Gina's Journal

Hello my friends!!  I've really missed you all!  I'm so sorry for not being online much these days.  It's been kinda crazy in my life recently.  But I did manage a few days off to go to the Chicago con!  It was amazing as always!!  We had such a blast!!  It was so wonderful to see all my old friends and lots of new ones.  If you guys read this, big shout out to Amy and Melissa!!  :-)  It's always so great to see you guys again! 

I know the reports are rolling in from all the various panels.  ALL the guests were just amazing!  The best part is the way they are so relaxed and just love to come hang out at the bars with everyone afterwards!  Even after a full day of photos, Q&A, meet and greets, they still are willing to hang out and have a couple of drinks with us!  The highlight was Steve doing karaoke!!  The boy truly loves to perform!  It was awesome!  I can't say enough about Gabe and Chad!  They are just two of the nicest people to get to know and hang out with!  Richard was a blast too!  

Even though I had crappy seats, I did manage to get a couple of good shots of the boys which I hope to post soon.  It always helps to have that 18X zoom!!  LOL!  I can't wait to share them with you!  I'm still really exhausted and trying to catch up with everything.  I know I haven't posted on anyone's journal for a while.  Again, I'm sorry!  I'm just stressing because my sister is moving out on December 1st and I need to find a roommate before then!  So if anyone knows of someone in NY looking for an apartment to share, please let me know!  I figured I'd put that out there just in case!!  LOL.  I'm also trying to get ready for my big move to LA, early next year.  Lot's of things going on!!  ;-)

I hope EVERYONE is doing well!!  I may not have time to comment, but I have been trying to keep up on your posts!  I miss you all!!

*HUGS*

Hello All,

I feel like I'm always posting to apologize for not being online much.  This time I have a good excuse.  I was in Orlando this past weekend at Eyecon 2.  It was a blast!!  You have to give credit where credit is due and the promoters at Eyecon really do give you amazing celebrity access.  You just get to hang out with everyone all weekend long.  It's amazingly relaxed and just so much fun!  And the best part is, they really all remember you!  That might just be a hint to me that I've been going to way too many of these things!!  LOL! ;-)

I didn't take as many pictures this time around.  Sorry about that.  I have some of Jared and Travis and AJ which I'll try to post by this weekend.  I'm such a Jensen girl and when he's around I shoot thousands of pics, but when he's not, I tend to relax a bit!  :0)

As always, I know you guys have been reading all of the accounts from the con posted online.  I'll just quickly run down my highlights:

I finally got a Steve hug!!  YAY!!  And it was sooo nice!  It was after his concert, which totally rocked by the way, and I just went to tell him how awesome I thought it was and I just got such a big hug and thank you!!  Both Steve and Jason absolutely rocked!!  And when they both sang together at Steve's show, it was just pure heaven!!! 

I also got to hang out with Steve, Jason and Jason's absolutely lovely wife at the bar one night!  That was a lot of fun.  I have to say, I spent the most time chatting with Jason's wife who is absolutely lovely.  Just so incredibly nice, really intelligent and absolutely beautiful!  We chatted about my possible move to LA next year and she was very insightful.  Jason is a very lucky man.  Speaking of Jason, he looked amazing!!  And he's just huge in person!!  I love tall men!!  ;-)  He really does just have the most amazing voice and is just one of the nicest people! 


Next, is Chad.  I absolutely love him!  I know I'm just going to keep saying this about all of them, but they are all just the nicest people you can meet!  Chad definitely remembered me from previous cons.  I've gotten to have some really great conversations with him in the past!  Anyway, as I was walking into the Friday night screening of My Big Break, which was the first big event of the con, I heard someone yelling, "Gina, Gina."  When I turned around to see who it was, it was Chad just calling over to say hello!!  I ran over to him and got the biggest hug and greeting!  He was so excited to be showing his movie.  I'll have more on that later, because trust me it deserves it's own very own post.  All I have to say is AWESOME!!!  I also got to sit at Chad's table for the Platinum dinner.  That was loads of fun.  And Chad told us some great news, he starts a new project on October 7th!  I'm just so happy for him and can't wait to see him on screen again!   

Travis and AJ are just too funny for words!  I got to talk to Travis a couple of times and man can he tell a story!!  Special sound effects and everything.  Their Q&A had us all hysterical.

Nikki was just so wonderful.  Really, really nice and down to earth.  And so, so tiny!!  I'm sure you all heard the Jensen story she told about him not wanting to even pretend to smack her in Devil's Trap. 

