Fan Event!!
Mood:  happy
The fan club event this year was such a blast!! Priscilla, Tammy and I walked from our hotel to Universal Studios this morning. We weren't sure where exactly we were going, but we asked some kind people for directions, including Jeanne from CR, who we ran into at the Citywalk. We waited in line a long time, but that gave Pris and me plenty of time to buy and fill out raffle tickets for lunch with Ben and Tracey. We got to see a bunch of stars arrive, including Ben. He was wearing a light beige sportcoat, blue shirt, jeans and beige sneakers (Tammy helped me with the shoes. She notices everything. LOL). He looked awesome!! He came over to say hi and we got some hugs. He asked about our flights. He was so sweet. I got to meet Mercy then too. She told us she asked Ben where his girlfriend was, and he said she was already inside, working on a number she was going to do with Amelia during the program. We were all excited that we were going to get to hear them sing. We got to see everyone go inside, I believe, except Tracey and Amelia.

The doors opened after nine. We went in and continued filling out raffle tickets. *cough, cough.* We looked at the silent auction items too. A reporter from Soapdomn talked to us and took our picture then.

We went in and sat down at our table. It was in the perfect spot...to the right front of the stage. The lighting was neat in there. It was really colorful in the theater. The cast came in. Tracey came in first, followed by Amelia and Ben. Tracey and Ben sat together on the same side of the stage we were on, so we had a good view. Tracey saw us in the audience and waved. She was wearing all black and had a ponytail. She looked beautiful.

The cast members all introduced themselves. Then Daniel Coleridge from TV Guide.com came on the stage. He hosted a neat Q&A/discussion section with the actors which was really neat and funny. He kept pointing out the fact that Liz called Eve a wh*re. Poor Eve got picked on a lot. Also during this session, he asked Ben about Julian being whipped now. LOL. Ben said he may be showing some oddities soon, and joked about wearing knee-highs again soon. We assume (HOPE) it was a joke. There was a lot of fun stuff involving Justin during this too, but then he told us, sadly, that he was leaving the show. (He was told he should announce it then. He will air through February). Justin had some really good things to say about Ben too. It was sweet. We are all going to miss Justin, I know. Galen was there, and got some nice applause. James and Justin kept teasing Eric about his oh-so-tight t-shirt. Of course, Tammy loved it. I loved Amelia's reaction especially when anything Chadney came up. LOL, much of the cast was cringing when that topic was discussed. John talked about Eve and how he propositioned her. LOL, he really loves being on the show, he said. Juliet talked about Nicole, and how she hoped she'd be able to be at the event next year. That'll be neat if she can.

Tracey and Amelia performed a Passions version of "Sisters." I remember back in their SOD interview a couple of years ago, they started singing that song. It was so great to get to see them perform. They were awesome, and the song was too funny.

We got to see some cool clips of the past year. Eve and Julian kissing during the shopping trip got a lot of nice applause. LOL, three of us applauded Teve's divorce as well. Pris and Tam said Tracey was laughing during our applause. Then they showed some bloopers. Tracey had one in a scene with Kim. She forgot David's name. Galen had a bunch of bloopers. The funniest of all was when Sheridan was in a scene with Mark. McKenzie said something like "Luis will find Marty and come back, I guess." The little boy immediately asked, "Who passed gas?" LOL, he had misunderstood her. It was so funny. Richard, who was in the scene as well, was cracking up. They showed us previews of the next month after that. Eve was having Liz arrested at the Blue Note in one scene.

They started the autograph session next. Half the cast was on one side, in alphabetical order, and half on the other. Tracey and Ben were on the same side. I met Gray and Jax in line during this time. I thought I spotted Gray, and it was her. She even let me take a pic, so that was cool.

