The End of an Era??
Friday, November 21, 2008 at 09:31AM Stars Scheduled to Attend Press Breakfast:
Saturday
Aiden Turner, Melissa Claire Egan, Thorsten Kaye, Bree Williamson, Erika Slezak, Kassie DePaiva, Michael Easton, Greg Vaughan, Jason Thompson, Julie Marie Berman, Kelly Monaco, Kimberley McCullough, Laura Wright, Rebecca Herbst, Tyler Christopher
Sunday
Cameron Mathison, Jason Cook, Kirsten Storms, Darnell Williams, Eden Riegel, Rebecca Budig, Ricky Paull Goldin, Vincent Irizarry, Brandon Buddy, Brittany Underwood, Farah Fath, Jason Tam, J.P. Lavoisier, Kristen Alderson, Susan Haskell, Bradford Anderson, Brandon Barash
The Last Super Soap Weekend ..
The ending of this event was definitely a bittersweet one for myself, as well as many others, actors and fans alike.. I managed to make new memories, and new friends, and along the way lost one of my friends to a battle with Lupus on Saturday evening. Here is the journey:
11.13.08
Thursday afternoon approximately 1 pm I set out on my journey down to Orlando Florida to the “LAST SSW” (so they claim) I arrived into Orlando about 1 hour late, and after connecting flights, both being delayed, I couldn’t wait to meet up with Linda, and just sit and chill and talk for a bit since we haven’t seen each other since July.. Linda was gracious enough to pick me up @ the airport, and save me the OBSCENE amount the cabbies wanted to charge me to get to the hotel.. We headed on over to the IHOP near our Hotel, shared an omelet and had catch up time between best friends.. I think out of the ENTIRE experience that I what I treasured the most.. We went and checked into the hotel, and just CRASHED..
Friday 11.14.08
We both actually got to sleep in for a change with no children screaming for breakfast, or having to get anyone ready for school, which was really nice.. Around 11-11:30 am we headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios to just walk around and check things out, after an afternoon of being completely carefree, with nothing to do and nowhere specific to be, we headed down over to the Boardwalk to scout out the location we would be conducting the Red Carpet Interviews the following morning at The Flying Fish Cafe, and that is where we met up with Michele & Kara from The Palm Beach Daily News, who run a wonderful blog called Soapboxwww.palmbeachdailynews/soapbox . We chatted for a bit, and made some plans for the weekend with them, and headed over to the airport where we were picking up a NEW friend Michael Fairman, who most of you know from www.michaelfairmansoaps.com. In the airport I saw Julie Berman, Jason Cook, and Kimberley McCullough arrive and ready for the weekend to begin..
Later that night, after a horrifying dinner at a restaurant that shall remain nameless, Linda & I headed on over to the Boardwalk to the Infamous Dance Hall for a good time of dancing, and a few cocktails.. They were doing an awesome video dance party which was a lot of fun. And there off to the corner behind “The Velvet Rope” were the Daytime Elite, Darnell Williams, Kirsten Storms, Jason Thompson, Kimberley McCullough, Kelly Monaco, Greg Vaughan, Tony Dovolani, and I am sure many more that we couldn’t see. They were surprisingly all having a wonderful time dancing, and talking despite the fact the area they were n was so small, it looked as if there was not enough room enough to breath let alone dance and have fun, but they certainly accomplished it.
And then there were the “Dedicated Soap Fans” clamoring at the chance for one of their faves to come over to the ropes so they could get a snapshot of them in action.. Some of the actors did not want to be bothered and rightfully so, they were there to have a good time with their peers and their family, and then there were some who could not be happier to lean on over and take some pics, and chat it up with the fans.. Darnell Williams was extremely gracious with the fans, he stood near the ropes, and danced had fun, took pictures, then the ever so lovely Kelly Monaco came out of a side door, and the crowd just went insane! She also, posed for pictures, and chatted it up with some fans before heading back to go hang out with her friends.
The devotion of some of these fans have for the actors still amazes me.. Linda & I were in the Dance Hall for approximately 2 hours, and there were fans who did nothing but stand at that rope and just watch their favorites dance and have a good time.. It was almost like a human watching , let’s say a pack of lions in their own natural habitat from behind a glass partition.. It was amazing to see, and yet strange. I heard some comments like “ oh did you see what drink she has, or did you see the way so & so was laughing” They are after all, just people who have a high profile job. All be it they are amazing in their craft, they still have the same interests and behaviors as let’s say.. “Laverne , the waitress”.