Being a Jensen girl, there were a couple of really cute Jensen stories.  Even though he wasn't there, his presence was still felt.  We found out from Steve how they came to be roomates, all because of a flood at Steve's apartment.  Steve also told us that Jensen's dad taught him to harmonize for Church when he was a kid.  Now I know there have been lots of rumors lately about Jensen and Danneel, but Steve also mentioned he just saw them a couple of weekends ago when they were all watching football together and apparently someone asked Jared about Danneel coming to the house that he and Jensen share.  I believe there was a mention about them all barbecuing.  So, it does look like they are still together.  Of course you can take all that for what it's worth.  Me, I love gossip as much as the next, but as you can see I try not to comment about it too much.  At least not publicly because you can get into a lot of trouble that way!  LOL.  ;-)  I know I have people that read this that are on one side of the D fence or the other.  Hope that helps clear things up for some of you!  :-)

I got to meet so many people that I've only talked to or seen on LJ!  That really was a highlight for me.  Hello Amy !!!  :-)  I also met a really wonderful women, Sue, from Vancouver who gave us such great tips for our trip there next year!  I loved meeting everyone and just talking about our boys the whole weekend!!

Jared - what can you say about that wonderful man!  He loves his fans!!  He was surviving on no sleep, but he was truly his funny, outrageous, totally down to earth, humble self!!  His Q&A just rocked.  I have never laughed so hard as when he told the prank story with him and Jensen and the black makeup on the binoculars!!  He even remembered me when I went up for my photo op.  He told me it was great to see me again and when I thanked him as I was leaving he said, "thank you, babe!"  Man, I almost died!!  :-)

Jim - he was just surrounded by women all weekend!  And by the looks of it totally enjoyed himself!!  LOL.  He truly is such an awesome person.  I really didn't get much of a chance to speak to him all weekend except a quick hello here and there.  Well, at the end of the con, we went to say good-bye to him and he totally remembered my name from the last con.  I couldn't believe it.  My friend was trying to test him and in his special Jim way, went "of course I remember your names, Kris and Gina!"  I really couldn't believe it, but it made me so very happy!!  :0)

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.  I really, really want to tell you all about My Big Break!  I'll post about that next and try to have my pics up as soon as possible.

I hope everyone is doing okay!  I've missed you all!! 

One more thing because I haven't been able to comment on this yet, but I just have to say, so far this season is rocking!!  I cannot wait to see where Kripke, Jensen, Jared and Jim are taking us this year!! 

Lov

Hello, everyone. I have it on 'good' authority that the below production/distribution company has viewed Ten Inch Hero. And that some of the upper management doesn't realize the value of it. We need to convince them.

 Hello All,

I wanted to come on and apologize because I've haven't been around a lot lately and I've fallen way behind in visiting all your journals and commenting!  I miss all my friends!!  

I know I don't post here a lot unless something major goes on.  I just don't think I'm very good with small talk and my life isn't really that exciting so I'm always afraid of boring everyone!  LOL.  I think I've been missing the point of this whole LJ thing!  Anyway, I wanted to catch up with you all and see how everyone's summer is going so far!

Let's see.  What I've been up to:

1) got my first tattoo a month or two ago.  I've wanted one for years now but was always too afraid to get one.  I had some wonderful friends (who I met at the first Eyecon convention) visiting me and we just went down to Greenwich Village and got it done.  They were my moral support and there to block the door in case I decided to run!  ;-)  I'll take a picture and show it to you all.  It's a sun with a small moon inside of it and three stars.  The stars are for my mom, dad and grandmother who have all passed away.  It's on my ankle.  I'm very proud of it!  In case they ever see this, thank you Kris and Janine for being there with me!!

2) I've been continuing with all my travels, as you've read about some of it here.  It all started last year with my visit to Dallas to see Jensen in the play and I haven't stopped since!  I would also like to thank my doctor that prescribed the valium that got my back on planes again!!  :-)  Just recently got back from a trip to Birmingham, AL to visit my nephew and his wife.  Chris just got back from Iraq a few months ago.  He flies a C31 for the Airforce Reserves.  I'm very proud of him!  I have always loved the South!  Had a great visit!   My nephew married himself a wonderful southern girl.  And as she told me, and as long as I didn't talk politics or gun control, I was good!!  I'm actually thinking of moving either to Birmingham or Nashville one of these days. 

3) I have continued to make wonderful friends thanks to our favorite show and fandom!  I cannot tell you how much that has all meant to me!  I went from being an extremely shy person to someone who has managed to lose 40 pounds and become a lot more outgoing.  I have met some of the most amazing people from all over the country and the world.  Thanks to Supernatural and Jensen and Jared, we all have this wonderful bond!  

4) Finally got my Myspace page up and running (thanks to my wonderful and incredibly talented friend, Keren!) so anyone that wants to friend me, please do!!  I've actually got some of the more personal pics from Dallas up there with all the girls hanging out and such!  I'm still getting the hang of that as well so bare with me.  

Other than that, I've just been working to support my Supernatural habits!  It's a very expensive addiction!!  LOL!  

