So Much Harry Potter Cosplay

Since July, we've done a bunch of fun Harry Potter-related stuff. We went to Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia to take part in their new, revamped and renamed HP festival, called Witches and Wizards Weekend. We also attended Wizard School at the Franklin Institute. This past week was my birthday, so I had an early Yule Ball for myself at home, in preparation for our Harry Potter Alliance chapter's Yule Ball, which was fantastic. 

I figured I'd share some of my photos of all the awesome Harry Potter cosplay and fun.

Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania

This was a (mostly) 2-day event. There was a nighttime pub crawl on Friday and then a full-day on Saturday with activities, shopping, food, and fun seeing all the cosplays. I saw this magical school hate and I had to have it for my witch outfits. Only $10. Of course, it only comes in the one size.

This lady wins all the awards for creativity...and that baby was adorable!

Quidditch represent!

Eric bought ALL the flair. For those wondering, the giant buttons say "Keep Calm and Carry a Wand" and "Make Magic, Not War"

Franklin Institute - Philadelphia
This was a 21+ event put on at a science center, so therewerea lot of really cool science-y magic things, and this lecture on Nicholas Flamel.

Ha! This actually led into a room with a train.

We made "magic" wands and then recreated these at home with our own materials.

Yule Ball birthday party

Everyone dressed up and we made wands and played games and chatted about Harry Potter. This was my very Ravenclaw look.

My friend Stephanie wins for most creative costume. She came as Christmas Dobby. 

HPA Yule Ball

So, I can't sew, but I still try (for some reason) and came up with this offset cloak for Eric to wear and show off his Hufflepuff-y-ness. It was good if you didn't look too hard at it, but it was a fun look.

I went with a more Ravenclaw look with a giant puffy tulle skirt that I sewed lights into. This is super easy to do and everyone thinks it looks professional and amazing. I got so many compliments on my "dress". 

I'll post more of our adventures of in Philadelphia soon, including more of the Franklin Institute, which I highly recommend for just a regular day of educational fun.

Have you done any fun costumed stuff lately?

Finding The Best Ways To See Australia

Traveling to Australia is a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand, the size of the place makes it easy to find new things to do for each day of your stay. On the other, though, this same benefit can also make your life very hard while you’re away, taking a lot of time to move between each of the things you’d like to enjoy.

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To make this whole process easier for you, this post will be taking you through some of the best ways to see this massive country, giving you the chance to take in as much as possible while on your adventure.

By Sky

While it isn’t the cheapest form of transport in the world, it would be wrong to talk about Australia without covering the opportunity you have to spend some time in a helicopter. With vast areas of land to cover, this sort of vehicle can be perfect for anyone who wants to see more of this place. Some trips will cover large distances, taking you from one place to another. If you want to do some pure sightseeing, though, you can also find examples which will only take you a short distance, but give you a lot of time in the air.

Taking A Tour

Of course, not everything can be appreciated from the sky, though, and there are loads of reasons to look towards the idea of a tour instead. Having someone with a lot of knowledge to guide you when you’re exploring a new country can be a great route to go down. Tours can be found just about anywhere in the world. You have options ranging from wildlife hikes to historical interest walks, and they all have their own joy to offer.

Borrowing A Vehicle

Being able to cover large distances without having to rely on public transport is something which a lot of people lack when they go on vacation. In a place like Australia, though, you need to be able to get from A to B, and this is best achieved with an hire car. You can find loads of companies offering these sorts of services around the web, with the examples you find when you get to your hotel often being some of the cheapest you’ll come across.

Move In Numbers

Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s time to think about how you move when you’re taking on something like travel. Being with a large group of people can make this whole process a lot easier. This enables you to take it in turns at the wheel, will make the whole effort cheaper, and will make it easier to deal with situations like finding yourselves lost. Of course, though, you may have to make compromises on what you see when taking this approach.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of seeing as much of Australia as possible. A lot of people work towards goals like this, only to struggle when it comes to making sure that they make the most of their break.

Earn Big Cash Back on your Christmas Shopping

As we quickly approach Christmas, Swagbucks knows you still have lots of shopping to do, and they're offering big cash back for shopping online at several of your favorite retailers right now! Just go to this page to see all of the deals available and get the jump on your holiday shopping. 

In order to take advantage of the cash back, just create your Swagbucks account when prompted (it takes less than 30 seconds) and then you're all set! Your cash back comes in the form of SB points, which you can redeem for gift cards to places like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, or get PayPal cash!  

As a special bonus, if you sign up through me you get a 300 SB ($3) bonus when you earn your first 300 SB before January 1st! This site's a great way to extend your shopping budget, especially around the holidays!

Now you can buy more gifts, or save a bit more for your next trip. Both sound like great plans you me!