Now mind you in Super Soap Weekends of past that we have attended the weather has ALWAYS been a bit on the chilly side at night and gorgeous during the day. But this time was so much different it was hot, sticky & rainy 87 degrees on Friday & Saturday & on Saturday evening the temperatures dropped a whopping 30 degrees, so we did go from one extreme to the other. So with that in mind, as we left the
Dance Hall, we gave a ride to a few people over to the Disney Hollywood Studios, as they were preparing to sit out there all night waiting for the gates to open for the getting of the coveted fast passes to obtain a meet & greet photo op with their favorite actors/actresses. So the curious one that I am, and having actually done this myself in past years, I wanted to see what the lines were like at 1 am in the morning, especially since the weather was so terrible, so I walked them over to the gates, and to my surprise, there was about 50 to 75 people there in line already, and fully prepared for ANY type of weather issues. You see, last year was FREEZING to the point where you just would have never believed you were actually in the state of Florida, so I am sure many of the fans anticipated the same type of weather. Now as I walk in to the gates, there are rain puddles all over the concrete, and fans had plastic bags they were lying on, as not to get wet, and then there were many creative ones who actually brought TENTS & COTS with them this year!
I was completely amazed when I saw this. People were in their pajamas complete with feet to stay warm. There were 2 ladies that were underneath a 4 post tent, that you would normally see used to cover someone at any event, and they were lying down on twin sized cots, which had to stand about more than a foot off the ground, so I walked over and asked them, where they were from, and why they would have such a elaborate set up, and one woman replied, they were from Florida, and they know the weather, and it was her husbands idea to keep them dry . So then she pointed to her husband across the way , lying in the fetal position wrapped in a blanket in a corner, on the concrete. Talk about wanting to make your wife happy!
Linda & I headed out to our hotel, where we would get to sleep in warm beds this year, and prepare for the next mornings red carpet interviews.
After a good night’s sleep we headed over to Disney’s Boardwalk around 6:45 am, arrived about 7 am where we were greeted by Charles Stovall, Lauri Hogan , Jori Petersen, & Mitch Messinger, the genius’s behind the Breakfast & Red Carpet Interviews this year. They were all very sweet and welcoming. I must say the set up was actually put together so well. We stood outside of the restaurant just take in the scenery surrounding us, as it is so beautiful in the morning, and we saw Aiden Turner going for a run on the boardwalk.. Who wouldn’t mind seeing him first thing in the morning! Then Thorsten Kaye arrived, had some breakfast before starting down the line of reporters .
The breakfast was scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, fresh baked goods, sausage, bagels, coffee , juice, and it was very delicious!
We went and sat off to our corner to prepare as we ate, and then before we knew it , we were assigned to a table towards the back of the restaurant with other radio shows that were there, and the print press were lined up against the wall standing in front of their strategically placed marks that were set down in front of them.
Now out of all those stars, not everyone showed up on the scheduled day, there were some who weren’t feeling well. Some how we managed to get through the ones were given the opportunity to interview (J )
Our first interview on Saturday was with the beautiful Kelly Monaco. She is just a treat to sit and chat with! Unfortunately during the editing process ,Kelly’s audio interview was deleted! But this is the jist of what went down. The first thing we asked her about was How she felt in regards to this being the last SSW, and she replied “Devastated” this is a place where we get to come and see so many fans in one place, and it is just a terrible thing that next year it won’t be here. Then we asked her about the internet rumors going around about a JASAM reunion “Not going to happen”. She is with Lucky, and that is where it is at right now” and she is happy with that. She was hinting that something BIG was coming her way, and that it would involve dancing & Vegas, and I received this yesterday:
At a press conference yesterday in Las Vegas, NV Kelly Monaco announced that she would star along with Melanie Brown (aka Scary Spice) in the new adult production of ‘PEEPSHOW’ at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The multi-million dollar show, created and directed by Jerry Mitchell, opens for preview performances on March 30, 2009.
So congrats to Kelly and the good thing is she will still be able to do GH right along with it..
