Creation Atlanta
2023, new year, new conventions!
We planned this com when it was announced – March 2022. One year planning this trip. So, we booked our hotels in July, and I bought my con things when they were put online – ONLY ON JANUARY this year. But we were so lucky because we got the sales time. I honestly was just so freaking happy about being back in the States, and finally experiencing a Creation Con, I’ve been waiting for this since 2019!
My trip started with Emi, she stayed with me in Lisbon four days before, and we flew together to NY where we changed to ATL. We arrived on Thursday already, 2 am, and we were dead…awake for more than 24 hours (thanks jet leg, you suck), we arrived at the Sheraton ATL and went to sleep – points for offering us breakfast every day, that made my day.
This con took place at SHERATON ATL Hotel – 2nd-5th March.
The next day was the day to meet two of our great friends, RayRay and Ally – and her husband Robbie. They were staying together, and we met on the afternoon before the covid registration. But before that, I, Emi, and RayRay had the World Of Coca-Cola Experience!
After covid registration we met more friends, like Naya and Abby, etc; we all decided to attend Hard Rock Cafe for dinner before the official registration – where you show your pass and get your wrist and trade PDF, etc. This time was later because more than 3 events were occurring in the hotel simultaneously. We also helped these girls fold the schedule of the con, hey the SPN fam must be together even at boring tasks.
I was so dead after the registration – 9 pm in ATL meant + 5 hours in my country so my jet legs started to act, I got so moody I had to call it a night and go to sleep. But before that, I had to check the vendor’s room…damn so much better than in Europe. And there went my money.
Friday was the first day of the con I had the typical southern breakfast, and trust me I’m very Portuguese when it comes to breakfasts – just toast and chocolate milk or cereals, but this day I had bacon, eggs with vegetables, these amazing potatoes, bread and…oh pancakes were in the last day 😉
10:30 am and Louden Swain with Jason Manns opened the Theater – Rob had caught covid so he had to cancel last minute. DJ Qualls hosted the first panel followed by Ruth Connell. I didn’t have any photos or autos to do this day, so I just enjoyed my panels while taking some photos.
I participated in the YES/NO Trivia to win a voucher for 100$, but after the third question and the majority were out…we thought it was another band playing in Dean’s car…BALLS! I signed up for the karaoke, where I picked two songs and went down to meet my friends that were having an M&G with David Haydn Jones! There was an intermission now, it was still quiet around the con, and the majority would arrive on the weekend. Jason Manns was having a panel, but I lost it because I and my friends decided to eat before and had some stuff to do.
We came when David Haydn Jones and Gil had a panel, I was still eating because I ordered UberEats – ok so get this in Europe we would have menus in the conventions for Lunch and Dinner…but at Creation, there’s no food at all – which I find pretty bad, the restaurant at Sheraton only opened around 5 pm, and we only had a Starbucks. I’m sorry if my European nerves are getting in the way! I was eating in the theater and I didn’t care, a girl needs to please guys and make sure you bring food or you’d have to order if Starbucks is enough for you (I’m sorry but it sucks).
The last panel of the day was Kim & Briana and ended up being my favorite one. The way they walk about certain stuff, and get into the deep of things…almost made me cry.
I ended up doing my auto with Gil Mckinney, and I never met him before I was so happy to meet him that I introduced myself and we talked a bit.
I and Emi went to rest, before meeting with RayRay and Robbie to have dinner downstairs at the Hotel’s restaurant. I met there my seat neighbor, named Wendy. I was so happy to meet new people once again.
8:30 pm it was karaoke time, DJ hosted (he is the best at these things), and the theme was SPACE. I chose a full black velvet outfit with obviously my cowboy hat.
We sang from Rock N’ roll to some Pop songs and even Eminem! Oh, my dad…and suddenly I was called to the stage, to perform “Devil Went Down To Georgia”, yeah well I was hoping to summon the devil, but the devil couldn’t be here. I received immense support, Gil recognized me from the auto table earlier, “Rose is from Portugal” My friends were recording my performance and I was so nervous I was going to be a disaster…I simply sang with my soul and the results were stupendous. During the three days, I kept receiving love and people would come to me to congratulate me.
Hear me out, singing was always my biggest dream ever since I was a child. This was a BIG moment for me. So thank you everyone for the support.
Saturday meant…J2 day. The day I was finally gonna meet these boys. I had a David Jones photo, I asked him to choose our pose; he looked at my outfit and loved it “I’m feeling this outfit” He is such a kind soul, make sure you take a photo with him in a con.
I lost one of the panels I wanted to see, with the girls of Supernatural. Damn it, I made it when they were wrapping up!
Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling owned the stage after the Supernatural ladies, I asked a question “If you were on SPN which character would you imagine playing?” Tom answered Dean, Michael didn’t say anything (maybe he didn’t see it), and I also gave Tom the props because I loved him on the LUCIFER Netflix show. Well…I never watched Smallville.
We had a brief intermission in the theater, but this was going to be such a busy day, my second photo op was with Tom Welling, he said “Hey there cowboy”. He is taller than I expected and super sweet.
After him, my Misha photo was happening, but he was late, we just smiled at each other, he is very sweet.
He hosted his panel after the photo ops. I didn’t take my camera this day, so I just used my iPhone, I’ll post some here:
The lovely cast of the WINCHESTERS: Drake, Meg, Nida & Jojo gave a panel after Misha, that I had to interrupt because…MY JENSEN ACKLES photo was now. I was super nervous, not gonna lie. He was my first man crush, I was 12 when I was introduced to this amazing show, so finally meeting the two of them was a dream come true.
