| Ace Young in Sacramento, CA March 21, 2007 |
| Debi and I made it to Sacramento right around 3 pm, as expected. Ace was sitting near the front of the store, and there were probably about 30-40 people in line. (lots of kids!) I didn't notice any other familiar Highrollers, so I'm assuming most of the people in line were either locals who had heard about the promotion on the radio or who had just happened to be shopping at the store. They were giving out tickets in line, which we had to turn in right before meeting Ace. They "cut off" the line just a few people behind us, which seemed odd since it was only about 3:15, but they ended up letting many more people go up to meet Ace. I guess they were just trying to make sure they didn't run out of time to get to everyone. Ace was wonderful, as usual. When I approached him, he definitely remembered me. For some reason, we shook hands, and then I told him, "What's with the handshake? Gimme a hug!" So he did... a nice, strong one. *swoon* We chatted about Lord knows what. Words were coming out of my mouth but I have no idea what I was saying because Ace was looking at me and well, all brain function stopped. I know I said something about him losing his voice last week, and he said that it was really bad but he had to keep up with his appearances even though he wasn't feeling or sounding great. He signed my picture from December and offered to sign one from August too. (I had it in the same frame but wasn't planning on getting it autographed, he just grabbed it) I gave him a gift, which he almost left behind twice, but he was holding it as he got in the car later. He said he's having fun doing the Dreyer's promotions (especially in San Diego where he "knew everyone") and said that he'll be back in NorCal soon to promote his cd. We took our picture together and then it was Debi's turn. Naturally, we wanted to hang around until Ace left, so we just chilled near the autograph table taking pictures and gawking. A while later we spotted Ryan lurking around (apparently he had been sitting outside), so we decided to go talk to him. I kind of met him at the Homecoming Party in June, but I never really got a chance to talk to him until today. He was awesome, totally friendly and more than willing to chat with us. He asked us where we were from and if we were driving back right away. My first thought was to say, "We've got time, what would you like to do?" but luckily I said my second thought which was something about hanging out for a few hours until traffic died down (although I'm kicking myself now for not going with my first instinct!). He said that they were flying back to LA tonight right after the ice cream party and that they'd be there for one day before they had to fly to Tampa for the baseball/Dreyer's events there. Busy guys! We took pictures with him, and when Debi mentioned something about Ryan being so tall, he asked, "Should I stand up straight?" and made himself look extra tall. He joked that we were going to bring attention to him, and I apologized, but he said it was unavoidable. Most people left him alone but a few others asked for pix. One funny, ironic moment: there was an older woman fan watching Ace, and when we pointed out Ryan to her, she said something like, "Wow, he's really tall," and asked us if Ace and Ryan were the same height. Instinctively I said, "Ryan's 6'7" and Ace is 6'1"" and then I started laughing thinking, "OMG that knowledge actually came in handy!" I never thought I'd have to repeat that info other than in a mocking, sarcastic way, but today it genuinely served a purpose. Imagine that! Around 4 pm the autograph signing was done. Ace thanked everyone and walked toward the door. But he stayed there and didn't leave. Apparently they were waiting for their car (which IMO should have been waiting for them), so Ace, Ryan, Hector (Ace's bg, who seemed pretty friendly), and the Dreyer's/AI people just hung around for another 10 minutes or so. Ace took more pictures and signed more autographs. The kids of the contest winner were there and ended up leaving with Ace. No clue where the parents were. Ace posed for pix with babies (adorable!) and dogs (yes, for reals) and was all around wonderful. He even helped people figure out their camera phones -- all those years as a cell phone store manager pay off sometimes! I approached him to ask for another picture (the one we took earlier didn't turn out very well because the flash was too bright and washed us out), but before I even got the words out, he hugged me again. No complaints here! We got a few more minutes to chat with him, and he revealed... *He'll be finished with his cd in 2 months. After that, it's in the hands of the record company. *Two labels are fighting over him. I think "bidding war" was the exact phrase. *He likes one of the labels more than the other but didn't mention any specifics. He reassured us that a cd is coming and that it will be great. He was like, "You have nothing to worry about!" He seemed really positive about it, not at all hesitant or unsure. So I guess all of our skepticism and worry is unfounded. Ace is really excited and confident. He didn't even have a hopeful tone -- it was like he knew the cd was awesome and couldn't wait for everyone to hear it. The next time I start worrying and comparing him to the other AI5 contestants, I'll have to remember that. At some point I mentioned how busy Ace's schedule is and rattled off some of his appearances -- baseball games, ice cream parties, the DC parade. I told him I was keeping track. lol I think that's when Ace asked us if "everyone" (meaning his fans) knew the dates for the Dreyer's promotions. I thought that was kind of odd. I told him that MrsR posted the cut off dates for the contests but that we had been kind of guessing for the actual appearance dates and waiting to hear it from the local media. He confirmed that all 10 supermarket appearances will be the day after the contest ends in each city. So if anyone is making plans for the remaining 7 locations, now you know the dates. We briefly chatted with Ryan again too. I said something like, "You guys are never going to get out of here," and he said they were waiting for their car. I offered to drive them where ever they needed to go, but then I said that Ryan probably wouldn't fit in the tiny backseat of my Mustang. He said he could put his feet on the dashboard. LOL That was about it. Eventually the car showed up (with the guitarist inside). They had to get something out of/put something into the trunk, and for some reason Ace was back there moving the guitar around. No clue what they were doing. He put on his sunglasses for about 10 seconds, in which I snapped off two not-very-good pictures. Ryan got in the car first, then the little girls, and finally Ace. They started to drive away but stopped in the parking lot and sat there. For a long time. They were still just waiting there when we drove away a few minutes later. I don't think the driver knew where to go. And so concludes another fun adventure in Ace Land. More of my pictures More info about Dreyer's American Idol ice cream Back to Obsessed with Seacrest Encounters Back to Obsessed with Seacrest Home |
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