I've got it! A tale of two kidneys! Or, how I spent my Creation Con weekend.

[cityphonelines]

The only thing stopping this from being the best weekend ever was the lack of Michael Rosenbaum jumping out of a cake.

Thursday - I'll skip details as it really only consisted of crazydiamondsue and I drinking and smoking a bit too much, Sue declaring beer jobs and blows to be the remedy for anything that ails ya and us being late getting home to see elcazavampiros, watching SPN 'Red Sky' and being meh about it (Storyline? Kinda weak. Bela? Not working for me as a character. Dean in a tux? Pretty. Sam getting groped by old lady Gert? Awesome.)

Friday - We Gilmore Girl'd a bit and then hopped a plane or two to Chi-Town (I promise to never ever type Chi-Town again), and, take the LONGEST cab ride ever to Schaumburg and check in. We got in line to get registered and stand in front of this guy. Oh, let me tell you about this guy. He strolls up wearing a Megadeth t-shirt, double fistin' Heinekens, rambling on and on about Jared and Jensen. Every couple of sentences of J2 fanboyage he'd stop and turn to the girl he was standing with and say, 'but not in a gay way'. As we wandered through the dealer's room he's still behind us as we checked out the 'merchandise', we come to the table with the 8x10 glossies and from my peripheral I see him point to the promo shot where Jensen's wearing the the gray hoodie/black vest/intense face combo and say "That's the picture I have on my desktop at work." Cue us laughing uncontrollably.

Needless to say 'not in a gay way' became (one of) our (many) catch phrase(s) for the weekend.

We ate at the hotel restaurant and it was fabulous. Good bread (served with chunks of Parm, roasted garlic cloves and kalamata olives. Yum.), appetizer of grilled squid stuffed with sausage, served with roasted beats and matchsticks of green apple. Illinois? Big on the matchsticking of food. It took them forever to serve our entrees so they comp'd our wine (I had a really good red by Folie a Deux Menage a Trois (I think that was it?), because really with a name like that, how could I not?) and I had an entrée of rib eye steak, mashed potatoes and baby spring vegetables, which for being served in November in Illinois were damn good. And apparently you can get a good steak outside of Texas. Who knew?

Saturday – Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, found my way downstairs and had a smoke… ok, all Beatles' lyrics quoting aside that was pretty much how my day started, but also insert me glowering at Sue because her neglecting to wake me up caused me to miss her spilling mocha on her boob in front of Fred Lehne (YED).

Ran up, grabbed a shower, put my face on and coiffed myself and blew out crazydiamondsue's hair. Sue!hair? Bitchin'. She'll tell you more about it I'm sure and because we're prisses and are completely incapable of telling digital time correctly we missed about half of Samantha Ferris' panel, but what we caught was great. That voice of hers, in person, is so sultry. And she is TINYOMG! Totally no nonsense, witty and adorable all at once. More on my fangirliness with her later.

We walked across the street to the Schaumburg mall for food and good lord it is so very, very huge. Three levels complete with escalators, stairs and twisty ramp things. Between you and me, Sue and I do not have the greatest sense of direction. We got lost a lot and as a result missed some of Fred Lehne's panel, but again, what we caught was great. I'm sure you've all seen footage and stuff.

Then there was Nicky. Oh, Nicky, how I heart you so.

So, he comes out and he's wearing his glasses, which swoon and a bitchin' pink tie (um, I realize that sounds kinky and nekkid, but I swear he had other clothes on, too). He was cute and funny and awesome and quippy and witty and NICKY. He also mentioned being on Criminal Minds on the 21st. His character is intro'd at the end of the ep and is slated to have a love interest arch, but what with the WGA strike and all… yeah.

Anyway, I got in the question line and, y'all I swear my heart was POUNDING, I was so nervous. And when I'm nervous my accent thickens a bit, I also learned that fandom as a whole is much shorter than I (I'm just under 5'10" and was wearing three inch heeled boots to boot) when it was my turn I realized the mic was quite far from my mouth. A couple of girls ahead of me had made an effort to lower the mic and here I was with it at boob level and as I attempted to adjust it higher I said, "Huh, I guess I'm fixin' to have the opposite problem here."

