Dia de Los Yelpos Elite Event At Maria Maria

I almost bailed on this one at the last minute. I had a long day, and was not feeling getting gussied up and going out. I finally said «screw it» and headed down, and I’m glad I did. Having missed the last couple of events it was nice to finally see everyone’s beautiful faces again. Bonus: many of those faces were painted!
Lots of love to the guy who got in the entrance line behind us. «I told them I was on the list, but they wouldn’t let me skip the line.» Oh honey, we’re ALL on the list.

Yet another beautifully executed Unilocal event that left me more then a little hungover (thanks to Camarena Tequila-​ritas and imperial beer) luckily the charismatic John Garza was there to document my Unilocal induced stupor.
Needless to say I was sad to wash away my dead face as it was amazing and the face painting booth was a big hit in my book, considering all the tourists who hit me up for pictures after the event.
I enjoyed being able to pay homage to my passed kitty at the beautifully done altar. The food was great and I got to hang out with my fellow Unilocalers, all in all a wonderfully decadent dead-​mans party.

Another great Unilocal Elite event! Maria Maria was one classy joint, perfect for the classy clientele of Unilocal.As always, the crowd was great and everyone was very friendly. Quick highlights:
— As others have said, the margaritas were gigantic and great, very nice!
— Maria Maria had some darn good salsa that was nice and spicy.
— I was really excited about the face painting, but unfortunately the line was really long so we didn’t get the chance to grab one.
— The fashion show was nice but very short.
Another great party Unilocal and sponsors, thank you so much!

What can I say that hasn’t been covered by everyone else?
The party was, once again, amazing. Kelly definitely knows what she’s doing and never fails to deliver a great venue, great drinks and great times. As if the sexy sounds coming from Esteban (Steve’s) guitar weren’t enough, I also got free ‘ritas and Imperial to loosen me up to pose with giant paper mache skulls in the photobooth… and just to top the night off I made a few new friends and got some amazing face paint. Add all these up and it equals one amazing night!

Another great Unilocal Elite event! Things that make events exceptional: *nice venue*, *cool party theme*, *engaging entertainment*, *free drinks/​food* and *fun photos!* Plus of course, lots of fun Unilocalers!
— Maria Maria offered up a gorgeous and ample space.
— Dia de los Muertos — super fun theme, complete with a gorgeous altar.
— Face painting: art. on your face. Need I say more?
— Steve Starber — sexy Spanish guitar flicks.
— Jonathan Garza — shhhh, don’t tell the others, but his work is my favorite.
— Imperial beer and margaritas a ‘plenty!
— Tasty appetizers, including shredded chicken tacos and a nice n’ spicy salsa.

What’s a girl got to do to go incognito? Obviously the mustache didn’t work, so this time I enlisted the help of some awesome artists and had calaca-​style face painting done. I was all set to be completely unrecognizable both to those I had seen earlier in the evening and those I had not. But to no avail. As soon as I saw Dej M. again, she squealed in recognition. Lisa M. who I had chatted with in line on our way in also recognized me. Even Errol M. recognized me right off the bat and I hadn’t seen him earlier at all!
Unfortunately, the line for face-​painting took a little time, and I didn’t get to mingle with everyone as much as I would have liked. I consoled myself by gorging on delicious food and a tasty margarita. The fabulous Jonathan Garza snapped some pictures and then I headed home. One last chance to fool someone with my disguise!!! But alas, as soon as I opened the door, her tail was wagging in instant recognition. I guess it takes more than a little face paint to fool Unilocalers and my dog…

That space is gorgeous! Maria Maria took care of us in some of the most sexual lighting I’ve seen in a long while. The restaurant is huge, but inviting… High end, but not pretentious… A place I never thought I’d go to, but happy that I did.
Mexican fare isn’t really my thing, but I had a blast tasting tequila, jumping in and out of the photo booth, seeing my favorite Unilocalers in the world, and even splurging for the La Crema wine.

Oh man. I had a margarita, in the equation where 1 margarita = 5 margaritas. I finally met Alberto N on my way to the bar, and I thought, cool. And today he gets ROTD. Not a coincidence.
What a sweet venue. On the food line a few of us were worried about the scarcity of munchables, when an awesome dude swept in and replenished a few of the trays. A few high-​fives later, the love muffin and I were in Tex-​Mex heaven. Guacamole love. Quesadilla bliss. But whatsa girl gotta do to get a cookie around here, or a cupcake or something? I’m kidding. I had back-​up sugar supply in my purse.
Evidence points to me sneaking into the photobooth, as documented fabulously by Jonathan Garza. You wont believe it, but this event came just in time for my Facebook profile photo update. I’m glad because I was getting really anxious about what I was going to do. So, thank God and everything.
And thank you Kelly, and Jonathan, and the bartenders who lovingly salted those glasses. During my single (or third) margarita, I dubbed it Best Margarita Salt Ever, even while half my Unilocal friends looked half dead and Gabe H’s bottom had my name tag on it.