For those of you going to Orlando, Chicago or LA next year, I will see you there!!  For anyone lucky enough to be heading to Comic Con this month have a great time and please bring back lots of pictures and video!!    ;-)

And last but not least for anyone planning a trip to NY, don't forget to look me up!!  

g 
 

Hello All,

I know I haven't been around for a while.  Been working my twelve jobs to pay for all these cons I've been attending! ;-)

Just got back from my latest adventure in Dallas.  I know you've all been reading the reports coming out.  I won't repeat the panels but just give my usual personal experiences.  I'm still trying to catch up with everyone, but I promise to get caught up over the  weekend and post a little more in detail about the trip and put some of my pics up.  I do have to say, it was a blast!!  We had such a good time.  Each con just seems to get better and better.  I've met such wonderful new people, as well as seeing a lot of old friends!  I was also able to hang out with some of the guests again.  It's funny because they really do remember you and as Jim and Chad were leaving they each turned to us and very expectantly said, "See you in Florida?"  And we just replied, "of course you will!"  Which in turn got us the biggest smiles!  And in Chad's case a huge hug too!  :-)

This was a pretty small affair and we were all stuck at the hotel because it cost you about a $100 to take a cab anywhere out of the hotel!  Of course this turned out to be a good thing because there was just one bar and EVERYONE went there to hang out!  ;-)

I even liked my photo ops this time.  I actually may post them since this is one of the first times I'm not embarrassed to show you!  I've recently lost some weight so it probably has a little to do with that and the fact that Chris is just the most awesome photographer and one of the nicest people to boot!  We had so much fun taking the pictures, posing all sorts of ways!  Everyone at Creation was awesome!

I'm not going to harp too much on the whole Jared/Sandy situation except to say that Jared is so amazing.  With everything that is going on in his personal life, in the middle of filming a movie, and then driving I don't know how many hours to get there, he was maybe a little more tired and subdued then we are used to, but he showed up, put on his game face and made sure that not one person was disappointed for having been there that weekend!!  I can't imagine what it was like to have to stand up in front of a room full of people to make that announcement!  He was incredibly nervous and humble (and a little sweaty!).  I just wish him the best of luck with EVERYTHING in his life!  He has touched all of us in ways I don't think he can even imagine. 

One of the most amazing highlights for me was getting to meet the whole Ackles clan!!  We were fortunate enough to meet them while they were there visiting Jared.  I just have to say that ALL the men in that family have the most beautiful long eyelashes and full lips, right down to Jensen's nephew!  He was the most adorable thing and he waved good-bye to us!!  Mama and Poppa Ackles were just as nice and sweet as everyone has always said!  My friend Keren gave them a disk of a video she made of Jensen.  Keren is incredibly talented and Jensen's mom was just so appreciative!!  She said she loved getting stuff like that!  And we also got a few minutes to talk to Josh's wife who again could not have been any sweeter and Jensen's sister who we were joking with about being the only girl in the family!  When we were talking to them they were by the vendors table looking at all the photos that Creation was selling of Jensen and Jared.  I thought that was so cute!

I can't end this post without gushing a little over Gabe!  You can just sit and listen to that man tell stories all night long.  He has the BEST facial expressions ever!!  And he has to be one of the nicest, down-to-earth, funniest people!  Along with Chad and Jim!

Okay, this was supposed to be a short post, but I don't think I'm really capable of those!  LOL.

Just to end this - I know this might sound stupid because I don't think I've said anything too personal but I would appreciate if the stories could stay here.  I don't mind at all if people come to visit but I know sometimes quotes get posted on message boards and things have a tendency to get out of control. 

Hope everyone is well!!  I've missed you all!

Love,

g

I'm finally able to post my LA Con pictures!!  I was having some computer issues this week and there are over 300 pics in this batch!  We had two cameras going the whole time.  I had one and so did my niece.  There are a couple of things that you are going to notice:

1) There will be a difference in the quality of some of the pics.  One camera was a little better than the other.
2) I'm not very good at centering a picture
3) It's everyone mixed in.  I just created one folder for all the pics.
and
4) Both my niece and I are Jensen girls!! 

I really hope you enjoy these!  Sorry it took so long to get them posted. 

If you want to take any or use for arts, please just let me know and make sure to credit.

Thank you!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginatras/

PS - I'll be working on Eyecon next! 

I just had two of the best weekends ever!  First LA and then Eyecon.  I have to confess that when I first arrived in Orlando I was exhausted and kinda crashing after my awesome time in LA.  I just kept saying that this con wasn't going to be able to compare and I spent all this money to be here, etc.  I guess I was just getting a little cranky!  ;-)  Well, let me tell you that I could not have been more wrong!!  Creation runs great cons and I always have a wonderful time as you can see by my signing up for almost every one of them.  Eyecon was just a totally different experience.  It was smaller, more intimate and allowed you more time with the guests.  You actually got to hang out, have a real conversation with them, share a drink with them.  It was a wonderful experience!! 

I know all the panels have been covered in depth in other people's journals.  I'll just give you an overview of my experiences. 

