Dinner with Diana Gabaldon in Scottsdale

Outlander in the city charity events..

Its been a long time since I was a fangirl. Maybe at 13 years old during the Andy Gibb heart throb era of the late 70's.

In fact, when I was about 18 years old, I went with a friend Lorraine, to see Rod Stewart in concert at the Amphitheater on Long Island beach, and that was the only time I had ever seen a fangirl upclose as an adult. She lost her breath and cried at the stages edge, when Rod came over to her singing, 'Tonights the night! I thought someone kicked her... She said something came over her, she couldnt control herself!  She said she had never expected that to happen! (Neither did I) She was a fangirl!

I have also watched in recent years, the ladies lose their composure (I overheard one say "Lost her refinement") at our other Outlander in the city dinner events! The Outlander show cast would enter, which was anticipated for as long as the fan had her hands on a ticket, and depending on their favorite actor walking in the door, the "fangirling" in the fan would take over! Its when you cannot formulate coherently put together sentences and have sweaty palms, or worse and much more obvious, are hyperventilating.... even tears!

It was curious to me because I wasn't sure why these beautiful upscale ladies couldn't control their exuberance.

Fast forward to the Scottsdale dinner our events page organized last weekend for Diana Gabaldon (with just a few fans attending) and I can tell you I experienced all the things I've described, the very second she walked in to the restaurant. Yes I fangirled! It was unexpected, I had no idea what to say, I stared, I giggle, I got sweaty, and made every "oh my God" face I could possibly, all while trying to keep this behind her back! I felt what I was doing, I could see myself from above! I could not stop! Now I know all these years later, what my friend Lorraine meant, she couldnt control herself...

I will say, I have been speaking to Diana (social media) over the years, dating back to her Compuserve forum. I have also "seen" her at the panels, conventions, and book forums.. I set up this and the other dinner events for personal access to the cast, in an atmosphere where we ladies are dressed, happy, and in a cocktail setting, not to have to stand in a line for hours hoping to get an autograph. It is not the way I wanted to meet the artists on our favorite show, nor be seen by them. So this event for me, was one of the highlights of being in the Outlander fandom, after all, Diana is... Herself! She is every character and they are her! She is my Outlander experience!

So to fangirl and lose moments of time, because when your nerves are peaked everything becomes surreal, the memories are blurred and I found myself the next day saying, "oh I missed that, or, "what did she say? Maybe next time I'll find my "refinement!

All in all, Diana was everything I knew she would be, gracious, sweet, soft spoken, informative, and brilliant! I think the ladies who attended got a -long- few moments of personal time with her too, lots of photos, and we all had a great time in Scottsdale for a great charity!


The arrival...  Poison Pen book store in Old town..

Meeting old friends and a few new ones, cocktail arrival dinner

Texans Tina and Tamela made a video

Dinner at The Old Tortilla factory

The fans, the food, the company....

with Diana Gabaldon

Our group shot

And yes, my fangirl moment

Our last dinner, bye bye Arizona

Collectively we donated $2500.00 to Diana's chosen charity, NPH USA

Honorable mentions

Thank you Roma Sars for working with me for the gifts...  We love our scarves.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OutlanderScarvesArt


Our giveaway won by Toni Blide

GiddyUp!

Pro photos by Laura Acuto and Lori Sterns