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Day 1, Thursday November 12, 2009
I got to Valerie’s at around 1:30. We had lunch and waited for Melissa. When Melissa arrived, we headed out to the airport. Took our 5:15 flight and arrived in Chicago O’Hare at around 6:45. Got the shuttle to the Wyndham O’Hare hotel, checked in and ordered pizza. Watched the Convention episode of Supernatural which was a RIOT, and then went downstairs to get credentialed and look at the vendor booths. Our Gold Weekend passes meant that we got red wristbands and could come and go as we pleased to our seats in Row I the whole weekend. It was then at check in that we found out that Jake Abel, who played Adam the third Winchester brother in one episode, would not be there and in his place would be Richard Speight JR who plays the Trickster/Gabriel. This news was basically AWESOME because he’s such a good actor, and actually has a recurring role. So we all decided to get photo op tickets with him. There was not much merchandise to look at; two Supernatural booths, one Hot Topic-like booth, and three photo booths - two of which were selling autographs of celebrities, the other photos of the people at the convention. We ended up just going back up to the room and hanging out until it was time for bed.
Day 2, Friday November 13, 2009 (Friday the 13th!)
We got up and went to get breakfast at IHOP. The first celeb panel wasn’t until later, so we took our time. When we got back we watched the actress Alona Tal, who plays Jo Harvelle. She was basically adorable and super funny. Next was the trivia game, and all three of us tried at one time or another, but eventually got stumped. Still, it was a lot of fun. Next, we watched Traci Dinwiddie, who played Pamela Barnes (before she was killed off). She ended up calling her mom during her stage time which was really cute. Apparently when she was little, her mom called her the “little shit”! haha Next was the “Supernatural Movie Pitch” where we got onstage and pitched ideas for a movie. Even though our ideas were more of episode ideas, we still did it, had fun, didn’t win though.We got dinner at Subway, and then went back to watch both Alona and Traci do an onstage photo op (during which Alona gets out her iPhone and shows us its fart app), and to get Traci’s autograph. She was a total sweet heart. We also went to Target, and picked up a USB port so we could save and print out pics of Rob Benedict, who plays Chuck the Prophet, and of the Trickster (at that time they did not have any available at the convention) so we’d have something to get signed. That night they were doing karaoke in the hotel lounge, but we opted out in favor of sleep.
Day 3, Saturday November 14, 2009
Our day started off early with a Starbucks breakfast of coffee and muffins, and then we were off to the first celeb panel of the day, Richard Speight JR. This man was basically MADE for conventions. He was hilarious! He told an awesome story about being accidentally pranked by Misha Collins (Castiel on the show) who changed in Richard’s trailer and left his “pumpkin orange men’s bikini briefs” in the trailer. Richard was quite confused by this, but when he found out, he pinned them up on the production studio’s wall and wrote on them, “These underwear smell like Cas!” It now seems difficult to relay the hilarity of that story via the internet. Richard’s panel was one of my favorites for sure. After Richard, Aldis Hodge was up. He played Jake Talley (the soldier who killed Sammy in Season 2, causing Dean to make the deal and go to Hell…). He was quite entertaining. After that, we got to do our photo ops with Richard, and mine turned out great! Next we watched Jim Beaver’s panel. Jim plays Uncle Bobby on the show. He was just as good as Richard, and so sweet. During his panel, we hear someone on a microphone say, “Well, this is my question. Tell me why you would show up to an important convention like this one in jeans and a t-shirt?” and from behind the curtain pops out Misha Collins, wearing a THREE PIECE SUIT nonetheless! Of course, everyone in the place goes nuts because that’s just funny. Jim replied something about Misha being a pretty boy (or something like that, I can’t really remember), and then went on with his panel. After Jim’s panel, was the costume contest! There were a lot of good costumes, including “A Very Supernatural Christmas”, and Ariel had garland wrapped around her for that, with oil cans and air fresheners and a Rolling Stone mag. It was cute, it matched the episode really well. There was a unicorn, very well made, from the one episode where the quote is, “I’ve heard legends about unicorns, they ride silver moonbeams and shoot rainbows out of their ass.” And that was exactly how it looked. I took 3rd place with my Impala costume, 2nd place was the Monster Movie episode couple. One girl dressed up as Dean in the lederhosen strapped to the table, and the other girl was dressed as the Dracula from that episode. 1st place (who I think shouldn’t have won at all) was a guy dressed up as Dean from the back to school episode, the gym teacher one. The only reason he won was because he was male. There was another person with the SAME costume, she didn’t even make runner up. All in all, it was still good fun. I don’t mind third place at all, I got a coffee mug and $75 gift certificate. :)
After the Costume Contest, Misha went on for his panel. He was funny, but also really sarcastic and very smart. He made jokes about hating Australia (not sure how much he was kidding though…) and of course talked about the orange underwear incident, which brought Richard out to make some fun stage antics. When he finished his panel, Melissa and I went to stand in line for the photo ops with Misha and Jim. Valerie waited in the seats to see if our row got called for autographs before the photo ops (which it didn’t). After the photo ops, we sat around waiting for the autos. Aldis, Misha and Richard were first. I was so excited that my picture with Richard came out well, I complimented him on it. I mentioned that I’m not usually photogenic and he told me that I definitely was. He signed my photo, “Marci! Baby, look look fabulous!” haha it was great. After that, we got Jim’s auto. Valerie had a moment with him, and he kissed her hand. It was so sweet. After that, we went out and got a quick Subway dinner and came back to the hotel to get ready for the desert party.
