Sunday April 11, 2010

I decided to start this journal today so that I will keep it up during my crazy weekend that is about to come up. It started a few weeks back when a good friend of mine enlightened me that Patrick Dempsey would be in California at the Long Beach Grand Prix April 16 to the 18th. Thats three days with Dempsey! HAHAHA YAY!  So- first obstacle, to ease my husband into the idea. First question? How much is it going to cost me to go stalk your fantasy husband? Okay, lets see if I can afford this. My girlfriend lives in CA so I am thinking I can stay there. Tickets to the event?

I email my good friend who told me about the event and he is gifting me the ticket! SCORE! So then I call my BFF Adrienne to see if she will go with me and of course she is on board and as my personal papparazi! And she will pay 1/2 the gas to go, so all I need to pay for is 1/2 gas and food. Husband started to accept it better as he saw I was going anyway and it wasn't going to cost much. Did he want to go? possibly....but seeing your wife fawn over an actor? not so much fun. So going without him this time is the best idea. Of course it helps with the child too since i can't be there to run her around.

So then I do come up with an obstacle. My friend who lives in CA is actually 2 hours south and do we really want to drive 2 hours every day? That is a lot of driving. So needing a cheap room I call my cousin who used to live in Pasadena (thinking he knows how to keep me outta da hood), instead of keeping me out of the scary parts of town, he gets me my room!!! He had some points added up and was happy to do it for me because he knows how much I have looked for this to happen.

This trip is feeling MEANT TO BE. And for those of you who know me, meant to be isn't my forte. I feel you make your moment, you make your future. But this is feeling different. This is good. So here I am, counting down the days. I have something going every day until I leave. Working out 2X per day to try to lose a dress size.

(this is my life long story) Monday I clean out my car, shampoo and all. Tuesday I get my lovely hair freshened up, Wednesday I go shopping for some fun clothes, hopefully a size smaller than now, and Thursday we leave! (breathe Cindy)  Am I nervous? hell yes. But I got a flask to have a small shot of tequila to calm my ass down. Its a bright neon pink flask that says Bitch on it....but its more feminine than my husbands camo flask. Does it matter? no. Does the tequila matter? YES

Flash forward to Thursday April 15th Long hideous trip, got up at 4am to leave at 430am - going wasn't so bad, but merged the wrong way when it just wanted you to notice that the merge WAS THERE....took us about 1 hour longer. Luckily we had allowed ourselves a lot of time and we still got to our special lunch date an hour early. We stopped at a local Wendy's and used their bathroom to refresh ourselves. Headed towards our lunch date with Game on Diet author AZ Ferguson and found that parking was just lovely. Drove around for awhile looking for parking. Holy canoli, I DO NOT parallel park and guess what I got to do? Its all there is here!!! At least I was happy they didn't charge, because guess what else they do in LA? They like to charge for EVERYTHING

.

Text messaged Az and asked him if he was at the restaurant and he text back that he was and where he had the table. We finally got there and there he was. In beautiful reality. The man is gorgeous. Gotta say that off the bat. I have pictures to prove it too. He is a wonderful wonderful person as well. An inspiration with the Game on Diet, he loves to help people with their health. And meeting him and talking with him for the next 2 hours was a delight.

Also to my delight, was a late guest to lunch, Krista Vernoff. Co-Author of the Game on Diet and Executive Producer of my favorite show in the world, Grey's Anatomy. She is an total doll as well. She sat down and quickly ate her sandwich as she had to get back to Grey's and was just leaving her dentist. Two really awesome people who I could completely see being good friends with IRL. (In real life)

The reason I got to meet these two individuals was that I run a diet group based on their book and I have met them through that as well as twitter. I found their system to be a genius system, utilizing people's competitive drive to help them learn better habits, by giving them points for when they do certain things like sleeping the right amount of hours, drinking the right amount of water, etc. Usually people play the game with local individuals, people they work with, family etc. But for those who don't have anyone local to play with, I have developed an online group that plays the game together online. So Az and Krista have been very appreciative of this and have helped me with questions and whatnot regarding the site and this was just a nice lunch with two new friends. Very lovely and I was thrilled. We didn't talk a lot of Grey's Anatomy as I know Krista can't tell secrets and I honestly don't want to know, we mostly talked about the game and enjoyed each others company. Thank you Az and Krista for joining us! Leaving lunch, we now have to go find our way through to our hotel which is by the LAX. UGH. We get on the road with directions and get lost every which way we possibly could. I shouldn't even be admitting it, but we got lost quite a few times for the first day and even into the next morning.

