big city buses.

5 a.m. came QUICK this morning. An 8-hour shift following only four hours of sleep=a recipe for disaster. All I’ve got to say is it’s a gooooood thing that the Lord blessed me with the gift of optimism, because I used that baby a TON today!

We left the hostel at 5:30, caught the 5:50 bus (where I made friends with a homeless man who called himself “Papa Smurf” and got sat on by a man who I’m pretty positive had schizophrenia), and arrived at UBC Thunderbird Arena around 6:30. Briefing lasted about 20 minutes, then we were split into our groups and sent on our way! Kerri and I were in the same group again, which was the bomb diggity! And our group had the lovely task of checking access passes into “The Mixed Zone,” which was the area where the media could interview the athletes after their games. It was actually a pretty great job to have, and we even got to watch the games and meet a few athletes—and they were SO nice and appreciative of all the volunteers!

One of the guys that was on the production crew in the media area looked JUST like Kevin O’Donnell, Violet’s boyfriend in the movie Coyote Ugly. I’m talkin’ identical! He was even Australian, which made it ever better! Confession: sometimes I would strike up a conversation just so I could listen to him talk. Teesh, you may want to consider changing your accent before I get back home. Just a thought. : )

Canada and Italy played in the first game, and then Norway and Sweden played right after them. Canada won (surprise, surprise), and Norway was down by one goal. I was rootin’ for Norway while I was there. “Salmon. I want SALMON!! It costs a fortune to ship that stuff in from Norwegia!” Thank you, Fiona, for saying that line and thus making it one of my favorite nations. That’s just another example of how Disney has changed my life.

Melissa Mascaro, you are going to be WAY PROUD of me when you read these next few sentences…I love hockey. And if I were a boy, I would be a hockey player. This is a new-found obsession, and I’m still learning the rules (or lack thereof) and all that good stuff. But, nevertheless, I love it!!!!!! If I had a TV and VCR right now, I would be watching every Mighty Ducks movie ever made. And then I would go around beating people up with all my pent-up adrenaline. SWEET!

We got done with our shift 10 minutes early, picked up a few pins to add to my collection (which is another new hobby of mine), and tried to figure out the bus schedule to get back to the hostel. Trolly 17 was our best bet, so we hopped on and saw more interesting people. One man just yelled the whole time saying, “Good grief guys, come on! TODAY PLEASE!” Like I said…very interesting.

I laid in my bed for about an hour when we got back to the hostel, and then Kerri, Ashley, and I went on a mad-hunt for some food. We were craving McDonald’s (having American fast-food withdrawals), so that’s what we had for dinner. They even had (drum roll please…) SMORES PIES! Did I get one? Ch’yeah! But you know what they didn’t have? Mickey D’s sweet tea. Fact: when I get back to South Carolina, I am going to CHUG a gallon of the sweetest tea I’ve ever tasted.

Once again, walking to and from Granville Street, we saw more interesting people. As bad as it sounds to say this, it’s true: people are on some crazy stuff here in the big city. That’s probably true for every big city, but I’m still getting used to it—and for my first time ever in a city bigger than Greenville, I feel like I’m making pretty decent progress. But as the brilliant Dave Barnes says, “there’s still miles to go!”

We stopped at a little store on the way back to the hostel to do some souvenir shopping. Kerri picked up some little contraption that the bottom twisted. We were really confused and couldn’t figure the thing out, so she asked what it was for. “It’s a grinder,” the owner said. My response was, “Like a pepper grinder?” And he said, “No. Like a weed grinder.” Ladies and gentlemen, those conversations don’t happen with such ease in the US. Two words: culture shock.

Because I have another 7 o’clock shift in the morning AND I lose an hour of sleep (thank you, day light saving’s time), I’m going to bed early tonight. Like 8:30 p.m. early. And I’m stoked about it!

Se parle plus tard. : )

want to come home with me? I'm the designated driver.

Today was our first day volunteering! YAY!!! I slept amazing last night, but I started waking up every hour at about 7 o’clock this morning because I was so excited! I hopped out of bed at 9:30, took a shower, got ready for the day in all my super cool Paralympic gear, and off we went! Christine and I left a little earlier than the rest of the group because we wanted to grab a bite to eat at Subway before our loooong day. Italian BMT on honey oat bread. Mmmm, makes my mouth water every time!

