goes!

I probably won't blog inbetween katsucon nights, simply because I will be tired... but if you see me say hello! I may have trouble hearing or come off really loud, but I'm excited to see some mutuals there and meet new people!! And I get to cosplay and hang out with my friends Dev and Gary!!!! This is the first time I see them in person this year yipppieeeee!!!!