Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
Phillip and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary with a mini road trip.
I try not too get mushy here often.
But this seems like a fitting occasion to mention I am so crazy about this super smart, sweet, handsome guy. Phillip is my favorite person to be with on a road trip – or just hanging out at the house – and he makes me laugh harder than anyone.
There’s no one I’d rather share the journey with.
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I’m participating in Microblog Mondays. More quick reads at Stirrup Queens!
I stumbled across the Arizona Good Roads Association Illustrated Road Maps and Tour Book at the Tempe Public Library. It’s a reprint of a 1913 book full of hand drawn maps and photos of Arizona towns as they were back then. (Yay libraries! And yay maps!)
Phoenix was sparsely populated when there wasn’t air conditioning blasting away the desert heat. All the recent development makes the city feel so new that it’s easy to forget that people have lived here for centuries. I love the window back in time this book provides.
I brought the book along when we went to my uncle’s house in Globe over Fourth of July weekend. Globe is an old mining town about an hour and a half east of Phoenix with lots of quirky antique and thrift stores. In 1913, it already had 5 hotels (!)
As we drove, I looked for surviving landmarks and tried to picture the route we would have taken in an early Ford or horse-drawn wagon. The map from Phoenix to Globe passes through Tempe, over railroad tracks no longer in use (but still there), right by the old creamery that now houses a handful of businesses – including the ever-popular Four Peaks Brewery. It continues down Apache Boulevard, which I believe was part of US 60 before the freeway was built, and winds through the Superstition Mountains over Apache Trail, and past the Roosevelt Dam.
It would have been a much slower route. Instead, we made it to Globe early enough to grab a coffee before heading out to the cookout at noon. We had a great time catching up with cousins I hadn’t seen in forever, picking cherry tomatoes from the garden, sitting in the shade and chatting.
On the way home, Phillip and I stopped in the historic downtown and tried to spot a few of the buildings in the book.
We found the 1st National Bank (now an antique store with a new facade), the courthouse, and Gila River Bank Building (currently empty and for lease).
I thought the school looked like what’s now The Noftsger Hill Inn, but, once we were in front of it, the details weren’t quite right. Turns out it was built in 1917. We’ll have to find the school in the picture another day. I think I’ll just have to get my own copy of the book.
The celebratory Nutella brownie bites I made last month for Craft Hack were actually part two of the Travelcraft-Journal-turns-one festivities.
On the actual day of the site’s anniversary, Phillip and I took a little break to commemorate it on our own. It had been a tough day, and he was swamped with finishing up school stuff. So we couldn’t do anything big, but he said “let’s do something.”
So we picked up donuts at our local Tempe favorite, Arizona Donut Co., and headed to Papago Park. (I’m back to eating gluten – at least temporarily, so I’m taking advantage of it. Carpe donut.)
There are some nice picnic areas just beyond the Phoenix Zoo parking lot with ramadas and grills, but we hardly ever see anyone there. It’s a short drive for us, and it’s a very peaceful spot.
It was windy enough that it took several tries to light the birthday candle we stuck in a chocolate coconut donut. The wind blew it out again a second later. Maybe it made a wish.
We enjoyed our donuts and then went down to the little lake to feed crackers to the ducks. There was one that had this super noisy way of paddling that made us laugh.
Our little break only lasted about an hour, but we were both so much happier and more relaxed when we came back.
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PS More info about Papago Park below. Also, Phillip took the donut shop sign pic. Gotta love the dizzying angle! :)
Last weekend I got to meet Marilyn Monroe’s dress.
It was (and will be through this weekend) at the Phoenix Art Museum, along with 100 other costumes from both recent and classic films.
Fun fact: The last time I was there was for Arts & Flowers. While I was waiting for Phillip (and getting lost on the second floor), he stopped in the lobby to talk to Phoenix Comicon volunteers. Which inspired us to go to the Con, where we stopped to talk to Phoenix Art Museum volunteers, snapped a photobooth pic for their Hollywood Costume Instagram contest, won it, and found ourselves in the Museum lobby again, thus completing the circle.
It was our destiny.
Officially, we’d won an Audrey+Marilyn grab bag. But when the Museum heard we hadn’t made it to the exhibition yet, they made tickets part of our prize. Super nice, right?!
This time we didn’t even get lost. The Hollywood Costume exhibit is on the first floor with a giant marquee.
You pass the velvet ropes and ticket taker (also a no photos sign). Before entering the main exhibit, you pause in a room with a large screen showing the most famous clips for the most well-known costumes inside. It’s like a sneak peek.
Inside, there’s exhibit information projected onto glass, teleprompter style. Costumes are clustered together based on themes. We snaked around the edges of these costume islands with the rest of the visitors, lines forming at points where people were lingering longer. In front of each costume is a stand with what looks like a script page that gives details on the costume and sometimes additional backstory. Woven throughout the exhibit, there are video interviews of actors and costume designers talking about what goes on behind the scenes, as well as animated projected images that explain the process.
We learned that costumes for movies have a lot to do: they need to be true to the time and the character, fit with the film’s artistic vision, and be practical for the actor to actually play their role in – whether they’re running or dancing or just wearing it during long days of shooting a scene.