While we were paying for our food, the cashier (a 60ish year-old cute little Asian man) told me that he “liked my face” and that I was “beautiful, just absolutely beautiful.” He sure knew how to make a girl feel good…in a creepy sort of way. He proceeded to ask me what my name was and when I told him, he said, “Ahh, Anna. My new favorite name,” and gave me rather seductive look. Boys will be boys, I suppose.

We met up with the group and began our 25-minute walk through downtown to BC Place, where we were scheduled for the day. We checked in, got our assignments for the day, and Julia, Christine, Kerri, and I were all in the same group. SAWEET! Our team leader, Nikki, was super cool and really fun to work with! Our duties for the day included: directing people into security lines, eating way too many cookies, watching about 20 minutes of the ceremonies, freezing our bums off, and giving people directions from the arena. Honestly, most of us felt pretty useless for the majority of the day but sometimes that’s just part of the job.

I met and got to know a girl named Monica who was from Switzerland, and she was so much fun to hand out with! I learned a lot about her culture and how she ended up in Canada. Not to mention she was a total sweet heart! She doesn’t have a facebook, but she said that she was going to make one just for me so we could keep in touch. Friggin’ sweet! I was so pumped when she said that! Gotta love facebook. I really hope I see her again before both of us leave Vancouver.

The security group I worked with was awesome! They said I was the most southern person they had ever talked to and thought my name was “Ayna” for the first half of the day. They obviously didn’t speak redneck quite as well as I did. And would you believe that my security supervisor looked JUST LIKE Meryl Streep? Because she totally did and I couldn’t stop staring at her. I mean, who doesn’t love Meryl?

Christine’s security group was made up of a bunch of young boys who constantly acted a fool. Seriously. Out of all the people in the whole world that people have said I sound like, they came up with the most random person ever: the reporter girl from Mr. Deeds. That’s a first. And I still don’t see it, but it’s whatev. Like I said, they were crazy!

For dinner we had tortellini, broccoli soup, a roll, and our choice of Coke products. I was yummy AND free, which made it all the better! After dinner, we got to watch a few minutes of the actual ceremony, but then it was back to work in the chilly winter weather outside. All the other outside volunteers bailed so it was just us. All six of us directing 30,000 people out of the building. Chaos? Well, you’d think it would be, but it really wasn’t so terrible. Thanks to that task, I now know how to direct anyone to anywhere from BC Place. Pretty impressive, I know. Julia, Monica, and I beasted the instructions.

A man walked up to me and he was drinking from a coffee mug. He asked me how to get to the casino, and then proceeded to tell me that he was drunk and that it wasn’t coffee in his mug. Another man asked me if I liked poetry and when I said I did, he handed me two pages of poems he had written. They were titled: “Hockey for Global Peace,” “Canadian Food Guide (A Hip-Hop Song)” and “Canadian Food Guide (Nursery Rhyme).” Thank you, Shiraz Ramji, for making my night. He also told me to look him up online at www.sfu.ca/~swramji. If you want a good giggle, you should too.

Our shift ended at 10 o’clock, and we made it back to the hostel about half an hour later. Let it be known that I raced John Barwise back to the hostel, and beat him. WITH a bum knee. I only have one thing to say about that: Girls rule & boys drool!

In five hours, I have to wake up again for another day in the life of a Paralympic volunteer. So for now, au revoir!

the big 2-3!

I woke up around 7:30 this morning so we could shower and get ready for….VENUE TRAINING! But the first thing that ran through my mind was “HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANNIE REE!!!!!!!!!!!” My girl turned 23 today, which is most definitely the best age. Ever. I was also super sad that I couldn’t be with her on her big day! Booooo! Nevertheless, I proudly put on a Clemson t-shirt, grabbed a French vanilla cappuccino at Tim Horton’s (also known as Horton Hears a Who, a nickname given by yours truly), and caught the 44 bus to UBC! That bus was the JAM!! It looked like a humongous accordion, and I was obsessed. Who knew that would happen?