Yes, I said "fixin'" to Nick Brendon. Without any irony.

I told him he was rockin' the pink tie (yes, that's verbatim, because I? Am a dork) and I asked him about Blood on the Highway, he made a stoked!face and said he played a 'douche bag vampire' and took off his hat to demonstrate his douche bag hair. Too cute. He also makes mention of me asking about it on his audioblog. *fist pump of geekdom*

We met up with femmenerd and kittyzams who are both so fun. Fangirled a bit and then got in line for autographs with Samantha, Fredric and Nicky.

Ok, here is where I turn into a ginormous geek. Or ginormouser, as is more accurate.

Samantha was first and when she asked what my name was I said 'Vinnie' and spelled it out. She commented that it was unusual and asked what it was short for. 'Vanessa' I replied and she gave me a 'buh??' look and asked how I went from 'Vanessa' to 'Vinnie', told her the truth: That I had no idea, my mom had started it when I was two days old, she didn't know where she pulled it from and it stuck. She said, 'Well, I like it' and smiled big.

Y'all, Samantha Ferris liked my name.

Fred Lehne was next and um, it's possible that when he spoke to me and turned those blueblueblue eyes up at me I froze a bit. I shook his hand and said, "Dear God, you have amazing eyes," because I have no filter between my brain and my mouth. Further examples of this will be documented in the Sunday portion of this report.

Nicky was at the end and when I got there he looked up and made that 'hey, I remember you' face and asked what my name was again, I told him and then said, 'I know it's terribly intrusive and geeky, but can I have a hug?' and he obliged. Nick Brendon? Good hugger. Fairly tight, bit of lingering and goodgoddamn he smelled phenomenal. And apparently when he hugged me his shirt road up and crazydiamondsue got a great flash of Nicky's side. Good times all around.

Drinks were had with femmenerd, kittyzams, ciaan and beckaandzac. Much fangirling. Much. Femme and I shared an awesome geek-out about Roswell (which I never get to do because Sue didn't Roswell) and a certain Human AU fic of the dirty!bad!wrong! persuasion that shall remain unnamed. *cough*Older by Nautibitz*cough*

Ahem. Anyone got a lozenge?

We walked to a bar and barely made it before last call. More fangirly goodness ensued. And when we were walking back the streets were kind of wet and in the shadow my coat made me feel like Angel. Yes, again, my geekosity is showing, but seriously, it's a bitchin' coat.

Sunday - Another morning that consisted of not enough sleep and Sue not waking me up… which means she saw Nicky downstairs without me. I'm telling you, she sucks. That woman is a total failure as an alarm clock.

Got ready. Which would have been easy except there was a thing where my eyelash curler snipped chunks of my eyelashes out. It's not even noticeable but Revlon is getting an angry letter from me.

We, once again, poked ass and realized with fifteen minutes to Jensen hittin' the stage that I was not quite ready and hadn't blown Sue's hair out. I threw on my clothes, grabbed the blow dryer and proceeded to give Sue the fasted blow out in history.

10 minute Sue!hair? Bitchin'.

We made it to our seats with about a minute to spare.

I wanted to ask Jensen and Jared some questions and um, I wasn't the only one. The line was already getting kinda longish and we all know the boys like to ramble, so I begged Sue to go up there and keep me company. She did… for about five minutes, then decided her boot hurt too much to stay standing ten feet from Jensen freaking Ackles. So, she abandoned me. Beauty is pain. Jensen is beauty, your boot was pain and you? Suck.

Ok, so I had a question for Jensen all prepared. Y'all know that part in 'Tall Tales', when the boys come back to their room and Dean grabs two beers out of the 'fridge? He hands one to Sam and then opens his own with his ring. Now, I'm sure guys all over the place do this, but in Texas it is the way to open beer and I wanted to know if it was a Dean trait or a Jensen habit. Cute question, I thought, however a girl about five people ahead of me asked about Dean's jewelry and in the process of answering that Jensen mentions that Dean's ring is a replica of his own ring, the ring that he used to open beer bottles with.