Then the ever so handsome and charming Greg Vaughan came and graced us with his presence .We spoke to him about the JASAM buzz going around and the Luck and Liz Rumors, and he said “Like you said it is just buzz.” “You never want to leave a good thing, so , Sam knows what she got, she knows she got a good thing at home.” You will hear more from Greg on the show..
Next up was Julie Marie Berman, and we spoke of the dynamics of the Spencer family, Lulu’s relationship with Carly.
Then the ever so cheerful Laura Wright was next to sit with us, and I tell you, she is just one of those natural beauties, she came in hair still very damp and hardly a stitch a makeup on her face, and she is just gorgeous as well as a delight to talk to.. We asked her about a possible reunion with Sonny, and what she would like to see happen with Carly..
Then to kind of round out the Spencer/ Cassadine crew, Tyler Christopher sat down with us for a brief moment, he had to get over to his first autograph signing, and we talked about the Nikolas/Nadine Pairing as well as a pairing possibility with Claudia, and he let us know he liked both of them for different reasons.
Then Daytime Royalty graced us ! The incomparable Erika Slezak sat down with us, and I was just in awe as was Linda. We were both obviously star struck, at the chance to sit and talk with her. We spoke about her alters, Bree Williamson, the ending of SSW and Erin Torpey. Just a gorgeous woman, who obviously loves what she does, and enjoys the fans so much..
OMG, next up was Llanviews Top Cop the broodingly handsome Michael Easton.. His piercing blue eyes were definitely a bit of a distraction, and I can honestly say I have never had a conversation with someone who kept COMPLETE eye contact with me.. I was afraid to look away! Michael is not just a superb actor, but an author as well, and we spoke of his book Soul Stealer, and what to expect for John/Marty & Blair.
Jason Thompson comes on in with his cousin, and chows down before sitting with us, and we talk all about his role on Night Shift, The ending of SSW, and his role as a playing a dad with Robin..
We saw so many stars mingling and doing interviews, at this point we were going through our list to see who we did not get yet, and before we knew it a very unshaven sexy Irishman comes and sits down with us and it is none other than Thorsten Kaye!
We spoke to Thorsten about Zach & Kendall’s Marriage, his love of Hockey, and how he incorporates it into the show with the kids, and the ending of SSW..
And that kind of concluded Saturday’s breakfast meeting. We did not get the chance to talk with Melissa Claire Egan, Bree Williamson, Rebecca Herbst , Kimberley McCullough, I did speak to Aiden Turner before he left , and he is happy to be exploring a darker side of Aiden now, and he promised to come on the show and talk more about it, as soon as it can be arranged. Kassie Depaiva, did not come to the breakfast, probably because whomever was taking part in the Street Jam was out rehearsing till 2 am. Which is completely understandable.
So, it is only 9 am now! And it feels like we have been up for days on a coffee high. This was such a rush for us. We had to hurry and pack up and get on the shuttle over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the other members of the press to start our day, and meet our escorts. Yes, Disney assigned certain members of the press escorts to get us where we needed to be on time . Our escort was David Vernon, and you know what, I was a little concerned about having someone stand over my shoulder all day, but I’ll tell you, he was just simply FABULOUS! He got us everywhere we needed to be on time in the most efficient manor possible. Anything that we may have needed , David took care of. I can’t thank him enough for that. He even went above and beyond the call of duty, and took on some others that did not have escorts, and those of whom escorts had to leave for the day. So thank you to David Vernon and to Charles Stovall for assigning such a wonderful guide to us..
Our first stop was to see the Colgate Total Triple Play Game Show hosted by the adorable J.P. Lavoisier, and the contestants were Melissa Claire Egan for AMC/Kristen Alderson for OLTL and Greg Vaughan for GH. Who definitely gave us a show by removing his shirt and sending every woman in the theatre in to a hot frenzy! Of course no Triple Play game show would be complete with out the Super Soap Sisters AKA the Cane Sisters, Sugar, Candy, and Nova! They are just fantastically hysterical, and warm the audience up before the actors hit the stage, and they do such a fantastic job of it.
We had a gap of time before our next show which was supposed to be The AMC talk show, so we decided to stay for the next Colgate Total Triple Play Game Show, and the contestants for that one were , Ricky Paull Goldin for AMC/Brandon Buddy for OLTL, and Bradford Anderson for GH. And I am so glad that we decided to stay for it. Bradford Anderson is just one of the funniest people, even when he isn’t trying , and even when he isn’t in front of a camera. His interplay with J.P. was incredibly hysterical, and between
the 2 of them, kept the audience in a hysterical mode of laughter the entire time.