I loved checking out the details of the costumes – the way the light shines on different fabrics, beaded gowns that must’ve weighed a ton, “dirt” and frayed edges added to make clothing look worn. Meryl Streep’s Mamma Mia! costume was made to sparkle. Darth Vader’s costume had more layers than we realized and buttons that reminded me of ’80s electronics (which, I guess, makes sense).
It’s always a little surreal to come face-to-face with something (or someone) that has previously only existed for you on a screen.
We spent awhile checking out Indiana Jones’s Raiders of the Lost Ark costume and the video that explained how the different components were designed, sourced, and adapted. You could see the individual distress marks in his signature leather jacket.
There was a whole section devoted to Elizabethan period costumes. One dress was hand-embroidered to match a painting exactly, while another costume designer felt it was more important that the clothing convey the right message to a modern audience than to be historically accurate in every detail. We also spotted two dresses used in films about Queen Elizabeth that expressed two very different takes on the same historical portrait.
The exhibit ends with two iconic dresses – the sexy halter back Marilyn Monroe wore in Seven Year Itch and the innocent blue gingham Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz. Both are behind glass, unlike the rest of the exhibit. You walk out to a “The End” montage and find yourself back in the real world – or, at least, a museum corridor.
We perused the gift shop and wandered through a few galleries. Then we decided there’s no place like home, so we headed that way.
If you get a chance to see the Hollywood Costume exhibit, do it!
Here’s what you need to know.
UPDATE: The next and final stop for Hollywood Costume will be the historic Wilshire May Company building in Los Angeles from October 2, 2014 through March 2, 2015. It will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
When Phillip first suggested we cover Phoenix Comicon, I wasn’t sure how well that would fit with the whole Travelcraft Journal thing. I mean, yes, this is the home of the sci-fi-reference-riddled holiday party post. But still. We’re about makers and doers, creative people with a “hey, let’s try this!” attitude.
Then I realized: so is Phoenix Comicon. It’s filled with people responding creatively to what they’ve read or watched, who make their own costumes or miniatures or films or chain mail or sketches, who’ve travelled to learn more about something they’re passionate about. Which is super Travelcraft Journally.
So we requested press passes, researched, and started planning posts. I’ve never been to any of the events in the Comic-Con universe, so I reached out to some veterans about what a newbie needs to know to navigate the 5th largest Comic-Con in the U.S., which is happening next week. Here’s their sage advice, along with a few of my own newbie observations.
Jill Rouleau (Bespoke Software Solutions):
Jeff Moriarty (Professional Geek and Shenaniganizer):
Phoenix Comicon can be overwhelming, so don’t even try to do it all. See what you can, have fun, but it’s okay to miss things. That’s just going to happen. Make time to try something brand new! Take advantage of a few thousand die-hard fans being around you to stick your nose into a topic you’ve maybe been curious about and see where it leads you. Walk away from Con with a whole new set of loves!
Ryan DeFusco (The Indie Imaginarium):
Check out the panels (genre-specific events hosted by individuals) that are going on and tentatively plan on attending some. But don’t be afraid to change up your plans if you discover something else you want to see.
Jason Hunt (The Wampa’s Lair Podcast):
Stephanie (a.k.a. me):
Ryan DeFusco:
My (first!) Comicon panel: DIY Chainmail Jewelry Make and Take Workshop.
Jeff Moriarty:
Check out the Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown the first two nights of Con! It’s where geeks from all angles converge to hash out some of the most important and ridiculous topics you’ve ever heard. It’s a rocking good time and guaranteed to get you into the Con spirit!
Ryan DeFusco:
[The first time I attended Phoenix Comicon] I wish I had brought a change of clothes. My costume wasn’t too uncomfortable, but my wig kept slipping out of place and I desperately wanted to take it off.
Jill Rouleau:
Wear comfortable walking shoes. No, really, however cute those boots are, wear comfortable shoes. It’s ok to not dress up in costume. No one will think you’re weird or less of a geek. It’s also super cool if you do dress up! Don’t be scared that your costume won’t be “good enough” if it’s your first time costuming, what matters is that you have fun.
Jason Hunt:
Carry cash. If you are a collector or find something interesting that you want to buy, it always helps to pay in cash. Some sellers have the ability to take cards, but those rely on mobile devices and usually have problems getting through. Get cash from your hotel’s ATM and save your credit/debit cards for offsite food purchases.
Jonathan Simon (Lightning Octopus, tips excerpted from this post):
Jill Rouleau:
Jason Hunt:
If you’re going with a group that wants to split up, have a designated time and area to meet. DO NOT rely on cell phones, because all the signals in one area tend to clutter up the local cell phone towers.
Jeff Moriarty:
Go all in! If you think there is some fun, weird, or quirky thing that you’re into that nobody else loves as much as you…you’re wrong! This is the place to let yourself go, share whatever form of geekery you delight in, and connect with others who enjoy it just as much as you.
Jonathan Simon sums it up with this handy infographic: 
(For even more great advice, check out the Lightning Octopus site and its readers’ comments.) Now I’m ready to take on Comicon! A big thank you to Jason, Jeff, Jill, Jonathan, and Ryan for sharing so much awesome info! If you see me wandering around the Convention Center, please say hello. (I may be lost.) If I survive the weekend, I’ll tell ya all about it and share some cosplay awesomeness. Tune in next time or subscribe to make sure you don’t miss a thing.