2nd Annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Bash at LaGrange

Nikki always has a good time planned for her Elites, and the 2^nd Annual Ugly Holiday Sweater Bash at LaGrange was no exception! ?There was lots of food and drinks at La Grange, so if you left dissatisfied, I’d have to tell you to take a look at yourself for a reason why. We each got tickets for our free drinks, and then there were specialty drinks (such as the adult snow cones) that were worth paying the extra money to sample. My husband’s drink of choice is 1) ALCOHOL 2) snow cones, so put them together and you have a fun night and a happy man! :) I liked this selection, too. We had the eggnog with Captain Morgan. Yes, the Captain knows how to spice up the nog! YUMMY!!! I know some of you are like @snow cones in December?”, but let me remind you this was a Spring-​like day in Texas! It was almost 80 degrees that day, so «YES»!!! Absolutely snow cones in December!
The food brought in was all pretty good, especially the ham wrapped asparagus. The stuffed jalapenos were good, although not very spicy.
The sweater contest and door prizes were fun… I even won one of the Cirque Du Soleil private performance tickets! YAY ME!!!
The gift exchange was cool, even though I’ve heard some gripes about it. I think one needs to realize that with White Elephant exchanges, a gift might not be perfect for you, but it might be to someone else, and you can bargain a trade or re-​gift.
Congratulations to our gracious host for another terrific event!

Pull out those ugly sw-​ea-​ters
Even though it’s warm to-​day
Come on it’s lovely weather
To have a Zu vodka-​soda with you
Inside the bar is hopping
And friend’s are calling «What’s up»
Come on it’s lovely weather
To (not) have a Bud Select with you
Loved the idea of the Die Hard MST3K– but the volume was an issue– would have been good to have a separate room for that– so people who wanted to hear– could, and people who didn’t– wouldn’t have to shout to be heard over it.
Loved the Cirque de Soleil prizes for the canned food drive– awesome!

Well played Nikki in taking us on a trip to Deep Elum. It’s one of my favorite parts of Dallas and was so glad I had yet another reason to pay the dirt cheap meters and bypass the homeless change grabbers. I know, I say that like it’s a bad thing, but no… it’s what makes it my favorite little place.
Anyways…the point. I had never heard of LaGrange and happily empressed to find them well decorated (think Bishop Arts meets Henderson) with generous pours of some stout drinks! Plus, from what the receipt said, rather cheap drinks, too!
The layout was perfect for the slow crawl of sweater mingling and the atmosphere was super chill. I loved every contestants sweater (Chip, you rocked the best Tic-​Tacky Sweater ever) and the gift exchange seemed to be a hit for all the parties around me.
Fabulous job and Happy happy Christmas, my Unilocal friends!

Christmas plus ridiculously festive getups plus Unilocal Life fingerless gloves plus SO many of my favorite peeps PLUS LaGrange?! Yeah. That just happened.
Mama Nikki totally rocked it again! I loooved those pink cosmo-​adjacent drinkies but also just the vodka/​soda. Zu vodka, you are my newest friend.
I can now say I’ve had food at LaGrange (makes me seem so much less lush-​like, right?!) and it was all good, especially the prosciutto-​wrapped asparagus. But yeah, what was that breaded breading thing? Tasty yet mysterious.
Didn’t think I could love my friends or Unilocalfun or LaGrange any more than I already did, but apparently the Christmas spirit really does make your heart bigger! Merry Christmas y’all!

Great party. It was my first Unilocal event, and I got to bring Mrs. B. along with me as a plus one to meet some fellow Unilocalers. Congratulations to Cat N for winning the sweater contest!
Zu vodka and tonic was a nice cocktail. Interestingly, the bar made the addition of the blade of buffalo grass, as the bartender explained that it is what the vodka is fermented with.
Mrs. B and I walked away with some good loot, too. Participating in the White Elephant exchange left me with a box of Bare Lifts, which I had to have explained to me what they were. Apparently, these items can be attached under a woman’s bra to help correct a «saggy» appearance. I thought it was a hilarious White Elephant gag. The Unilocaler who brought that to the exchange proudly claimed it, but I did not catch their name. If they happen to read this, a friend request would be welcome, as I really got a kick out of that! Mrs. B walked away with a really pretty scarf/​neck wrap. It kind of made me feel a little guilty for my kind of lame gag gift.
Mrs. B and I had some good fun, and we look forward to the future.