Moving right along we headed on over to The AMC Talk show hosted by the incredible Bob Guiney, and his guests were Aiden Turner, Alicia Minshew, Bobbie Eakes, Cameron Mathison, Darnell Williams, Melissa Claire Egan, Ricky Paull Goldin, and Thorsten Kaye.
There were definitely some great conversations regarding Zach & Kendall, and Ryan & Greenlee & Annie. If anyone missed it, go check out some of the videos on You tube.. Just type in Super Soap Weekend 2008 and you will be flooded with video on the subject..
Bob Guiney is such a crowd pleaser and so popular .In one instance Cameron made a comment on himself about Dancing with the Stars, that he became comfortable wearing tight pants, 2 inch heels & rhinestones.“ Which brought him some laughs.. Then they switched up the conversation about Ryan & Greenlee, and how every time Bob turns on the show, they are doing “something” Bob jokingly expresses that he is mad over the situation..
Bob was just a great sport regarding all the jokes that were made about Rebecca’s love scenes with Cameron, he was just unbelievable great. IMO, they should have found time for him to have his OWN Autograph session as they did the year before for Sherri Sheppard.
We are steadily on the move now, it is after 2 pm and we have not even eaten lunch at this point yet! It was so fast paced, you just felt as if there weren’t anytime! We managed to stop for a coke here and there, but then right on to the next show, which was the Casting Call hosted by Cameron Mathison, and starring Kristen Alderson, and Brandon Buddy.
Basically what this show is , is a take off of I want to be a Soap Star, which is what it was called in past years. There are 3 contestants who each get to act out a scene with the ADONIS himself Cameron Mathison, and some twists are thrown in to each of them, including Kristen Alderson, and Brandon Buddy. So three very luck ladies got up close and personal with those beautiful people! But in the end there was only one winner, and they walked away with a DVD of their Casting Call for the memories, and a gift bag from Colgate Total.
We finally decided it was time to actually go sit and eat normally before our next show, freshened up and just relaxed for about 30-40 minutes. We ate in the Commissary which I have to say was actually pretty good, We split a Cuban Sandwich and some fries, with our cokes. And it was the best meal we had eaten in a while.
No time to waste, so we moved on to The Back by Popular Demand show, hosted again by the amazing Bob Guiney. Now we were a tad bit early, and GH talk show was still in progress, so we had to wait outside, but then there it came, that wonderful Florida rain.. So David Vernon, our wonderful escort got us in, so we would not be soaked, and we had to be as quiet as church mice. At the tail end of the show, we managed to catch a tiny little fan who was asking Greg Vaughan a question, and she just simply said “I like you very much” and it brought the father out in him, and obviously tugged away at his heart strings, as he took of his mic, and went off the stage, scooped this little girl up in his arms, and signed an autograph for her, and gave her such a warm hug. It brought the audience chills. Don’t we all love to see that side of a man? It only made him sexier in everyone’s eyes.. Later on I learned that the same little girl, sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her favorite Prince Spinelli! And Bradford was so great with her.. What a great asset in a man! Then there was a question posed to Kelly Monaco, in regards to her stealing away everyone’s men on GH, and Kelly cleverly responded by saying “Sam doesn’t steal..She borrows.. And everyone was up in arms with laughter.. It was put only a way that Kelly Monaco could say it. So needless to say, I was happy it rained, or we would have missed out on those moments..
The guests for the Back by Demand show were, Darnell Williams, Eden Riegel, Bob’s lovely wife Rebecca Budig, The amazingly handsome Vincent Irizarry, Bree Williamson, and Susan Haskell.
Having all of them collectively on the stage was pretty awesome to see. The interplay between them was just priceless.
Now that the shows are over for us, we meet up with some friends and go and get some hot chocolate, and decide to make our next move which would be the Street Jam Concert.. We were escorted in to the VIP section for the show, which consisted of the sponsors, the families of the actors/actresses/and the executives of ABC/Disney. It was truly an honor to be allowed such access. We kind of just stood back and soaked it all in as the show began with the Grand Motorcade. The crowd went insane!!
