V-I-P! V-I-P! V-I-P!

Amy and me - Prom pose right after the VIP Awards

Last night was my company's VIP (Very Impressive Performer) Awards and it was held at Josephine's on the 15th floor of the Sheraton Hotel. For those that have not read previously, go here for a breakdown on why exactly I was getting this award. Anyways, even though it was a great honor and the concept of it was cool, I was kind of dreading it because it was a lot of people I didn't know, it was three hours long, and I feared that the event would be boring.

Thankfully I invited Amy along as my "date" (we always corrected people and stated that she was my college friend, which is also a lie strangely as we may have went to the same college but I did not know her there), which promised to make the experience interesting at the very least.

And good god, did she make it interesting. At one point while eating a remarkably delicious piece of cake (inhaling may be a better descriptor of what I was doing to the poor, defenseless dessert) Amy looked over at me and simply asked "are you still gaining weight?" for everyone to hear.

Great, even my date was insulting me.

Before you feel bad for me, think about this: this is precisely why I invited her and why she was perfect to go along with. Everyone else at the dinner was interested in being formal and "professional" , but very few people were interested in fun it seemed (professional and fun do not have to be mutually exclusive concepts). Which is why Amy and I imported our unique brand of fun, as believe it or not I may or may not have incited the "gaining weight" question with my own, similarly insulting one. We went back and forth all night, and it was great fun insulting each other and making jokes about nearly everything going on around us.

So not only was this a night where I was being lauded with an illustrious award, but the night ended up feeling like a weird mixture of Prom and Graduation (in a good way - they gave me a boutonniere!), albeit one that had an open bar, very delicious food, sweet prizes (clock with my name engraved on it and a $100 stock certificate - count it!), and I got to share it with one of my best friends and someone who was equally willing to be ridiculous and jokey just to make the experience a fun one.

Right before I left to pick up Amy, I spoke to a coworker who was a previous recipient of the award who confirmed my fears: yes, it is dreadful, and yes, it is boring.

Thankfully we defied history and expectations last night, as it was a great time. Can't wait for my next one. Don't forget to keep your schedule open Amy. At this pace it should take me another year and 2 months, so make sure late June is open in 2009.