First, I got to meet up with Melissa, Kim and Laura!!  I got to briefly meet them in Chicago last year and have kept in touch with Melissa via LJ but it was such a blast finally getting to hang out with them.  We all got to sit next to each other at the panels, the dinner, and the cocktail party!  It was so much fun!!  Thank you ladies!!!  :0)  I also want to say hello to Kris and Janine!!  It was such a great pleasure meeting and hanging out with you both over the weekend!!  I had such a blast!!  Those are my new roommates for Dallas!!!  :-) 

I have to mention here that I am a fairly shy person.  I was always the one in the back of the classroom or just standing in the corner of the room, never really going up to people to talk, etc.  In these last two years of being part of this wonderful fandom I have "come out of my shell" a bit as they say.  I have made such wonderful friends all over the world!  You have all been so welcoming and extraordinarily nice!!  This has been such a wonderful growing experience for me!  Thank you all so much!!

In Orlando I had trouble recognizing myself as the girl that would just go up and start randomly talking to people including Chad, Samantha, Jim, and Gabriel!!  They were also all so extremely warm and welcoming!  You couldn't ask for a better group of people at a con!!

On to the fun:

Gabriel - just so funny!  I will never forget his face when he walked out from behind the curtain when they introduced everyone the first night of the con.  His mouth just dropped open and his eyes went so wide when he saw everyone in the audience!  His look of awed surprise was just priceless!  This was his first con and you could tell he was nervous.  He actually brought a college friend of his with him, Matt.   Matt was very nice and very funny, and from the east coast, YAY!    I think after the first night at the cocktail party Gabriel really relaxed.  It's so funny because the first words out of everyone's mouth when they first met Gabe was how much they loved Andy and they couldn't believe they killed him off.  I loved the way every time anyone said it, he looked at you with this incredulous expression and said "I KNOW!" 

I am not really an autograph person for some reason.  I buy them to spend a couple of extra minutes with the stars, but there are a couple of signatures that I got here that I will treasure forever.  Gab signed a picture for me that said, Great meeting you at the con!  Lots of Andy Love!!  These weren't just hurried signatures.  They personalized them and you felt that they really meant what they wrote! 

Jim - so humble and nice!  He just could not get over the fact that people actually came out and traveled to FL to come see him!  He seemed really curious about the fans and just generally interested in our love for the show.  I will say the last night we were there, they threw an after-party.  Now this was pretty much the end, and none of the guests were really obligated to attend.  Well, when I left that party, Jim was still there just talking to everyone.  I think that night he was the last man standing!  LOL.

Steve - awesome.  I didn't really get a chance to talk to Steve over the weekend and I'm kicking myself for missing a great opportunity!  His concert was totally amazing as always!!  I know that he was also at the after-party playing video games with people.  A real sweetheart as always.

Chad - can't say enough nice things about him!  You know when you come away from someplace or somewhere where you feel you have had a "moment" with someone.  A really great conversation that wasn't forced or uncomfortable in any way.  I really hope I'm explaining that right.  Anyway, I had that experience with both Chad and Samantha.  Not in any fangirl, stalkerish way, but just a lovely conversation where you actually felt you were just hanging out with a friend and shooting the shit.  I got to talk to Chad several times over the weekend and got several hugs, which I will never forget!  :-)  He actually made sure he came over to say good-bye and give us a big hug before he left on Sunday night!  His is another autograph that I will keep with me.  He signed "Great talking to you last night, Love Chad."  Again, just because I felt he meant what he signed. 

For those of you that don't know he has a documentary coming out hopefully this year called My Big Break.  Go check out their myspace page, http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=265238192.  

It sounds like an amazing film.  I can't wait to see it!!  I'm really looking forward to following his career in the future!!

Samantha - awesome, awesome women!!  I just love Samantha.  She is smart, funny, not afraid to say what's on her mind, just an all around, incredibly friendly, down to earth person!  My experience with Sam is a bit more personal, something that I will treasure forever.  While she deserves a huge write up, all I can say is that I cannot wait to see her at whatever con she signs up for next.  She totally was just hanging out and having fun with everyone!  The autograph she signed to me is actually going in a frame at home. 

Sandy - the sweetest thing ever!  There is not a bad thing you can say about this women.  She is just so incredibly sweet and nice, and the love and respect she has for Jared (and him for her) just shines through!!  I only hope to have that kind of relationship someday.  When Jared was signing autographs Sandy was sitting on the floor looking through all the goody-bags that people brought for him.  She was totally dressed down in jeans, a tee-shirt, and a baseball hat.  Of course she looked totally gorgeous and adorable!  She was just going through all the bags and getting so excited about everything that was in them.  I saw her take a stuffed animal out and I guess it must have played music because she had it to her ear trying to make it play and really listening to it, bobbing her head a bit.  It was so funny!

Jared - what can you say about the big guy.  He is one of the nicest, friendliest, funny people ever!  He had us laughing throughout his panel!  When I went up for my picture, I was used to the rush, rush of Creation photo ops, so I ran up, posed and went to go run off again.  Well, not with Jared.  He actually started to chat with me.  He asked me how I was, I told him I just saw him in LA and he remembered me, started telling me about how busy he's been and I told him congratulations on everything again, the movie, the engagement, he thanked me and then again asked how I was doing!!  He truly cares about the fans and really seems to enjoy meeting us and doing all these conventions.  And that says a lot for a busy, Hollywood actor!! 

