Saturday in San Diego

So this happened...

Just when I am thinking that my life couldn't get any better  I had to go and have one of the most incredible days ever.

The one really crappy part of this day was that I had to get up around 4 am to get ready and out the door before 5. We really wanted to get into the How I Met Your Mother ( HIMYM) panel and it was being held in one of the smaller rooms holding about 2,000 people. I was hoping that the Hunger Games Panel would draw a lot of people away from this one, but didn't want to risk getting there too late. So we arrived in line around dawn and here is what it looked like:

This line also had a short section that wrapped around the corner.

Not too bad. I sent Andrew to go wait in line for some Starbucks ( prob a half hour wait) and made myself at home. I made friends with the people sitting next to me and they gave me an idea to run over and try to snag some autograph signings being held later in the day. GREAT IDEA! So while my new friends held our spots in line, I grabbed Andrew and headed over to the convention center to....wait in another line! We got a little lost, so we were not right at the front of the line like we had hoped, but we managed to grab the LAST TWO tickets ( bracelets) to the TRUE BLOOD signing later that day! SCORE!!! it was so lucky because you had to pull a ticket out of a bowl to see if you won or not. 

We got back to the HIMYM line with plenty of time to spare. That line had grown considerably and I was glad we got there so early. We managed to get some pretty good seats when they let us in, so it was totally worth waiting for.  While waiting for the HIMYM panel, I got to see the Geek and Sundry panel. I just love Felicia Day and find her so entertaining. Wil Wheaton can be a little arrogant, but still entertaining to watch. 

Then the moment we've been waiting for! The HIMYM panel was great! the stars came out and were so much fun.

 Jason Segel was giving the person doing the signing such a hard time. He said something like projectile vomit, then laughed and wanted to see what that looked like. After that he started rambling off all sorts of things for her to sign and it was pretty darn funny. they showed some clips, answered some questions and were very appreciative of the fans. Someone got Cobie to sing "Let's go to the mall" and we all sang along. 

Then the best moment of the panel happened. During the Q&A a kid started talking about the Neil Patrick Harris Playbook. He had on several layers of costumes for many of his characters. He talked about each character and shed a costume for them then at the end he requested " the highest of fives" and by God he got it! NPH ran down the isle ( right by me in fact) and gave that kid a well deserved high five. It was pretty cool!

                                   

You can't see the kid talking in the video, but the reactions on the panel are priceless!

We were living on a high after that panel and talked about it all through lunch. We headed back to the exhibit hall to work, then it was time for the True Blood signing! 

I almost missed it because the crowd was so packed and I couldn't get through. The crowds were intense and security was so high strung trying to manage it. The security guard actually told me to leave and that I missed my chance. I was so disappointed and I think maybe he felt bad about yelling at me to leave after that. He changed his tune and said he would let us in. Phew, crisis averted. Andrew and I were the last two through the line. When you go to the booth for a signing it was all very assembly line, with the actors sitting in a row just signing and the fans walking by picking up the poster at the end. The WB wouldn't allow any photos AT ALL and checked my camera to make sure the cover was on and the power was off. So that sort of sucked. I would have loved to have a photo of such a cool thing, but I didn't have a say in the matter. I did manage to get a picture of Anna Paquin before I got out there though.

When going through the line the actors were everything from indifferent, to excited about the fans. Anna smiled at me and said hi, I complemented her on her dress ( it was really cool) and then she stared talking to Sam Trammell about how she wasn't going to the party that night because she wanted to get home to her babies. 

Prrrrr even sexier in real life ladies

Joe Manganiello was really nice ( at easy on the eyes) he chatted with us about his upcoming move and gave us a few stickers to give to our friends. Most of the other actors said hi asked how we were doing, that sort of thing. Then I got to Anna Camp and she started laughing at me! She said " Well aren't you excited" and I think my reply was something like "Heck yes, I am. This is so incredible. I can't even absorb it" ( all in one breath) then she said that it showed and laughed some more. She asked how Comic Con was going for me and if I was having a good time. I told her about it being my first time here and how overwhelming it was. We talked about the crowd and waiting in line. -She was awesome and I think I love her. 

Anna Camp and I are new BFF's

I am still in shock over that moment and it was so amazing that I got to experience it! I mean where else on earth are you going to get the chance to meet and talk to celebrities like this? Just a plain ordinary teacher from Oregon chatting it up with the cast of True Blood...amazing. I gave the signed poster to a person working with me that had really wanted to go to the panel, but couldn't go. I sort of wish I had kept it, but I was being nice that day. 

I also had tickets for a signing from the cast of Orphan Black that afternoon. I got in line around 3:45 ( the signing was from 4:30 to 5:30) and there was already about a hundred people in front of me. I had an extra ticket for this, so tweeted that I would give it away to the first person to find me. I had a taker within a min. We waited in line for a very long time. I met some new friends and the time went by much easier. - I absolutely LOVE the people at Comic Con. It is so cool to just be standing in line and be able to chat with a total stranger about something you BOTH love. I'm usually alone with my love for Sci-Fi shows and it is so nice to be able to talk about them with people who not only know what I'm talking about, but LIKE them too! 

Our time in line was a bust though, we got right up to the booth and were prob three or four people away from our turn; then they had to leave. I was bummed. So close, yet so far away. I don't consider it a loss at all. I DID make some new friends AND I met Mr. Tony  ( Crazy 4 Comic Con ) Kim. His blog has been so helpful to me and so many others! Glad I met you Tony! 

Me and Tony! 

After all that I was just about ready to drop dead tired. I had only a few hours of sleep the night before and I was crashing fast by this point. I bailed on Andrew and went back to take a nap. I had to recharge my batteries before going back that night to wait for the Doctor Who panel the next day...that's right folks I had to camp out that night.

More on that next time...