Dammit!

I knew it! And score! for being right, but DAMMIT!

Anyway, shortly after that Jared crashed the stage with his 'Anonymous' question and then the boys switched.

Here's the funny thing. At this point I'm about, oh, third in line, which means I'm right by the door that Jensen walks out of. Seriously, right by it, like, oh three-ish feet from it. As he walked out he looked over at me (you know, not at me but I was in his eye line) and what do I do? Avert my eyes like a huge dork.

Jared starting taking questions and I figured I'd just wait 'til Jensen came back on and ask them both questions at the same time. So I let a few people go ahead of me, which means that when Jensen came back through the door, I'm still right by it and I see him wearing the Sam Winchester t-shirt and crack the fuck up. He hears me, looks over and grins and I… avert my eyes again.

At this point there's only a few people ahead of me, they ask their questions, the boys answer and then it's my turn, I'm about to grab the mic when the announcer announces that Sergeant Major guy will be speaking. I know anyone that cares has already seen the vids. The cool part was being that close and seeing how genuinely moved the boys were.

And then they picked up the Q&A. With me. Damn. How do you follow that up?

I'll tell you how. You acknowledge the awkwardness by saying 'midget mic', you say "congratulations on y'all's coins" (um, remember the whole nervous accent thickening? Yeah.) and then you tell Jensen Ackles that he stomped all over your question by answering it prematurely. Seriously, I'm like defective.

So I said that I'd read in a recent Variety interview that El Paso by Marty Robbins was song that meant a lot to him and since I was a born and raised El Pasoan that hung out at Marty Robbins park growing up if he'd tell us why. He made the cutest little 'nuh-uh, for serious?' face and did the whole leaning forward looking all interested thing and, yeah, um, he's pretty. He answered that it's a favorite of his father and that his father used to sing that song often and that it reminds him of his dad. D'aww! Then, apparently, I invited him to El Paso to golf. Golfing's really big here, but still: *facepalm*.

Next, I made an ass of myself to Jared. I asked him about the difference between the way he speaks Latin as Sam and the way he spoke it in BUaBS as Meg as Sam and how much more fluid it was in BUaBS. Ok, to be honest, I didn't say "spoke Latin", I said, "when you have to Latinate". Yes, 'Latinate'. And then I said it again. He then said that it was because he had to memorize it, to which I replied, "So, you don't memorize other scenes? You just, what? Go out there and wing it?" *facepalm, the sequel* He implied it was a character choice and I said, "Well, that killed my question." *facepalm, the trilogy. On DVD next Tuesday*. But I persevered and asked him if he spoke Spanish. He said he didn't really but could order food and find the bathroom, I asked if he could order a beer and he said, "you mean, a cerveza?" in the cutest voice. And then I said, "Thank y'all for comin'", 'cause I'm a HICK and Jared said "gracias" and Jensen said "gracias senorita" and I floated off on my bitchin' high-heeled boots.

Monday - was lounge'tastic. Sue and I lunched and watched 'Simon Said' with her friend M and then watched a few eps of Weeds (this show is going in my top five of all time. It's so awesome. Plus? JDM) I then went with her to her Spanish class and then we re-relayed our squee'age to Caza, much to his boredom, but he indulged us wonderfully and then further indulged us by listening to us watch Steel Magnolias and by 'watch', I mean have it on while we quote the whole damn thing and then cry like we haven't seen it 50 times before.

Today – Had rockin' cherry pie and then flew home. I miss Sue and Caza and Max and Binkley and Daisy (who actually seems to like me, or my luggage at least).

And then there was Wincest. But not in a gay way.

Comments

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

And apparently when he hugged me his shirt road up and crazydiamondsue got a great flash of Nicky's side. Good times all around. I was going to mention that and I forgot!!

I had also typed up the part about your Angel "swishy coat!" and also...forgot.

I thought your "Congratulations on y'all's coins" was ADORABLE and just think...you were the first person to congratulate them on their coins!

