Viewpoints Launch Party in Chicago Review

I don't hop on a plane and head off for a party just every weekend. In fact, I don't guess I've ever done that.

Initially I sent my regrets and said that the Viewpoints Launch Party sounded like great fun and that I hoped everyone would have a great time. I would be looking forward to reading all about it back here in North Carolina.

Jolie asked if I might consider attending if they could round up a plane ticket.

Hum. 

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go. It would take a little juggling, but there really wasn't any reason I couldn't take off for a couple of days. 

Folks here in town were very excited when they heard about this great opportunity. My employer, Catawba College, got some key chains and pencils for me to share in Chicago. Roush Racing sent ball caps and lug nuts that had actually been on cars in NASCAR races. I packed up four 12-packs of Cheerwine and mailed those. The senior ladies at the Visitor's Center stayed up late to pack some travel bags. I grabbed a couple of bags of pork rinds too.

My boys complained a little bit - not much. They were glad I was getting to do something exciting even though they weren't thrilled about the family cook being gone for two days. I left them some frozen pizzas and corn dogs. They know how to cook those. I think they miss me for more than my cooking though. My youngest son even surprised me by cleaning up the garage and the house. Maybe I should go party more often.

I got up at 5 a.m. on Friday morning and drove to Charlotte to catch my plane. Have I ever mentioned that I am not a morning person? Be glad you did not have to ride with me! Then I jumped the subway at O'Hare over to the Sheraton Towers right on the water.

I took a quick nap and then followed the map to the Cabaret. I wasn't sure how long those city blocks would be. I remember they were really long blocks in Las Vegas. They were more like normal blocks in Chicago, so I was the first to arrive. When they say to, "Be sure to be on time in Chicago," they mean fashionably a few minutes late I think, but I had time to take some photos and also to chat with folks before the party got rolling.

The Viewpoints folks recognized me when I walked in the door, so I must look pretty much like my user picture in the tire swing. My son took a bunch of pictures, and wouldn't you know it - that one turned out the best. So, I am "Tarzan Momma" from North Carolina.

I sat down to chat with Meredith and her friend Austen. Meredith is the Viewpoints intern. She is such a cute young woman as is her buddy. Meredith is getting ready to head off to Spain next week. How exciting. We had a great time talking. The girls were from North Carolina too which was certainly a surprise.

The crew at Viewpoints is mostly male. There's Jolie, of course. She fabulous. She is every bit as nice as she is on the site - and even more so. And, Meredith has been holding down the fort (on the female end), but the rest of the employees are guys. I'm used to being around guys, and these fellows are all terrific. 

I did have to hunt up Kyle. Jolie told me he likes my reviews, and that's one sure way to a writer's heart. He uses a South Park Kyle photo, so that makes it a bit hard to pick him out. I can tell you that he's a cutie and very funny too. I'm thinking I might adopt him.

I watched as folks came in, and I did recognize our Viewpoints writers. You never know when it's online. I can assure you that what you see is what you get here.

I sat with Buggheart and her husband and Rosewriter.

Buggheart is fun, lively and definitely an artist with her make up. She looked quite stunning. Mr. Buggheart was a sweetie. He was a great sport about our girl talk, and he grabbed us some drinks and turned in our game cards. He also drew an adorable bug on his name card. Cute touch.

Rosewriter was quiet but really easy to talk to. Her boys are lucky to have such a truly sweet mom. We walked home together afterwards, and I'm glad we got a chance to talk one-on-one. I did get us lost, of course. I'm ADHD on directions. Someone told us how to get back to the Sheraton but said to be careful with it so late. I told the kind young lady that we were actually gang members. We all laughed about that, because I can assure you that the two of us aren't and definitely don't look like it either.

Saxguy and his wife and I had lots to talk about both at the party and at the dinner. They are a very gracious couple with loads of interests.

I knew The Bard. We've written together for years now I think. His wife looked so familiar. I felt like I knew her. Well, I did. She is Love is Joy. I love her articles. I didn't make the connection until right at the end, and I sure wish I'd had time to catch them and talk more. I thought they'd be at dinner. My bad. I'll have to remember to corner them next time.

