MuggleNet | HBP Launch Party | Staff Reports

Tuesday, July 12: Last minute preparations really took up most of my day - and I ended up packing and re-packing a good four or five times. I was supposed to go out to eat at Rosa's with my friends Shelley and Juan, so I waited around all day and then finally decided to call Shelley at around 8:30 to see what was up. It turns out she was grounded - so she kept Juan and I waiting all day for absolutely no reason. I had no ride to my step mom's because of that, and I didn't want to ask my mom to take me because I figured she'd get mad. But finally I decided that if I didn't ask her, I'd have to ask my stepmom (that seemed even less appealing) to come all the way here to get me and then go right back..so I just got my mum to take me, and it turns out she didn't get upset at all.

So I get to my step mom's house and she tells me that she has no internet, so any e-mails I sent out that day and things I needed done online before I left didn't get done - and I about died of boredom. No cable with internet is one thing, but no cable and no internet? That's something else entirely! Needless to say, I went to bed before 1am because I was so incredibly bored.

Wednesday, July 13: I woke up, understandably I suppose, at around 7am and took a shower right away. I got dressed in my ASU Band Camp shirt, white skirt, and flip-flops and pretty much sat around until 11-ish when I decided to call Cat and make sure we had everything figured out. When I called her, she happened to be sitting next to both Damon and Zach (from HPFZ) having breakfast, so I said hi to them and we figured out the rest of the plans for her picking me up from the airport.

My family and I headed out to Lubbock International Airport at around 12:35. We had to stop for gas and such along the way, and it's about a 20 minute ride anyway. We got to the airport at 1:15 and I checked in for my flight. My step mom and the lady at the American Airlines desk were worried I'd get lost in DFW (it was once the largest airport in the world) so she moved my flight up so I'd have time to find my way around before I left for Chicago. The next plane left at 1:30, so I had to check my bags and go through security at top speed in order to get to my plane before it left the runway.

I got on, took my seat next to the window, and attempted to sleep. I really don't remember how long the flight was - I was too busy talking to the girl next to me. Turns out that she and her family were on their way to DC to go see her dad, and our planes left from the same Terminal..so we took the SkyLine through DFW together and then said our goodbyes. She was nice, I should've asked for her name! So I didn't get lost, and because my first flight was moved up I ended up waiting in DFW for a good 2 and 1/2 hours. It wasn't too boring because I'm a people-watcher, but I still wish I had brought a book along or at least something aside from my CD player. Eventually I got on the plane to Chicago and landed there at around 7:15. I was listening when the FA said which Baggage Claim we should go to, but once I was actually off of the plane and finding my way around..I completely forgot. I ended up going to the wrong one twice, and I only knew I was in the right place when Catherine came running up to me.

We got my bags and she got Starbucks, which she'd been dying to have, and then we headed outside to our waiting Taxi. We had a nice talk on the way to the Hilton. I figured that it would be awkward because I'm so shy - but it wasn't at all. She's really easy to talk to and we had a lot in common. We got to the Hilton and found BB, Damon, Zach and M&M waiting in BB's car to take all of us to the mall. So..we loaded up my bags, got in, and headed over to Randhurst. Needless to say, I met lots of people that night (Galadriel, Professor, Tom, etc.) and we actually ended up staying at the mall until around 5am. Tom and I went down into the Dungeon to get my bags - and then we headed off to his house, which is about a 10 minute drive. Once inside, he took me to the basement..but his older brother was sleeping where I was supposed to be, so I ended up sleeping in his older brothers room, which was incredibly awkward.

Thursday, July 14: I got almost no sleep that night, and we headed off to the mall at around noon, all of my bags once again in tow. Once inside, we waited around for all of the other staffers - and busied ourselves until late at night when other people started arriving.

I briefly met Dylan, Ben, Mike (from Shur’tugal) and Matt (from VTM) - and also ended up meeting a load of people from MNFF and a lot of really nice volunteers. We rolled maps for about 9478008439 hours, put up last minute decorations, and attempted to get all of the events organized completely..only stopping to work at 3, when we all decided we'd need sleep for the big day. We left the mall, and Tom drove me to the Radisson. We phoned Kelsey, and she and Amber (two friends of mine from Nebraska) came down into the lobby to meet us and help me with my bags. I swear, there was never an awkward moment between the three of us. Their mom was also really nice, and I have no idea how she got any sleep as we all stayed up until around 6:30 just talking about anything and everything.