We got off the bus around 9 o’clock, and searched for where we were supposed to go for about 30 minutes. Gotta love an adventure, especially when it’s freezing and there’s snow on the ground. We finally made it to our destination, got our accreditation badges checked, and took a seat in the training room to wait for it to begin. Our tour guides (also the managers of Vanoc-Vancouver Olympic Committee) heard our story of how we came from Clemson, and they told us we would be featured in a newsletter at some point during the week. Sweet!

Training lasted from 10 to 1, and then they fed us a yummy lunch! I had rice and chicken, pita bread and chili, and a banana with a bottle of Dasani to drink. Random combination, I know…but it was the bomb! The break room overlooks the practice rink, as well, and we were able to watch both the Canada and USA sledge hockey teams practice! That was probably the coolest part of the whole day!

After we got back to the hostel, Kerri, Christine, and I sat down to write our treacherous literature review for 409. Nothing like a stupid paper to kill a good mood. Christine and I took about an hour break to go eat with everyone at a Greek restaurant called Stepho’s. I had a chicken pita with fries, and it was SO GOOD! I felt like a fatty, because John, a guy in our class, ordered the same meal as I did and I ate like twice as much as he did. That is another example of how much I miss Teeesh…I always know that whenever I eat with him, I’ll never feel fat because no matter how hard I try, I can NEVER eat as much as him! :-P

We stopped by the grocery store after dinner to pick up a candle for the room and a Diet Coke for Kerri, and then it was back to the books. I was slightly distracted by basketball, I must admit. Three hours later though, around midnight, I put the finishing touches on my paper and submitted that bad boy. I honestly can’t remember a time when I felt more relieved in my whole life! I have a feeling I’m going to sleep WONDERFUL tonight. At least I hope so because…tomorrow is our first day of work!!!! I’ll be decked out in all blue, and I. Can’t. WAIT!

That’s all for now, ladies and gentlemen. My eyes are currently closing as I type this. Goooooodnight!

snow snow snow!

It is currently 9:17 p.m. on the west coast, and I am struggling to keep my eyes open to write this. But since today was such an INCREDIBLE day, I’m going to push through it and do some documentation. Here we go!

We woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to through on our clothes, pack our bags, and meet downstairs in the lobby by 6 o’clock to leave out. We had a couple of stragglers, so our departure time was closer to 6:45 a.m. Girls, girls, girls…that’s all I have to say about that. While we were making our way up the mountain, we pulled over to look at the killer view and take a few pictures. The only thing that was going through my head the entire time was, “God, you are so big and I am so small.” This was the first of many humbling experiences throughout the day.

We got to Whistler around 8:45 a.m., rented our ski equipment, and then went to wait in line to buy lift tickets. I was waiting in line to buy mine and a lady touched my arm and asked me if I was in line to buy a ticket, and then proceeded to offer me an extra one she had previously bought for only $40. HOLY SMOKES! I just about died. Lift tickets are $93 for adults, so I saved a pretty penny on that purchase. I spent an entire day at Whistler Ski Resort for less than $100. That. Is. Unreal. And once again, I was humbled beyond belief.

Kerri, Christine, and I hit the slopes right after getting our tickets, and hit them hard core for about two hours. My knees were about to give out, so the three of us decided to take a break and grab a bite to eat. We each got slices of pizza at this little pizza place that was so yummy! Christine and I shared a chocolate éclair, which was the perfect ending to a great lunch!

We went back out on the trails for a couple more hours, but I had to take another break because my knees were seriously about to quit functioning all together. I asked a bartender at a pub for two bags of ice, and Christine kept me company while I froze the soreness out of my patellas. Kerri met us at the pub after skiing a little longer and informed us that she was going to try snowboarding. We immediately jumped up and followed her up the mountain, because we COULDN’T miss that!

About 3934593860389723 falls, a near-death experience, and an hour and a half later, we made it back down the mountain. After returning our equipment, we went to a restaurant and…..I had my first legal, intentional beverage! It was called a Blue Hawaiian, and it had pineapple juice, coconut rum, and some other drink that made it turn green! YUMMMMMMY!! Christine and Kerri picked it out for me, and I was very happy with their decision-making skills. Now they can’t knock me out, as previously stated (lets out sigh of relief). And just as my wonderful friend P. Sawyer predicted, I did something crazy today. Who knew she was a prophet? Saweeet!