You know more food is about to be delivered when a 50-​Yelper line forms in mere seconds. And we’ve got that line-​forming thing down pat. Firefighters responding to the stereotypical cat-​up-​a-​tree call ain’t got nothin’ on us.
When I say «us», I mean *you*, as I got nothing to eat. I don’t mean that Kelly underestimated appetites and that all of you were your usual gluttony selves; I mean I never stood in line. I fully blame Lorena O for this, for she had her ROTDC at Foreign & Domestic a couple of hours before this shindig, and I filled up. Had I found anywhere else to put food, I would have stood in line with you heathens and gorged myself. I should’ve brought a purse.
Recognizing people in their skull-​face makeup was more difficult than I would have imagined, made extra difficult by the amount of alcohol I had. Thank god for name tags. Colin T and John R kept trying to goad me into getting my face done (I sound like I’m talking about plastic surgery, don’t I?), but I wasn’t about to take the chance of waking up looking like a 13-​year-​old girl because of pancake makeup. Once told by Edison C that it was powder makeup, I decided to give it a shot, but saw that the line was longer than the line of middle-​aged men at Walgreens when Viagra was first released.
Getting to see old friends and meeting new ones is always the best part of these events to me. Time for a Unilocaler shout-​out: Veek N, Steve B, John R, Colin T, Edison C, Errol M, Marc S, Lisa M, Crystal A, Whitney F, Dej M, Susi R, Susie G, Heather F, Kelly S, Kevin N, Marshall J, Alicia J, Trevor R, Yolanda G, Lorena O, Alberto N, and Gabriel «V-​neck» H. You’re fabulous, dahlings!
Thanks for the beer, Kevin, and a major congrats to you! Thanks to Kelly for another wonderful event!
I don’t ever want to see any of you in deadface again; you’re much better-​looking alive.

Yeah!!! This was an amazing event thanks to the golden touch of Kelly.
Delicious food, beer, margaritas, Spanish guitar, fashion show, photo booth – the list goes on of course.
The face painting was the icing on the cake of the event though my favorite part was getting to meet all of the really cool Unilocalers who bring the fun. Maria Maria is a beautiful restaurant and was a great setting for such a party.
Gracias!!!

pennydelossantos is someone you want to know. she is my sister. intelligent, beautiful, creative, looks good in black, awesome black hair, ssssassssy, great choice in friends, loves tasty vittles, probably has won a couple toasters, famous photographer… you just want to know her.
kellystocker is someone you want to know. she is my sister. intelligent, beautiful, creative, looks good in black, awesome red hair, sssssassssy, great choice in friends, loves tasty vittles, absolutely no toasters, famous instigator… you just want to know her.
this is how the night started… hugging the sisters. realizing that if the only immediate problem in life is how to navigate the lines to eat and drink for free, it is indeed a blessed evening. realizing that i have not seen this many smiles since the last birth or graduation or Unilocalelite event that i attended. realizing that these are some wonderful peeps.
top 10 random memories of various conversations:
TEN
guess what she does… (me to PDLS about C)
you are a prison guard? (PDLS)
no, i am a lawyer for prison guards! (C)
(one guess, what are the chances??)
NINE
So, this is the guy who has swept you off your feet, huh? (me to her)
YES, he is WONderful! (eyes sparkling, stars shooting out her ears)
Dude, do you have any idea how lucky you are to be spending time with this most amazing, beautiful, talented, creative, smart, dancing, lovely, independent woman? Do you have ANY idea? (me to him)
YES, i do and we are going to have, like, 20 kids. (He looks at her very lovingly and also like, who the hell does SHE think she is?)
TWENTY kids? Hey, whaaa, are you trying to say you have already started PRACTICING to have kiddos? What would your DAD say about all of this? (me to HER)
My DAD is flying in to meet him tomorrow.
Awesome.
EIGHT
girrrlundy, i have totally missed you, where have you been all of my life? (me to megan)
well, i have been busy kicking that ball. on thursdays. i have missed like, the last 8 events… i bet these events are boring without me?
i have missed the last 8 events too! have you missed me?
oh, totally totally, yes! (as she gives me a big hug and runs off to have her pic taken again.)
SEVEN
For some reason, I always thought you had a british accent from reading your posts on the threads. (me to colin)
Wow, that is totally cool. (colin in complete white and black makeup, not looking or sounding a bit british but way too thin for a guy who talks about wanting to lose some poundage.)
SIX
you are an awesome man and i love you. (me to E)
thanks, glad i came outside to smoke a cigarette so i could hear THAT.
(you are always smokin’, errol.)
FIVE
OMG, she looks JUST like you with that raised eyebrow and wild look in her eyes. (me to the Kevin)
Oh, she is our little angel! You think she looks like me?
Definitely! That one raised eyebrow has you written all over it. CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN AND ALLISON!
FOUR
man, that Lisa M. is looking like a beauteous frickin’ queen up there on that booth seating altar with her bitches fetching drinks every five minutes and that one half naked dude stroking her with that palm frond and gently feeding her grapes every time she turns her head towards him. she is set. she puts the smart into «sexy redhead.»
THREE
so, she was more of a «bi now, gay later» kind of lesbian. but when she told her mom and dad they were like, «cool, can you move now so we can see the tv?» they just always knew… guess she will have to give back that toaster she earned for me, though.
TWO
this actually happened and was ALL MIMED from across the bar:
can i buy you a drink? (me to Lo)
you want to buy me a drink? (Lo to me)
yes, can i buy you a drink? you are looking SO hottt tonight — you are actually glowing. (me smiling while giving her the eye)
well, thanks but i already have a drink… you also seem to be glowing. (Lo smiling while raising a sexy questioning eyebrow)
cool, i will buy you another one! thanks, i am happy. (me)
are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your way with me later? (Lo)
maybe. margarita, beer… anything… what do you want? (me)
KK, THE DRINKS ARE FREE! (Lo stops our silentsexyspecial communication to SCREAM this across the bar at me as I wink and buy her a drink.)
And my favorite memory which was repeated many times over the evening…
ONE
(me) with that scary dead face paint i almost didn’t recognize you…
(nearly everyone else) thanks!

