Alright! It's high time I sit down and recap/reflect on last weekend (OMG I can't believe it's already been like a week!) But if I don't, I'll never get any of my work done today.
I got into NYC Thursday and was nervous as hell. So nervous I was speaking in third person. It's not that I'd never been to NYC before, I had been lots of times. It's that I'd never gone alone and to meet swarms of people I didn't know. What would my room mates be like? Would it all be worth it? A lot was running through my head.
So I sat in Starbucks waiting for my room to be ready and obsessively checked my phone for updates on if other people were already in the city and all of that. Then... I got to check in... and I climbed into my pjs and took a nap. I knew I wouldn't have much sleep and I was beyond exhausted with a migraine threatening me. (I had been in DC first.)
So then Shirley called me and YAY!!! They were here!!! And oh my... I had been talking to Shirley almost every day for like almost a year and we were BFFs. It was if I'd known her, courtney and the baby since time began. And Patricia too! (Though I don't talk to her as much because of the time difference.)
So BAM! Then "Sunshine" showed up... and I was just so happy to hear familiar voices and meet the people I'd been stressing with over this whole event for like months. We all had our moments behind the scenes where we said, "how in the hell are we going to pull this off?!" or moments were we were like, "damnit! that email Riboflavinb2 sent out was so bitchy...jesus why am I doing this again?" But hugging them...seeing them... made me cry.
Sunshine (and I'm too lazy to look up how it's spelled in German...and so I'll just say "J")... J and I decided to meet up with many of you at Second on Second. I also decided to break in my new four-inch slut shoes. J warned me not to. She was right.
The rest of the weekend would involve me complaining about my feet...as I only packed heels. (I should note, I have two two-inch titanium screws in both of my feet.) And a week later, I still can't feel the middle toe in my right foot.
But the karaoke was great. The soft-core show was great (whoever he was... LOL) and I knew right then and there it was going to be an amazing weekend. (I was also kind of drunk.)
So Friday comes along and I slept in. A part of me wishes I hadn't... but I already wasn't feeling good and the drinking didn't help...and I needed all the sleep I could get because right when I got back home I had an uber important meeting that [has] the potential to change my life. (PM me if you want to know what that's about.)
So I slept in. Then there was lots of getting ready and meeting more people and getting stuff together for Madame X... and I still hadn't met Jo or Thore or anyone... and sigh. Nor had I met Barbara yet! Another girl I've been talking to for years.
I met her when we got to X. And again, more with the instant bonding. Then it was GET TO WORK. PEOPLE ARE LINING UP ALREADY! So we got all that together and I got locked in the coat check... and you remember what that night was like. But let me tell you my special moments.
A) Thore kissed my cheeks when he met me. I hope Thore's not reading this (Hi buddy!) because hell if I almost didn't lose my cool right there. I'm used to meeting celebs. I've hung with grammy winners! But when that boy kissed my cheeks I think I reverted back to a 12 year old. And stayed that way the rest of the weekend. Any time he looked at me I had to turn away else I would have thrown up on his shoes.
B) That didn't stop me from punching him in the stomach. (More on that in a bit.)
C) I got into a convo with Jo about where I'm from and why he should come. Then someone else from near where I am from said that Spain was better and I could have punched that kid in the stomach too. Way to take the thunder out of my story!!
Sigh....
D) Some lovely Japanese Girls gave Thore a Kimono and Thore turned to me and said, "I should take up Karate now." Heaven must have heard me because I said, "I'm actually two away from black belt." And he said, "I box." and I said, "I know. We should spar sometime." And it was kinda a running joke...
E) Out in the back, J and I had a conversation about how she was so glad to learn I'm really not a bitch. When in fact, I'm one of the coolest people she's ever met. Okay! I might be putting words in her mouth just a bit... but really! I'm very nice!
F) Thore mentioned something about karate and held up his shirt to show off his abs. (They're everything you'd think they should be...and more. So flat you could fry eggs.) And it was an invitation to punch him. And with his permission I did. Hard. I didn't hold back. He grunted and said, "nice one."
I don't remember anything after that. Because I couldn't believe I punched Thore!
Then... I had breakfast with the girls...and Jo and Thore showed up too. That was nice. I apologized to Thore for punching him and said, "I was kinda drunk." He said, no worries... or the german equivalent. So I tried to let it go... but I still feel kinda dumb.
Then again... it was HURRY UP! PEOPLE ARE LINING UP!! GO GO GO!! Saturday... Oh Saturday. I played pool with Thore... who was desperately trying to let me win... but I played MY WORST GAME EVER... DO YOU KNOW HOW CUTE THOSE DIMPLES ARE? (Yes. You do.) I even have a set of my own dimples... but mine were no match. I even said, "look would you just win already? I can't play this game with those dimples next to me."
Then also Barb and I shared shoes. Remember my feet hurt and as luck would have it, she wears the same size as me.
I also fell in love with Gregory Michael... who told me I have a beautiful name (That I can't share with you publicly... but you know what it is!)
I had Dinner with the girls and Tom C and Tom, Barb and I exchanged ex stories. If he writes someone off and sends them to China... I know he was paying attention to me. No. Really, he practically told me his whole life story... and he's beyond a sweet heart and I fell in love with him too.
I also fell in love with Matthew, one of Jo's friends who just happened to show up. I met AJ but didn't say much to him.
Thore made me shove a sandwich in my mouth AND I CANNOT REPEAT WHAT HE TOLD ME.... so you'll have to PM me for that. SO funny!
But if there's anything I would have changed... I would have grabbed Thore's air guitar, threw it and danced with him. (Next time! I promise!) He's too much of a... what's the world... cheese ball. The kind of cheese ball you love. Behold! The power of cheese...and dimples.
Moving on...
I made Thore and Jo be in a video for my video blog (need to edit that still).
And for the most part... here's where I come to the end of my weekend (leaving a lot out and forgetting just as much.)
Meeting all the actors was great. BUT MEETING YOU GUYS WAS AMAZING. I had people coming up to me telling me thank you... and not gonna lie, it kinda freaked me out. I'm a back stage kinda girl. I write books because I'd rather live vicariously through my characters. You all made me feel so very special... and made all the crazy stress that goes with planning an event like this worth it. I know everyone on the planning committee feels the same.
We're just all really, really blessed to have this kind of a community.
I have life-long friends in J, Tihkon, Zam, Shirley, Patricia, Matthew, Barb, Court, Baby, and Thunderkat, and everyone else... I bawled my little eyes out on the way home. I didn't want to leave.
So yes. I really think we're going to do this again. Save your money.
I think we just have to.
(Oh, and Brent ear-f*cked me. (with his finger) Hi Brent!!)