As all the actors were introduced and made it on to the stage, the music began and as always the song used was “Jennifer Lopez, Let’s Get Loud” So they are all on stage dancing and then they are joined by the characters of Disney, then their family and friends, and the little children are brought on the stage as well to join in the fun. Rebecca Herbst had her son on stage, as did Thorsten Kaye with his children, Cameron Mathison as well.
I have to say that is probably the best time of the Street Jam to see the actors/actresses, who work so hard on a daily basis to bring us entertainment each day, be so carefree and relaxed , just blowing off steam with their loved ones.. It is very touching..
The night started off with a performance by Bob Guiney, who just rocked the house ! Then we had performances by Kassie Depaiva & Bobbie Eakes, Bobbie Eakes, performed a solo “Mercy“ complete with the 1960‘s dress and Go-Go Dancers! Then another duet with Melissa Claire Egan from “Chicago“ complete with the 1920‘s Flapper dresses, and finger waved wigs! What a performance! . Brittany Underwood & Jason Tam sang their version of the hot song by NeYo & Rhianna, “I hate that I love you, and they both performed their own solos as well, then Ricky Paull Goldin came on stage and just wowed the crowd with his rendition of Magic Carpet Ride, complete with the playing of a harmonica! Who knew how talented he was! His performance was just awesome!
Oh then Bradford Anderson comes out, and rocks on with an 80’s classic from the group Scorpion, and went into Happy Together >from the Turtles. And he aced both songs in our opinions! He had all the execs in the VIP seating, singing along with him to both songs, complete with the jumping around too! His energy is just incredible!
Brandon Barash come on the stage with his performance of Jumpin Jack Flash, and it was another stellar performance! The fans were going crazy! The energy he put into that performance was just incredible enough to feel in the crowd, and it definitely showed by the fans reactions.!.
OMG, how could I not rave about Susan Lucci & Tony Dovolani’s performance.. It was simply magical! BTW Tony Dovolani will be on Stardish Radio 11.24.08 @ 10pm est!!
The Disney Cast of High School Musical 3”Senior Year also did a performance which was amazing. Then Kristen Alderson, performed a few songs, a duet with Kassie DePaiva and a performance with Brittany Underwood, and Jason Tam. And they all sounded incredible..
Bob Guiney’s Band did a fabulous job of playing for everyone! They are an extremely talented group.
I have a feeling I may be forgetting someone or something.. But I am sure it will come to me.. There was so much to take in and soak up at once, it was just overwhelming!!
The night closed out, and we left to get back to our hotel, and true to form, whenever Linda and I are in Disney, we always get lost somewhere! And sure enough we did, we were headed to Tampa!.. Unbelievable! After a waste of about 30 miles of highway driving, we got back to our hotel safe and sound, and just passed out! Whew!!! What a day!
11.16.08 Sunday
The day begins on a brighter, but sadder note, 1. We didn’t get lost (yet) and 2. It is the last day of our adventure..
We get to our destination The Flying Fish Café, and as the day before there was a fabulous breakfast that awaited us, a nice breakfast frittata, with grits, sausage, fresh fruit, baked muffins, scones, coffee, and juice.. Once again DELICIOUS!
We go back to our assigned table, and just kinda hang out and wait for our first guest, entering the Café, was Cameron Mathison, Darnell Williams Vincent Irizarry, so we were getting ready!
Then comes in the ever so hysterical, and valued guest of Stardish Radio, Bradford Anderson.. And low & Behold, he is our first sit down.. He greeted Linda & I warmly with remembrance of meeting us in the past, and with great huge HUGS!. We complimented him first and foremost on his performance at the Street Jam the night before, and led in with the promos that we have been seeing all weekend of Spinelli with a gun! Now as seen in the past , Spinelli is obviously not a good shot, and he let us know what the story was with that.. Spoke about recently working again with Kelly Monaco, and Steve Burton, as well as Spinelli’s future with Maxie.
Jason Cook, he is so cute and adorable, couldn’t help but gush over him for a minute (in my head of course!) After he jokingly made fun of my NY accent, he revealed his family is from the Big Apple, we moved on to whether or not he really has been found out to be “A Good Guy or not” and the subject of being able to work with Kirsten Storms again.
I for one, hope they give him something juicy soon. I have to say, I also like the clean shaven look vs. the Beard.
