I met Ben and Tracey!! Woohoo!!
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: 2004 Passions Fan Club Event
Wow! What can I say? The whole event was a blast!! We started off in line at about a quarter till 8, in the back of the House of Blues. It was valet parking for us all. At 7:53, Tracey started to pull into the parking lot behind us. Tammy spotted her. She was in a black Jaguar. She pulled against the curb and the attendant got ready to park her car. Some fan club personnel escorted her into the building. I got a picture of her back. LOL. She was dressed so nice, in a lovely black dress; she was stunning.

The only other person we saw pull in was Ben. He came at 8:10. We had moved up in line by then, but I spotted him through some bushes. He drove a gray Mercedes. Tammy is good at identifying cars. LOL. They have such nice ones!! He was wearing sunglasses, a brown sports coat, and jeans. He looked mighty fine! Both he and Tracey were there early. You could tell they were excited about seeing their fans.

We went in and got some free drinks. We looked at the auction items next. There was a picture of Josh and Ben that was so sweet. Ben had autographed it, saying how much he missed his little friend. It was very touching. McKenzie's infamous pit dress was among the other items up for auction.

We had good seats for the Q&A...everyone did. The cast came out and took their seats. Ben and Tracey sat beside each other in the front row. There were two rows of seats. The Q&A didn't last long. The first one was for Tracey. Someone asked if that was her singing, and went on to tell her she has a gorgeous voice if it is. She said in that case, it was her. LOL. Tammy got to ask one later on. She asked Tracey if the scenes of her past coming out were hard for her to do emotionally. Tracey said it was really difficult to just stand back and take all that with no malice. You could tell she wished she could have fought back! I took lots of pics of the cast, mainly Ben and Tracey, on the stage. I got some of them sitting down, some of each of them standing to say something to the fans, Tracey while she answered Tammy's question, and both of them as the cast lined up around the anniversary cake. I hope they all turn out!!

We watched a neat film of their 5 years of Passions. They showed everyone from the very beginning. They have all changed so much!! There was a blooper reel and a September to Remember spoiler part. The Evian stuff there was about their son. They didn't give away the secret though! Now, thinking back, I remember that they showed part of the love scene too, I think. It was hard to see on that screen though. At first I didn't know it was them!

We then waited in the autograph line for a long time. I was so nervous by that point. LOL. We got Silvana's, and then this guy called for Courtaney, and Tammy said, "He means you." LOL. I said, "No." She said, "I think he means you." I asked and the guy said, "No, you're Karen, " after reading my name tag. I said my computer name was Courtaney. He said Tracey wanted to see us. I think she was worried we might not get through the line. It was so sweet of her. She greeted us warmly. I remember a nice, welcoming hug (LOL, I think I was so in shock to even be over there then, that it took me a day to remember that!)...and we chatted for a little bit and then rejoined the line.

Everyone was so nice. I joked with Galen about betting on the Wolverines in the OSU/Michigan game, and told him I was a Buckeye. He signed my book "Go 'Canes" and made sure I saw that too! I talked to Andrea and Lindsay for a bit about their babies. Andrea said her little girl's getting so big. She is three months old. I asked Lindsay what color of hair Isabella has...was it dark like hers? She said that actually, it was Justin's color. I talked to James about his hometown, Lancaster, OH. I am from near there, and my husband was born in his town. He got on Galen for signing my book "Go 'Canes." LOL. James is as big a Buckeye fan as I am.

I got Amelia's autograph and then told her that someone had asked me on a message board for her signature, and she looked at me kind of funny. She probably thought, they are talking about me on message boards? LOL. But I explained how someone named Andrea really liked her acting. She was glad to sign one for her too.

By the time I got to Ben, I was already nervous. I said "I am Courtaney," and he said something like, "You're Courtaney..." in his wonderful voice that just makes you melt. He rose up and pulled me in for a hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek. He was soooooooo sweet!!!!! We talked about SD. He asked what happened to Bailey's recaps. (I told her you would miss them, Ben!) He didn't realize she has done them the last couple weeks though. Neither he nor Tracey knew about the temp board. Hopefully they will find it so they get to enjoy some of our crazy posts on there. I took a pic with him too. Well, between Ben and Tracey I was in a daze. LOL. The actresses in between pretty much passed my book along and signed it. They probably thought, "Who is this gal?"

