LACon2011 – Day 3….all about the boy.
So throughout days 1 & 2 of LACon I had been remarkably calm. I had such a great time and all the guests were so lovely and friendly, I wasn’t nervous once, not even around the great and stupendously evil Misha Collins, who I gave a right bollocking to at the Gold Desert Party! Me and Bianca, my Rhino puzzle team 5 co-hort, got stuck into him about the crazy-ass next stage of the hunt! Of course I mean this in a very tongue in cheek way because the great master of all things teasing obviously gives as good as he gets, but it was a fun little exchange. He really is incredibly awesome. Anyway, it was another very, very late night and after about 3 solid hours of sleep I woke up at the crack of dawn on the Sunday morning to prepare to meet my boy and his tall friend. Trouble was, I was suddenly sick with nerves, my stomach was flipping here and flopping there, every time I thought about the day’s proceedings I wanted to throw up in my mouth a little! The good news was I was having a sensational hair day! Thank the convention Gods! So I popped on my designated outfit, something cute and comfortable that was flattering and wouldn’t over power the photo – I had put a bit of thought into this – covered my zits that had so kindly decided to launch themselves forward at the most inopportune moment, took a great big deep breath and headed down to the gold breakfast. I wasn’t sure if I was shaking from lack of sleep, lack of food or nerves, but I was definitely a bit wobbly on my feet.
At the breakfast I found my table and grabbed the seat with the best vantage point, a coffee which I promptly spilt down my dress…which thankfully was black and a croissant which I picked at while I sat twitching and waiting. I felt pretty calm about Jared, I’d had a sneak peak at him on Friday night at the Brian Buckley Band gig so I was cool about Jared, it was that other ridiculously handsome guy that was freaking me out! Then before I realised what was happening it was announced they had arrived and BAM they were walking in the door right in front of me! I just stared. I mean, holy crapola, it was Jensen freakin’ Ackles, just there…there…right there! H.O.L.Y. C.R.A.P!
I tried to take some photos but apparently I needed a steadicam! So my breakfast photos are rubbish…but I got a couple. The guys just bantered, teased each other, teased the audience answered some questions from the audience, talked about Jensen’s dog…ok, let me tell you about Oscar because I have a story around that later. So we all saw Danneel's tweet with a picture of Oscar. Oscar is Jensen and Danneel's new puppy, they got him last November, he is a golden-doodle, which is a golden retriever/standard-bred poodle cross, in Australia we call these dogs groodles because you seriously couldn’t get away with calling them golden-doodles in Australia, seriously, anyhoo J&D went to Texas for the holidays and left Oscar and Icarus in their normal boarding kennel. On Christmas morning they get a call that Oscar is really sick, he can’t get up and they are rushing him to the emergency vet clinic. Happy Christmas. So J&D are beside themselves with worry and the next day fly home and go straight to the vet hospital to see Oscar where they find out that he’s really very ill, with a very high temperature and the vets are a little stumped. Of course J&D are worried out of their minds. What was happening was the poor little guy’s bones were growing too fast, apparently it’s common with large breeds and he’ll be large believe me, but I will get to that later. So little Oscar has HOD or Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy, a condition that usually means the puppy has to be put down due to the highly expensive nature of the treatment, but Jensen said that he and Danneel figured this is why Oscar came to them, because they can afford the treatment. The way he said it revealed a great big bit of him and his beautiful spirit. It sounds like Oscar’s always going to be a bit gimpy, but he’s up on his feet now and all is OK. Jared faked a bit of crying and said, “I don’t like this story” the audience said “awwwwwwwwww.” They were there for about ½ an hour with all of us in stiches at their shenanigans and then they were off to get ready for us mauling them!
After the breakfast we were all ushered into the theatre and we sat patiently waiting for our row to go and get our photos done with Jensen. By now my stomach was doing some kind of rhythmic gymnastics and my palms were starting to sweat as I whispered to myself don’t vibrate, don’t vibrate! I was in row 2 so it was pretty quickly my turn. A few of us who’d been hanging out together sat together to ensure safety in numbers. All we had to do was be awesome, that’s easy right? I had 3 ops with Jensen, 2 on my own and one with my friend Tiny. We queued up in the hall as we waited to be ushered into the photo room. Basically when you get to the photo room you queue around the walls as you make your way over to the photo spot. Ok…going to back track here for a second. I have friends who have met Jensen and you may well have too and my friends have all said what a doll he is but all weekend I had random girls telling me not to expect much from him, that he’s standoffish and never smiles, that he doesn’t like to be touched and is really cold. I wish I could see them now and say “well sweetheart, maybe it’s you not him” because….back to my story….when I get into the photo room he’s having a blast! He’s laughing and smiling and being adorable and mucking around in all the photo ops. I think a lot of people are a bit intimidated by him, maybe that’s why they don’t get the best result, I don’t know but from the minute I saw him smiling I felt this calm wash over me, I actually think it came from him, he has this presence, this really calm and beautiful energy and by God he’s beautiful, like take your breath away, gasp out loud beautiful. So I stood there and watched maybe a dozen other women get their photos done and steeled myself. I think Tiny and I went up first….I must admit everything goes a little hazy here! Tiny and I just got us standing on either side of him with his arms around us. Then I turned to Jensen and in my best polite voice I said, “Would you mind if I hugged you?” He looks at you in the eyes, like right in the eyes, like you’re the only person in the room, it’s like he’s on high beam and all the room dims around him. So he locked on to my eyes smiled and said “of course, come here” opened his arms and in I went. Full hug, his arms went all the way around my back and mine around his. God I’m shaking a bit just reliving it. And guess what, he has a great big, warm beautiful smile in that photo. Then for my second one I said “I was thinking we could have our arms crossed and lean against each other and look cranky, you know, like be cranky Dean” and he smiled and said “you got it, let’s do it” and we both crossed our arms, leaned against each other and frowned at the camera…it looks hilarious. I personally have a major league thing for cranky Dean! Then he looked at me….right in the eyes and I said “thank you Jensen” because I really wanted to say his name to him and he said “thank you” and I walked, approximately 3 feet off the ground, over to Tiny where we had a manic Jensonated hug in front of everyone! I may have been the only person who ever time I came out of that room after hugging Jensen jumped up and down on the spot, no wait a minute Hazel did that too…but I’ll get to that.