 But that was just part of being in LA.

 

Lets get to the most important part of my trip. Meeting the MAN. LOL Well the first day I kept missing him and my phone died so I didn't get the many texts that my friends were sending of where he was and then I just didn't want to be desperate and knowing he would be there the next day I gave in to the defeat and took my blistered feet back to my room.

I did have a wonderful day however! Does it matter I didn't meet Dempsey? not so much. I hung out with Andy Lally, driver for TRG and got to meet a bunch of fun, interesting people and experienced my first race. It was a win either way. And tomorrow was another day.

 So onto the ultra life changing day....the next morning (after two measly hours of sleep, thanks to my very talkative group of slumber partying friends; Marianne and Adrienne) I get up and get ready.

 I am expecting very little because the day before was very disappointing and I didn't want to be disappointed this day, so I kept my expectations super low. Hair did well but not perfect, makeup did well but not perfect and I am still too fat, but what the hell, this is how it is and I am going to make the best of it.

 We get on the road about 15 minutes later than I wanted to, but no biggie, my expectations are low this time. And for some reason I find relief in this attitude. Low expectations makes for less disappointment, right?

 So we get on the road and without directions I get back to Long Beach without getting lost! SCORE!!!! Going to find a parking spot, I accidentally go into this one parking lot, with my girlfriend in the back saying, "Don't park here, park there!" So I ask the man at the gate if I can turn around, he tells me that the parking lot has no cashier. FREE PARKING, SCORE!!!!!!

 As we walk, I feel this is the MEANT TO BE DAY. Didn't get lost....snaps for Cindy. Free parking....snaps for Cindy. This is going to be

 a good day. We get inside and decide to go to the restroom and freshen up...just in case. I decide I should probably take a few swigs off my flask....just in case. I use some of my yummy cinnamon breath spray....just in case and go out into the convention center.

 

Off the bat I see my lovely French friends; Caroline, Deb and Gwendo. They are coming to the restroom as well. We decide to head over towards Dempsey's car. I see a familiar figure walking with my friend Jim. I get very inside of myself at this moment. Not sure what to do. I didn't want to jump him. Well, I did, but you know what I mean. I didn't want to act like a crazy person. For one thing, my friend Jim told me I couldn't.  But I also didn't want to come off that way anyway. I want to SEEM normal, even if I am not.

 So my friend Marianne says, "You know I wanted to meet Jim anyway about motorcycles so introduce me" and I agree that this is probably okay.

 

So there he is, I am a bit dumbfounded. So surreal. I mean I have only followed this mans career since 1987. He looked a little smaller than I would have expected but we were eye to eye. Jim sees me standing there and introduces me to Patrick. I say I am Cindy. He says I am Patrick Dempsey. Ya I know.....DUDE. I don't say this, but boy am I thinking it. Shaking his hand, I am hoping he does not feel me shaking. I am star struck. I didn't want to think I would be, but he is EXTREMELY handsome. More handsome than in pictures and while I wouldn't think this is possible, those who have met him understand what I mean.

 He is in a hurry, they have a meeting to go to and after being very gracious and gentlemanly. (is that a word? ) He heads on out. I am just dumbfounded and watching his cute bootie walk away. He has this brisk little walk. Definitely worth the trip. I may not wash that hand....Okay so you know I am joking, but you get my point. This was awesome.

 So we go on with our day because he is not due back to the convention center til around 1. So we go look around, find some more friends and eat some food. Still having blisters from the day before I am not wanting to walk a ton so I ask my BFF Adrienne if she wants to go look at the Celebrity cars. Did I mention this? There were other celebrities there too! Racing Toyota's for charity.