Friday, July 15: Kelsey woke me up at..8:30 or so and asked if I wanted to go swimming. Amber told her we wouldn't have time so Kelsey hopped in the shower and then Amber followed suit. I was incredibly tired and refused to get out of bed or shower for a few more hours - so after Kelsey and Amber went downstairs to Tom's Discussion and their mom went to BK for an early lunch, I got up and showered and got dressed. I was on my way downstairs to meet up with Kels, Tom, and Amber when I met their mom in the hall. She had my food so I thanked her for it, gathered all of my stuff..and eventually found where I was supposed to be.

It turns out no one turned up for either our discussion or Tom's. That might sound disappointing, but Kelsey, Amber, and I put absolutely no thought into ours aside from the title of it. =P We did get some super awesome Spellbound! 2005 socks out of it though - thanks Sue! After sitting there for a few minutes and eating our lunch, we went back upstairs to get anything we'd need and brushed our teeth before going outside to catch the shuttle.

We arrived at the mall around 1:15..even though I was supposed to be there at 8..*cough* We signed in and got our STAFF shirts, then headed upstairs to work in Alivan's. Amber became a wand expert - and we eventually met up with Annie and Zach (chatroom moderator) too. Dylan and Drew were also there for most of the day. Dave (the owner of Alivan's) was really nice and when we were finally finished working there, he gave each of us the choice of something for free. We all took wands - Annie, Amber, and I got the most expensive one..but only because Dylan got one too and it was way better than the ones we had originally picked out. I also met Mike's friend Robby, when he couldn't find Mike and needed to borrow my walkie-talkie. At some point during the day we ran into Mike, who told us to go and get wristbands from Border's. They "forgot" to tell anyone about it, so we ended up being in Group 5 - the orange group.

Amber decided to work a bit longer, so Annie and I headed out of Alivan's to go and be social. We ate, talked with everyone, etc..then went back and forth attempting to get Amber to abandon her post. By the way, she refused! Because we were that bored..Zach, Kelsey, Annie, and I went into the elevator and rode it for a good 30 minutes before Amber joined us. At first she failed to see the fun in it - but eventually she came around. It might not sound like it was fun..but it really was! Perhaps too much fun, though..

Kelsey was with Tom for most the night - so for a large portion of time it was just Annie, Amber, and I..although we also hung out with Zach a lot. We headed over to Border's, and went inside, cracking jokes and being random the entire time. Once we got tired of that, we walked Zach to his car and said goodbye to him then went back inside and sort of halfway watched the costume contest and listened to the raffle. After the raffle was over, we went to Border's and were smashed all against the glass in a mass of angry fans..until Annie had to leave and it was just Amber and I.

Due to a lack of preparation, we ended up being in line outside until 1:30, but we made friends with a guy named Kev - who, coincidentally, works for MN's MUD Project. We finally got inside and then had to carry on with a maze of multi-colored tape (Kelsey found us) before they asked us for our names, handed us blue tickets, and gave us the book. I literally ran with mine to the cash register, let the guy keep the change (he freaked - but it was ONLY 50 cents) and then went outside to find Kelsey and Amber's mom and wait for the two of them to come out as well.

They eventually came out and we said goodbye to Kev, and headed for the Radisson where we quickly changed and went down to the reading party. We read in the actual room for awhile before we decided we'd rather go in the hall so that we could read and then talk about what we read. Not surprisingly, we ended up doing a lot of talking and not a lot of reading - and eventually we were the only ones still awake reading.

As for HBP, well..I loved it. It's my new favorite book in the series. I laughed, I cried, I gasped and giggled - and devoured every word.

This has truly been an experience I will never forget. All in all, Spellbound! 2005 was one of the best days of my life. I think I can safely say that everyone in attendance had an absolute blast, and it was just as much fun for those of us who had been working behind the scenes to get everything organized. I hope you all had as much fun as we did - expect an image gallery from the event to be up soon!!

Thank you to Kelsey, Annie, Amber, Zach, Catherine, Dylan, Kev, Brendan, BB, Damon, other Zach, Ben, Mike, Matt, Tom, Elf, Sue and everyone else I met for making this week one to remember!

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Mount Prospect, IL – totally Spellbound!