What Happens in Forks part 4.2

“Yo I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want.  So tell me what you want, what you really really want.  I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want.  So tell me what you want, what you really really want.  I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really really zigazig-ah.”

Do you get where I’m going yet?  No?  PARTY!!!  That’s what happened on Saturday night.  Forever in Forks provided this spectacular party as a fundraiser for Stand Up to Cancer.  Dinner, photo booths, live music, karaoke (while it lasted), an open bar, and quite a bit of dancing…and quite possibly “Cups” being played live?  It all happened on Saturday night! 

After our room of 5 got ready to go (and we all looked fantastic by the way), we headed off to the party.  It wasn’t in full swing quite yet when we got there, but many people had already come.  Despite not having enough seating (really, there was not at all), we managed to take up the little room that also housed the bar!  Before the dinner was served, I took a look around at the silent auction items.  I did not end up bidding on anything – as many of the items were either autographs I already owned, or things that I wasn’t too interested in.  I did, however, purchase some of the Essence nail polish that was available as they had the two colors I did not have at home!

Dinner soon followed – and it wasn’t horrible, but at the same time, if you are a picky eater in any way, it was hard to find something that was for you!  As a pesco-pollo vegetarian as well, the options were sort of slim (though when you put potatoes in front of me, I’m there!).  We all enjoyed a little something to eat, and a super girly drink…hey some of us were just finishing up with the hangover!  The special guests of the night were around for photos and autographs.  Special guests, you say, who could they have been?  Why they were Cider Sky Band (Northern Lights in BDpt1), IKO (Heart of Stone in BDpt2) and Erik Odom (Peter in BDpt2).  Karina and I went to Erik together and got photos in.  I mentioned to him that it was nice to finally meet him without crutches which actually made him then remember who I was!  We happened to end up in the back corner of the room (promiscuous?  Not really, but there were cupcakes!) and ran into the lovely Vee!  We actually had someone ask if we were waiting for a photo with her, so we deemed it appropriate to get one!  (Thanks again Vee…theme still stands, why are you not in my suitcase!)

After that small adventure, we all did some more meandering while Cider Sky was getting set up.  To be able to hear both Cider Sky and IKO play the songs that were featured in the movies respectively, was awesome!  You never truly realize just how much of an impact a song can make until you hear it live.  Such was the case with both (even having heard Cider Sky back at Camp Breaking Dawn pt 1!).  Photo booths were thrown into the mix of bands going, and there were so many great photos taken!  (Don’t worry, I’ll post the compilation at the end!).  After both bands had played their small sets, the DJ’s opened it up to Karaoke.  So, remember the beginning of this post?  Well, that’s what I sang.  I normally go for Pat Benatar or Dixie Chicks when I karaoke – but this party needed a little wake up!  I assure you, there is video out there (well, as long as she didn’t delete it…Vanessa…) but it has not been uploaded to youtube.  HOWEVER, a couple other lovely tokens have been!  What are they?  Video #1 (credit to Vanessa for this)– it may have just been dedicated to a certain someone by a certain Jasper…(thanks Josh, I won’t deny I’ve got a booty).  This had everyone cracking up!  It was great to see the Olympic Coven let loose…even if certain members (*cough*Christilynn*cough*) were slightly embarrassed!

When the karaoke portion started malfunctioning – we sort of lost entertainment!  Thank goodness for people like “Victoria” for pulling out Cups!  Well, there weren’t too many cups to actually be had, and some still had a little bit of water in them that were used.  But you can see Video #2 Here (credit to Lisa for this video!) – the DJ even threw it to the song when the equipment was back up and running!  Sadly (or I don’t know, maybe you’ve heard me sing before and liked it)…you can hear me in the video.  More photo-booths were done, green screen photos were had (and our girls Kathryn and Chang Mee shut it down since they got to go last!), and dancing by Staci happened!  Hannah and Hilly even showed up for a short time…and were a bit bombarded into doing photo booth with many of us! 

Upon everyone leaving, it was decided that we would head out to Mill Creek Bar with a few other people.  That was the first time for the weekend that I got to sit down and actually chat with Brianne!  We’d met Thursday in line for meeting Stephenie (had posted back and forth a couple of times on the SMD page but weren’t even facebook friends? What?!)…so it was great to get to talk with her!  Honestly girl, I’m so glad that we got that opportunity!  I know it’s not the best picture, but at least we got one!  After the one local that was a complete…I won’t say it…it was nice to hang out around the table with the girls.

When the night was over, and we headed back to the hotel, we all knew it was time to get to bed!  It had truly been a wonderful day.  Despite starting off with the hangover from hell (I honestly can’t say I’ve had a worse hangover!), the day just got better the more it went on.  Lying in bed made me start realizing though, that it was all coming to an end.  What would the next day hold…and how could we make more memories?  Also, why hadn’t it really rained yet?

P.S. Every time I see this hung up next to my bed, I smile like crazy…because the weekend was full of everything I ever dreamed of – and I made even more friends, which I never thought would happen since I tend to be so shy.

What Happens in Forks part 3

Days 1 and 2 have happened…and after having a mini-SMD reunion yesterday, I was actually asked when my next post would be.  Well, here it is!  Day 3 of Forks!

Friday the 13th – if you’re superstitious, you’d probably think this day would’ve been horrible or something.  It was QUITE the opposite of horrible!  In fact, Bella’s birthday is September 13, and the town of Forks was quite abuzz with a day of SMD already happening.  The day began with our room heading down to get breakfast as part of our Forever in Forks package.  We were also supposed to have Zumba, hosted by our very own Kat, but unfortunately, the speakers never came. (Don’t worry, we still Zumba’d in the room!)  Breakfast was pretty chill, and we got to sit around chatting with some, and seeing others we’d talked to on Facebook but had yet to meet in Forks! After this was the option of going to Bella’s Birthday Breakfast with the Olympic Coven, but we opted out due to already having had breakfast as well as for me, needing to get into costume for the day.  Now here’s a quick interjection – there was some speculation from a few that people who weren’t part of the Olympic Coven cast shouldn’t dress up.  Some defended against that notion – and honestly, this was a way for some of us to get to cosplay in a place that brought so many together!  As we were sitting in the room, or finishing getting ready, I received a message via Facebook from Heather (thanks again for sending us a heads up!).  What was that message?  Verbatim “Where are u?! Someone big Is here”.  Of course, there I am going “someone big…who?”  I announced it to our room, and about a minute later, I get the message it’s Stephenie Meyer herself!

Internal instincts kind of took over when I read that to our room.  What instincts? Well actually, we all questioned it.  I think we all had the same idea of “yea right, Friday the 13th, ha ha, very funny.”  So until I got another message a couple minutes later confirming that many had seen her, we were suspicious.  After getting the official “she’s at the Chamber of Commerce right now!” we all kind of hauled butt out of our room and down to the Chamber!  Once we arrived there, we knew it was absolutely, without a doubt, true due to the sheer number of cars parked in the lot and on the side of the road.  Now, because she was taking time with people – photo ops and autographs, plus chatting, it sort of got to us that we might not end up seeing her!  Was this going to be LA all over again (Karina and Vanessa were my two that questioned it with me).  We were told she’d have to get going because she and her friends had lunch plans.  I won’t lie, at this point I was just thinking “great, another missed opportunity, are you kidding me?”  I realize I’ve been extremely fortunate in the number of times I’ve met her, but at the same time, the thought that we were in FORKS with the author was surreal and would probably never happen again!  Luck was definitely on our side though!  When Stephenie came out of the Chamber, they told us she would be coming down the line of people signing autographs.  Of course, then there’s me who’s constantly with the thought “have the camera/phone ready and snap a picture!” so I definitely did.  In full Victoria garb, contacts and all, I got a picture with Stephenie! 

Yes…this happened!  Holy crow!  I’m still grinning like a fool over it all!  In our haste, none of us actually thought “bring something for her to sign!” so Karina kind of has something absolutely awesome…her Hillywood shirt is signed!  Once she had passed us, Karina looked slightly dejected (sorry girl but you did) and it was because she hadn’t gotten a photo with Stephenie.  Lucky for her, I’m a pushy person (sometimes) and said that we could simply wander down to the end of the line and get her a photo.  At first I got a solid “no” from her, but after the persuasion of “when is this going to happen again?” I got her to agree and we headed to the end!  A few others had the same idea since it wasn’t quite as crowded down that way, and Stephenie, being absolutely amazing, took pictures with as many as she could!  Actually, it was probably about 90% of the people that showed up!  Karina finally got her photo!  I have proof!  Aren’t you glad I’m pushy?

Honestly, at that point it really was “did that just happen?  Oh my gosh, that happened.” and we were all thrown for a bit of a loop!  I think with all of us in a haze, we didn’t know what to do next!  We did end up going about half way to La Push (stopping at the Treaty line) to get some photos, and were told that Stephenie would be at the Police Station soon.  We chanced it and headed back, getting some great pictures while out and about!  Though we did see Stephenie there as well, we didn’t stick around since it was her chance to see some of the towns people and also attend what I believe was the “city meeting”.

After that, we headed to Sully’s for lunch as well as the Hillywood meet and greet.  I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the girls now, along with their mom (who I adore!), but honestly, I was excited to get to see them again!  Now, having been to so many conventions with them as the hosts, I have a stupid amount of photos with them, and many in cosplay creations.  Even though I’ve done Victoria around them before, it was just as exciting to get a photo now as it was the first time it happened! Also, being told “we missed you” by the girls was great.  The first time I met them was back in 2009, so it’s been quite the run of events!

We decided to head back to the room after this all happened so we could relax/change/take a breather – and then we’d head on down to La Push for the bonfire.  I decided to change at that point because I’d surely had enough of those red contacts.  Not having worn contacts at all in over a year, they were absolutely dreadful!  Once we headed down to the beach (and took a few photos along the way), we found out Stephenie was there too!  Wait, so Stephenie Meyer, at a bonfire, with a bunch of Twilight fans?  Yes, it happened!  I’m not kidding!  There were some really great photo ops with the Olympic Coven, as well as with fans.  I was definitely fortunate that day…a photo in costume, and a photo out of costume?  ETERNALLY grateful!  I can’t even find the right words to describe it!  Our group also took the opportunity of being at the beach to explore a little, climbing around on the driftwood and rocks, taking pictures (like the one used in my background!) and just having fun.  After pictures and exploring, we sat around the campfire with Ms Meyer!  I still have times where I don’t believe it happened until I see a photo!  S’mores…with an author that gave me my life back through her words and the shared mutual love for those words…on First Beach?  Crazy right?

The night dwindled down, and started getting dark, so we all decided to head back to Forks.  We’d driven separate cars, and Karina and I knew we wanted to go see Hillywood at the Roundhouse.  They were playing all of their parodies and doing a Q&A, and honestly, it may well be the last one I’ll get to attend!  When we arrived, Twilight was just finishing up, and they were ready to play New Moon (which, low and behold, I’m in as an extra!).  They played all the parodies back to back (and I now happen to know at least one person aside from the girls, in each parody.)  They followed the videos up with a Q&A, and then taught us the “Twilight Style” dance.  Talk about something amazing – being there for one of the first times they taught the “Hot and Cold” dance, and then being there for likely the last time they’ll teach “Twilight Style” to a small crowd?  I can’t put into words how awesome that was!

After a day of absolutely phenomenal happenings, we were invited to another small bonfire at what’s been dubbed “Hotel Whitney”.  Let’s just say, it was an extremely fun night…many laughs were had…and some dancing might have occurred.  How do you top a day like that?