Gracias Por Todo Señorita Kelly!!!
This was my first Elite event in Austin since I have been away in Hawaii for most of the year. The party was awesome and our host did an excellent job!
Mr. Smidgens was so excited to go he put on his fancy pantsy tux and brought his beautiful GF Quinn. Once inside we made a B-​line for the face painting and man did they do some mellifluous work.
We watched the models strut their stuff in the fashion show and had a few bites of the tasty treats.
Mr. Smidgens picked up his Unilocal SWAG and now has a brand spanking new lunchbox to make all of his coworkers jealous with. 8-​)
Thanks to everyone who made last night possible. I can’t wait to see the pictures!!!
Via con dios… until next time my friends…

Such wonderful people abound at these things! I wish I could have met more of you!
We arrived fashionably late, so we left fashionably thirsty and fashionably hungry. By 10 p.m. all the free beer and food was gone. We DID manage to get a margarita each, though. Not a big tequila fan, but that was one of the best margaritas I’ve ever had!
I saw Errol but didn’t introduce myself, and I’ve been regretting it. But I hear he wouldn’t remember anyway.
See you guys at the next one!

Thank you, Maria Maria for having us! I had never been to the restaurant — the setting is really pretty. The large painting of a graffitti Carlos on the back wall is a poster I had on my wall all through college and law school. It was cool. I’d like to come back and try those carnitas.
The margaritas were excellent! The guitar was pleasing to the ears and the altar was lovely. It is always good to see the Unilocal crew. The crowd was just the right number — not too crowded, not too sparse. I still want to meet more Unilocalers.
Good times!

FANTASTIC event! I’m SO happy I could make it! Do I have enough CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points!!!
Ok, for snerious.
Rundown:
Maria Maria — What a great venue! If I could afford it, I’d totally host an event here. Additionally, the olé tummy says «thank you» for the yummy food.
Alcohol — Imperial beer + margaritas… Deadly combination made deadlier on an empty stomach… Early workday = slew of curse words, but the soul was satisfied.
savannahred fashion show — Super fun! My fav outfit was the last one with the stripes.
Baldo face painting — Pretty darn cool. If I didn’t have to show my face early in the AM at the courthouse the next day I would have participated. I might steal this idea in the future…
Steve Starber — Another idea I will probably steal in the future. The strum-​a-​lum-​ing added a nice laid back vibe to the event. Who doesn’t love a live guitarist?
Jonathan Garza — Great photag and ridiculously nice guy. I’m curious what we’ll see from him in the future… (we’ve checked off light painting and photo booth)
James Abbot alter — Um, I wish my art teacher was this cool back in the day! Instead I had the middle-​aged pseudo-​hippy that had to deal with «the man» suffocating her art in a public school located in D-​town. I didn’t quite understand all the «flower pictures» she made us draw, but they make sense now.
Hank Wizrodt — I saw random blurs of light and finally realized it was a camera. Thanks, beer.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR MOI:
Finally meeting Kelly, Unilocal wrist warmers and my lunchbox!