Libby and Russ both match their photos and reviews. Libby was a little shorter than I expected and Russ a lot taller. Both have great smiles and smile a lot. Russ is one of those regular guys that you'd ask why your lawnmower is puddling. Oh, by the way Russ. It is. My son showed me when I got home.

Somehow I missed Elysabeth. Bummer. I didn't see her until she won the iPhone. Go Elysabeth! I didn't get a chance to give her a high five. I can tell you that's she a real looker, and my pictures did her way wrong.

Bob didn't make it. He had an emergency. I hated that. He's helped me on photos, though I doubt he will want credit for some of them on the new camera this weekend. I'm still learning the settings and what works and doesn't.  

One highlight of the party was meeting and talking to Matt Moog. He's the founder of Viewpoints. He is a super nice guy. He told me that he came up with the idea when his grandfather needed cancer treatment. He thought he would be able to find information about the various doctors and hospitals. It's not out there. He decided to create a space where everyone could share and not limited to just a few topics. Matt is quite passionate about Viewpoints and interested in all of us and what we need and want from a consumer review space. I think he and the rest of the crew are doing a terrific job, and they are working on even more new features.

While I was at the party, a man from FOX news called me to the back to interview. I majored in radio/TV, but I have on-camera phobia. The first thing I did was forget my last name. Then I spoke to the camera, but I don't know how that turned out. I think I get my camera skills from Nixon. I don't sweat or have five o clock shadow (thank goodness), but I do look scared. Hopefully I outgrew that. We'll see I guess. Or not. If it's really bad, we can all hope they "can" the footage.

One interesting thing at the party was that when you went to the bathroom (which I had to do immediately after talking to the camera), a lady turned on the water and squirted the soap for you. That's a good idea I think. You know everyone washes his or her hands that way which is good for world health - right? I don't know if the guys had a hand wash helper, although I almost went in the wrong door. I'm not sure they had those labeled. I suspect I should start wearing those glasses the doctor told me I need.

We had loads of snacks at the party, and then we went out to eat. They do know the way to my heart at Viewpoints. I have already prepared the bill for more fat clothes. Seriously, the food was heavenly. I can't even say what was best, since it was all yummy. I even liked the martini. It was fruity, so I didn't know it was a martini. I just pointed at something I'd not seen before. I'm like that. 

Jolie was explaining this restaurant we were going to after the Cabaret party, and I misheard one part. She was telling us basically that it was home style, but the word she used sounded like "topless" with all that music and talking. I was thinking, "Well I guess that must be the new hot trend in the city - topless Italian." I thought I probably ought not take pictures. I also thought my mom would not want to know about the topless dinner. We had a waiter anyway, but everyone had their shirts on. I was actually glad I must confess.

We all got Viewpoints t-shirts before we headed off for Italian. It was Jolie's mom's birthday, but she was hanging out with her friends. Mothers. You just can't keep up with them. I sent her some pecan apple butter. Fortunately United Airways did not bust that when they threw my bag on. I had visions of smelling like something to spread on biscuits, but I got lucky. The gift bag was a little wrinked but OK otherwise.

It was late when we wrapped up the night - and later still for me with the time shift. I was about too excited to sleep. Did I mention I tend to be a bit hyper? Well, the party folks will probably tell you that's true. I did fall asleep and then got up and wandered all over Chicago - seriously all over. I missed the part about some of those subways (like the red line I planned on) not running on weekends, so I went places I'm sure I could not find again if I tried. Some of them I think I would not want to look up again either.

Since I lost myself, I missed my plane. They squeezed me on a later flight and flagged me for a search. The grandfather man who hooked me up said that he hoped that I would be there and no later than 8 p.m., so I was there at 7:30. A big bouncer looking guy got to look through my bag. He told me I should have bought more popcorn to take home. I think he thought I looked more terrorized than terrorist after a couple of hours lost on the subways and then a couple of hours to catch the last plane out to Charlotte. I told him that next time I'd bring him some popcorn too.

I'll be, of course, writing reviews on some of the things I saw and did in Chicago. The highlight was meeting the Viewpoints team and some of the writers. It was a fabulous party and a really fun weekend.