The desert party was fabulous! Misha, Aldis, Richard, and Traci were all in attendance. We surprised Melissa after midnight (which made it her birthday) by having Misha (and everyone else) sing to her and Valerie put candles on a brownie for her. She was so surprised and embarrassed but it was great nonetheless! After that, around 2am, we headed up to the bar where Aldis, Misha and Richard were hanging out. I bought a round of birthday shots for Melissa, me and Richard and we had a good time just hanging out for a bit (the shots were purple nurples in case you were wondering ;) ). After that, it was definitely time for bed, because we had to be up early for the breakfast with Jensen and Jared the next day!
Day 4, Sunday November 15, 2009
We were up early Sunday morning for the breakfast at 8am. It was great. We were at table 18 so we had a pretty good side view of the stage where Jared and Jensen would be standing. When they finally came out, they talked for about an hour, telling stories and answering questions. There was a really funny one about the actress who plays Ellen Harvelle, and how when her shotgun wasn't firing the blanks like it was supposed to she was waving it around asking what she should do and they were trying to dodge it and stop her from swinging it around. Their impressions were hilarious. After the breakfast we lined up for the photo ops with Jared and Jensen. Jensen solo was first, so Valerie and Melissa got theirs done, during which Valerie got Jensen to tell Melissa happy birthday. :) then she walked into a wall. haha! after that, it was time for the Jared and Jensen duo photo ops, which was what I had been in line for while they were waiting so I ended up going way before them. It was great, they are even more good looking in person, and so tall! I was picturing Jensen to be my height but he's still taller than I am. So after my photo, I went and found Valerie and Melissa and was at a loss for words at the whole experience. Everyone in the line near them was asking me how it was, and i was still speechless. Someone asked me what they smelled like (??what??) so I just said, "MEN." haha. After a minute, it was time for them to go get their photos, so I went to get in the Jared solo photo op line. Things went by pretty fast (or maybe it seemed that way because I was so nervous..) and before i knew it, i was standing next to Jared again. I shook his hand and we took a great picture together. :) Then I did some shopping and spent my gift certificate getting the convention t-shirt, the Castiel t-shirt, and Jim Beaver's book. then it was back up to the hotel room, dropped stuff off, woke up Melissa, and went downstairs for Jared and Jensen's panel. They were great, again! Many stories were told, and questions answered. TONS of pictures were taken, of course. Jared called me out on my snort laugh and I was TOTALLY embarrassed but loved it all the same. Next was the long autograph line, during which I thanked Jared for calling me out on my snort laugh, he smiles and says, "I heard it! I had to!" :) Next was Jensen's line, which was pretty long When we got to the frontish, one of the guard people was telling Jensen to sign faster because his line was so long, and Jensen gave him this look of incredulity as if he wasn't signing fast already (he really was, it was basically "Hello!" *signs* "hello!" *signs* etc..). I felt really bad for him, because they don't want to give off this aura of being jerks that dont want to talk to the fans but if they don't have that option then that is how it comes across. :( Hopefully at the next convention, Creation will take note of this. They're very well organized but not put together very well.
After the excitement of Jared and Jensen, they put Julie McNiven (who plays Anna) up on the stand for her panel, and I legit almost fell asleep. I was already tired, but unfortunately I just didn't find her interesting. Maybe she was just kind of nervous, or unsure of what she could say, but I was definitely bored.
Next after Julie, Rob Benedict (Chuck the Prophet) was up, and he was funny and adorable. He basically IS chuck, and is just as adorable and lovable in person. They did his and Julie's autographs after that, which went really fast. And then the convention was over! All the vendors had packed up, and all the panels, photos, and autographs were over. It was pretty sad, but we had an awesome time so it was totally worth it. After that, we went out to dinner at the Longhorn restaurant down the road, and then to bed. Up early for our flight home, and then it really was over. We were back to our normal lives! :( how sad.
One of my most favorite weekends ever, by far. Again though, unless a convention is smaller (Or not run by Creation Ent.) I probably wont go back. The main stars are the reason we go to these things, and if they keep them away and only give you glimpses for seconds at a time...then its kind of useless. I'm not saying they need to spend hours upon hours with each and every person there, but a teeny bit more time would have been nice. For all intensive purposes, they could have booked a smaller venue, with less people and I think it would have been better for all involved, most especially Jared and Jensen. Or maybe they should have just marketed things more realistically - instead of "Breakfast with Jared and Jensen" it could have been "Free breakfast while you watch Jared and Jensen talk for 45 mins then get rushed out". I know I sound unappreciative, and I dont mean to. It means a lot that the boys acually even came out to one of these, they dont even have to show up. For them to do the things that they did (photo ops, autographs) in those sheer numbers shows their dedication. And that is something I admire more than any TV show.
pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=160212&id=565626473&l=cef297413f
some of my favorites...
the boys and me:
Jim, Misha, and me:
Richard and me:
and my personal favorite...
Jared and me:
