So it starts....

I’m on the final plane ride home. It’s been quite an amazing few days for me, ones I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life. Not only was I blessed to be able to accomplish mostly all I set out to do (which was to see both of the movies I’ve been dying to see for so very long), but much, much more that I never had the nerve to assume would happen. Not only did I accomplish these things but I was also able to do them with some of my very best friends while I met new ones, that I hope will be in my life for many, many years to come.

It all started on Thursday January 21st when my shuttle picked me up from my home in London, Ontario and took me to the airport in Detroit, Michigan. It was all smooth sailing and I had a lot of fun explaining to the border guards about why I was going to travel by myself to Salt Lake City (to the Sundance film festival, which they had never even heard of!?) and who I was going to meet when I was down there (three of the most incredible women I have ever met and who leave me in awe everyday – and how until that dat we had never even actually met, only online).

When I got to the airport I had the unpleasant surprise that my flight had been cancelled only minutes before I arrived. I panicked when they told me they had nothing available and had rebooked me for the following day (which was not going to happen because the premiere of the movie I had been dying to see was the afternoon they had rebooked me!). I pleaded my case and they transferred me to a direct flight that took a heck of lot less time then my previous itinerary which involved 1 stop. I jumped at the opportunity and ran as fast as I could with my bags to a separate terminal. Once at the gate I had to let all my girls know what happen and then I could relax.

Although it took me a lot less time to finially arrive in Salt Lake City it also meant that I was totally out of sync with the other girls’ flights so I had to wait for quite a while. I scoped out the airport and people watched trying to see if I knew anyone. I did see this guy, i have no idea what his name is, but he seems to be in almost every comedy movie I’ve ever seen. I’ll have to research him more, see if I can remember what his face looked like.

In the midst of my searching I saw a woman standing just in front of me. I stared at her. I definitely knew who she was. I tried to take out my camera but she saw me and moved away, I assumed that meant “Please Don’t” so I respected her wishes. But as sure as I sit here now Melissa Leo, Oscar nominated actress and also the reason I was there in Salt Lake in the first place (To see the movie she did with the incredibly talented Kristen Stewart “Welcome to the Rileys”). I’d never seen anything else that she’d been in but I seen the clips and I was incredibly excited to be sitting in front of the women who plays one of the main parts in my faveourite movie script of all time.

When I came down from my high, after Ms. Leo had left I was surprised to see my Friend Laura V coming down the escalator. It turns out her flight had been cancelled too and she got in earlier than expected also. Laura and I had met before when she came up for the Toronto International Film Festival (we got tickets to that in the hopes that “Welcome to the Rileys” would end up there, unfortunately it didn’t, but we had a great time anyway!). We chatted and found Danielle (Dani) who neither of us had met yet and we all got aquainted face-to-face while we waited for Laura F to arrive.

Once we were all together we rented our car, checked into our hotel and got situated in our room. We got ready to head out and do a little exploring. We found our way to the Box office and scoped it out as this is where we would be spending a good chunk of time. After we discovered the Box office we made or way to where we would be parking in Park City.

It was starting to get late and dark by this time so we decided to go grab some food at Ihop. This was very exciting for me since I’ve never been there and I’ve heard about it (and read about it in a fanfiction story—not for kids by the way lol). Anyway, being from Canada and not usually travelling to the States I was again shocked at just how much food is given at restaurants, I think I ate maybe half that first night!

We laughed and ate and enjoyed each others company. It was incredible just how comfortable we were with each other. We had been talking online for about a year, but it seemed like we had been friends for more than just that one year. We were all incredibly comfortable with each other and there was absolutely no awkwardness that I had been feeling.

We went back to the hotel and watched the Help for Haiti telethon and tried to calm ourselves down enough to try and get some sleep. It didn’t work. It’s become a joke, but we really did get about 94 minutes of sleep that first day before we headed out to the box office to wait outside in the freezing cold and dark night for the doors to the box office to open. I can not tell you how terrifying it is to go to another country to go see a film and not have any tickets. We did our waiting and were the first ones in line.

Come back for What happened Day 2 of Sundance!