Okay, I know I don't post a lot but when I do they are really long and rambling!!  LOL

I will treasure these last two weekends, not only for all the wonderful experiences but for all the people I got to meet and hang out with! 

This weekend I'm totally resting and catching up with LJ friends and everything I've missed.  I'll also be working on all my pics from the cons.  I hope to have everything up by the end of Sunday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! 

g

Just a quick note because I'm rushing off to catch a plane this morning for Orlando.  First, please, please let it be warm and sunny!!! ;)

Unfortunately, I won't have access to a computer while I'm gone so I won't be able to respond to any comments till I get back.  But I promise to answer every one as soon as I land and get back to my computer.

Love you all!!

*Hugs*

I know it's been a while since I've posted but there's not much excitement in my life to really write about, except of course for last week.  I was out in LA for some sightseeing, meeting some of my westcoast LJ friends and of course, the Supernatural Creation con!

First let me say the whole trip was excellent!!  I had such a great time!  I finally got to meet up with Heather and Brenda!  Hi Ladies!!  It was so much fun hanging out with you guys at the Steve show on Thursday night!  I was also lucky enough to get to hang out with Heather for a lot of the weekend.  We had a blast!!  You are the best!!  And by the way, I LOVE the gray tee-shirt!!!  :-)

I also want to say hello to all the wonderful Supernatural fans that I got to meet!!  I had this discussion with one of my newest friends, Shelly.  We were saying how it's not just about the convention and meeting the boys but just a whole social event!  We were all there to meet new people and talk about our favorite subject!! :-)

Anyway, on to the trip.  I'm still recovering but I'll give you a brief report.  I took lots of pictures which I promise to post really soon.  I need to clean them up a bit and that takes some time.  I do have to confess that I went out and bought a new camera with a nice lens and as I briefly looked at the pics there were some very nice close ups of Jensen and Jared (especially Jensen, being a Dean girl myself)!

We arrived on Wednesday night.  "We" being my wonderful friend Jennifer, who I met at the Chicago con, and later my niece, Jessica joined us.  Jess is also a very big Supernatural and Jensen fan!  Good taste runs in the family!!  LOL.  We both go home every Thursday night to watch the show and text each other the whole hour (only during commercials, of course)!

We stayed at the Grafton hotel on Sunset Blvd for the first couple of days.  Actually got to hang out and drink with someone who claimed he was an extra on the Sopranos!  Thursday we went to Rodeo Drive to do some sightseeing and ran into James Spader and Jerry Springer! 

Thursday was the big night!  One that I was really looking forward to for such a long time.  I was going to see Steve perform in front of his "home" crowd.  And let me tell you, HE ROCKED!!!  The show was just so awesome and what made the night so much more special was getting to meet all my fellow Steve/Jason/Riley/Christian ladies!!  We talked, laughed, danced and thanks to Heather were introduced to Steve (total sweetheart) and Riley (also amazingly sweet - I'm definitely jumping on that fan bandwagon!).

Friday we did a little more sightseeing in Santa Monica and Venice Beach.  It was a very relaxing day gearing up to the Jason Manns concert that night.  Another awesome concert by Jason!!  I had the pleasure of hearing him play live in Dallas.  He has the most amazing voice and just writes such great songs!!  He put on an incredible show!!  I think he was a little surprised we were all sitting there really listening to him sing and play.  He seemed a bit concerned that we were all a little quiet, but I was bobbing my head, dancing in my seat and singing along as loudly as I could.  The poor people sitting next to me could probably attest to that!  ;)  Unfortunately, it's not really set up for people to get up and dance around.  That is until Saturday night when Steve performed again with his band and made everyone get up and dance.  I know you are going to get tired of me saying this, but again it was an awesome, incredible show!!!  Steve and the band were great, really into it and you could tell they were having a great time too! 

I can gush about Steve, his band, and Jason all night long!!  As I'm sure some of you can tell.  Now on to the rest of the convention.  This will be short and sweet because I know there have been lots of posts recapping all the panels.

Fredrick and Chad were just total sweethearts.  You could tell Chad was a little nervous but he did a great job.  I think Fred is getting used to these conventions.  They were both super nice at the dessert party!  Kripke's panel was everything I thought it would be.  He is a really great speaker who is not afraid to answer any questions that the fans throw out.  His love and passion for this show comes shining through!  I LOVE Kripke!!  

And then came Sunday!!!  Wow.  I don't really have the words to describe it!!  It was just an amazing day starting with Jensen and Jared at breakfast.  Again, they were totally down to earth, funny, and gracious.  You just have to love the way they are so comfortable, and love to tease the shit out of each other!  :-)  I have to say, I'm not 13 anymore but when Jensen walked into that room and I first saw him, he just looked so amazingly good, I felt like a little fan girl.  I had to catch my breath and then let it out in a little sigh!

