Portland, OR 2013 - Day 2

Jeffrey Allen Home & Garden.  Where Vigor's offsite took place

I want you to guess what the first thing I saw was as I exited the elevator this morning.  Wrong!!  It was a businessman in a blue checkered button up shirt.  I rode the elevator five floors down, and upon entering the lobby, I saw... do you want to take another guess?  Yep!  Three more businessmen in blue checkered button up shirts.  I need one of those clicker counters like they use at Costco to count every person that walks through the door.  I hope they sell counters that go up to 4,000 because that’s how many blue button up shirts I am going to see by the end of this trip.

 

As Chad was getting dressed to leave, he was buckling his belt and said, "I better wear this belt in case I have to do a 'trust fall'."  It's so funny the idea we have in our minds of corporate meetings.  At 7:30, I dropped off Chad, Lydia, and Tom at the location of their offsite (that’s a mass cool way to say “meeting”), and then I had the whole day to myself.  I came back to the hotel to plan my adventures, when Nicole called and asked if I wanted to go down to Basil’s Kitchen—our hotel’s restaurant—for breakfast.  It’s always awkward to hang out with people I don’t know, because I’m convinced that in the first 10 minutes they’ll be sorry, but I accepted the invitation and we headed downstairs.

We ended up in such a deep conversation that the poor waitress had to come back five times before we were ready to order.  Nicole was very easy to talk to, and we enjoyed our breakfast together.  Apparently she didn't regret inviting me, because she suggested we spend the day together.

So my new friend Nicole and I headed for Washington Park.  I was excited to spend this gorgeous day in a beautiful place.  Unfortunately, so was the entire population of Oregon.  There was not a single available parking spot.  You can imagine how happy I was to spend twenty minutes driving around the parking lot, hoping for a spot to open.  Once I realized these jokers were here to stay, we drove to Waterfront Park downtown.

Waterfront Park is located along the Willamette River.  We walked along the Esplanade dodging in and out of joggers and bicyclists; we kept going and ended up wandering through downtown.  I didn't trip and fall, I didn't get lost, and I didn't say something stupid that I had to back track and try to wiggle my way out of.  I was very proud of myself, and when I said so to Nicole she just laughed nervously.

Skidmore Fountain.  Had Chad been there to take it, this picture would be amazing.

Nicole and I drove back toward Lake Oswego and stopped for lunch at Bridgeport Village, which is an upscale outdoor shopping plaza.  I tried to force Nicole to decide where we would eat; she refused.  I attempted to bully her; she still said no.  I flat out threatened her; she was unyielding.  So I chose Native Foods—a casual vegan restaurant, where I discovered the Indo Noodle Salad with tempeh, and lavender lemonade, and was hard-pressed to think of a time when I've tasted a better salad.  Lunch was delicious and I really liked the spirit of the place: super friendly employees, with helpful tips for those of us who have never tried “Native cheese” (cheese made from cashews, sunflower seeds, and other nuts) and wondered why a vegan restaurant would have "chicken" and "beef" on the menu (think soy, wheat, and pea protein in the form of "meat").  We ate our salads outside and watched all the rich folks shop at the over-priced stores, in a frantic attempt to be better than me.

Nicole refused to let me take her picture.  Trust me, guys, she's real.

After lunch we went back to the hotel for some down time before meeting up with the rest of the group.  At 5:30, we went to Jeffery Allen Home and Garden to pick up the others.  It’s an unusual place to hold a two-day offsite, but when I walked into the store, I didn't want to leave.  It’s is quite possibly the most beautifully furnished store I've ever seen.  The owner, Allen, invited me to come with the group tomorrow and spend more time there, because eventually everyone ended up waiting outside for me as I was smelling all the candles and asking him questions about his life.

We drove to Ricardo’s Ristorante where Frank (note to all who meet him: he doesn't like to be called "Your Majesty") had made reservations for twelve of us.  We were seated at a large table on the patio, and for some reason, I was really socially uncomfortable for the first few minutes.  Chad made me sit next to a guy named Tyee, and as Chad pulled out my chair for me he whispered, “you’re gonna love this guy; he’s one of my favorite ones here.” But I just couldn’t focus; first of all, the waiters began pouring Italian wines for us to taste and I watched people swirl, sniff, and hold their glasses a certain way.  The menu was written almost totally in Italian, and I was too nervous to decipher it.  And then there were all these (at least what I thought were) highfalutin Vigor employees, and I just felt like we were out of place.  I wanted to go home and watch a movie with my babies. 

As dinner progressed, and I began to talk to people, I realized why Vigor is such an extraordinary company; because it’s run by extraordinary people.  It's a 500 million dollar company, on a mission to turn itself into a billion dollar company.  And they asked for Chad's help establishing the vision.  Trying to convey what an immense honor this is for Chad, or repeating the praises for him sung to me by the regional manager, the Vice President of HR, and even by the owner himself, might sound like boasting, but this is absolutely the biggest thing to happen to Chad in his near-20 year career.  So forgive me, please.  There is no way to describe how proud I am of him as his wife.  And as his biggest fan.  I spent most of the dinner talking to Tyee.  We shared pictures of our kids with each other, and I learned about his wife’s family's farm.  We talked about Tyee's company, and how we met our spouses… I felt we really bonded, and was glad Chad chose someone so fun for me to get to know.  Until, as Tyee was leaving, he grabbed my hand and said, “Robyn, it was a pleasure.”  I said, “It’s Rachel, but I’ll change it to Robyn if you want.”  You see, people, the bottom line is that I’m unforgettable.  It’s always been that way, and it will always be that way.  And tonight, this Robyn couldn't have been more proud to sit back and watch Chad shine.

Nighty night, my friends.

-Robyn

PS.  You'll notice a lack of photographs.  Yeah, apparently executives don't take out their cameras and snap photos of each other at business dinners.  I had to pretend like I wasn't interested in capturing every moment.  I will regret my choice to conform soon enough.