I did not get to wear an ugly sweater but I still won a prize! Yay! I’m so excited about gettin’ to see the advanced showing of Cirque du Soleil!
I think all of the winners should do what Leigh F. suggested and turn it into a dinner & a show UYE! YES!
LaGrange were super gracious hosts starting out with the huge Unilocal greeting on the marquee sign above their place… this is a huge boon especially for those of us who happen to be just a tad bit directionally challenged!
And, I loved the appetizers especially the prosciutto wrapped asparagus… yum! The Zu vodka cosmo was delightful! who knew «bison vodka» would turn out to be such a classy cocktail?!
And, how can it be any kind of a holiday party without Die Hard playing on the big screen?! That was an awesome detail!
Too bad, I was so pleased about my lovely throw blanket gift, I forgot to pick up any of the new Unilocal swag but it all looked mad cool though!
This was a Unilocaltastic evening all around… mad kudos to you Ms. Unilocal Queen Nikki!
And, the best part, of course, was gettin’ to hang out with some of my favorite Unilocalers old and new during this as always frantic holiday season!
Merry X-​mas & Happy New Year! Can not wait for another excellent Unilocal Year to come in the 2011!

Nikkanore pulled it off again (did we have any doubt?)! This was a venue I would have never known about and I’m so glad Unilocal introduced us :)
The food looked yummy but I didnt try any as I had just eaten an Angry Dog down the road. Of course, I always love having a vodka option so I didn’t skimp on that. My second drink was certainly stronger than my first, while both were delicious.
The mst idea is pretty fun, but I couldn’t hear the dudes over the chatter throughout. It would be fun to see on a night where it was little quieter and maybe a movie that I have seen was playing (no, I had never seen DieHard, sue me).
I was thrilled to win my first Unilocaly doorprize! It was really neat to have so many pairs of tickets to give away so more people had a chance to win. White elephant was a blast as well– We should do this at every Unilocal party regardless fo the season! I hope whomever got my gift was pleased :) I certainly was with my prize of Pumpkin Pie Whipping Lightning! Oh, and the look on Lances face when he opened his present was priceless! Its the gift that keeps on giving, Lance! ;)
As always I enjoyed chatting with my fellow Unilocalers. I can’t wait for the next one!

Kudos to Nikki for a cool Christmas event that didn’t include me having to listen to another version of Jingle Bells and Blue Christmas.

As always I had a great time!
Managed to get some additional Sharpie artwork on my sweet ‘sweater,’ see some of my favorites and meet some new cool folk. Mad props to the bartenders for making the mixed drinks strong and being cool with our group that hung out for a bit after the festivities. Madder props to Shawn W. for the jäger bomb and Brett S. for the cerveza.
The food was pretty good for bar food and the tacos at the end of the night were an added bonus for me. I loved the white elephant gifts (what up, snuggie?), the canned food drive, the cool new Unilocal swag, Die Hard on the big screen.. .I mean, this is how a holiday party should be done!
Words can’t describe how thrilled I am to not have to work today.

This was a really fun event, La Grange was awesome and the crowd was better. It was great to meet so many Unilocalers that I have known online, in person. Lindsay, Joe, Chris, Meat Curtain girl (that is what you are known as now). It was also great to see all the rest of you guys out, thanks Andrew for buying the table a shot of Red Steer, and Shawn for Shiner Cheers and Joe for beers, and other people for stuff.
Screw the A-​hole that took a present and did not bring one, seriously who does that? At least I got a bouncy ball and some fingerless gloves out of the deal. For the record I believe Shawn should have won the sweater contest, but then again some girl wanted Joe’s shirt to frame and put on her wall or something so he’s in there too.
All in all, this was a great event and I had a really good time, thank you Nikki B!

What a blast! I’m always looking for an excuse to wear the fugliest items in my closet and this was a perfect match. This was my first time at LaGrange and found it to be very cool. I was obsessed with the acrylic stag heads above the bar. The comedian/​commentator guys were very entertaining. The white elephant gifts were a riot and everyone had a great time all around.
Great job Nikki on another awesome event!

Stop the truck! Fingerless Unilocal gloves?! *pout*
Had a good time hanging out with Unilocalers that were already familiar based on their online presence, so it was super fun to see them in person. And touch them. And touch we did.
Tacos were good, drinks were good and laughter was had. La Grange looked really cool and I’d be down to hang out there again sometime.
Totally agree with Desirae for the props of NOT having to listen to your basic Christmas music. Thanks again Nikki!