 Our obstacal? This metal contraption called a fence that kept us from meeting with destiny, but I guess I could see that. Would you

 want to see a group of crazy fans right in your face? I wouldn't. Seriously? I see all the cameras going off when Patrick is around and I honestly think I would lose it.

 The solution to the metal contraption? A lens for my camera that goes 300mm. It is a great lens, I took some great pictures. It wasn't good for up close shots, but boy was it good to stalk, I mean check out the celebrities. And we want to see Christian Slater, Adrian Brody and most especially....Keanu Reeves. I think he is a hottie! He's not Dempsey, but you know... He's hot.

 I see Christian Slater sitting under a canopy. He looks RIGHT at me! I'm pretty sure he was wondering where why I was behind a fence and not right next to him getting cozy. But he stays still long enough for me to take a picture.

 Then we see Patrick- can't remember his last name, was on Seinfeld, was on Men in

 Black...that guy.

Tony Hawk with his baby girl. SOOOOO adorable.

 Adrian Brody, what a man. Very cute...

 Jesse McCarthy...Too young for me to enjoy, but I take a picture anyway for my daughter. How is this kid old enough to race?????

 

 

Zachary Levi from Chuck....I had no idea...I think I may have to watch Chuck now. Oh my. 

 

 

 

 

Then there he was. Speed, Matrix, Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure....KEANU. Boy he was HOT IRL too. SERIOUSLY. I think Adrienne was hyper ventilating. Me, I was standing back just letting him feel my vibe. But honestly I think Christian still had it, because he KEPT looking at me.

 

Done with ogling the celebrities, we go back in and sit down. The dogs were definitely barking. After the rest we must go back to stalking, I mean looking for Dempsey. Instead of finding Dempsey I find an awesome lady that I tweet with. Lynne! Instant buds, I am so happy to see her and her husband! We get cheesy for the camera and hang out for awhile. The World Challenge guys all get ready to sit down and do some signing for the fans. We don't see Patrick there though....he's supposed to be...

 

Then there he is. With this adorable little blondie on his shoulders. This cute little blondie was none other than Sullivan Dempsey. One of Patrick and Jillian's two twin boys. And there is Jillian and his daughter too. We meet his family and they are off and running

 again. I am thinking I am never going to get my picture with this man! But you know, I am of low expectations this day; so I am just on this ride, I ain't driving.

Patrick takes his family over to see his car. Jillian gets in, kids get in. Patrick watches lovingly. Its all just heart warming...(where the f is my picture???) I see people taking pictures. I don't want to act crazy or intrusive so I stand back. I ask Jim if I can go get my picture now? He says yea go ahead. One person in front me....I am getting my picture. They decide they have to leave. WTF??????

 I'm told to go get in line to get his signature. While I like his signature, I don't think I really need it for anything. The picture I was unable to get with him the day before (because I didn't see him) wasn't in my sweaty, nervous paws. And I forgot my friends picture I was going to have him sign. (Sorry Meryl  ) But I decide it will be fun to meet the other racers and hopefully he won't think I am a super stalker, crazy, fan girl and I go get in line. He is in the middle of the table, so pictures aren't happening for me.

 I meet a bunch of really cool racers. However I wasn't really seeing them as my peripheral vision was all on the actor. I LOVE racers. I LOVE race cars. But I had my sites set on getting this picture of ME with this racer that acts.

 I'm looking at Adrienne to make sure she is getting pictures. BOY was she! He is adorable in them! Like he isn't anyway??? But these are MY pictures.

 

Its my turn. Lynne is in front of me, getting signatures on her tickets, her program, her Enchanted DVD case, what else Lynne? LOL Then I get to talk to him. I shake his hand again. I'm not shaking anymore. The guy is seriously just a man. A HOT man, really hot. But even those piercing blue eyes aren't any different than any other mans.

 Yes I am lying. But as my husband asked, "Is your life complete because you met him? " Well no. I still don't have a flipping flying picture with him!!!!

