Let’s talk about CatCon!

First of all, how cute are our outfits? Christina planned them! Our skirts were from Amazon, shirts (custom with our cats on them) from Etsy, and scrunchies by Two Cats Creations. Ella’s top is from Etsy, too! I got it for her for her baby sprinkle and it was purrfect for the day.

We left the hotel around 8:00 am so we’d have time to stop at Starbucks (priorities!) and I was happy to see the GPS wanted me to take a different route to Pasadena. This one got into the hills a bit and I enjoyed seeing some different scenery.

Quick side note about Starbucks – I was holding Ella while we were inside and feeling pretty special about all the attention she got. Ha. That is something that occurred all weekend – lots of comments on Ella, and people being especially kind because we had a baby with us. It was sweet.

Back to the drive! We arrived around 9:15 and CatCon opened at 10:00. We parked and went to the convention center to take photos in front of the big sign –

– and I IMMEDIATELY saw the one person I was really hoping to meet there. How crazy lucky is that?! It was Princess Honeybelle’s Mom, and we talked and she introduced me to her friends and I was an awkward fangirl. But I don’t care. I really wanted to meet her and am so happy I did!

You might be wondering, what is CatCon? (Or maybe you didn’t even read this far, ha). CatCon is like ComicCon, but for cat lovers. There are speakers, giveaways, vendors, guest stars, and adoptions! We didn’t plan that we wanted to see anything specifically, other than the Buzz Lightyear booth (a dud) and my friend Jean’s booth. Then I had a BUNCH of friends I wanted to meet up with. A BUNCH.

It was open from 10:00-5:00 and I thought maybe we’d stay until midday, but no, we were there all day! We looked at all the booths, entered to win things, took free items, and bought a ton (eek, I spent way too much). I met up with friends I know from home, friends I know from Instagram, and met new friends too. I handed out 105 painted rocks and 50 stickers of my friend’s cat Penny. I was curious to see how many new followers I got from handing them out, but the few days I was in CA, but follower count on Instagram was glitching so I have no idea. Typical. Ha.

We took a break in the middle of the day to have lunch and spend some time with my Matt, who lives in the area, and was also going to CatCon. It was really amazing how many friends I got to meet in person for the first time (there is a reel of them all here)! They were all lovely!

The whole experience was overwhelming – in a good way, but still overwhelming! I will bullet some highlights:

• The absolute joy and good spirits of everyone there.
• A bell ringing every time a kitten was adopted, then everyone cheering and clapping. 134 Kittens were adopted over the two day event.
• People asking us if we had a baby or a cat in the stroller. (You were not allowed to bring your cat)
• Meeting a new friend, Lury, in the registration line, then bumping in to her several times throughout the day (we’re connected on socials now).
• Giving a rock to a young girl then her seeing I had a whole bag of them and asking what other designs I had. Ha. Ha ha ha.
• All the comments on our skirts.
• Telling many people it was Ella’s first CatCon.
• Seeing my friend Jean’s booth. I am so proud of her for having a booth and being such an entrepreneur! She’s only 24! Check out her products here – Crispy Meows.
• Christina buying books from my artist friend Megan Lynn Kott and Megan writing a message in them and drawing cats.
• People recognizing Penny on the stickers I was handing out.
• People being really excited when I gave them my rocks and my friends’ rocks.
• Two artists being excited I was the first to buy their stuffies.
• Getting to see my Australian friends’ items in person – check out Blossom & Cat.
• All the fun costumes and outfits people were wearing.
• All the amazing cat merchandise. AHH! So much great stuff.

A day was enough time, but just enough! And I guess CatCon used to be twice the size but this is the first time it’s been back since the pandemic.

We were both exhausted after, and excited to take our skirts off at the car (we had shorts on underneath). We met my friend Tiff for dinner at Sage in Pasadena around 6:30. Tiff lives in LA, and when Christina and I decided to go, one of the first things I did was see is she would be around! Tiff, Val, and I hung out in KC together in April and had such a great time together. I love spending time with her.

I am so glad Tiff reached out that day to schedule dinner with me, because I was extremely scatter-brained with so much going on. I would have reached out, but much later in the day. I am so glad she was on the ball.

We had a lovely dinner, and it was really relaxing to spend time with a friend I already know, and not be in “new friend”/”always thinking of something to ask” mode. We could just TALK. That is not to say anything bad about the people I met, just that it was more work to be meeting mostly new people all day.

Dinner was delicious – we got soft pretzels (amazing), and I got vegan lasagna (pretty good), then we split bread pudding (so so). It was really fun to be able to order off the whole menu.

If we all lived in the same town I think the three (four!) of us would have a lot of fun together! And a lot of laughs!

After dinner we walked back to the car and drove the same route as the previous night back to Santa Monica. This drive was a bit easier, thankfully.

When we got back the fork was gone from the hallway! Ha. We knew this was a sign our trip was coming to an end.

I got all the stuff I bought out the bags and condensed it and starting packing.  I would share a picture but it’s embarrassing. I bought so many stickers. What can I say? I love stickers! And most of them will be sent out as little gifts.

After writing some postcards and messing around on my phone we called it a night! We didn’t have too early of a wakeup to get the airport, but didn’t want to be exhausted.