As a new Unilocaler, and Unilocal business owner, I have to say that if this community is as welcoming, fun and awesome as this party was last night… well I’m hooked for life! Profiles are made, app downloaded, and my first review is now in the bag :)
Thanks Kelly for letting us face paint at this truly rad party! I look forward to more of your events.
I’m stoked to hear that people were happy with their skulls! Thanks for the kind words, it was great to meet you all! Sorry to those Unilocalers that we did not get adorn with skulls, next time you guys can B-​line it to the front of the line and we will hook it up.
We just got our business page up, and we would be happy if you shared the review love on our page :)
Muchas Gracias Unilocalers!
Emily and Oether
BaldO Face Painting and Murals

Today our HR lady was looking at me kinda fixedly. «Are you wearing eyeliner?»
No. I’m on Unilocal,and I thought I got all that makeup off.
I’m so glad I was able to RSVP late in the game, when I turned out to be free after all: the party was so much fun! I was talking software development with Austin N. for five minutes, totally forgetting that I was in skullface. I think you were missing out if you didn’t get painted.
Yeah, I fell off the wagon for my diet, got hit by a truck, rolled off an embankment, and landed in some lava, but tomorrow is another day, another bag of carrots, another bowl of yogurt: it was a minor setback and totally worth it. I saw old friends and met new ones. All hail Kelly for the best event I’ve attended so far.
* I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the fashion show yet. Maybe I’ve missed events that had stuff like this, but it was nice to have something to break up the time and change gears. If this was a first, we should keep having local arts showings at these things. Last dress was the best, IMO, and the hair was fabulous.

This was a peculiar event for me, maybe it was seeing Unilocalers in deadface. Oddly enough, the only Unilocaler I didn’t recognize was Crystal, who wasn’t in deadface, but in Oscar-​mode red-​carpet face, a complete jaw-​dropping transformation from the last time I saw her at Franklin’s. If you’re musical, think ⁵⁄₄ time, but don’t think Brubeck.
I’ve never been to Maria Maria before, and I couldn’t quite get the feel of the place; I assume the interior had been rearranged for us. There appeared to be one bartender working with two barbacks, and last night she was the hardest-​working person in showbiz. I didn’t do any food, and posed for my obligatory Unilocal photos.
But you know what? That’s all frosting: What takes the cake at these things are my favorite Unilocal people. I made some notes that I’ll share with you, but I’m not going to bother with last initials — if we spoke, you know who you are:
Erica is beautiful.
Dawn does exist, my list is complete.
John is deep and covers it with funny.
Colin is cerebral.
Is Dej a model?
There’s just something about Whitney.
Kimberly is correct, sex with women is great.
Darla can be eerily perceptive.
Marc appears amused.
10-​seconds with Lorena is not enough.
Jacquelyn is simply the brightest star in the horizon.
Alberto has great hair and soft beard.
Heather is stunning.
Lenah, get thee to an Austin.
Gabe does Simon Cowell proud.
Steve is nobody’s fool.
Veek really does have inner peace.
I know Yolanda is lovely.
I’d like a little more Jessica, please.
I became inexplicably tongue-​tied around Jennifer. WTF?
There’s more to Kristina than meets the eye.
Kelly and Kevin rule.

ONCE upon a time, I ran through the night near the side of a unlit road by the Jackson State Prison, in Michigan, in late autumn, with strep throat.
But this wasn’t that time. What it was, was, my good people of Unilocal in Maria Maria’s beautiful space, made up in skeletal face paint. I have no idea how their food is, because I didn’t have any. I did have one of the very plentiful Camarena Tequila ritas and heard some flamenco-​y guitar and got myself decorated for photoin’.
If only I had known that wearing Dia de Los Muertos makeup along with regular garb was going to warrant a look from one of the best salseras out there, afterwards @ Speakeasy, that equalled a triple-​take I interpreted as «HOly crap, WTF dude» — I would have done that sooner.
Thanks Kelly/​Kevin n co & Baldo [face] Painting!

SUPER FUN!
Free beer, tequila, and … skulls… what more could you ask for? Personally, I’m a bit of a scardy cat with this death stuff but it was a very intriguing theme. There was a backdrop and pic opps on the side courtesy of Jonathan Garza, and good looking people with painted skull faces everywhere I turned. Next time I know not to give away my college bum status by dressing like a scrub.
The margaritas were amazing and complemented the chips, guac (I was addicted… went back for 2nds… ok maybe 3rds too), quesadillas, nachos, and chicken tacos.
The venue is absolutely beautiful! I wish I had known about Maria Maria sooner! The awesome guitar player (Steve Sabar) really set the mood. In the middle of the event there was a fashion show with lovely ladies modeling for savannahred.
Alice F. and I looked around us and felt like Young Bucks in this sophisticated Austin crowd. How do we fit in and make friends? Maybe the tequila can show us the way. But, I did get to meet and shake hands with the oh-​so-​popular Errol who I am quite jealous of because he has his own Unilocal listing but I ain’t mad at ya!
Thanks Kelly for an wicked good time. It was definitely muy Unilocalolicious.