After breakfast were the photo shoots.  First came Jensen.  Again, he was just so relaxed, charming and friendly!  When we first entered the room he was bobbing his head and dancing a bit in his chair to the music they had playing!!  It was so adorable to watch!  This was the first convention for my niece, Jessica, so I decided to let her go first so I could enjoy her reactions to everything going on.  She was incredibly nervous but she did manage to talk to Jensen a few times and even got a huge hug!!  She is rather tall and when she first went up to him for the photo she asked if she could take off her shoes because of course she also wore high heels.  She thought Jensen would be standing and even remarked to him.  She was actually leaning on him while she took the shoe off and they had a couple of comments back and forth about how he should be standing and not sitting.   The next time we went up for the double photo shoot he remembered her when she walked up to him and said "seeing now I'm standing!"  As we were going up to both Jensen and Jared, she shook Jared's hand and apologized and told him she was very nervous.  I think her hands were sweating and she was trying to explain that to him.  He laughed and said that she shouldn't be nervous of them at all!   He was incredibly sweet too!  Just trying to make us feel comfortable.  As we were leaving for the next round of photos, I turned around and saw Jess in a bear hug with Jensen.  She got up the nerve to ask him for the hug.  Apparently as she was walking away, she went up to him and said she forgot to get a hug the last time she saw him, and this is where I melted because he told her it was his loss!!  She has now started calling herself Mrs. Ackles because they have "connected"!  LOL.  Oh and she also said he smells incredibly good, like minty toothpaste!!  Take that for what it's worth.  LOL.

Last photo was with Jared.  Again, we both went up together and of course as soon as we walked up to him, he laughed and very excitedly said "oh good, another sandwich!!"  I have to say this is one of my favorite pictures because he has this amazingly sexy look on his face like, look at me I have two women on either side of me!!  The picture with all four of us, I can't even explain how happy both Jess and I look!!! 

The boys' panels were excellent!  They made us and each other laugh several times!  I have a small Jensen autograph story and then I promise to wrap this incredibly long post up!  When we went up for our autographs I handed Jensen my picture for him to sign.  He had his head down, signed it, and still with his head down slide it back to me.  I was just about to say thank you when he looks up at me with those incredible green eyes, looks back at the picture for a few seconds, and then just says, "that's a really cool picture"  I looked at him and said, "yeah, I know it's one of my favorite pictures of you guys!"  It was the picture of Sam, Papa Winchester and Dean where the boys were a bit bloody.  I got so excited and so happy that he liked the picture I picked!  When I gave it to Jared to sign he also remarked how now all I need is JDM's signature.  I think he kinda liked it too!

As it turns out, this was anything but short, sweet and brief!!  I'm sorry, I was kind of all over the place with this one.  But my excuse is that it's really late right now and I'm supposed to be getting up early to catch a plane to Orlando for Eyecon tomorrow morning. 

I'll have another report for you guys when I get back.  I cannot wait because I finally get to see Ten Inch Hero!  And I also get to see Jared and Samantha again!!  I thought she was just the coolest woman ever when I met her in Chicago.

So, off to bed now.  More reports next week and LOTS of pictures.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.  Hopefully you made it to the end!  :-)

I'm back from the Chicago con and I've finally got all of my pictures downloaded!  First, it was a really GREAT weekend!!  I got to meet so many wonderful people in Chicago.  I especially had a blast hanging out with Jennifer and Liz!  A special hello to Jasmine.  I'm so glad I finally got to meet you!  For everybody else that was there and all those people that I got to chat with, I was the one in the boot cast walking around with the sparkley cane. 

I've been reading so many wonderful fan reports, I won't repeat what's already been covered.  I do want to say that I absolutely love Samantha Ferris!  There didn't seem to be a question she wouldn't answer and she was just the funniest, friendliest, most down to earth person!  Not to mention really beautiful.  She also has an incredibly hot boyfriend who I had the pleasure of seeing walking around the hotel lobby once or twice.  When she came to sit down at our table for the dessert party, it was just like an old girlfriend sitting down to chat over drinks!  Unfortunately, it was the fastest two minutes and then she was off to the next table.  Of course, she did mention that she had her boyfriend waiting for her upstairs, naked, I believe, so I would have been getting through those tables pretty quick myself!  ;-)

Jensen and Jared, what can I say!  They did not disappoint!!  They were both extremely charming and funny.  You can tell they have this amazing friendship and they seem to take a lot of energy from one another.  It was a really early morning start on Sunday, but once they got going they certainly kept us entertained!  I just want to throw in my two cents and say that the military presentation was extremely moving.  Just watching the looks on the boys faces and how touched and humbled they both were!  That is something I will never forget!

