Back in March, I attended Wondercon with Lilia and Tiff! Wondercon is a convention run by the same people who do San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). It’s definitely a lot smaller than SDCC, but I found it to be a lot more enjoyable as while there was still tons to do and see, you didn’t feel like you were about to be suffocated to death by hundreds and hundreds of people. The convention is located in Anaheim, which meant that we got to do a lot of exploring outside of the convention. One of the places we visited was the Downtown Disney District!

We were supposed to meet up with Tiff’s friend Tiffany (lol) but had a lot of time to kill, so I asked the girls if I could practice taking photos with my 50mm. I got a chance to take photos of Tiff in her cosplay, but wanted to work on more ~group~ type pictures. Thankfully they were okay with being my guinea pig models.

As you can tell, they had a lot of fun lmao.

Since we were planning to eat lunch after Downtown Disney (we decided on Mr. Matcha), we didn’t really check out any of the restaurants and I don’t have any cool food photos to share. There were a ton of cute spots for us to take photos though (see: fountain), so it wasn’t too bad. At one point we found some (literal) bushes next to a restaurant and thought this would be the opportune moment to try taking photos there – kind of like the Hobby Lobby Challenge?

Honestly, with the way the photos turned out, I don’t think anyone would have realized that families were eating 5 feet behind Lilia and Tiff. We were definitely getting a lot of weird/strange looks. LOL. Can you really blame them though?

The next few photos had Tiff a little out of focus (womp womp), but they worked it. I don’t think they’ve settled on a group name yet, but I’m waiting for their album to drop with bated breath.

After sticking around in the bushes for a hot minute, we ended up in Marceline’s Confectionery. Lots of cute, Disney-themed treats on display. They were a lot of fun to look at! The front of the store has a large window where you can also watch employees work on more delicious desserts. Cool, but a little creepy if I’m being 100% honest.

Of course we only looked and didn’t buy a thing, so our next course of action was to waste more time before meeting up with Tiffany. Where could we possibly spend a ridiculous amount of time at? Sephora, duh! Tiff and Lilia are definitely a lot more knowledgeable about makeup, skincare, etc. than I am, so they were having an absolute blast going through different brands and swatching different things.

My experience with makeup and skincare is pretty limited, so while I didn’t truly understand everything they were talking about, it was still fun to ask for their opinions on different things and jot down some cool new products to try out in the future! (Tiff is definitely a skincare guru, so I pretty much go to her for everything when it comes down to the 10 Step Skincare Routine. If there’s anyone you want to ask skincare help from, it’s her!!!)

After Sephora, we decided to check out the World of Disney, which is just a giant Disney store. A lot of it was under construction, though, so the store was a lot smaller than the last time I had been there. Tiff and Lilia were going through the aisles, looking for cool souvenirs to pick up for themselves, friends, or family. Since we were meeting Tiffany there, we took our sweet time going through the shelves.

Lilia bought herself a new jacket (which she promptly wore out of the store after buying it lmao) and Tiff bought some things for her brother, along with a Mickey Mouse shaped rice krispie treat. From what I understand, she meant to give this to Tiffany, but had put it in her bag and promptly forgot to give it to her. So she ended up taking it home…

…Where she then proceeded to take photos with it for the next few weeks. I haven’t asked whether or not she ended up eating it or if it eventually made its way to Tiffany in L.A.

Tiffany found us in the store shortly thereafter and we went to get beignets from the Jazz Kitchen. If you have never been to Disneyland or had their beignets before, I definitely recommend it. I think I prefer the beignets from the Jazz Kitchen more than the ones found in the park. The park beignets are decent and they come Mickey Mouse-shaped, but one of the park attendants told me that the Jazz Kitchen beignets use the same dough as the ones at Disneyworld.

And then the highlight of my Downtown Disney trip occurred.

While we were in line to order, Tiffany was asking me and Lilia questions about how we had met Tiff, where we were from, and all that good stuff. Tiff, Lilia, and I are all from the Bay Area but met different ways. When Lilia mentioned that we were from the Bay, a guy who was standing next to us in line took that opportunity to jump in.

“Oh my god, you guys are from the Bay? I’m from the Bay too!”

Tiff and I have a terrible habit of being polite. So polite that when strangers try to join our conversation, we let them take over and join even if we don’t really want to talk to them. This is something that we are trying to work on. Before I could say the words “oh, you are? Where in the Bay?” and start a conversation I definitely did not want to start, Lilia was on it.

Lilia is tiny. 5’0″ and probably 80lbs soaking wet. She is unsuspecting and tiny.

She gave the guy a once over, said “cool,” and then turned around and proceeded to ignore him.

Simple and sweet, but so freakin’ effective.

The look on the guy’s face was priceless. You could tell that he was not expecting that response whatsoever. His mouth was open; shell-shocked. He was just staring at the back of Lilia’s head, registering her response. He slowly turned around. You could see the wheels turning in his head, as he began to rethink every conversation he had ever had in his life. We didn’t hear a peep from him after that.

I also stared at Lilia, shell-shocked. But it was mixed with awe and admiration.

What an absolute legend.

I’ve told this story to my other friends and co-workers countless times (in a “CAN YOU BELIEVE?” way) and now every time I complain about some awkward or uncomfortable situation I’ve found myself in, my co-workers always ask, “have you tried channeling your inner Lilia?”

It’s a work in progress, but hopefully I’ll be 1/4th as cool and smooth as her one day!