Fangirl fangirling

Friday night I got the opportunity to meet one of my fangirl icons, Ashley Eckstein. Ashley is the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Now, Ahsoka is my favorite Star Wars character, but Ashley is also a hero of mine outside of Star Wars as well. She founded the geek fashion company Her Universe which makes fangirl fashions inspired by Star Wars, Disney, Star Trek, Marvel, Doctor Who and Studio Ghibli. They started with Star Wars t-shirts and dresses for women and girls, but the brand has grown exponentially since then and now includes items for guys as well as well as make up! I just picked up the Her Universe Infinity Gauntlet inspired make up palette and Infinity Stone lip gloss set, which I will have full swatches and a review of later this week.

We snuck a quick selfie with Ashley, excuse my face.

Ashley was in town to promote her new book "It's Your Universe" from Disney Press. The book is part memoir, part manual and part journal. I haven't finished it yet, as I just picked it up at the signing since you could get an exclusive Ahsoka enamel pin. I'm about half-way through and I already love this book. It's written at a level that would make it perfect for any in their early teens and up. Ashley's authorial voice is approachable and friendly, and I can't help hearing her voice in my head as I read it.
The illustrations are also beautifully done by Ashley's close friend and collaborator Ashley Taylor; who works for Disney as an illustrator and designer and has previously worked with Her Universe on their Disneyland and Studio Ghibli collections. Taylor was also there to share her story and discuss the book and was a joy to talk to. Meeting both Ashleys was a wonderful experience, they were warm and kind and took time to talk to everyone who came to see them, which was about 130 people. Star Wars Oregon was also there to provide an honor guard if you will, including a Darth Vader, and full-size Chewbacca. It was an experience that I will never forget.

I was really excited to meet Chewie!

I will probably post a full review of "It's Your Universe" once I have had a chance to finish it. But so far I would definitely recommend it as a graduation present (its that time of year), a gift to any younger person in your life, or as a treat-yo'self gift for when you could use a little cheering on from a friendly voice.

If you're not familiar with Her Universe, here's a link to their website but their designs are also available at Hot Topic, Torrid, Box Lunch and Think Geek.

Ashley, if you're reading this, thank you so much for Ahsoka, for being so kind to all your fans and for giving fangirls like me a way to show off our love for our favorite  things.