The photo and autograph sessions moved very quickly!  It seemed like a blur!  First up was the photo op with Jensen.  He was exactly like most people describe.  Incredibly, amazingly good looking in person (beautiful green eyes and really beautiful skin) and a bit shy and reserved.  I know some people were a bit disappointed with him, but Jensen is just Jensen.  He's not Dean, nor will he ever be just like Jared.  They are just two regular guys with different personalities.  I was talking to someone after the panels and she said it best.  They are very different but they seem to complete each other.  Like to halves to a whole. 

Sorry, went off on a bit of a tangent there!

Back to the Jensen photo op.  I was so nervous, but I do remember after the picture and the autograph, I thanked him and both times he looked up at me with those amazing eyes and in a quiet voice, with a slight smile, very sincerely said "your welcome, thank you!"  I am a Jensen girl (if you couldn't tell by the little rant above) and let me tell you, it was a very amazing experience!

Next up was Jared, and again he was exactly like most people describe him.  Extremely warm and very friendly!  When I went up for my picture he noticed the boot cast on my leg and right away asked me what happened.  When I told him I broke my foot, he told me he was sorry and kept telling me to get better.  He actually kept telling me to heal, that I needed to heal!  Those were his exact words. He truly is a very caring person.  You can just hear the sincerity in his voice!

After the photo ops, it was autograph time.  They had Jared and Jensen at the same table signing.  As I'm sure you all read, Sandy and Danneel were also there.  Let me tell  you, they are both very beautiful in person.  They were just hanging out with each other and chatting.  I did notice Danneel is back to the red hair.  Anyway, when we went up for an autograph, my friend Jennifer was behind me and she had bought more than one autograph ticket.  When she went to pull out the second ticket for Jared, she pulled out the one for Jensen instead.  Of course Jared being Jared, he started to go off how he didn't want Jensen's ticket, it was a stinky ticket, just going on and on!  Well, Jensen is just down the table and all of a sudden in this very deadpan voice, you hear Jensen say, "Jared, I'm sitting right here!"  It was very funny!! 

All in all, I have to say it was one of the best weekends!!  I've attached a link to my Flickr account so you can see the pictures of the boys that I took.  I tried to fix them up the best I could.  Some came out a bit grainy.  I hope you like them! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginatras/

This is turning into a lot longer entry than I thought so I'll post the pics of Steve Carlson and Samantha in my next post.  I didn't get to gush about Steve's concert or his panel yet!  LOL.

Well, it's official.  I'm home for the next four weeks in a boot cast and on crutches.  I fractured my ankle and badly sprained my foot so no work for now.  I've always wanted a summer off but not one stuck in my apartment with just the TV, computer and my cat to keep me company.  This just proves the saying "be careful what you wish for".

To keep myself occupied, I went on an ordering spree.  I've purchased the Supernatural comic books( one through four),  the Nevermore novel, and for the hell of it I threw in the Supernatural calendar.  The comic books and calendar came in the other day.  I'm still waiting for the novel.  I can't wait to read it.  The calendar is really nice!  I wasn't going to get it but I caved and I'm glad I did.  I felt a little old to be ordering a Supernatural calendar but you really need to know what date it is! :)  I'll just replace my FDNY calendar from this year!

I've also started watching Season One of Supernatural over again along with my favorite episodes of season two.  I'm sorry but the line from Everybody Loves a Clown will NEVER not be funny, "at least I'm not afraid of flying.  Planes crash!  Well, apparently clowns kill"  Just the way Jared delivers that line!!  That really does go down as my all time favorite in a long line of great one-liners!  LOL.  I own several great TV shows on DVD, but Supernatural is the only one I can watch over and over again! 

I'm not sure if anyone has ever noticed this, but I was watching Wendigo the other night and I saw the cutest thing.  In the scene where Sam and Dean go to talk to the old guy that was the only living survivor of a "grizzly" attack, Sam is questioning the man and behind him I guess Jensen's nose started running because you see him start wiping at his nose really quick.  And it did sound like he had a cold.  I've never noticed it before!  And it didn't seem like a Dean moment, more of a Jensen thing.  I don't think I've ever found anyone wiping away snot that adorable!  LOL.  It's very quick and if you blink you miss it, but I thought I would point is out.  I watched it about four times.  Thank god for the rewind button!  :) 

Most importantly, I've made my hotel reservations for the Chicago Supernatural Convention.  I'm also seriously considering making the reservations for Burbank too.  I haven't pulled that trigger yet though.  Is there anyone out there going to either Chicago or Burbank or both?  The airfare and hotel are really cheap for both trips.  I think the most expensive part will be the convention tickets.  I've never been to any of these get-togethers before.  This year was my first time at Comic Con, but I had a great time! 

