FanX Volunteer Experience in Salt Lake City

 
Had to document each day where I parked so I didn't forget!

I found out on Monday I was on the list to volunteer at FanX (like Comic-Con) in Salt Lake City after applying last year! Luckily I was able to arrange things and make the drive from Boise over there and I spent parts of the Thursday, Friday and Saturday volunteering on "Team Doom" basically doing whatever was asked of me which I didn't mind. It was fun to switch things up a bit.



Part of my volunteer time was spent checking people's badges as they came in, sometimes out. Everyone had a wristband to scan at these stations with iPads. I got to see what kind of pass they had and make sure it was valid. Overall, it really went pretty smoothly plus it was fun to see all the cosplay costumes! Some people go all out and get really creative.

When I wasn't volunteering I got to walk around a little bit and snap some cool pictures and do some shopping. Mostly taking pictures. While there was soo much cool stuff to buy, I am trying to save towards some bigger ticket items I'd like to get before the end of the year.

 

While I was sitting at the First Aid tables with band-aids, this group of characters was standing nearby. Fun to watch and listen to them interact with people. They were very in character.

 

Something I really wanted to do was get some henna which, if you know me, is one of my favorite summer traditions but I wasn't able to find a place to do it yet all summer! Luckily there was a booth at FanX and I was able to get a spot in line to get this totally awesome owl in henna on my hand.

I didn't get to sit in too many panels because there was so much I wanted to do but I was able to make it to the Cobra Kai panel which was really fun and also one with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone from N'Sync.

 

 On Saturday I was volunteering from 4-7pm and then got asked to stay and help with the Cosplay Costume Contest. This sounded really cool and I was able to stay and help! The above picture is of the grand ballroom filling up with people who want to watch the costume contest.

 

 Me and another girl were backstage on both ends of the stage. There was a line of people in their costumes and I offered to hold their mask if needed while they were up on stage. A few took me up on this offer and I would take their mask and drop it off to the girl at the stage exit.

Then! We were asked to get everyone together for the awards. We had a sign with 3 characters on it and we went to the area where they were all waiting. We gathered our 3 winners (they didn't know what place they had won) and brought them backstage again. Then we were asked to actually go up on stage with 3 of the winners to present the awards. What what! I was in my volunteer shirt and pants, nothing fancy...got to give the 1st place award in the novice category. Super cool!

This woman was the grand prize $5k winner of the night!

 

 

And...that's a wrap! The room cleared out pretty quickly, it was after 9pm so a very long day for everyone, especially if you were there all day.

If you want to volunteer with me next year at FanX, let me know and I can put you in touch with the right person probably. It's a fun experience with a few cool perks. Be aware, you do need to pay for parking. I ended up parking at the garage for City Creek mall and it's free for the first 2 hours then $2/hr after that. I think the most I paid was about $12. Can't wait to attend again!

Love Letters Museum

My cousin Joey and I got tickets to go to Love Letters Museum at the Gateway mall in Salt Lake on the last day they were open! Ahh. I'm glad we could make it just in time. The Italian festival was going on right outside (and a concert at the arena) which made it a little crazy to find parking and wade through the crowds of people but we made it and had an absolute blast. It was nice to wander as fast or slow as we wanted and not be rushed.

Let's Go to Utah!

Yep..you read that right. After about a week and a half of being back in CA, it was time to go back to Utah. I got to make a fun stop on the way though to stay the night and hang out with my friend Kylee in Logandale and we took her Razr out the next morning for some fun desert views. Check it out!

Saying Cya Later Utah!

Tuesday! Time to head home and say goodbye to my family, friends and Utah.

In a short week and a half or so I will be back again for a visit and to do some more things so the goodbye is more like a cya later...

Chinese Lantern Festival - Utah

My friend Karina invited me to go to the Chinese Lantern festival with her however the day we were supposed to go was crazy windy and the event was canceled for that day. I ended up being able to go at a later date but unfortunatley she wasn't - boo - so I took my nephews with me instead. This event was crazy cool, lots of photo moments and goes until May 6 so you can still have a chance to go!

