I was so excited for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2001 Posting Board Party. It was to be my first! The event was slated to take place at the American Legion Hall in Los Angeles on February 17. Since the party was going to be six hours long, my sister (Tiffany) and I figured that we had time to eat dinner beforehand. However, we didn't anticipate the difficulty in finding the entrance to the American Legion Hall, so we ended up arriving almost an hour and a half late. In fact, we drove to the VIP entrance where we were asked if we were with the band! Since my parents were driving, they just dropped us off and we walked to the front of the building to go in.

It was about 7:20 pm when we got inside. I circled the area a couple times trying to find the red hood. I finally found her sitting at a computer. We talked for a bit, then she took a picture of me kissing her Riley Monkey. Now that was something different! We also took a picture together (with her in her red hood too!) and then we parted ways. I ended up meeting two other Bronzers while in the computer room, Lazarus Prime and Double Prime. We talked for a while about their experience at last year's PBP, posting online, and other random topics.

I was still on my search to find Little Willow when someone finally pointed her out to me. I walked up to her and introduced myself. There was so much excitement! It was great to meet a girl whom I had e-mailed so much already. We were even around the same height, and we both wore high-heeled boots! She also introduced me to her friend, Paris_Angel. Then I brought out the food from Trader Joe's that I planned on sharing with her. I showed her the Organic Sour Bears (not made from gelatin!) and let her try one. I also had brought her a snack called Fruit Leather that's made of just fruit. Before our trip, I purchased two different flavors so that Little Willow could have one and Amber Benson (Tara) could have the other.

We ran into the red hood again, and she introduced us to Forever Faith (whose real name is Heather too!) and her guest. When I looked around, I noticed that Jane Espenson was behind me. After waiting our turn, Tiffany and I went up to her. I introduced myself and told her that some of the episodes that I really like are written by her. I said that I like the humor in the episodes, to which she responded, "I used to write for sit-coms." The first question that popped into my mind after that was, "If you write an episode, does that mean you write the whole thing?" She said sometimes, but sometimes there are rewrites. For example, Jane pointed out that "Gingerbread" was like 80% hers, while "Band Candy" was all hers. When I asked Jane to sign my Watcher's Guide by an episode she wrote, she signed by "Band Candy."

Tiffany and I walked back into the computer room where I met AngelRachel. We briefly talked, I had her sign my notebook, and then we took a picture together. I noticed that Danny Strong (Jonathan) was nearby, so we walked over to wait our turn to meet him. When he finally turned to us, I told him my name and asked him to sign my notebook. While he was writing, I managed to mumble something about how it's cool that he's in some episodes (I honestly don't think I was very articulate at that point). He just nodded. I also asked him what happened to the Jonathan calendar (from "Superstar"). He said that he has the only copy (and he may have said that no one will ever see it again; I can't remember). Then I asked if I could take a picture with him. With my 3 1/2 inch heel boots on, I immediately noticed that he and I were the same size. I stated, "Hey, we're about the same height!" He agreed, and asked "Will you marry me?" The question caught me off guard, so I couldn't think of anything funny to come back with! I ended up pausing, and then saying, "We'll see" as I smiled. Danny replied, "Well, that's better than the flat out no's that I've gotten." He may have also added "What are you doing later tonight?" but that may have just been in my imagination (wishful thinking? Ha ha ha). We took two pictures together, and then I thanked him and said it was nice meeting him.

AngelRachel and I both saw that Steve DeKnight was in the room as well. I introduced myself and asked him to sign my Watcher's Guide. In order to make the most out of our meeting, I asked him, "So, you wrote one of the recent episodes?" He said yes (it was "Blood Ties"). Then I asked him what the Glory/Ben situation was about. He wouldn't tell me, but that we will find out. I said, "Ok, that's fine!" since I really didn't want to be spoiled. Then I remembered to say, "Oh, there was supposed to be a scene (in "Blood Ties") where Tara and Willow hug, but it got cut? Some of us really wanted to see that!" Steve said that he wanted to see it too, but since they needed to fit the episode into a certain amount of time, and it wasn't essential to the storyline, they took it out. After that, I said that it was nice meeting him, and we left.

Tiffany and I walked into the main area again where we saw David Greenwalt. We only had time for Tiffany to take a picture with him because he wanted to see what was going on onstage. It turns out that Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) was going to sing a few songs! After listening to Anthony sing and taking some pictures, we followed Leonard Roberts (Forrest) into the computer room. After waiting for some other Bronzers to talk to him and take pictures, Tiffany got a picture with him.

We didn't have anything else to do in the computer room, so we walked back to the main area. I saw Bailey Chase (Graham) walking towards us, so I quickly got his attention. He happily agreed to take pictures with us and sign stuff. I asked him if he was going to come back to the show, and he said that he and Marc Blucas (Riley) may come back for the season finale. Tiffany and I then took some pictures with him. We thanked Bailey and said that it was nice meeting him.

We went back into the main area for the check presentation. It turns out that the party had raised $12 thousand dollars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation! After a speech from Joss Whedon, all of the cast members dispersed.

