The Connecticut Renaissance Faire Re-cap

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I may have come back drenched and sunburned, but I survived the weekend at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire. And it was a blast!

So this week when I checked the weather reports for the weekend, it said there was a 20% chance that there would be scattered showers. Knowing that I won't have another weekend off to see the faire, I decided to take my chances and just go. I figured with the 20% percent chance, I thought the odds would be in my favor. If you didn't guess by now, I was wrong.  Right in the middle of one of the shows we were seeing it started to sprinkle. Then came the downpour.  It was bad! But my sister and I stayed to see the end of the show and then ran for cover. The rain lasted for 15 minutes and then it was gone. The sun came out and it was perfect weather for the rest of the day.

The day started out bright and sunny as the picture shows. The wonderful cast started their first act of the show. Robin Hood looked dashing as ever. Sigh. 

Once in the gates to the faire we were greeted with all of the side shows actors. These people are my favorite part of the renaissance faires. They love to pull you into their wacky world and love to tease you (in a good way). I use to just smile when they would talk to me and walk away politely. Now I have learned that it is way more fun to join them in their craziness. 

The shops are amazing. You have everything from local olive oils to sharp pointy swords(that my sister says I can never have). A couple of my favorite shops are a plushie dragon pet shop, the steampunk costume store, and of course the sword shop. The owners of these shops are just as amazing as the sideshow actors. They are as unique as their shops. Even if you don't like the actual show of the renaissance faire, the shops will entertain you just as much.
My sister even got horns. Or maybe they were always there. MMmmm. ;)

We received fairy dust. If we slept with it under our pillows, we would have amazing dreams.
These photos are from the dragon plushie shop mentioned above.

I am a foodie and I am ok with that. So I could go on and on about the superb food at the faire. But I will spare you the entire long paragraph and just tell you what we had for lunch. My sister had the turkey dinner that had turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, and stuffing that was COVERED in gravy. The whole thing. It looked amazing.I had the broccoli and cheddar soup bread bowl. I have been dreaming of this since last year. Yes a whole year! That was because last year they ran out before I could get any. It was well worth the wait.

As I mentioned above, the side show acts are my favorite part of the faire. They always have different acts that come to the faire so there is always something new. Last year they had a lady that trained rats to do tricks. 

This year my favorite group was The Questless Company. They mixed geek humor and awesome sword fighting into a 30 minute show.  I saw them twice on saturday and can't wait to see them again.




It was a fun weekend! If you get a chance this weekend, be sure to head on down to Guildford, CT. You won't be disappointed


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Renaissance Faire Prep

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I have been waiting for this all winter! The Renaissance Faire season has begun! *does a little dance*. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be dancing like that on the internet. But seriously folks, knowing that this faire was coming up kept me kinda sane through this long cold winter(and Connecticon too). And the best part is that we have not one, not two, but THREE fairies to go to in Connecticut. Not to mention three more in both MA and NY.

But the one that I am going to tomorrow is based on the Robin Hood storyline. The first year they followed the story that we all know and love. But as the years passed, they started to make up their own stories with the characters. This year they have sleeping beauty, so we will see how that goes. My costume for this faire is one that was passed on to me by my mom. I am going as a Viking Princess. Why? I don't know. Part of me just wants to pull out my Russian accent  and not get strange looks from people.

Also pictured is my new handmade dress form. I am in love with it.

I did start to pack for my day at the faire. Now it isn't as intense as packing for a convention, but there were still a lot of things that I needed to get ready. So much so that I needed to make a list to see if I have everything. To help me, and all of you, I made a check list for the things that I need to bring to the faire. What do you normally bring to a faire?


Pictures to follow! It will be a fantastic day!

Renaissance Faire 2013 Throwback

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Hi my name is Amanda, and I am a Renaissance geek.

*join in in saying hello*

Yes, this is a true statement. It started off all innocent. Just going to one faire in normal street clothes and enjoying others grand costumes. Thinking how cool it was that these people walk around with swords and thigh high leather boots. Now I am the person going wearing the decked out costumes and the awesome thigh high boots( what, they are awesome!).

Here in Connecticut we have not one, but three renaissance faires. It's crazy, I know! One is in the spring once the snow melts( Robin Hood themed), the second is in the summer(a pirate theme), and the last is during the fall(King Arthur).  Now I haven't been to the summer one because it's only for one weekend and that is the one weekend that I work. But I have been to the other two and have had a blast.

This last time around is when I finally got deep into it. I made my first costume that was based on the
"Lord of the Rings" dresses.  I loved how it came out. Now I wish I could take credit for the pattern, but I just bought a simple one to follow.


Now I don't have a picture of just me. The only one that I could find was taken with the ladies of Vixens En Garde.

And here is the close up of the crown that I made. My original crown looked more princess-y than rennaissance.So I made this one in two hours. It was made out of glitter, hot glue, and wire. 

Oh want more photos from the faire? No problem! And the lovely girl you see in the photos is my little sister.