Ok I digress. I get up to him and I shake his hand like I said. I put down my program with his picture (along with the other racers) on it. I point at his picture and say, "Is this you?" He says "yep it is!" and smiles with those perfect white teeth. I ask him to sign by his picture so I can make sure to know which signature is his. He does.

 

I then must tell him what I promised to. And that is that he rocks. This was a request from my 10 year old daughter. LOL He tells me to tell her thank you and smiles. He says she rocks too.

 I ask him if he knows what I do? Of course he doesn't, but I don't know how to tell him I run a few websites that feature those lovely blue eyes that are looking at me, without introducing the question. So I tell him about dempseyracingfans.com. Lynne is my wing man. Telling him that my site is the go to place for Dempsey Racing news, photos, etc. (thanks Lynne, I'll pay you for that later )

 

He says thank you and that he thinks that is cool, etc. And that is about it sadly. Wanting to seem somewhat normal, I move on to the other racers. Which was super cool too.

I am thinking this picture thing? Isn't happening. I want it to happen, but I am not going to force it to happen. On this day of low expectations? I am just going to enjoy what I had happen in my day.

 I text my friend Jim and tell him that I don't think the picture is going to happen, but I had a great day and thank you for a wonderful experience. And we head out the door. As we get to the last booth before going out the door, I hear a whistle. Loud and shrill. It makes me look behind me and there is Patrick and Jim. Still not wanting to see crazy I decide not to go over to them. Adrienne knows this is my last chance and goes up to Jim and asks if we can have a picture with Jim, Patrick and Cindy. He says yes and I get my freaking picture!!!! SCORE!!!!! (yes I usually smile- I'm surprised I was breathing. Didn't expect to be so nervous, but whatever, it is what it is)

 

 Jim then introduces me a little more. We talk a little bit there, talk about an up coming race and then I give Jim a hug and am done.

My day of low expectations came out really well...My trip has been awesome. My first experience, while a bit rushed, overwhelming, etc has been wonderful. He is a very nice, good looking man, that I throughly enjoyed meeting. I started watching the man 22 years ago with Can't buy me love and have remained a faithful, loyal fan. About 2 years ago I saw the need to showcase all of what Patrick does into one site. In case you don't know; Patrick is quite a humanitarian. Having had created the Dempsey Cancer Center for Hope and Healing; he has also created the Dempsey Challenge. A sponsored bike ride/race that helps to raise funds for the Center. Then of course there is the racing and acting. So I created www.patrick-g-dempsey.com. And then just about 6 months ago created dempseyracingfans.com to showcase the whole Dempsey Racing team and their successes in racing.

 

I consider today a success! Tomorrow is supposed to be his race, however I just saw it posted that his day job (Greys Anatomy) is actually going to keep him from doing the actual race as they need him. So Charles Espenlaub (shadow Dempsey) is going to fill in as trusty, loyal Charles does when Patrick can't race.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading my long rendition of my weekend. Tomorrow I am hoping to see the beach and possibly eat some sushi.

 

Thank you for spending some time with me. And it was great to meet Deb, Gwen, Caro, Lynne, Andy Lally, the rest of team TRG (that were in Long Beach) and on and on I could go.

 

Today being the next day I have to say I am having what I am calling Dempsey Let down. I think it is the build up that I have had for the last few weeks and now the crash.  I enjoyed my time in Long Beach, loved seeing my friend Jim again, meeting great friends in real life, having lunch with Az and Krista, taking a photo op with Jillian Dempsey and then of course meeting the actor I have admired for so long. I have to say that Long Beach is different from other race tracks from what I have heard. While I have not gone to other races, I have heard the fan stories, etc. And this was a very large event with Indy Cars, GTs, World Champion, Drifters and more. The Celebrity race made for more security, less areas to allow fans to roam etc. I just want to say that even with those limitations that Patrick Dempsey is exactly as I would imagine him to be from what I have known of him. He was kind, gracious and obviously grateful for the fans that he has. I am definitely looking forward to the next time we cross paths as he has an energy about him that is very contagious.  They should make a pill for it.