Chicago Meet & Greet....The Best Time I've Had in a Long Time!
Nov 17 '04
The Bottom Line If you didn't get to go to the Chicago Meet & Greet you missed out on a great time...if you did go, I was so happy to meet you!
I was so happy when I heard that the re would be a Meet & Greet in Chicago. After having read that great news in the Member Center the wheels in my head started turning.
Okay, we don’t have the most reliable of cars. Hmmm, renting a car was a way to solve that problem so I got that set up.
My first idea was that we would stay in Madison Saturday night after leaving the M&G because I had won a one night stay at the Early Child care Conference that I had attended in October. Oops, first problem. There was no room at the Inn. Well, we could just drive straight home, but lets face it, neither my husband Michael (PaySo) or I are getting any younger and after a day full of festivities a four and half hour drive didn’t sound very inviting.
I started looking at hotels in Chicago. Whew, the big city sure is expensive. I wasn’t sure we would be able to get a room but then found some much cheaper rooms that were just a few miles out of the downtown area.
While setting all of this up I kept talking to my daughter Melissa (Chalathra…you better write that review girl) and was delighted when she said her and her hubby said they would join us. It is funny, when the kids were little we would plan time away from them, now I love planning doing things with them. What a difference the years make.
We left our home in Wisconsin at about 9:00 a.m. and were all excited about the trip and admittedly looked forward to eating in few different restaurants. In our small town there are very limited choices so being able to dine somewhere other than Perkins or Country Kitchen was a real bonus.
Once in Chicago we circled the block near Dave & Busters. No parking anywhere to be seen. Well when in the big city do what big city people do….valet parking.
As we rode the escalator up to the room where our M&G would be held I could feel my excitement and fear building. I was so excited to be meeting some people who felt like old friends, but was nervous about being seen. I am *ahem a few pounds heavier than my epinions picture shows. That picture is of me about 6 years ago, before I quit smoking. I have it on my profile page not deceive anyone but rather to encourage myself to watch what I eat and to attempt to get back in good shape again. Sort of the picture on the refrigerator type of thing.
Anyway, walking into the room I could feel myself grinning ear to ear. Just seeing all of the Eps dolls along the stair rail and the banner at the entrance made me feel as if I was amongst friends. I knew that I was when the wonderful Doc came up and gave me a great big hug. I was surprised how tiny she is but delighted in getting the chance to meet her and the gorgeous Tom too. They are the cutest and friendliest couple. I felt as if I had known them all of my life.
As I slowly walked around the room I met some of the Eps staff. The beautiful womenChristal,and Sarah.(the Kim of our family…and yes Sarah, that is a compliment you are awesome!)
Then there was the handsome men (it must be a prerequisite to be good looking to work for epinions) Garrett, Randy,hey can I call you my ex? LOL, sorry inside joke. There was Paul and oh darn I am sure that there were more, I’m sorry if I missed someone.
Suddenly, off in a corner I spotted a dear sweet lady that I was most anxious to meet. The very beautiful and vivacious Deb and I ran to each other like old friends. While this lady is in a league of her own and has more class in her little finger than I’ll ever have, I felt so comfortable and at ease with her. Hey, these two blonde ladies chatted away and shared pictures and talked about our families like we were long lost friends. Deb, you are awesome and I was so delighted to meet you.
From behind I heard a voice that I knew that I knew….wow, Ed Grover was there and I recognized him immediately too! He is such an awesome gentleman that I’ve loved reading and to finally meet him in person was such an honor.
I was seeing so many familiar faces I could hardly believe it. This trip was so worth it to meet such epinion greats as Abraham whom I’ve read for a while and just love his country music reviews and Rex who has saved me more than once with my darn old computer.
I was thrilled to get to chat with Caroline and her S.O. Gene. She is such a warm and friendly lady. I was shocked to find out that she has been on epinions for less than a year. She fits right in and it was great to get to know her better.
A very new writer that managed to attend was Hahna (I’ve searched for the right spelling…anybody?). She is young and beautiful is a great addition to epinions, especially in the music area.
The music section of epinions was really represented on November 13th . Everywhere I looked I saw more and more wonderful music reviewers. There was the remarkable and beautiful Shelly and the equally gorgeous Kristina. Ben,Mike (okay, I almost called you Dan, Mr. Druff…lol) Eric and of course the most extraordinary and bodacious Paul! I’m proud to say he is a fellow Wisconsinite and have to make it a point to see him in a play one of these days. I wish I would have seen his performance at the Blue Frog, but his performance at Dave & Buster’s isn’t one I’ll soon forget.
There were a few people that sadly I didn’t get the opportunity to chat with very much but I was so happy to meet them and put a face to their names.
sshelle was able to combine the M&G with conference that she was attending. I didn’t get to talk with her very much but her smile was very warm and friendly as we looked at each other across the table and said our hellos.
The great Andrew and his beautiful wife Amy drove all the way from to Texas to join in this wonderful gathering. I wish I had, had a chance to chat a bit more with them or to hear their great performance at the Blue Frog. I hear it was fabulous and they seemed to be a fabulous couple as well.
I did spend a few minutes talking to rmthunter a Chicago resident whom I’m sure could show us a great deal of the city that I would never think to look at. He is so knowledgeable about the museums and galleries of Chicago. I wish I would have more time to pick his brain.
The three hours flew by and it seemed as if in a blink of an eye the room was being closed up. We were amazed at all of the wonderful hors d'oeuvres and the drinks that were flowing. We also received game cards for Dave & Busters that me and my family used after the get together was over. I also got a set of Epi kids for my daycare children to play with...they were most excited about that. They've looked longingly at the ones that I have sitting on my computer so they were very happy to have a set of their own to destroy....errrr, play with.
Missing In Action were Vemartin and Moppysl and I think one or two others. I was sorry that you weren’t able to make it, you missed a great time…and you were missed too.
As others have said, if you get the opportunity to go to a M&G please do yourself a favor and join it. It is so wonderful to meet old friends.
I had a blast and do hope to get to go to another one sometime soon. Thank you everyone for such a wonderful day.
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