All the cast members looked great. They were all so nice, and so interested in our shirts. Eva wanted to check out ED's website. LOL, we made sure everyone saw Pris' entrail pic on her shirt. They all thought it was hilarious, especially Amelia. She asked, "Has Tracey seen that yet?" Quite a few were interested in Tammy's Ethan as the Evian child theory. We think it was Eva who said, "Eve has enough guys already." Pris said, "TC doesn't count." LOL, we were bad. Rodney wasn't there to see her shirt. I think she is disappointed she couldn't see his reaction. Hehehe. Eric liked the Ethan as the Evian son theory, and agreed with Tammy when she said Ethan was just like Eve. Amelia said she had the same theory we did about Chad being her son...and she thought Alistair just might be the daddy! Richard was funny. He got to talking about how James wasn't good in sports. He said he beat him 14 out of 14 times at golf. James, of course, disputed this. LOL.

While in line, we met some other board members too. We met Monica (Eve and Julian Love), who was there with her grandmother. She won the Charles Divins calendar in the auction. Charles wasn't there today. We also met Nicole (Priscillapal). Her being there was a nice surprise. Right before lunch, they announced the winners of the raffle for lunch with Ben and Tracey, to use sometime during the next year. I won. Woohoo!!! LOL, I later told Tracey that Pris and I stuffed the ballot box. We did go for it on the raffle, and I was glad it worked out. So we will get another lunch out there with them!!

The highlight of the line, of course, was getting to talk to Tracey and Ben. Tracey asked about our vacations. She said something about saving spots for her and Ben during the lunch, so of course, we were thrilled. Ben also asked about what we had been up to out there. He and Tracey are the best. A guy from the NBC Passions site took our picture with Ben.

We found a table in the back for lunch. Tracey joined us. Nicole (Priscillapal) and a friend came too, and Jax and Gray. We had a cool Evian get-together there. It was great. Ben came in with a beer he got in the park. LOL, he told me not to touch it when he got up at one point. Tammy later saw him share a little with Tracey. They shared water earlier on stage too...they were so cute together. Tracey was looking through the soap mags they had on the table. She saw where someone named Keshia had written into SOW about wanting to see more Eve and Julian. She thought that was sweet. I asked Tracey why there was a Teve picture in the newsletter this year too, and no Evian picture (not one with just Evian anyway). LOL. She talked about SIPort, and how she was an Eve and Julian fan before there really was an Evian...how she saw things in them so early on, things that they were able to bring out in Evian later on. We all had a good time talking about the show and LA and everything. At one point, Pris went to get a brownie and Ben asked her what happened to her diet.

Before they left, Tracey and Ben were very gracious to take pictures with all of us. Our table was about the last group out of the place. Ben, Tracey and Amelia were the last of the stars to leave. They were so terrific to hang around for the fans. It was a blast sitting there with Tracey and Ben, and talking, and taking pictures.

We talked to Gray and Jax afterwards for awhile. Tammy and Pris told them some of the things they had been teaching me out here. LOL. Then we went on the Back to the Future Ride, and the Studio Tour (which was awesome). While there, we met a Passions fan who said how nice Ben was. She said she couldn't believe he wasn't married. We said, well, he is taken though. She had no clue about him and Tracey. LOL, I guess most fans don't unless they come to sites like this. Then we went browsing in the shop that sells used Passions clothing. We saw a shirt we were pretty sure was Julian's (though it wasn't marked)...a green casual shirt size large, and a blue dress shirt of his, size 15 1/2. We also saw a dress of Eve's that we didn't recognize. It was pretty. Tammy spotted Forrest Whittaker at the Dippin' Dots counter. She was thrilled to get a picture taken with him.

After eating at a Pizzeria at the Citywalk, we took a cab back to the hotel. My feet were getting blisters from walking in sandals all day, and they were all swollen too, so we decided a walk back to the hotel was out. We are still floating on cloud nine from our wonderful, wonderful day. Ben and Tracey sure do appreciate all their fans, and each time I have had the privilege to spend with them, it becomes clearer and clearer just how special they are. It's easy to see why they have so many fans.