Darnell Williams.!! AHHH it is Jesse Hubbard (is what I said in my head!). What can’t you say about him.. He is an amazing talent!.. Director/producer/actor, it was such a pleasure and honor meeting him for the both of us, after watching him for so long on AMC, and then to make a return the way he did after 20 years, in front of the camera, it was definitely a treat for the both if us.. We talked about his storyline right now, and how some fans were actually upset over it, because they felt that, “Jesse would have never treated Angie in that way, and did the things that he did.” Are there any more surprises from Jesse’s past? We’ll see!
Brittany Underwood & Jason Tam came and sat down with us together, and we talked about their performances the night before, and what is in store for Marko & Langston now, and before leaving us, they were kind enough to autograph an ORIGINAL shirt designed for them by my sister, that will be given away to a lucky Fab Four Foreva fan in an up coming contest!
Brandon Buddy & Kristen Alderson, joined us also as a pair, and we talked about the baby storyline, and the emotional turmoil Cole is going to experience in finding out that Marty is still alive, and just how dark he may get.. And they as well, autographed the shirt! And Kristen Autographed a photo, that I made of her, that will also be used as a prize in a contest..
Brandon Barash sat with us, and we talked about Johnny & Lulu’s future, and what he wanted to see come out of it, how he would like the character’s love story to be perceived by the fans. We spoke of his performance the night before, and also, before leaving us, I presented him with an original designed t-shirt that says I love Johnny Z. Complete with bullet hole font, and he was gracious enough to autograph it for me, we will be giving that away very soon as well.
Farah Fath, got a new haircut, and color, she looks positively adorable! We complimented her on her new look, and her scenes with Rex in the coma.. She actually believed she didn’t do that great! Can you believe it! Then she paid a very nice compliment to Linda & I by suggesting that we had our makeup professionally done! That was very sweet coming from someone as beautiful as she..
JP Lavoisier, he was just hysterical, we talked about his t-shirt fetish, and how he always has another actor on his shirts. This weekend was Cameron Mathison.. and then later on his girlfriend Farah Fath, and even one with just a random fan, who made a t-shirt of herself and gave it to him! And he wore it! We talked about the ending of SSW, and what a shame it was, and what he may miss most of all.
Rebecca Budig, who is just as beautiful as you would expect her to be, sat with us, and we spoke of her being late due to a wardrobe malfunction, her leaving the canvas, and then without warning, she goes totally off topic, and starts complimenting Linda & I on our eyes! Another compliment from a lady as beautiful as she is! Linda & I were just unbelievably flattered to say the least!
We saw Andrew Miller, which is the husband to Eden Riegel, and it was such a pleasure meeting him, as I have spoke with him so many times, in regards to Eden coming on the show. So Eden sat with us for an informal talk, because she was running late, but did let us know
That she is having an incredible time working with Tamara Braun, and happy to be back @ AMC. And we also talked a little about the controversial story of Reese & Bianca getting Married that is coming up, and the religion and politics that they have to face..And she said her loyal BAM fans are pretty supportive of the new pairing.. So that is a good thing..
She spoke passionately on how upset she is about the current election and the fact that Prop 8 in California was passed, and she feels as a country we just took a huge step backwards.. She promised to come on the show and talk some more about it and her storyline..
So that basically wrapped up our interviews, unfortunately we did not get an opportunity to speak to Cameron Mathison, Vincent Irizarry, Ricky Paull Goldin Susan Haskell,. Kirsten Storms, unfortunately was under the weather that morning and could not attend the press conference..
It was time to wrap it up and head on over to the park once again.. In our travels that day, we met up with Michele & Kara from the Palm Beach Daily News, and Errol from Soap Opera Network. We were contemplating on what it is that we wanted to do for the day, since we felt we accomplished what we came for, so we went to see if we were able to get any fast passes, but to no surprise there wasn’t any left! As we were stewing over our options, a Disney employee struck up a conversation with us, and it was based off of my accent, yet again.. I really didn’t think it was that strong! But he himself, does a fabulous range of accents, so he entertained us for a bit with the different versions, of NYC, and Upstate NY, Chicago, Michigan, and Canada accents that he so obviously had perfected. He was quite good..! His name was Bob..