Next up it was J&J. I had 2 J&J sandwich shots, one with just me and one with my friend Sarah. Because it was my photo op I got dibs on Jensen! Sarah was very understanding. So we queued up again, waiting, waiting and as we got closer we could hear peels of laughter emanating from the photo room. When we got inside, everyone was having a blast, including the boys, it was so much fun to watch all these crazy ideas and you know what, they did everything everyone asked them to. There was quite involved instructions going on and they’d stand there and listen, clarify and then do it, big smiles, lots of laughs, they’re unbelievably nice guys. A couple of girls were super nervous and the boys were so sweet to them and then a couple of girls didn’t know what to do so the boys came up with some ideas for them. Honestly, these two. Then Sarah went up and got her shot then I came over and said “Sarah and I are sharing this one” and they both said “ok” and I turned to Jensen and said “and I get to share you” and he laughed and said “alright then” and you know what, this hug was even better than the first one, completely relaxed, big hug….it looks like our freakin’ prom photo or something! Too damn funny. Then I had my single and I said to the guys, “now if you like you can both hug me” and they said sure and they both got in real close. Then Jared noticed I was holding my orange ticket stubs in my hand and he says in this huge Texan drawl “you want those orange things in your hand girl?” OMG! I quickly shoved them in my pocket! Seriously it was too much hotness! Then off I went again, about 5 feet in the air this time to wait for my Jared shot.
Are you still with me? I’m sorry to go blow by blow but yesterday was the best day of my life, it was just wonderful from the first moment to the last and exceeded my expectations to infinity and beyond…so….
I had 2 photos with Jared, one with just me and one with my friend Hazel. Hazel and I had a plan! We decided that we were going to stand on our tippy toes and pretend to kiss him. So Hazel when up first and got her shot, then I came over and we explained our idea. We assured him no lips would touch his cheek, which was actually ridiculous because he towered above us. Anyway, he scooched down a bit so we could reach and we said, “no we want to reach up to you” and he says “oh ok” and stands up real tall! Hazel and I stood on either side of him with a hand on his shoulder, stretched up on our tipy-toes with pouted lips and kicked up one of our legs. The look on his face is precious. Then for mine I said “I’d just like a full body hug if that’s cool” and WHAM he grabs me, nearly knocks me flying and pulls me in so tight I can barely breath. I am totally and utterly squished into him, I can feel the heat radiating off him. He is incredibly warm, like body temperature warm and I could feel that warmth up the entire length of my body! Sweet Peter on a Popsicle stick, I tells ya, it ain’t good for a single gal! I say thanks, he smiles and winks and then I walk out of the room to head back to my seat in preparation for the boy’s panel and by now I need a weight belt to keep my feet on the ground because this has been way more than I could ever have hoped for or expected. I couldn’t believe how wonderful they both were, how adorable and very sexy Jared was and I couldn’t believe how beautiful Jensen was, just so beautiful and soft and gentle, really gentle, but oozing this incredibly sexy magnetism and he smelt great and he’s so really, really ridiculously good looking and he’s gracious and polite and dear God almighty *sigh*.
So then we had the panel and of course hilarity ensured. Jared broke his chair about 2 minutes in, so they brought him another one and he broke the footrest on that one almost immediately, so Jensen swapped with him! These two…they’ll kill me one day. One of the highlights of the panel was when this little girl came up and said “Mr Padalecki, why doesn’t Miss Genevieve come to conventions.” Jared nearly died from cuteness overload and ran over and cuddled her. Then another little girl called him Mr Padalecki and he said “you can call me Jared sweetheart” but Jensen got called Jensen and he said “that’s cool we’re on a first name basis.” They answered lots of questions, a lot of the same old stuff.