We met up with the rest of the group at 4:30, ate dinner, and then headed back down to Vancouver. My knees are killing me, my face is wind burned, I probably won’t be able to move tomorrow morning (or all day, for that matter), but I am so pumped to say these words: I have skied down one of the most BEAUTIFUL and PRESTIGOUS mountains in the whole WORLD! It was SO much fun, and I am SO pumped that I had the opportunity to experience that!

Due to the inadequate amount of energy in my body and the early morning we have again tomorrow, I think it’s time to call this one quits. Nighy night!

p.s. Remember that time I have an 8-page paper to write tomorrow in a three hour span? Not. Cool.

And one more thing…I really miss my boyfriend. More than 60 hours without even hearing his voice=terrible! No doubt.

waking up in Vancouver.

My first thought this morning: HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREEBIRD!!!!!!!!!!! My little brother is 17 today! Holy moly, where has the time gone!?!? My second thought this morning: today was my first time waking up in a big city! Even though it didn’t really feel any different, it’s really cool to say it like that!! YAY! : ) We woke up at 9:30 (after setting a 9 o’clock alarm, of course) and were downstairs at 10:30 to meet with the group. Before the meeting, however, I realized that I had locked BOTH of the keys to the lock on my locker inside of it. How swell. Luckily I wasn’t the first knucklehead to do that and the front desk had a pair of metal cutters downstairs. Teresa Tucker flaunted her massive muscles and showed that lock who was boss. Not so bad for day two, right?

And then…..we left to go pick up our UNIFORMS!!!! This was my personal favorite part of the day, because I have been excited about getting all those goodies since I signed up! We got a pair of pants, two long sleeve shirts, a toque, a fleece vest, and a windbreaker jacket! We also got a little goodie bag with all of our stuff. VANOC hooked us up reeeeeal good. Wahoo!

We had to drive down Hastings Street to get to and from uniform pick up, and I witnessed my very first drug deal. Awesome, I know. To be honest, I saw a LOT of firsts today, all on that one street. Good times…or something like that!

We ate lunch at this little sandwich shop that was off the chain! I had a chicken caesar sandwich with a garden salad—YUMMY! My salad came with the best salad dressing I have ever had. I think we’ll be spending a lot more time there.

When we finished our lunch, Skye took Christine and Nicole to the doctor because they weren’t feeling very well. Kerri and I decided that this would be a great time to go gallivanting throughout the city, so we did. We saw a lot of neat-o things, all of which were too expensive for us. Canada is beautiful, but their prices are like DOUBLE what we pay in the states. That is one thing that I am most definitely not a fan of up here. For example, I had to buy batteries for my camera because I forgot to pick some up before we left. A 12-pack of the OFF-BRAND batteries was $16. I nearly had a heart attack. No lie. Basically I would love to live in a big city…if I was rich and could afford the costs…which will be never, so I will continue to complain. : )

When Christine got back from the doctor, we went walking around some more—this time in our new jackets and toques! We looked like triplets, and everyone looked at us like we were something else. People asked us for directions, and one lady from Crete even asked us to take a picture with her. She said, “Oooo! Canada girls!” We got a kick out of that, for sure! Who knew that wearing Olympic gear made you famous?

We stopped by Tim Horton’s for some coffee on our way back to the hostel and it was super yummy! I even ordered a cruller in honor of my smokin’ hot boyfriend because I miss him so much! I paid $5.73 for a latte, a doughnut, and 10 munchkin-equivalent doughnuts. Take that, Starbucks!

I am currently lying in bed, preparing to work on some homework while the rest of the gang (minus Kerri, Christine, and myself) are pubbin’ it up. This is just another example of how PRTM 409 is ruining our lives. At least for the next two months it will be…and then, bye bye school work! SAWEET!

That’s all for now, folks. Goodnight from the west coast!

bye bye USA!

Hello from the beautiful city of Vancouver!

Kerri, Christine, and I left from the Marriott Hotel in Charlotte at 4:30 a.m. to head to the airport for our 6:59 a.m. flight. After running on practically no sleep because of the busy weekend we had just had and the not-so pleasant news I received last night, we were surprisingly ECSTATIC! My excitement was partially because of Canada, but mostly because my INCREDIBLE friend P. Sawyer has been spoiling for my birthday month and I got to open up a goodie this morning! YAY! I. Love. Her. Period.