A huge thanks again to Nikki for another awwesome event! I loved the hilarious commentary added in when Die Hard movie was playing on the flat screen. Love the rubber ball with the Unilocal logo in it and the fingerless gloves. :)
The Zu Vodka cosmo was to die for, but sadly I didn’t get to try the Bud Select because the vodka was so strong.
The food was pretty much all finger food, and I was hungry so anything I was good. lol The proscuitto-​wrapped asparagus was interesting, the jalapeño popper was the yummiest of all.
Loved all the holiday sweaters you all were wearing. Congratulations to Flor that you have won a prize!
I look forward to what 2011 brings.

I am almost running out of superlatives for the parties our Nikki puts together for us. She did a bang up job yet again and an obvious good time was had by all.
The vodka was really good and the bartenders gave a generous pour. The food was good-​loved the proscuitto-​wrapped asparagus! The sweaters were to die for, dahling! I haven’t seen that many ugly sweaters in one place since helping Cosby clean out his closet a few years back!
Loved the door prizes-can’t wait to go to Cirque du Soleil ! The White Elephant gift exchange seemed to be a smashing success and it looked like there was quite a bit of food to be donated to the North Texas food banks! Well done, Unilocalers!
I couldn’t really hear the guys who were razzing Die Hard MST style so I can’t pass judgment. I do think it would be cool to get a couple of our funnier Unilocalers to do something like that at one of our future parties!
Also, I was the envy of everyone standing around the oil drum fire last night under the I-​30 overpass when I busted out my brand new kick ass fingerless gloves! They looks pretty and keeps me hands warm too!
Thanks again, Nikki for a great night and a great year!

I had a blast!!!
this was my first «ugly sweater» party and I wasnt sure what to expect. It turned out to be very fun!
I loved the two free drinks I got and the asparagus bruschutto was delicious!!!
I’m definitely coming back to La Grange!

Fingerless gloves welcome gift… I officially creep myself out wearing these.
Important work meeting 8 a. m…getting asked what is Unilocal and what wild party were you too busy swinging from chandeliers to rip off that tacky bracelet? Oh, if only I had worn the fingerless glvoes for speedy meeting typing.
Nikki! This party rocked, thanks so much for everything!
Brett S looked dashing in the most gorgeous family heirloom sweater ever,
Highlight of the evening was Harlan opening his gift, yelling «Extra Nipples! How did you know?» Oh Harlan, you are too much.

Living the « Unilocal Life»…it gets no better! ANNNNND I been reppin’ my fingerless gloves all day like the gangsta that I am, so you know it was a fun night!
The sweaters were hilarious last night! I love how creative my peeps are! It literally looked liked Santa upchucked on some of you last night, and that was the coolest looking upchuck i’ve ever seen! My white elephant gift was the coolest: Ina Garten Cookbook… maybe cuz im a nerd, but I loved it! AND hold up wait a minute: who won Cirque du Soleil tickets? That would be me! Holla!!! That’s gonna be super duper fun in Jan!!!
La Grange is like a hidden treasure in Deep Ellum! I couldn’t get enough of the tasty little goodies that they supplied and the Zu vodka was oh so yummy… thanks guys!
Nikki, you absolutely rock girl! Thanks for another amazing event!

I *really* need to invest in a fugly sweater for all these holiday parties. I saw some seriously good — or perhaps I should say bad — ugly sweaters at the event.
LaGrange were great hosts and put out plenty of tasty eats for us. I still have no idea what those things that looked like chicken nuggets were… perhaps some kind of deep fried cheesy polenta or potato? The Zu vodka was most excellent and an easy choice over the Bud. The movie commentators were interesting although I didn’t find them to be all that funny or entertaining.
Yay for new swag! I’m wearing my new Unilocal hobo-​gloves as I write this. Giant Unilocal bouncy-​ball is also present but I can’t use it at the moment without wreaking havoc.
Thanks for organizing Nikki as always!

Another great event! And woohoo for being in Deep Ellum!
The Zu vokda was great, and I loved the cosmo-​like drink the bartender made! Delish! The food was good too, although I’m with Brian Q on the fried whatever it was thingy. What was that? The asparagus and stuffed jalapeño were great though!
So great seeing familiar faces and meeting new peeps too. Loved my bath soap white elephant gift!
I’m totally wearing my «yelp life» fingerless gloves right now. Really.
Thanks Nikki for another awesome event!

Great fun at a great bar! Nikki did a great job on this one, with the ugly sweater contest (and boy, there were some ugly ones!), white elephant gift exchange and great door prizes.
It was also awesome to watch the MST3K-​style narration to «Die Hard» on the big screen (how does one get that job, anyway? :)).
Finally, our hosts were indeed serving up good bites and drinks to the Unilocalers, and a fun time was had by all. Good news for those of you who may have seen too much of me in my wife’s Mardi Gras themed sweater: I promise I’ll never wear it again. :)