*facepalm, the trilogy. Buy it now in box set* I love you, Vinnie. Vinnie, I love you. More than my luggage. No more old jokes. But not in a gay way.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

Also? Rooooosenbaum. Roooosenberg. Chaaaambord.

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Hee, I just changed the trilogy thing a bit, 'cause re-re-reading your own post and editing? It's a Vinnie thing.

I thought your "Congratulations on y'all's coins" was ADORABLE and just think...you were the first person to congratulate them on their coins!


I totally hadn't thought about it that way. Suddenly, my sarcastic dorkitude looks shiny and new.

*swishy coat!*

FLAMINGOS!

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

spanish!

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Jared Padalecki? Adorable? Yes. Fluent in Mexicoan? Not so much.

[kittyzams.livejournal.com]

Pink ties! Barbecue mishaps! Spanish! Eyelash curlers of doom! Making out with Jensen's girl!

In conclusion: I had such a fun time with you. And not in a gay way.

<3

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Best weekend ever! And not in a gay way.

We shall have to fangirl together again. Yes.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeee! It sounds like it was so much fuuuun!

Also, whyfore people keep saying dork like it's a bad thing? I love dorks, which means, hi :D

[adis723.livejournal.com]

It was so very fun.

Andrea there was a NICKY and he was awesomeness personified. Luff. Luff. Luff.
You were missed and talked about with grand affection.

Ah, because by 'dork' I mean I made a sarcastic ass out of myself.

Some of my best friends are dorks ;)

[ruric.livejournal.com]

"when you have to Latinate". Yes, 'Latinate'. And then I said it again. He then said that it was because he had to memorize it, to which I replied, "So, what you don't memorize other scenes? You just, what? Go out there and wing it?"

Mwah ha ha ha ha - I LOVE it *G* Funny how when you get to the mike all the carefully prepard words go right out of your head isn't it? *G*

[adis723.livejournal.com]

I swear I know how to speak English... except when Jensen and Jared are involved. But it was fun, so it was worth it.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THAT YOU MENTIONED MY MOVIE. (You should have said you were friends with the nail!girl. But not in a gay way. *G*)

I'm so glad y'all had fun! (And seriously? You can get a good steak outside of Texas? Did they drug you, or was it really good? Heee.)

[adis723.livejournal.com]

I wanted to talk to him about it more but I had that rushed, nervousy, I may vomit on my kick ass boots feeling. He was awesome and it was so fun. But not in a gay way.

Dude, it was near bliss. Tender rib eye, awesome sear, perfectly rare... in Illi-freaking-nois! The Menage a Trois wine may have been a factor.

[skybound2]

Hehe! This might be one of the best con reports I've read so far :-) It sounds like everyone had so much fun, and go you for not having a brain to mouth filter! (I suffer from the same ailment myself :-P) This post made me all kinds of happy :-)

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm glad my foot in mouth disease was entertaining. It was great fun and if I had to do it again I totally would, sarcastic dorkiness and all.

[brandil.livejournal.com]

Awesome con report!

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Thank you, glad it amused.

[snarkyrainbow.livejournal.com]

dude. I absolutely loved your questions.
I think I like it more knowing what was behind your asking.

When I met Jensen for the photo op, I went as nervous!hick as I possibly could, and he looked at me like I was suddenly talking out the mouth that sprouted from the top of my head. Yay east Texas! \o/
I'll be renting your facepalm movie. Yes I will.

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I wish I hadn't been such a smart ass, but either way, I had fun.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that caught nervous!hick syndrome!

The *facepalm* Trilogy will be a hit, I'm tellin' ya.

[nicenicegirl.livejournal.com]

ahaha i remember you! loved your questions!!

"cerveza" lmao....i found it hilarious that he knew how to say "beer" in Spanish for some reason.

omg i was so annoyed with that Army guy you've NO idea! because i didn't get my question answered because of him! he just kept TALKING AND TALKING AND TALKING and honestly? they should have done that during the breakfast when fans couldn't ask questions. pissed me right off! i did, however, ask Nick a question. i asked if he knew if Xander was ever going to be a character on Angel.

at least i got to ask Jared a mini-question at the autographs. i asked him "uhm...when are we gonna see a red-head on the show, cuz i've been waiting for 3 seasons now" and then he precedes to say "well.....Ruby's got a red wig...." And i just looked at him and said "Yeah...i'm gonna pretend i didn't hear that" and he laughed at me and quickly said a "sorry...sorry. erm...my sister-in-law is a red head" and he never even answered my question lol.