After a two hour flight to Chicago, a two hour layover to match, and a five hour flight to Vancouver, we finally arrived in this beautiful city. We checked into the hotel, got our money exchanged, and grabbed some lunch. It was only 2 o’clock, but our bodies hadn’t adjusted to the time change and, therefore, we were already pretty exhausted. After lunch, my roomies and I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things, and then headed back to the hostel to unpack and reorganize our bags.

John, Chris, and Ashley mentioned going for a walk in Stanley Park, and I was definitely game for that! Our first stop: THE PACIFIC OCEAN!!!! I was totally pumped about this because it was my very first time seeing it and touching the water! It was FAH-REE-ZING, but totally worth the frostbite that my right hand may or may not have.

We continued walking, in a desperate search for the totem poles, when John asked two people sitting on a bench if they could direct us towards them. Immediately, they jumped up, introduced themselves, and offered to take us there themselves. Steve and Naline were SUCH a huge help and they were SO nice, too! They walked with us for about 45 minutes, giving us tidbits of information about the things we were passing along the way. At last, we found the totem poles! Three hours later, that is. All of our feet were about to kill over on us, but we kept on keeping on. It was all worth it when we spotted an otter on a dock in the marina-that was another “first” added to my list today.

We got back to our hostel around 7:30 p.m., a whopping four hours after we first left, and we had a quick class meeting at 8 o’clock, then Kerri, Christine, and I fixed ourselves some nice canned food in the kitchen of the hostel. High class, I’m tellin’ ya. Chef Boyardee for dinner: the story of my life.

I hopped in a quick shower and here I am now, snuggled up in bed in my onesie. At 10 o’clock. While most of the rest of the class is out exploring Vancouver’s night life. Maybe tomorrow we’ll venture out into the city, if my poor feet will be able to make it through the day. Since the drinking age in Canada is 19 and Kerri and Christine will knock me out if they don’t get to buy me a drink, I guess we have no choice but to get around to it. : )

Over and out. Sweet dreams!

remember that time I forgot to post these three months ago?

In December, P. Sawyer and I took a second trip to Tree Hill and here is our documentation. Whooopsies for the delay. Enjoy! :)

Day One:

Welp, we left from Greer at 6 o’clock this morning and arrived in Wilmington at approximately 1:30 this afternoon…after taking a 100 mile detour of which we were completely unaware of until we were approaching Charleston. Needless to say, we got a totally tour of every beach in South Carolina. A 5-hour trip became a 7-hour trip with just one missed turn. That WOULD happen to us, haha! Jesus was protecting us from something, and we are certain of that…and thankful!

When we first got to Wilmington, we decided to drive by Tric just to check it out andddd the crew and cast were there FILMING! One word: JACKPOT!!! We grabbed our tailgating chairs, and waited patiently for someone to notice us. While we were waiting, we got to meet a few of the crew guys that work on the set-which was awesome! Our favorite crew member was Russell-he helped us out a LOT by giving us the locations for filming for the rest of the week. He also said our favorite quote of the day…we asked what Roudabush was (the place where they’re filming on Thursday) and his response was, “I don’t know, they sell seeds and sh*t.” Bahahaha, classic! He made our whole day, and I’m still laughing about it!

Five hours later, India de Beaufort (Miranda) and Michael Grubbs (Grubbs) walked across the street to visit with us for a few minutes! They were so nice and acted like we were best friends! We had met India in August when we came, and she was just as sweet this time as last time! We love love LOVE her!

About another hour passed before filming came to an end for the day, and then Jana Kramer (Alex) came over to visit with her boyfriend (Jonathan Shaech, from That Thing You Do and Prom Night), and we were flipping out! Jana was SO excited to hear that we liked her character; she kept saying “Really?! Aww, that makes me so happy!!!” Needless to say, that only made us love her more!

When Jana and Jonathan left the set, we walked over towards Tric and waited to talk to any crew members that could have possibly given us a tour of the building. Melanie saved the day by seeking this one girl out…who then led us into TRIC! I was so excited I tripped and fell off the sidewalk. It wouldn’t be a Wilmington experience without my clumsy self flopping all over the place! We walked up the stairs, and BAM!!!! There was Tric! The bar, the stage, the merchandise table, the tables, the chairs…EVERYTHING was INCREDIBLE! We even got to leave the building by walking down the stairs on the side of the building; the same ones we “trespassed” to climb in August, haha! Shhh, that can be our little secret!