The tickets for J2 and Misha had a number on them, so they call in groups of 50 people each, I was in the third group for Jensen. My friend Emi said, “You’re not ready”. Holy crap.
And in fact, I died after that.
I’ll just leave the photo, and save my thoughts to myself.
Before my last photo op of the day – with Mr. Padalecki, Rob was supposed to have a panel, so they changed for a Jake Abel. One of the cast members I always wanted to meet as well, so I took care of this opportunity and asked him a question “How it has been to work on the set of Walker?”
Time to meet Moose. And what a great hugger. He is indeed tall. Damn. Now I was complete.
We still had a panel left: David, Gil, and DJ. I missed the first minutes, but this trio is one of the funniest on stage.
Autographs were the last, my folder wasn’t complete without Jensen, Jared, and Misha. I went to Jensen first, I exchanged a few words and introduced myself he is simply dreamy, kind, and has a warm smile. Misha signed and smiled at me; I asked him how he was. Jared called me a cowgirl, and I said I loved the Walker family and these projects, he felt very appreciated. He said “Oh thank you”, with such a deep and touching tone. My heart was happy and fulfilled. I had Drake Auto as well, and WOW he is soooo amazing. Set the John Winchester bar high. Loved talking to that guy. Want a photo of each member of the Winchesters soon.
And that was it for Saturday. I never felt so tired in a con, we didn’t stop for a second, going to floors, down and up, I had to grab something fast to eat at Starbucks, that wasn’t the best thing, but I was so hungry I didn’t care. I decided to change for the concert, but first I had a lovely meeting with two friends from ATL, Holly and Derick that kidnapped me for a southern experience – Waffle House. I returned in time for the gig.
WHAT A GIG. Kim sang, Briana sang, Gil…He HAS SUCH A GREAT VOICE. Anyone from this cast can sing it’s perfect. What else to say? Jensen made an appearance to sing “Simple Man” and he forgot the lyrics at the end. Briana sang “Carry On My Wayward Son” and we were all in tears. Just watch this beautiful piece here:
You know the drill: The last day of cons sucks. Yeah, I’m about to swear a lot now.
Just kidding.
Maybe.
I was just sad, I didn’t want it to be the end.
Since I was SILVER at this con, I didn’t watch the Gold panel, so my first activity for this day was watching the “GOTHAM KNIGHTS” episode. Misha brought one actor with him from the show, to show us the first episode, WE WERE THE FIRST ONES watching it. I enjoyed the show, I will continue to watch definitely. The actors seem great, and the plot was interesting.
You can watch the GOLD PANEL here:
I stopped by the vendor’s room, I bought an SPN book where now I write everything con related, like my list – I want to take photos and autos with everyone from the cast. I bought a Lucifer Funko pop…and I’m in love:
Mark Sheppard’s panel was my second activity of the day, it’s funny that he always follows me to every con I decide to attend. My question to the king was “Walker Independence is one of my favorite shows, how it has been like to work in that set?”, he explained his experience, which was incredible. You can also watch the entire panel here:
Jake Abel, Keegan, and Mitch Pileggi were the last panel before J2’s panel. Ladies and gentlemen…the Walker Panel! I’ve been watching that show ever since it aired. I also ended up watching a question. I started to appreciate their roles in other shows, for example, Keegan’s in “Pretty Little Liars”, Jake obviously as Michael in SPN, and Mitch in “Sons of Anarchy. “If you could pick a character from Supernatural, who would you pick?” Mitch chose Crowley (wise man), Jake would play Sam or Dean, and Keegan didn’t say anything so perhaps he didn’t watch it yet!
The curtain opened, and Jensen and Jared were on stage, the best panel of the weekend started. I had so much fun with the boys, the chemistry they have is indeed unique, because they share the blood brother thing in real life as well.
You don’t line up to ask J2 questions, in the halls of the con, there’s a table with a box, so you write your name, and they will do a lottery and your name will show on the panel before they enter the stage, and then you get to do the lineup.
Intermission and Louden Swain Q&A, but I had my last photo ops: Jake was first. He hugged me so squeezy, he almost threw my hat to the floor; “Are you ok? We gotta fix that.” I laughed he was so sweet, this is the result:
Keegan was my last photo op of this con, he has such a kind smile and was super sweet. A great hugger as well. Pretty Little Liars was part of my teen years, he played “Toby”, which was one of my favorite characters in that show.
I’ve been loving the chemistry between him and Jared on the Walker. It’s a nice feeling to watch the. SPN family grows each day.
To finish…I had Jake auto to do. Of course, I always take the opportunity to chat with them, I read some people don’t really think they have time to talk, but I always did with every actor in every con I attended, and there wasn’t a single problem with it. I always like to introduce myself, and where I’m from, and to show my support and appreciation for everything they’ve done so far. I think it’s important to have these interactions, they’ve been doing this for years…the fam always gets bigger, and the conventions started around 2009! I mean…I imagine how tired they get, the jet lag when they travel, or when they jump from filming to the conventions…Endorsing and respecting these facts and valuing the cast, at the end of the day it’s extremely important. So don’t be afraid to trade a few words, they will appreciate every second.
It was the end of the con…one of the girls from CE was dismissing Jensen and Jared when they would finish with the autos “Here Jensen goes, say goodbye everyone”, and everyone in the theater would wave…Jared did the same thing, watching them leave was really heartbreaking.
Creation was an intense, immersive, fun, awesome, chaotic, and dreamy experience. It made me super addicted to this world of conventions, and I want to keep doing much more.
Until the next one.