We wandered back into the hallway where Amber Benson was. At the time, there weren't that many people around her. Tiffany talked to her first; she asked if Amber remembered her (from the San Diego Comic-Con last July). Amber did, and when she looked over and saw me, she was like "Hey, it's both of you!" and either "It's the sisters!" or "It's the Lo girls!" Amber then signed the picture that Tiffany had brought of her. By now, more people were gathering around us. I took a couple pictures of Tiffany with Amber and took my 8x10 picture of Amber out of my folder. Amber said "And you're Heather, right?" I excitedly agreed, since I don't think anyone had told her my name! She told me that she recently got stuff in the mail from me, and asked if I got stuff back in the mail from her (which I did). Since I had brought the picture that we took at the San Diego Comic-Con, I showed that to her too. I'd been wondering ever since I sent her a copy last year what she did with it. The music was so loud that I had to yell in Amber's ear to ask her. She shouted back, "It's in my trailer...on the mirror." I smiled and said, "Cool!" Then I told her that I had something for her. I reached into my bag and took out the other Fruit Leather snack that I had I brought. I said that Little Willow took the other one, so this one is for her. She thanked me and put it in her bag. I also showed Amber the Amberholics button that I was wearing, and she smiled and put her hand over her face. I think she was happy and embarassed at the same time. I took a couple pictures with Amber, and was going to have pictures taken of all three of us, but there were too many people around. It got so overwhelming to be in the middle of a crowd! I don't remember saying good-bye to Amber at all. I did notice Joss Whedon hanging around, so I asked him to sign my Watcher's Guide. He was waiting to take Amber away (for a break) because she had just had her tearful (but in a postive way!) meeting with TAK4eva.

Next, Tiffany and I moved towards the entrance again to see who else was around. We saw Alexis Denisof (Wesley) surrounded by lots of people. We waited for a few minutes, but gave up when we saw Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) to our left. We walked over to her and Tiffany talked to her first. Michelle signed Tiffany's book and then I took a couple of pictures of them. I introduced myself to Michelle next so that she could sign my notebook. While she was signing, I couldn't think of anything to say except, "I like your nail polish!" (Ugh, I'm such a dork!) Then I asked her if she likes being on the show. She said yes, and I complimented her on it. We took a couple of pictures together and I thanked her.

Tiffany and I didn't know where to go next, so we wandered around. There were some people at the base of a set of stairs because Christian Kane (Lindsey) was hanging out down there. We joined some other people who were waiting in line to meet him. I went first and introduced myself. Christian said "Hi, I'm Christian. How are you doing?" I must have had a brain fart, because I stupidly replied, "Thank you. I mean, I'm fine." Then I put my notebook in front of him, but he didn't know what to do. He asked me "Do you want me to sign this?" I told him yes, then I asked if I could take a picture with him. We took our picture and I thanked him. It turns out that a picture of us is even on the Internet!

When we were about to go back up the stairs, we saw Stephanie Romanov (Lilah). I asked her to sign my notebook, then I asked her if she's been in Tucson before. It was kind-of a dumb question though, because I knew she had. She said yes, and I told her that we had met her at the mall a long time ago. She asked if it was for Angel, but I said that it was for Models, Inc. I stated that she was behind a table, so we couldn't take a picture with her then. She told me that "It's great that you remember that!" We then took a picture together, and Tiffany got her autograph and picture as well.

Then we walked back up the stairs and saw J. August Richards (Gunn). He remembered how he was supposed to take a picture with us earlier (we were in the main room hours earlier, but it was too dark, so we were going to go to the hallway to take pictures; we never made it). Tiffany got him to sign her notebook and I took a picture of them together. Then I introduced myself and he wrote in my notebook too. We took a picture together and I told him it was nice meeting him. He thanked us for coming, and I enthsiastically replied, "Thanks for coming too!" We said our good-byes, and then he had to leave.

We walked again towards the entrance and spotted Alexis Denisof with only one or two people. We waited until they left so we were alone with him. Alexis asked us where we were from. I said that we're from Tucson, AZ, and that we drove about 7-8 hours to get here. He was impressed. I also told him that I tried to do homework in the car, but that it's hard when you just want to sit there and listen to music! He (correctly!) asked "So you're in college?" I was so happy since I must have actually looked closer to my age that night! I told him what I'm studying and how I have challenging homework. He said that he has homework too. I assumed that he was talking about the scripts for Angel, so I told him "But you do so good on the show!" He smiled and said "Thank you!" I, of course, had Alexis sign my notebook and I took a couple of pictures with him. I thanked him and said that it was nice meeting him. As we walked away, he said "Good luck with your homework!" *Sigh* Alexis is so sweet and soft-spoken.

When we walked back towards the main room, I spotted Extra Flamey. It was cool to meet another person I had talked to online. We wrote in each other's notebooks and took pictures together. After that, we walked to the main area and watched James Marsters play with Four Star Mary. I took a couple pictures and then danced (well, attempted to dance) a little with the red hood and some other Bronzers. They played until midnight, when the party was over. When the lights were turned back on, and I saw Joss Whedon again. We waited our turn to meet him, and he recognized us from before (when we were near Amber). I told him how I love Tara and Willow and how great Amber is. He agreed. We then took a picture together. Tiffany was getting him to sign her notebook while he was giving a short interview - she even ended up telling Joss her name on tape. I took a picture of them and thanked him.

It was after midnight by now, but we still hadn't taken our Amberholics picture! We finally rounded up everyone we could find and posed for some photos together. It was cool, but I didn't meet everyone who was in the picture!

After that, I found AngelRachel and said goodbye to her. I did the same with Little Willow, and we hugged as well. I honestly wished the party wasn't over!

Tiffany and I walked out with smiles. It was so much fun; I just wish we had gotten to the party earlier! The Bronzers that I met were all very nice. It was great to put some faces to their screen names. The cast and crew of Buffy and Angel were very sweet as well. The night was unforgettable, and I really want to attend the PBP next year!