Immediately following our Tric tour, we headed to the car to find a restroom…it was our first potty break since 11 o’clock this morning! We had to GO!

And now, we are currently laying on the bed, reminiscing about our extraordinary first day…in our ONSIES! If someone were to ask me what the perfect day would be, I would say this one, of course!

Day Two:

Well, day two of our trip wasn’t nearly as eventful…but still not disappointing! We started off the day right by waking up at 10:30 a.m., which is the latest I have slept in about a month! It was heavenly!! After getting ourselves all dolled up, we embarked on our journeys for the day.

Right after parking the car, we went directly to The Cigar Exchange to ask about a hookah bar, because hookah was on our list of things to do for the day! Next, we went to the Wilmington Post Office to mail my Christmas cards! 47 cards and $20 later, we went to The George to eat lunch…this was super exciting for us because that’s where Nathan and Haley’s first date was, as well as where Brooke and Victoria ate lunch one day. YAY!!!

When we came to Wilmy in August, I signed a table where Haley tutored Nathan for the first time (when he gave her bracelet and said, “Don’t say I never gave you anything,” which is one of my faaaavorite lines of the whole series! My initials were gone when we went to find them, soooo I re-signed of course! Only this time, I made sure it would stay there by signing with permanent marker!

Poodles is a store right beside The George that sells Tree Hill stuff, so we made a stop in there for a few minutes! Melanie got a super cute bag that says “Ravens” and I got a shirt with the same logo on it! They are CUTEEEEE! After Poodles, we went to CD Alley, which is the store Peyton always goes to when she buys new vinyl records. I bought the new John Mayer CD, which is uh-may-zing!! Even more so because of where I got it! 

Since we were in the Peyton mood, we drove to the corner of 19^th and Chestnut St., where her house is! Haley’s house is also at the corner, which was PERFECT because we both got to see our own houses, haha! We were hoping we could get the owners to invite us in, buttttt that didn’t happen…so we just took more pictures instead! After visiting our homes, we went to Screen Gems to see if the cast was still there filming…andddd they were, so we stalked for a few moments! It’s basically impossible to see the characters when they film in the studio, so we decided to go to Lucas’ bridge for a few pictures! This time, we tested our inner hardcore nerves and got out of the car to take pictures on the bridge (it’s in a bad neighborhood, so last time we chickened out!). A creeper was walking on the bridge while we were taking pictures, so we headed back to the car for a few minutes until he passed. Then, we got even more gutsy and went under the bridge, which is where Brooke and Peyton used to hang out when they were kids. We felt super macho, haha!

Our next destination was in Wrightsville Beach, on the bridge where Clay and Sarah jumped off in an earlier episode this season (“On 2…1, 2…”)! We only stayed there for a few minutes, and then headed back to downtown Wilmington. We took a few pictures in front of the Clothes Over Bros set, then searched around for a Hookah bar! I have wanted to smoke hookah for a little while now, and I was determined to do it TODAY! And ta-da, we found one! We tried the watermelon flavor, and it wasn’t too bad…until I got a KILLER headache and felt nauseous. I know I know, I’m so hardcore. Bahaha, oh geeeez! At least now I can knock smoking because I’ve tried it, ha! While we were sitting there, this man walked up and wanted to make us roses out of palm leaves (like the ones in Charleston). Melanie bought one, and he gave one to me because he said he couldn’t let one girl have one without the other one having one, too. What a gentleman!

Once we decided we had had enough of the hookah experience, we started walking back towards our car. We passed a bar, and there was a guy standing at the door. He said “Hey ladies,” and we said hey as well. The next thing we know, he is chasing us down the sidewalk! We stopped and he proceeded to look me in the eyes for the next five minutes and tell me how beautiful I was. He said, “You are the most beautiful creation I have ever seen. I have been all over the place, Iraq, Afghanistan, all over America, and I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you are. I saw you and I was like ‘WOW!’ You were so beautiful I had to chase you down the road to tell you so.” Bahahaha, talk about awkward!!! I was wearing a ring on my left ring finger, and I guess he assumed that I was engaged or married, and he was like, “I see your ring, so I won’t try anything. But please know that you are so beautiful.” He even looked and Melanie and said, “Just look at her. She is so beautiful.” Then Chris (of course he introduced himself, haha) shook my hand, kissed it, and watched us walk away. That was by FAR the funniest part of the day!!!!

