MISTI-Con 2017: Day 3 Recap

MISTI-Con 2017 was absolutely fantastic! It was my third time attending MISTI-Con and it certainly won't be my last. As mentioned in previous posts, MISTI-Con is located in Laconia, NH at the Margate Resort. This year, the convention provided a way for Potterheads to return home for a 20 year celebration of Harry Potter. At the Margate, we are allowed to have full reign of the hotel and grounds sans Muggles! The Margate lets MISTI-Con use their whole entire facility for programming, events, meet ups, etc. Pretty much the hotel was transformed into Hogwarts for 5 days. Don't forget to check out my other recaps for MISTI-Con 2017 here: Day 1 and Day 2.

DAY 3: SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017

I can't believe the con is half way finished pretty much. I am having a blast and I really don't want to go home since home is where the heart is. My heart is completely 100% invested with the magic of MISTI-Con and the wizarding world in general. My wizarding family as been a crucial part of my life through good and bad times. They have always been there for me and I feel comfortable being myself in the presence of people who are supportive. Harry Potter has been and will always be an essential part of my life.

I managed to get ready in the morning decked out with my Weasley Wizarding Wheezes apron, tea length black skirt with yellow detailing and also my red long dress. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it this year but this outfit it a repeat of an outfit I wore two years ago. Since today there is a Wizard Rock Festival and Bewitching Bazaar, I felt it was appropriate to wear this outfit. I ended up getting some breakfast and chatted with David, Alyse and someone else who had a table at the Bewitching Bazaar. I ended up trading a few of the trading cards at the table before heading to Seamus's roundtable event. Seamus hosted a roundtable called "What’s a Slytherdor?: The Truth Behind Hybrid Houses." I found it a very fascinating topic and it was interesting to hear everyone's perspective about hybrid houses and what characters we see in hybrid houses. This is Seamus's first panel ever and he did a fabulous job facilitating the discussion.

So instead of going to the two panels I planned to attend for the morning, I ended up soaking up the wonderful weather outside. The Ford Anglia was parked outside of the Lakeside building where my hotel room is located. I had to take a photo or two before wandering around. I ran into Ni, who was dressed up as Colin, and I chatted with Ni a bit about some potential ideas for photo shoots for next MISTI. One of them is doing a 7 Potters scene with Colin! I really hope we can make it happen. Ni was trying to scout out a good location for the Battle of Hogwarts Mannequin photo shoot near the Main Tent. Since it was still early for the Wizard Rock Festival and Bewitching Bazaar, I helped up Krissy set up her table. Krissy sells her art, teas, etc. under Black Out Art. Her teas blends can be found on Adagio's site. 

The Bewitching Bazaar had a lot of talented artists and crafters. I picked up my wand from Carol the Wandcrafter. I am now the owner of a black walnut wand that has some floral detailing on the handle. Although I love my first wand that I own by Carol, this one is more sturdy in the sense that I won't mind if the wand drops by accident. I picked up a crocheted Dobby from Wendy as well. I love my Dobby! I always wanted to own one since the last MISTI and I never picked one up. This year I couldn't miss the chance to get a Dobby. If you want one, check out this Etsy listing.

I ended up browsing the other tables and picked up some awesome Harry Potter coasters that have images from the title pages on them. I plan to order more in the future as gifts. I picked up a fancy maroon blazer/jacket from Wormwood and Gall that was be a lovely costuming piece. The Trolley Witches are brand new and this is the first craft fair they are selling their wares. I was able to pick up an Odgen's Old Fashioned Fire Whiskey Candle which smells divine! It smells like a burning fire with a slightly hint of vanilla creaminess which smooths out the sharp crackling woody fragrance. 

I ate some left over Chinese food before I ended up assisting with badge checks and selling tickets for the Wizard Rock Festival and Bewitching Bazaar for about two hours. All I can say that even with sunscreen on, I still got slightly burnt on my left arm. The sun was pretty fierce outside on Saturday. The good thing is that I was still able to hear the Wrock festival from where I was sitting so I wasn't missing out on too many events. I call it multi-tasking! After volunteering, I ended up picking up a couple of t-shirts from Jordan of Jordanene and Elena of The Colorful Geek before helping Krissy pack up her stuff to bring to her car. Afterwards, I went to Krissy's room and hung around while she reorganized her stuff. 

I ended up missing the Battle of Hogwarts photo shoot because dinner ran a little bit longer than expected. Jess and I treated Alberto to Fratello's Italian food for his birthday. It took us 30 minutes to get rolls and an hour to get our entrees. Let's say we were not that happy about the service. However, the food was delicious! After eating at Fratello's, we headed back to Margate. Jess and I were able to change for Harp Twins's last performance at MISTI at 8:30. This time the Harp Twins were headlining the Wrock Festival. They were one of the few musical acts that got to perform in the Main Tent. Let's say the tent was freezing! It was a big change of temperature compared to Thursday's 90+ degree weather. I believe it was in the high 50s at the time of the performance. I was so thankful I wore my black pants underneath my silver invisibility skirt. The Harp Twins put on another splendid performance. I couldn't help myself and I ended up buying their other two CDs. Camille and Kennerly signed my CDs and I was able to get a photo with them. Thanks Jess for taking the photo!

Jess and I went back to the room to relax before heading to the main building. Jess was trying to finish the SpeakBeasty scavenger hunt so we wandered the halls. We bumped into Dead!Colin aka Ni and we took some photos of some of the rooms in the area. I particularly like the potions room all adorned with the bottles. We proceeded to the Blackstone and we caught the end of the Lip Sync Battle which was hilarious! Definitely worth seeing! Afterwards, we caught The Restricted Section which acted like one of those late night shows. There were some interesting guests such as Rita Skeeter and of course, Gilderoy Lockhart!

After The Restricted Section, Jess and I went back to room to get ready for bed. We were pretty much wiped out for the day. Sunday will be productive since there are a good amount of things I want to do and it's the last full day of the convention. Monday is just the Closing Ceremonies.

Don't forget to check out the remaining days of MISTI-Con sometime this week. You can also search the hashtag #NicoleAtMISTICon on Instagram for some photos.