[adis723.livejournal.com]

And I remember you asking Nicky about potentially being on Angel

When it comes to Spanish the first things you learn are how to cuss and how to get a beer. Y'know, the necessities.

at least i got to ask Jared a mini-question at the autographs. i asked him "uhm...when are we gonna see a red-head on the show, cuz i've been waiting for 3 seasons now" and then he precedes to say "well.....Ruby's got a red wig...." And i just looked at him and said "Yeah...i'm gonna pretend i didn't hear that" and he laughed at me and quickly said a "sorry...sorry. erm...my sister-in-law is a red head" and he never even answered my question lol.

Oh, Jared. Such a dork.

[elcazavampiros.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for mentioning me in your post. Sue didn't even mention that I was around for part of your visit.

Sorry we didn't get to spend much time together. (Max saw you way more than I did).

Loves ya (but not in a gay way)

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

Vin's got your back. But I have your front.

[squishy77.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading this, nice details! *hugs*

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Thanks, glad you enjoy my dorkitude ;)

[prettyfreckles.livejournal.com]

you know, i was NOT going to read any more con reports. i have no idea why i started reading yours.

maybe it was fate. 'cuz yours???? the BEST EVAH. so cool that you were the smart one who asked the question that let jensen do his dad-love thingy AGAIN (after the DeVour one). 'cuz you know his dad is His Idol. The End.

and know what? you are not flaming with geekitude. you are a very, very nice person. it was actually really, really nice of you to look away and give jensen his personal space. from what i hear in other places, he probably needed it.

congrats all over the place 'cuz You WIN AT FANDOM. XD
and for that you get *smishes.*

[adis723.livejournal.com]

He looked so adorable talking about his dad. *pinches Jensen's cheeks*

and know what? you are not flaming with geekitude. you are a very, very nice person. it was actually really, really nice of you to look away and give jensen his personal space. from what i hear in other places, he probably needed it.

Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way. I was ok the first time I looked away, but when he grinned at me and I looked away I felt so LAME.

*pins on fandom badge*

[malevolent73.livejournal.com]

Yours is the only con report I've read from someone who actually got to ask a question (or two) and it ROCKS. I remember your questions from the vids I've seen. Very cool and you didn't sound dorky to me at all. :) Thanks for posting this!

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks. When I heard myself on a vid I cracked up so hard. I sound so nervous and bumbly and a tad bitchy. The boys? Totally screw up my zen.

[goodbyetoyou.livejournal.com]

hahaha, I was sitting in the back and heard you and I sat there thinking "Did that chick just say Latinate IS THAT A WORD?!" and busted out laughing

Fred Lehne was next and um, it's possible that when he spoke to me and turned those blueblueblue eyes up at me I froze a bit. I shook his hand and said, "Dear God, you have amazing eyes," because I have no filter between my brain and my mouth. Further examples of this will be documented in the Sunday portion of this report.
after all the autographs were done i kinda dilly dallied and got a hug from him even though i couldn't get an auto, and i kinda blurted out "OMG, I LOVE YOUR PANTS!" and ran away like a freak laughing because it came out without me even realizing i had opened my mouth! Fred has that effect on fangirls I guess, lol

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Oh, this chick totally said 'Latinate'. And it's a real word, thoughI didn't use it correctly exactly, but I've always said 'Latinate' jokingly since my BtVS/AtS days.

nd i kinda blurted out "OMG, I LOVE YOUR PANTS!"

Hee! That's awesome. Fred Lehne, breaking fangirl filters since '06.

[janglyjewels.livejournal.com]

I'm the chick who asked Jensen about Dean's jewelry. Sorry I messed up your question! Great report and I loved it when you said "latinate."

