Charlotte Elite Event: Ugly Holiday Sweater Soiree @ Dressler’s

enjoyed shopping here!

Yeah my review is late, deal with it!
I’m glad I was able to share my first ugly sweater party with all you wonderful Unilocalers! It was a terrific time.
As always, lovely Nicole put on a great event. Beer, wine, bubbly, and food were all fantastic. Esp that dip, which disappeared faster than my new year’s resolutions lasted. Dressler was a great venue that I will have to go back to for a real meal one of these days. Pop Rock Photography snapped some great photos. And my extra ugly sweater vest was put to good use.
Perfect way to start the holiday season!

About dang time you say? My apologies, the work thing’s kept me preoccupied, and we all know that the holidays can be ugly. Spruce it up with an atrocious sweater and we got a match made in heaven.
Another great Event by our ever so amazing CM. hoades of Santas and funky reindeers amassed upon the exquisite, classy, jazzy restaurant that is Dresslers. So fancy that it made me feel awkward as my sweater jingled its way to the bathrooms. It caused head sto turn to see wtf that noise was.
As always, thanks to our fabulous vendors, everyone who came out, everyone who went above and beyond with their moo-​moos and onesies, that hot damn amazing spinach (where’s the artichoke) dip. Loved that dip! The fresh spinach was just wow. Dresslers does it right!
What else is there to say?! Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas everyone!

This was my second OYE… and they just keep getting better. Unlike like the inaugural OYE I attended, this one felt a little more laid back, which is always a good thing as it signals that people are becoming more comfortable with each other. To top it off, Poprock photography was there to capture the event. Btw, did you know if you start to type «pop roc» in Google search «Poprock Photography» is second on the list… very impressive… let’s get it to first!
Atmosphere — a cool happy hour-​esq vibe w/​friendly people who all seemed to participate in the theme… even if it required help from a prepared fellow Unilocaler.
Service — The staff at Dressler’s was great! They were helpful and very attentive to making sure we had an excellent time.
Food — While I am not a big beer drinker anymore I found the Fat Tire, from sponsor New Belgium, to be nice w/​its’ «biscuit-​like» malt flavor. The Dressler’s supplied apps were also great, as I enjoyed the spinach artichoke dip and sausage on a stick.
Overall — After this OYE, like a kid marking the calendar down till Dec 25, I can not wait for two things. First, to try Dressler’s for a full dinner in the near future and second, to see how Nicole tops this event.
PS — Thank you Annie for enabling me to conform with the OYE theme. Poodle collar and all… ha, ha (I mean ho, ho, ho,…it is Christmas season).

Nicole, you did a hell of a job organizing this party. Betty and I had a great time and were sorry to have missed the first half.
Best part aside from the company was the free New Belgium Ranger. Great beer. The seared tuna was awesome as well.
The show-​stopper, though, was the lunchbox. Love it! It’s my first tin lunchbox in something like 28 years.
Can’t wait to make it to another one of these, especially now that my cold is officially kicked.

Wow. There are just so many places to start.
There is no way that the thrift stores around the QC can have any ugly sweaters left, because they were all at this event. In fact, there were so many ugly sweaters that they ran out. We got into sweater vests, vests that weren’t even sweaters at all and a moo-​moo (go Tiffany)! Lucky for them that they will probably get most of this stuff back since it’s the end of the year. Or maybe that’s unlucky for them.
And the food was just awesome. It wasn’t chili, but that spinach and artichoke dip was rocking, and even more so because it just kept coming. The sausage and tuna, which were equally as good — or maybe even better — unfortunately stopped early on, which was a shame, but understandable. We would have bankrupted Dressler’s if they kept putting it out.
It was a bit odd that you had to go to the bar to get a beer or some wine from the sponsors, and the reps were left to mingle, which was good for them, but they weren’t really able to hawk their wares. I get the reasoning, and enjoyed hanging with the wine dude (thanks for finding my name tag), but it was a bit awkward.
The rest of the event? The Charlotte Unilocal crazies were out in full force. Check the pics and make sure you get to the next event. Thanks Nicole, Dressler’s, Palm Bay, New Belgium and QC Elite Peeps. You rock. But not as much as Poprock, who recorded it all. Make sure you check out her pics. It’ll make you feel like you were there.