In some other news, I read on Charlies-Dragon LJ that Christian Kane has a movie in post production called Death Walks the Streets and Jason Manns has a part in it!  You can read all about it on IMDB.  I can't wait for that to come out.  Two of my favorite men in one movie!!  :)  Also read from the girls on the west coast that Steve Carlson put on a GREAT show on Tuesday night in LA.  I know NY is an awesome city, but there are times, I really wished I lived on the west coast! :)

Since I'm stuck home, if anyone has any fic recommendations, I would love to hear them.  Right now my favorite is a het fic called The Thing that Should Be by Fergus80.  I highly recommend it.  It's a Dean/Carmen fic and it's great!  She's a really talented writer!! 

Well for someone who has nothing going on, I've rambled quite a bit.  Till next time.  Take Care!!  :0)

First, I just wanted to thank everyone for their warm and welcoming responses to my first post.  I think the pictures helped a bit.  LOL!!  I'm really glad you all liked them.  :)

Right after I got back from San Diego, I found out that Steve Carlson was playing at the Bitter End here in New York.  I cannot tell you how excited I was.  I'm a huge fan!  I was actually saving vacation days in case he (or Kane or Jason Manns) decided to play anywhere on the east coast.  I first found out about Steve through the whole Jensen connection.  But from the minute I heard him sing, I was hooked!  He writes such great songs and has such an amazing voice!  To hear him live was absolutely awesome!  The only complaint I had was that his set was way too short.  He only had about an hour.  That was one of the things he even said.  He didn't want to talk too much so he could get in as many songs as possible.  And he belted them out.  One great song right after the other.

After the show he hung around a bit talking to everyone.  Not only is he incredibly talented and gorgeous, but really, really nice as well.  The best part is he said he was coming back to NY soon for another show.  I can't wait!!

I also got to meet some really great women who all had such good taste in music! ;)  I wanted to give a shout out to the two wonderful sisters we got to meet after the show and the great lady from the Hamptons we got to sit with.  If you do stumble across this post, it was great to meet you.  I'll see you at the next show.  :)

Anyway, I did manage to take a couple of pictures as well.  So, for all you Steve fans out there, here they are.  And if you haven't heard him play, he is on Itunes and has his own MySpace page.  Jason Manns and Kane also have their own MySpace pages.  They are terrific as well.  Check em out! 




Again, if anyone wants to use the pics, just let me know.  Thanks!!

This is my first post to my journal. I'm really new at this so if anyone does read this please bare with me.

My first trip to California! I was going to Comic Con in San Diego and I was really excited. I should back up slightly and say that this is supposed to be my "year of adventure".  I've decided my life needs a little excitement. So, I read that Jensen, Jared and Eric were going to be at Comic Con. I've never been to San Diego, or California for that matter, so I figured what the heck. I had never been to Dallas, but I went to see Jensen in A Few Good Men (plus the added bonus of seeing Jason Manns perform). Of course it was fantastic and I had a great time! This is all keeping with the year of adventure theme and booking fun trips, not just the 'let's go to an all-inclusive and sit on the beach' theme which can be fun too! So, the morning I'm ready to leave NY to get on my flight, I'm carrying my luggage down my front steps and BOOM, down I go! My luggage hit me in the back of the leg and knocked me down a step. Fell right on my ass. Not before I bounced off my ankle which I badly sprained. (Just found out today I also badly sprained my foot and I'll be in a boot cast and on crutches for the next four weeks.)  Of course, I didn't even think of not getting on the plane so we got in the cab, ice pack and all, and headed off to the airport.  My first stop in San Diego was the emergency room!  LOL.  I know this is starting to sound really depressing now, so back to Comic Con.

It was definitely an experience (could have something to do with the heavy pain medication I was on). I thought it was great! Of course I spent it being wheeled around in a wheelchair, but that did have it's perks. I got in to see Kevin Smith, who was awesome by the way. Apparently, all the rooms have handicap seating set aside so they wheeled me in and parked me.

For the Supernatural panel, I was third row, right in front of Jensen. I know everyone's probably read all the accounts on the web so I won't bore you with that, except to say that Jensen is gorgeous in person and was so nice and enthusiastic with his storytelling.  You really couldn't tell he was only working on a couple of hours sleep!  On to the pictures.






The last picture was another perk. When Jensen was signing at the WB booth the hall was so crowded and the big, burly bodyguards were yelling at everyone to keep moving. You really weren't allowed to stand and take pictures. I kept sending my sister up with my camera but the crowd was so large that she couldn't get close. In the end I just wheeled myself up close to see if I could get a shot. Security saw me coming, broke in the line, wheeled me pretty close and yelled for Jensen to turn around for one more shot. The autograph session was ending at that point and he was walking away. Anyway, he turned and waved to me. I was so excited I actually shook the security guard's hand that helped me! LOL.

All in all it was a great trip despite the injury.  The only thing I didn't get to do was to see Jason Manns in LA.  I was really disappointed. :(   I saw him in Dallas and he was great!  I was dying to see him doing his regular gig at L'Scorpion.  But thanks to the ladies that go regularly, I got to read all about it!! Of course that  just means another road trip very soon!  :)

PS - If anyone wants to use any of the pictures, just let me know.