I talked to Tracey for as long as we could. She was so grateful to all her fans, and to the boards. She asked about SD. Ben had told her it was hacked into. I told her we hope it will be up Sunday. She mentioned that it must mean a lot of work for Stefanie...rebuilding it. I said yes. The lady moving the line along finally made me leave! Tracey said she would find us later.

Eva was really nice. My husband spotted her and said, "Pilar!" I explained that he hadn't watched the show in a few years. She said he remembered the important people. LOLOL. She signed "You have good taste" as part of her autograph for Mike. I thought that was sweet!

Rodney was so funny. LOL, I caught up with my hubby again when Rod asked him how come people get quiet when they come to him. LOL. Mike said he heard about how people say they may "do a TC Russell." Mike remembered Tammy and me discussing what Teri had posted on here about how she told people at work the day she didn't want anyone to interrupt her watching Passions, that if anyone came into the conference room, she'd do her best interpretation of TC Russell. McKenzie then saw the shirt I was carrying, with Bailey's The Father Factor cover on it. She jokingly said to Rodney, "Uh-oh. You know who she likes." LOL. Rodney looked at the shirt, pointed toward it and gave a good joking grimace. It was funny. Then he tried to pretend that he was scaring me by sort of lunging at me. I jumped. When he saw it worked, he did it again. LOL. Then I had a pic taken with him and Mac and he pretended to strangle me. McKenzie was so beautiful and bubbly. She is so much more beautiful in person than on the show, and she is so lovely on it!!!

We then went to eat. The food was great. We sat with a nice girl we had met in line named Nicole. She was a big Passions fan, but didn't really go on sites or read mags. She was impressed when I told her I had a site. LOL, I said that my friend does all the hard work.

Tracey found us after the fans were all through the autograph line and the cast was going to eat. She sat down for about 20 minutes maybe and talked about lots of things...computer things and her fans. She wants to give back to the fans. She is such a wonderful lady, so appreciative of everything. She wanted to tell everyone how grateful she is to them and had a list all prepared of posters she wanted to give special thanks to but had left it at home. She did remember some of the names on it - SIPort, Gray, Dawn...but there were so many more she wished to thank. She is so appreciative of all her fans on here and elsewhere.

I remembered to tell her who told me to say hi too...Pris, Mav, pwtala. I tried to remember you all! Bailey, I still can't remember if I said you. But I got stuff signed for you, so you can't complain!!!

We talked about Secret Desires and Evian Dreams. She said she has trouble seeing the slide shows and montages at ED. It may be because she has a Mac. Hopefully, she'll be able to watch them someday. I know she really liked the slide shows from last fall, but if she could see Bailey's montages... we all know how they really touch your heart.

It was one unbelievable day. I am so ecstatic about meeting Tracey and Ben. They are such wonderful people. I told Tracey before she left that it is their wonderful acting that has us all so into this story. She was touched by that. Tammy and I got our picture taken with her before she left. It was sweet. You couldn't ask for a nicer, friendlier actress. She really puts her fans first. Both of them are super people. She and Ben are the truly best. And the whole cast of Passions is so warm and welcoming. What a bunch!! What a day!!!!!!

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I want to thank both Tracey and Ben for giving me wonderful memories of this year's fan club event. I'll never forget your kindness and the appreciation you have for your fans. Thank you so much for the cheerful welcome, warm hugs, and kind words. And Tracey, thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to talk to us about how you want to give back to your fans. Thanks, both of you, for making it such a special day for me, my friend Tammy, and my husband Mike. We had so much fun! I always knew I loved Evian for your terrific acting and chemistry, as well as the beautiful story. But now I can honestly say that I love Evian too because of the wonderful people who portray them. Thank you so much!!