Monday Utah Adventures

Monday I woke up and got to steppin' because I knew there was a lot I wanted to get done. First up being lunch at a new place and a visit to EmilieJayne in Salt Lake. 

Temple Square in the Spring

After my sister and her family left to go home, I headed over to temple square to get some pictures because there are always lots of good ones to get, especially of the flowers.

Microsoft Store Sneak Peek @ City Creek Mall

Huge thanks to my friend Aimee for inviting me to go with her this morning to the pre-grand opening event of the Microsoft Store at City Creek Mall in SLC. She picked me up and we arrived a little early, which is not common for me to ever arrive early to anything! 

We stood in the sun to keep warm until it was time to go in to the store

Welcome!

We got to play with this tablet at our table

Learned that Microsoft does lots of service in the community. 

I liked hearing about that and it was cool to learn that for 30 years, Microsoft has donated money to non-profit organizations. That really impressed me.

Ryan talking about the Grand Opening events going on this weekend and if any groups or families want to hold a birthday party, X-box game night or anything else fun like that, the Microsoft store is happy to do that, free of charge. Wow! You can also rent it out for work group meetings.

Michael Regan - Store Manager

Jonathan - Head of PR

 Everything was so neat and orderly

 Gaming station set up

Keyboards that are so thin and colorful

I liked these phones a lot. If I didnt have an Android, I am - for right now, tempted to get a Windows phone. I found out on Saturday that my friend has one and she likes it a lot

  

Pretty colors

So much cool stuff to see and to play with

Everything in their store was touch screen. Wow. So 2013

This tablet was my favorite - there was a screen on the lid! If that makes any sense. See the pic on the left...then when you close the lid - you turn the laptop into a tablet. No swivel stuff. Pretty neat.

Aimee & I with our swag bags

Here's what we got in our bags! Onesie & a bottle (gonna hook Riley up!) , gift card, coupon, 2 really neat cookies & 2 wristbands for the Train concert on Saturday. Awesome!

 The grand opening is this weekend with a lot of events going on around that. Click here to find out more and read the Enjoy Utah review of our sneak peek this morning.

Happy Easter

Here's what I wore to church. White capped sleeve shirt from DownEast Basics, sweater from Kohls, necklace from Tillys, black skirt from Ross, teal shoes from Keen.

 Church went well, Tony taught Sunday School, sacrament meeting was good...special musical number is always nice but I was really anxious to get home for lunch. 9am church doesnt leave much time to eat esp when you get up at..well..I wont say what time from staying up with Tony the night before until 2:30am while he finished up his lesson.

Tony made crepes for us for lunch. This is one of my favorite things!

Fresh strawberries...well, fresh from the grocery store ;-)

Then we exchanged Easter baskets later in the afternoon.
Yea, I did pick out my own treats but that happens sometimes!

I gave Tony his favorite Cheetos, Sour Patch Kids , Mike & Ike's candy and plastic eggs fill with candy but some also had notes of things I'd do for him. Since he wont read this blog post until after opening his eggs, I gave him: 1 dinner meal that I cook, 1 time that I will fill up his motorcycle gas tank and 1 foot or back massage. Such a nice wife I am? hehe

One of my chocolate dipped peeps

Orange creamsicle pretzels

Later in the day we took a motorcycle ride because the weather was really nice and we went to visit Laura, Rocky & Riley. Then Linda S. who was in town called and we all went over to where she was and visited for awhile. So much fun!

I didnt take a picture of dinner but we bought a ham and Tony put half of it in the crockpot and it smelled so delicious I wanted to eat it really bad! He also made mashed potatoes, crescent rolls and corn. Such a tasty dinner.

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter, if you want to let me know what you did in a comment I'd love to hear!