This summer I went to Tampa Bay Comiccon with my husband and our friends. Our two friends are big Adventure Time fans, and we're pretty fond of it too, so we went as Finn, Jake, Lumpy Space Princess and Fionna. It was so much fun to walk around the convention in costume, but ESPECIALLY those costumes. Kids knew who Spiderman and Batman were, but we were Adventure Time, and we were the only Adventure Time group there that day. The kicker was LSP. She was 7 months pregnant (so, extra lumpy), and a lot of people thought that was hilarious and creative. I put a surprising amount of work into my own cosplay (Fionna) as I don't have long blond hair. I had never worked with wig before and made some rookie mistakes (heat melts plastic, genius). But it turned out to be pretty great in the end! I've been telling people since then: If you're ever feeling bad about yourself, dress up as a popular cartoon character and go to a Con. Everyone wants a picture with you, and it feels AMAZING!
That was my very first cosplay ever (aside from a portal cosplay at a party with a bunch of other high school teachers and no one knew who I was).