What a great event! Some great outfits and even better company. Can’t thank Dresslers enough for being a gracious host and providing some tasty bites. The spin/​art dip was awesome! The sausage… oh yeah! Thanks to Palm Bay, Country Vintner & New Belgium for bringing the booze! The variety was great! Nicole — you did another fantastic job!

Charlotte Unilocal keeps knocking it out of the park! Who knew Charlotte could party! This was my second elite event in the Queen City and I’m definitely loving it. I’ve driven by Dressler’s several times and I had no idea this gem of a place was tucked back there. I checked out the menu and will definitely be back in the near future. The light bites provided by Dressler’s for us to nosh on where superb! We had a beautiful spread of spinach and artichoke dip, Ahi Tuna and sausage bites.
There were plenty of libations available to quench our thirst. Thank you to the Wine Dude (Country Vintners) for both your awesome wine and your awesome knowledge of wine! Don’t worry I didn’t forget the champagne dude (Gossler’s) or the beer dude (Fat Tire)…Thank you so much!
The best part of the evening was seeing the crazy stuff my fellow Unilocaler’s had worn and actually finally getting to put some of the names I see online with faces. Charlotte Unilocal is aight ;)
Thanks Nicole and Todd for organizing such a wonderful night. Y’all are doing a fantastic job!

Had a great time experiencing my very first Ugly Holiday Sweater Party last night. Met some new fellow Unilocalers and had some engaging conversations. Thank you to Dressler’s for all the great food and beverages. It was also great to see a pile of toys stacked up in the corner. Hope it wasn’t too much of a pain transporting them Nicole & Todd! Thanks again!

Kudos to Todd and Nicole for such an ‘elite’ event! Great people, great conversations, great food and drinks… love it! At some point I will be able to enjoy an entire event without having to leave early, but mother duty calls:-) Thanks again!
btw, love my lunch box Todd!

Another awesome event. Thank You Nicole and Todd as well as the staff at Dresslers. The bartenders were super friendly and the bites were delicious. I even stayed a little late to enjoy some more yummy appetizers off the menu. If you have not had the smoked salmon carpaccio go back and get some its the bomb.
Enjoyed meeting some new people last night and look forward to the next event!

Had a very nice time at the Elite Ugly Holiday Sweater Soirée– my only wish was that I was able to stay longer– had to leave by 7: (
I didn’t even know that Spinach and Artichoke dip could be that delicious– seriously I could have shoveled some of that in my purse and taken it with me!
Other bites were yummy as well– and excellent wine, champagne, and beer!
We were given a lesson in posing for pictures– which was very helpful. Nice job photog!
Saw some wonderfully tacky Sweaters (and PJs!) — this even gave me a chance to pull out my cheesy poinsettia headband-​woohoo!
As always thanks to Nicole, and all the other awesome Unilocal crew/​Dressler’s venue & employees/​Vendors that put everything together– great job!

Like Shauna, I was ready to grab that chafing dish full of goodness and run. SpinachartichokeHEAVEN. Seriously,. if I didn’t think I’d feel like a super-​cheapskate asking for a doggy-​bag full of free dip, I would have.
For me, this event rivaled our first in awesomeness. I fell in love with a new red vino, made new pals, looked really good in my circa ’93 festivus vestivus, and got to visit a place off my normally-​beaten-​path. Plus Erk won prizes, which makes for a happy buddy, which makes for a happy moi. Although his huge mitts dwarf the bowls. But that’s hilarious.
Thanks to N, to T, to DRSLRS, to Wine and Beer and Bubbles Guys, to all ya’ll for being good times as usual. Only thing I wish I’d done was climb the stairs to the balcony — ah well. And Tonya, your pinturas are muchas bonitas y hilariosas. Yay!

Fabulous event as always! This was my first Ugly Sweater I’ve been to and it fully lived up to my expectations. Hot appetizers like the smoked sausage and spinach and artichoke dip was just the tip of the iceberg. Bubbly galore, beers that I’ve never tried and tasty wines were also on hand (thank you to the vendors for providing — can’t remember their names off hand!)I’ve never seen so many fabulously ugly sweaters in one place and a few people even matched!
Thanks Nicole (and Todd, I so want to start calling him the First Dude) for putting together and hosting another spectacular event – it was great to chat it up with peeps I’ve met and some new ones (just a shame I didn’t get to talk to everyone, sad face) It opened my eyes up to yet another place in Charlotte I need to try and truly put me in the holiday spirit. Now for some Unilocal Christmas Karaōke…