We were headed to Kilwin’s for some ice cream before Chris stopped us, and then we found they were already closed when we got there. Epic fail. We were almost in tears, haha! We got some coffee from Port City Java instead, so we were still satisfied! We realized that after 6 o’clock, downtown Wilmington is DEAD unless you’re in a bar. And well, since I’m not 21 and we weren’t looking to hang out in the streets, we made the executive decision to come back to the hotel room, put on our onesies, and watch Home Alone.

Even though today wasn’t as wonderful as yesterday, it is still considered a success in our view! Can’t wait till tomorrow!! We’re headed to TopSail!

Day Three:

It is safe to say that this day had its ups and its down! We got up at 5:30 and were on the road at 6:30, headed to Topsail for some filming! It was a bit of an adventure for an hour or so, because we couldn’t find Clay’s beach house, which was where filming was taking place all day. We asked around and a lady named Nancy was finally able to help us! She was an extra back in November, and she was familiar with the area. Turns out, we were right on top of it at one point, and didn’t go quite far enough!

Once we parked and walked toward the set, a police officer told us that the best way to get to the actors was to hang out around base camp, which was about ¼ of a mile away from where they were filming. The vans passed by us without fail, but we had no luck with getting the actors to come over. We were sitting in front of a hotel, so we went in a couple of times to use their restroom. The first time I went in, the lady at the front desk asked, “Are you the girl that’s camped out on our lawn?” Bahaha, we had officially been identified as creepers!

After 8 hours of no response from the actors at ALL, we decided to walk back towards Clay’s house. A different police officer greeted us when we first walked up, and he told us that the best place for us to watch was right beside the house on a crosswalk. This was the moment we realized that the other cop just wanted us out of the way. Thanks to him, we missed every single scene being filmed. Truth be told, I’m still a little mad about it! UGH!!! Nevertheless, we staked out on the crosswalk and waited for the final scene to come to an end.

While we were standing there, two crew members walked up on the crosswalk and assessed the weather for the next scene. They walked off a few minutes later after we made small talk, and then one of the guys brought us back some hot chocolate! We thought that was the coolest thing ever!! Screen Gems, we love you! Haha! Then another crew member with two dogs walked passed to walk out onto the beach. As he was passing, he said, “Watch out; famous dog coming through.” He then proceeded to tell us that he was the guy who jogged passed Clay right after Dan “baptized” him earlier this season. SWEET!! His name was Jim, and of course we got a picture with him!

Just a few minutes after we walked back to our designated stake-out spot, a crew member told us that they had just wrapped and the actors were about to leave. He showed us the best spot to stand in order to get pictures and autographs, and we were OH SO thankful! Clay and Quinn’s van pulled right up next to us and they hopped out! Clay said, “Wanna take a few quick pictures?” And of course we jumped on that like there was no tomorrow! Being wedged in between Shantel and Robert was the best five seconds of my lifeeeee!

As they were leaving, Shantel (Quinn) said, “Thank you for hanging out with us for the day! Sorry we have to rush off!” That was incredibleeeee!! Now if only Joy and James would flippin’ acknowledge us! BAHHHH!

Right after that, we started walking back towards my car. Did I mention that is was like ZERO degrees outside all day long? And we were basically ice cubes by the time we got out of the cold? Anyways, we walked back, got in the car, and started to pull out of the parking lot. And what would happen? Why, the gate would be CLOSED, of course. There was a note on my car that said I wouldn’t be able to move my car until morning when it opened back up. Really?! I mean, that would only happen to us! So, we got out of the car are jolted back to the set to catch the cop before he left. We made it there in record time, and the police officer called another officer to meet us at the parking lot to let us out. WHEW!!! Talk about a blessing! Jesus was most definitely looking out for us tonight!!

