There once were two ladies, both in love with the ‘Outlander’ series by Diana Gabaldon. Tickled to death at the announcement that their beloved series was to be made into a 16-episode series for American cable network, Starz, they waited with bated breath for *any*
Lanae and Summer
tidbit of information about the show, the cast — really, anything. The fine Mr. Sam Heughan was announced as “Jamie,” and they, along with the rest of the universe, expected a “Claire” to be announced soon thereafter.
“He held me so tenderly”
Enter the phenomenon of #clairewatch. It was something to behold. Lack of sleep, obsessive checking of Twitter, Facebook, and and and… Ginger got Twitter thumb from checking her iPhone so much, while Summer was a little more Merrily-We-Roll-Along. In her frustration and torturous angst she FULLY attributed to Starz, she had an idea — one that might *just* help with that frustration and angst: Start a podcast. How exactly adding something onto her plate would make her
Sam and Ginger
feel better about her angst, she didn’t quite know. But it was an outlet, one she desperately needed. She needed a partner. Enter, Summer. The two began the podcast and lo and behold, a few weeks later, the beautiful, talented Caitriona Balfe was announced as “Claire” (Sept. 11, 2013, Ginger will have you know, since she claims to have a memory for dates. That Jamie-in-the-hay picture? October 24th. A Thursday, in case you were wondering. — Also, Starz named Outlander fans “THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD.” — Yes, that’s a quote.)
Summer and Caitriona
Fast forward to January 10, 2013, the day before the #OutlanderInvadesLA Fan Event. The two lassies, along with a friend, Lanae, roadtripped it from NorCal to SoCal and checked into their haunted hotel, whose hallway was brought to you by “The Shining.” At the end of the hallway, they could see a very special sign. (Also visible through their bathroom window.) Giddy with excitement, they took a few minutes to record Episode 20, Part I: ‘Twas the night before…
The next morning, Summer and Lanae went for a wee stroll (read: butt-kicking uphill walk that almost killed them), and what did they spy? Why, a sign. But what did it really say?
Maril was kind enough to pose for a shot at the end of the evening
They hightailed it back to the hotel, spent some time prettifying, and then all three lasses walked down to the pre-line line, which had formed a bit away from the theater. There was some waiting in line just around here, some lunch eaten, but let’s get to the good stuff.
Caitriona goes for the model pose
The good stuff: The Event Was Awesome, Y’all. Period. This happened. (And in case you haven’t seen it, here it is in all of its slowy goodness. Blerg.) The event was live streamed, so we won’t rehash that. (But here it is to watch again. And again. And again.)
After That Goodness, Ginger and Summer were fortunate enough to attend the meet and greet. A few things happened there, too.
Wires crossed — oops
After the whole evening, Summer and Lanae took off, going to get dinner. Ginger stayed back with some new ‘Outlander’ friends, and was able to snap some video when a Certain Irish Lass and a Certain Scottish Lad tried to sneak out the back of the theater. (Uhem.)
Just a quick selfie
After coming down (yeah, right!) from the evenings events, the lasses settled down for one more night in their haunted hotel room and recorded Episode 20, Part II: Outlander’s coming out party, to make sure their recounting was as fresh as possible. (There may or may not have been squeeage.)
Just one last picture!
We want to say a HUGE “thank you” to Starz, Sony, and DirecTV for making this event possible, and for making our attending the meet and greet possible. Thank you to everyone involved for their generosity, kindness, and willingness to spend a few moments with two pod-loving fans from NorCal.
The Orpheum by night