We decided as a group that we were going to go and get some hot chocolate, and something to snack on, and then head back to the Triple Play Show, which the contestants were this time, Laura Wright, Susan Haskell, and Rebecca Budig.. But I received a phone call from one of my dear friends husband, he called to let me know that Jeannie had passed away the night before.. She lost a long battle with Lupus. I was devastated, needless to say.. I did not continue on with the rest of them, and immediately, Linda knew something was wrong.. Jeannie & I had been friends since 1989, we worked together, we had our children together, we got into a lot of trouble together, she saved my son from a crazed dog attack, that ended up getting me instead.. I could go on & on.. She will be missed dearly..
Once Linda came back, I told her what had happened, and of course true to form only as a best friend would , she consoled me, and we talked it out.. There is only one other person who could have kept me calm like that, and that would be my other BFF Monica..
But you know what, Jeannie and I watched soaps for years, and she was a die hard AMC fan, so I went about the day in memory of her.. She always wanted to go to SSW , and was never able to..
We headed on in to the game show, and at first I found it very difficult to participate , I couldn’t snap out of the news I had just received, but JP has a way of making anyone laugh at any given time, so I can thank him for that.. There was a question that was asked of Laura Wright’s team, and the lady behind me kept yelling the answer as if she were so damn positive, and Laura made eye contact with me, so I repeated what the woman behind me said, and it was WRONG! I wanted to smack that lady! Laura gave me the Carly stare, and it burned right through me! She was mad!. It turned out, some people from AMC, had sat in the GH seating to mess them up! And I fell for it.. Of course I apologized to Laura as soon as I saw her!
Moving on from there, we kind of just walked around, and took pictures of everyone that we were not able to see at the press breakfast.. We had a nice leisurely lunch, browsed thru the Soap Central Store, everything at the time was 30% off, and we had decided to come back at the end of the night for our selections, with the hopes of the prices being slashed even more (things were definitely expensive!)
We ended up getting a nice surprise from our Escort David Vernon, who in fact met us later in the day.. He brought Linda & I, 3 full stacks of autographed photos of all the stars! So that was a great surprise and treat for us! Being we were unable to get fast passes this year, we did not have time for autograph sessions, and we were trying desperately to collect all of the photos that were handed out. So he completed the sets for us.. Which was fabulous! Thank you David!
So now we are just about to wrap up the day, it is close to dinner time, and Linda & I had to go get a Turkey Leg! On our way we passed a few empty autograph tables, and decided to get some pictures .. I had foolishly set down my purse under one of the stands, and ended up leaving it behind! Yes, a definite blonde moment, I know! On the way to the Turkey leg stand, I needed to stop by Brittany Underwood’s table to get her to sign something else I forgot to give her that morning, Linda started to head up to the Turkey Leg stand while I did that, so I went in and chatted with a few fans, saw Georgette, who BTW had been MIA all weekend long! So we took a quick photo together..and Errol & I made our way up to where Linda was.. Standing online, getting ready to order, I go to reach for my wallet, and this is when I realize I have NO PURSE! So Errol & I ran back to trace the steps, and I realized where I left it, behind the autograph stand, on the way he calls Brandi, and asks her to go and take a look, and we snatch up a Disney Security guard along the way, sure enough we get there, and it is GONE! I am horrified for several reasons, the 2 main ones, is that I could actually be that stupid, and leave it there, and secondly, having no ID when I am supposed to be boarding a 7 am flight home in the morning! Tom from Long Island, was the security guard, and he quickly jumped on it, and located the purse which had been brought to lost & found by a Disney Cast member.. Thank Goodness! There are still honest people in the world! Not one thing had been taken out of the purse.. So I was grateful, and lucky.. Went ahead and called Linda to let her know everything was ok, and by that time, The Grand Motorcade had been taking place to get ready for the Street Jam.. Well, we emptied our locker and left at that point! I was done, Linda was done.. Super Soap was over for us.. We never got to go back to Soap Central to get our merchandise.. But it’s all good, we have some fantastic memories to add to the scrapbook.. We said our goodbyes to our new friends, and went and waited for the launch to take us to our car..
We rose @ 4 am, and off to the airport @ 5 am where Linda dropped me & a new friend of ours off, and that was that.. Linda headed back to Boca Raton, to get back to work, I was back on my way to Buffalo, to get back to being Mommy, and Super Soap is just a memory now.. I probably won’t see Linda again until February.. And who knows what next event she & I will cover!!
I hope you enjoyed our journey through Super Soap Weekend 13...
Till next time!