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Hee! No worries, I actually thought it was cool that he went into that much personal detail about the jewelry. ;)

[ckrazy32.livejournal.com]

I'm just randomly stopping in, but this is so AWESOME. You're so lucky! I wasn't there, but I remember seeing your question on one of the videos and I loved it because it got the most awesome responses from them. And 'latinate' is an awesome word. I think I'm going to start using it. =P Thanks for the review!

[adis723.livejournal.com]

I loved it because it got the most awesome responses from them.

Awww! Thanks for sayin' so. I've only watched mine once, can't stand to hear my own voice, y'know?

I plan to make 'latinate' an everyday word.

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

OMG! You and Sue do the Best. Con. Reports. Evah! Srsly, dude. Loved the questions you asked and "Latinate" has become my new favorite word. Sounds like you guys had a fabulous time and Nicky sounds adorkable. Glasses and a pink tie - yum. But what was his hair like?

*luffs all over you*

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Hee! We were all worried about typing up our con reports since we have no pictures, no vids and are entirely too self-involved in our grooming habits.

His hair was fabulous. At one point (don't remember why but it was before I went up) he took off his cap, flipped his head forward, ran his fingers through it, mentioned something about having gone swimming and then shook it about a bit. Good lord, but it was HOT. And up close it looked all thick and shiny and, yeah, Nicky's got good hair indeed.

*mwah!*

[goonies-nsd.livejournal.com]

You were probably my favorite question-asker. Just so you know, you seemed really relaxed and friendly. And I wanted to talk to you afterwards, but didn't see where you headed.


Hope you don't mind... I friended you. =o]

[adis723.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I felt like a tensed up spaz.

And I wanted to talk to you afterwards, but didn't see where you headed.

Bummer! We could have fangirled together.

The pic of you and Jared? Way too cute for words.

[anelith.livejournal.com]

You and Sue had such a great time! And I love that you had the guts to get up there and ask questions! Wonderful, hilarious questions that they obviously loved and had fun with.

You know, I do the whole "avert the eyes" thing too, with anyone that I find even the slightest bit intimidating -- and by that I mean through sheer physical presence. If the person is handsome/beautiful, or even just *tall*... I think it's one of those primitive reflexes! I wish I could stop it. But it happens too quickly.

[adis723.livejournal.com]

I never thought I'd have the nerve to get up and ask questions, even though I'd been joking about doing so for weeks, but I'm glad I did it. Once in a life time, as they say.

I'm usually a very make eye-contact/smile/head nod/hello kind of gal, but in the presence of Jensen Ackles... um, not so much.

[dromelettes.livejournal.com]

Okay, so you're kinda my new hero!! All your questions from the con are classic! :D And "latinate" just doesn't get used enough, I don't think. You sound like you had a brilliant time! So rotted that I missed it.

Thanks for the "report". XD

[adis723.livejournal.com]

All your questions from the con are classic!

Hee! I'm glad you think so ;)

It was so much fun, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[iloveyoursoul.livejournal.com]

*facepalm, the sequel* He implied it was a character choice and I said, "Well, that killed my question." *facepalm, the trilogy. On DVD next Tuesday*.

That had me LOL-ing so loud in my apartment. Thanks for giving me something to LOL about (even though it's on you) :)

[adis723.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I could provide the laughs, heck I've been laughing at myself for days. My mom's still mocking me.

[gigglingkat]

Hi! I followed... I don't know. I am con report surfing. But anyway - I have you on vid I think...

And yeah - when Jensen gets all leany and interested in your question, you could see like the first three rows on that side just reel back from the Pretty.

You *did* invite him to golf, but you managed not to be squeaky voiced at all.

Anyways - if I have you on vid do you want it? (I may not, I was caught vidding and may only have audio.)

[adis723.livejournal.com]

And yeah - when Jensen gets all leany and interested in your question, you could see like the first three rows on that side just reel back from the Pretty.

Yup, up close the pretteh is intense.

I was so nervous so I'm glad you don't think I was squeaky, 'cause man, I felt like an ass saying it.

If you have vid (or just audio) I'd totally love a copy, that'd be awesome.