There was a controversial one from someone about why Jensen never does the east coast cons and Jensen said, “aren’t we doing Nashville” but this lady was specifically asking why he doesn’t do the New Jersey con and Jared jumped to his defence going into a long explanation about connecting flights and what the studio will and will not let them do in a weekend after Jared once got stranded in Phoenix and couldn’t get back for shooting on Monday which cost money and forced them to change the shooting schedule and Jensen chimed in and said they are very strict with them about what they can and can’t do and then the lady that asked the question said, “but you’re coming to New Jersey Jared” and Jared looked a bit confused and by now the audience was mumbling and getting cranky because the boys were being put on the spot, but always the gentleman Jensen made light of it and said “you’re going? You need to tell me these things!” and we all laughed and it all went away.
Later someone got up and apologised on behalf of the audience for that question because it really was a bit confrontational and uncool. The rest of the panel went off without a hitch. They are too funny together; they finish each other’s sentences and do occasionally say the same thing at the same time! It was over way, way, way too quick for my liking but there you go and there they went.
Next up were the autographs! I had a small key art poster from the beginning of season 6 for them both to sign. We were called by rows, went to Jensen first then Jared. Now…back to the Jensen dog story. You see, my parents own a groodle, same kind of dog as Oscar. My parent’s groodle Teddy is MASSIVE! Jensen had said he wanted a big dog and well, he’s going to get one. I had a couple of shots of the groodle Teddy in my iPhone and I thought if I have the nerve I will show him. I ensured I resaved them to the front of my camera roll so he didn’t see the some 2000 shots of him on my phone and I planned to hold it for him, because my back cover has Dean on it. Anyhooooo…..so I finally get to my auto and I hand over my poster and while he’s signing I say “you know Oscar, well in Australia we call them groodles and my parents have one, wanna see” and he says” yeah of course” so I hold up my phone and show him the first shot and then the second shot in whichTeddy has a big bear in his mouth and said “this one reflects his personality” the dog is a nitwit FYI. Jensen takes my iPhone from me (o-oh) and has a good look. I said “he’s real big” and he said “how much does he weigh?” and I said “about 40 kilos” and Jensen whistled and says “oh!” and I said “and he stands about 5’4 on his hind legs” and Jensen shook his head and said “yeah I think Oscar’s going to be big” and I said “he’ll also be silly, but gorgeous” and Jensen laughed and handed me back my phone, without seeing the back I think, and said “thank you so much for showing him to me” and off I went, walking somewhere up amongst the ceiling lights.
Then Jared signed my poster and got a little confused as to whether to use sliver or black, he hovered back and forth, picked both up and put both down, it was pretty amusing. I said “why don’t we go with the black” and he looked kind of relieved he said “black it is” and went to sign in this random spot and stopped and looked up and raised his eyebrows and I said “why don’t you sign it down there” and he laughed and said “you got it girl.” I can’t even tell you what that does to me! Then I drift out of the room like I was filled with helium!
Last but in no way least was the Trio shot. This was the first time that Jensen, Jared and Jim had done a photo together. At first I just got one, but at some point during the day Hazel and I decided the thought of not getting another Jensen hug was inconceivable so we split a trio photo. Hazel went first and got a big huggy shot with all three guys around her and then I came up and we divulged our plan! We turned to the guys, who are all awaiting our instructions and told them we both wanted to hug Jensen, the reason being that we felt he needed a little big of extra loving because Dean had had a very tough time of it this season and Jensen said “FINALLY!” So we stood on either side of Jensen just behind him and both pressed up against him and hugged our arms around his tummy, he bent his knees a little and put both of his thumbs up! We couldn’t see what the other two were doing at all but everyone in the room was in hysterics. Then I got my photo with the three Js and I just said “you can all hug me if you like” by now I’m pretty upfront about the whole thing and they all said smiled “ok” and all got in real close. I said thanks to them all, but really I think I glanced at Jim and Jared and said a quick thanks and then locked in on those beautiful eyes of Jensen’s one more time and said “thanks Jensen” and left the room and literally bounced up and down in the hallway with Hazel because we just knew it was going to be awesome. It turns out, when we saw the jpeg later that night, because the prints won’t be ready for AGES, that Jared is in the background, arms crossed sneering at the camera and Jim is in the foreground arms crossed glaring at the camera, Hazel and I are hugging Jensen within an inch of his life and Jensen is grinning and giving two thumbs up. It is my favourite photo out of all of them and one of the best I’ve ever seen. I AM IN LOVE WITH IT!
So that was it….that was day 3 officially over for me. Well….not quite…..you see I had a ticket to the Jensen and Jason Jam session….but I will save that until tomorrow, because I still have sleep to catch up on. But just know this, it was the best thing I have ever done in my entire life and I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of it and share with Jensen and only 39 other people what was a very personal experience. So stay tuned and I will try my darndest to capture just the tiniest bit of how it made me feel.
Sorry this was so long! I really had the best day ever. The guys were beyond anything I ever thought they could, would or might be and they made the whole thing so very special.
All quotes from the panels are paraphrased as I could barely remember my name let alone their exact words. Thanks for reading! - Amy
