It’s been such a busy week for me- work, filling out job applications (yes I’m currently employed, but they always say that’s when it’s best to look) , and fulfilling my duties as an American citizen and serving jury duty. It’s now been a full week since I went to C2E2, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo. I only went one of the three days, and while it was fantastic, it wasn’t enough; I just want to go back for more!! I Cosplayed for the first time ever as my darling Ahsoka Tano, and it was wonderful. As I was getting my costume ready the night before, my mom looked at me strangely. “Who are you again?” she inquired, tired and confused. I pulled out my Disney Infinity figure of my hero so she could see what I was supposed to look like. I marveled at her beauty, asking my mother “see? Isn’t she pretty?”. She replied with more confusion in her exasperated “no”. Whatever, Ahsoka is beautiful!

I went with her classic second outfit from Clone Wars. I did not have lightsabers, but I painted my nails green as my own subtle nod to her lightsabers. One dude there asked me where my lightsabers were; I said that they had been stolen, which is a reference to the episode Ahsoka’s lightsaber was stolen to be sold on the black market! That was when she only carried around one lightsaber, but still. And instead of a little gold choker-ish necklace, I wore my R2-D2 necklace because Ahsoka loves her Artooie!

My best friend Hallie dressed as Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, and my friend Jeff was…well, he was just Jeff. And, I’m not going to lie, I really didn’t want to paint myself orange…I’m tan already, that’s close enough, right?! Look at how this Instagram filtered picture made me look more like my beloved Torgruta idol, though:

And I was happy that so many people knew who I was; when I was walking up the steps at the convention shortly after arriving there, another Jedi nodded to me as we passed walking opposite directions and greeted me simply: “Padawan Tano”. That was the first time I was recognized, and I have to say it gave me quite a little thrill! And it kept happening; people would get my attention by calling me Ahsoka or Snips, and it made me so happy. Many people with fancy cameras asked to take my picture, which I have discovered to be a norm at these conventions. A few of men told me while taking my picture “my daughter loves Ahsoka, she’s her favorite” and I smiled and replied “she’s my favorite, too,”. One guy showed me the background on his phone was this lovely art of modern Rebels Ahsoka while telling me my costume was awesome.

But all these people calling me Snips and taking my picture wasn’t nearly the best part of being Ahsoka for a day; it was the little girls who came up to me. Okay, one wasn’t so little; the first was probably in her teens and she was so sweet, and she was the first who wanted a picture with me rather than just of me, which honestly made me feel even cooler. She whipped out a figure of Jar Jar to join us for the picture and thanked me so kindly and genuinely. Her mother explained how much her daughter loved Ahsoka as they were walking away, and a tween girl with their group (whom I presumed to be her sister but I just don’t know) looked at me with her hands on her cheeks, her mouth wide open. It was amazing to have that kind of reaction from people. And the little girls…oh my goodness. I had so many adorable, tiny little girls come up and take pictures with me. I wish I got my own pictures with all of the girls who wanted their picture taken of me, but I only got one. But, at least…she was honestly the most adorable one. All day, my friends and I excitedly pointed out Cosplayers of our favorite characters to each other. Jeff was telling me to look behind me, as we had done to each other a lot that day, and I turned around and the cutest little Rey is looking up at me with her sweet, big eyes. Her parents are with her, and her father is saying “go on, ask her if she’ll take a picture with you,”. The little Rey just kept looking at me, seeming too starstruck to even say hi. I wasn’t sure if she was just super shy like I was at her age, or truly in awe of seeing Ahsoka. I believe in my heart it was a combination of both. After a moment of her speechless little face, her father asked me if I would take a picture with her. I absolutely took a picture with little Rey, and when we were done her parents were telling her to thank me, but she was again speechless but so freaking sweet. Her parents thanked me for her, and they were about to leave when Jeff asked if we could get another picture for us as well. I asked little Rey if she wouldn’t mind taking another picture with me, and she again didn’t say anything but nodded and complied.  I thanked her for taking a picture with me and she just smiled. Guys, she was just the most adorable thing ever.I called her “Rey” and told her I loved her outfit. I know she would have said something if she could.

My mom was so happy that I was a hit with the children, but criticized that I didn’t get crouch down like Disney Princesses do…but I did offer to do that when her dad was taking the first picture, but he didn’t anything and seemed to be satisfied with the shots he got. I’ll be prepared next time; I honestly did not expect the kind of reactions that I received from these adorable young girls who also idolize Ahsoka.

Needless to say, I want to be Ahsoka Tano every day. I seriously want to Cosplay as her for many more conventions! Maybe even delve into her Rebels look one day! Look at all of the glorious fun I had:

And I absolutely had to take a picture with the only other Ahsoka I saw that day…psh, what? It had absolutely nothing to do with proving to my mom that Ahsoka is cool amongst us Star Wars fanatics and that people there certainly knew who I was dressing up as…

And the “TRAITOR!” photobomb was pure magic; I honestly didn’t know that happened until I saw the picture!

I didn’t mean to make my little BB-8 Funko Pop! bobblehead at home jealous…it just kinda happened.

Aside from all of the Cosplay and sight-seeing fun, I also found some art! Are you even surprised? I’m just surprised I controlled myself and only bought two prints from one artist! Everything else was amazing as well, but so expensive, and I’m still trying to figure out how to lay out everything else I have!

I met this amazing artist, Naomi Romero, and immediately fell in love with her Star Wars and Marvel doggies. My own pictures of the prints keep having this awful glare so these are from her website:

Captain America golden retriever and Poe Dameron corgi!!

Adorable, beautiful perfection!!

I also got a metal bookmark for my sci-fi loving aunt Adelaida (the one who showed me the wonders of the Force) of the cast as the original Star Trek as…kitties!! That was by a different artist. I didn’t get a good picture of it but I promise you, it is amazing. I think the artist’s name is Jessica Parks? Don’t hold me to that, I’ll try and find out for sure.

It was such a lovely day overall! And I’m still in such bliss over the peoples’ reactions to my Ahsoka Cosplay. Is it because of me? Not quite, but I like to think I did pretty well, and that must be part of it, right?! But, most importantly, it’s about Ahsoka Tano and her influence on us fans. She is so important in our lives, she’s more than just some cartoon character on a tv show; to fans like me, and all of the little girls who wanted a picture with me, she is our hero. She’s strong, independent, but is still an emotional and vulnerable being. She’s compassionate, she’s funny, she’s kind- yet she’s the ultimate badass. She was the first female Jedi we got to see as a main character in Star Wars, and that’s huge. I believe she led the way for us to even have THE main character in a Star Wars movie be a woman! And she’s Anakin’s Padawan learner, to top it all off. She was the apprentice of the Chosen One, and he totally rubbed off on her in all of the best ways. I just want to stop and express my appreciation for Dave Filoni and Ashley Eckstein for creating this character and giving her life, respectively. I had no idea when I started watching the Clone Wars that Ahsoka would mean so much to me, and it’s awesome to see I’m not the only one in awe of her. That sweet little Rey I met was so happy to meet Ahsoka, and that was honestly one of the coolest moments of my life so far. After the family left, my friends and I just smiled so big. I was beaming, and Jeff said to me, still with a smile on his face, “you made that little girl’s day,”.