We left Topsail and an hour later, we were back in Wilmington! We had our first real meal of the day (mmmm, Subway!) and headed back to the hotel room. And now? Happy Feet to wind down! Can’t wait to sleep in tomorrow morning and finish our trip up strong! YAY!!

Day Four:

On our final day in Wilmington (tear!) we woke up at about 9:30 and checked out of the hotel around 10:30. Our first stop was the Rivercourt, which was gross! There were puddles of water everywhere and the court itself looked very worn-down. Right after we left, we drove by Hilarie's house & her Range Rover was parked in front of it! Her address will be ingrained in my mind forever!! After we lingered there for a little while, we went to The Reel Cafe for lunch. This was the set they used for Brooke’s first job at the crab place! Melanie got sex on the beach…but no worries, she’s not an alcoholic or anything. HAHA!!

Our next stop was Kilwin's!!! We were so disappointed that this was our first trip, but they closed so early everyday that this was the first chance we had. The girl who took our order called her sister a “stank behind” for skipping school and we just about died of laughter!!! So funny! We ate our ice cream and walked along Boardwalk and found the spot where Everly scene took place, with Joy and Grace Potter!

When we finished walking around, we went back to Hilarie's to stalk some more! This time we saw Nick Gray (who does all the SoGoPro podcasts!!) leave her house AHH!! And we followed him down the street for a while until we lost him haha! Instead of continuing to search for him, we just decided to walk around downtown some more. We went to the Cotton Exchange, and got stuck talking to this creepy guy that worked at a store called Ping Tibet. Weeeeeeird!! Then we sat on a bench in front of Roudabush to scope out when they were going to start filming! We walked to base camp, which was at 2nd & Dock St! We talked to one of the van drivers named Reggie, and he gave us some inside tips!! He told us the actors weren’t there yet, so we decided to walk to the car and put more money in the meter. When we were walking toward the car, Melanie had a heart attack….which was because she had spotted HILARIE BURTON!!!!! We stalled for as long as we could so we could meet her, and then she finally got out of her car! We told her how big of fans we are of her, and she stuck around and talked for us for like five minutes! We were FREAKINGGGG OUT!!! We got pictures with her and everything! BEST. DAY. EVERY!!!!!!!

Still freaking out, we walked to a little coffee shop right in front of Roudabush, and we were in the best moods ever!! Seriously! We admired pictures like a million times while just sitting there!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!

We finally left the coffee shop and staked out on a corner in front of set! A crazy drunk guy causing a disturbance kept saying "I'm doing society a favor!" and thennnnn he got arrested! HAHA!!! The crew guys walked over to us while we were sitting at The Reel Cafe, and we FINALLY took a picture with Russell!!! I also took one with Paul and Bill….and Paul, well, he enjoyed it a little too much! HA! Then out of nowhere, Jen waved us over across the street because Shantel came over pre-filming!!!!!! We got pictures with her, and discussed cow scene! Hahahaha, it was all of our favorites!!! She told us she would send Bess (Lydia) over to take pictures after filming!

We stood around right across the street and got to see some filming thru windows for about 2 hours, and chatted it up with Paul mostly. Andddd he invited us to spend the night with him bahahaha!! He said I’ve got locks on the doors, and we could drink some wine, beer, whatever you want…” All I have to say about that is…man-whore!!!We kept talking to him, though haha! He led us in front of the store and explained filming techniques! When we walked back around to the side, a razy girl with make-up blackened eyes and ripped fishnet stockings walked past us downtown with two guys. Sketccchhhhh!!! Then a creepy old guy walked up to us and asked us if we like wine and turkish beer. He then proceeded to tell us about his step-mom: "she my stepmom, well, she might as well be" Bahahaha!!! Craaaaazy people!

Filming wrapped and the crew told us to walk up a block to base camp to meet Lydia and Quinn, so we did!!!! Bess was precious and called us adorable, and she loved Melanie mentioning the quote about Haley smoking crack from season 2! We were able to take individual pictures with Shantel, and even a sandwich picture!!!

We had to get gas, so we stopped in at South of the Border. Little did we know we would meet the biggest drug dealer in the area….awesome. The lady who rang us up was crazy too!! Note to self: never go back there again! We finally arrived home at 2 o'clock! ACHAAA!!!!