A Yelp Holiday

Last night was the Yelp Elite Christmas Party AKA the "Ugly Sweater Party." Micah and I donned our sweaters, which may not have been the ugliest but were at least seasonal, and joined our friends, Ashleigh and Jeff, for the festivities. The party was held at the California Fruit Wine Company in Vista, which is about 30 minutes north of my place in Del Mar. It felt like quite a trek to the middle of nowhere in particular. 

The party was held in a wine warehouse with dim lighting and rows of tables. Quite frankly, it wasn't my favorite location. It felt crowded...too many people crammed into too small a venue. The other two Yelp parties that I've attended were held in an indoor/outdoor space --although it was summer then-- but I appreciated the freedom to move. 

We arrived and pushed our way to the bar, which was serving five flavored wines. I sampled all five! The cranberry was amazing and had a nice kick to it and the chocolate cherry was wonderfully sweet! The pumpkin spice was festive and the plum and apricot both had a nice flavor. All in all, I give the wines an A+.

Me and Micah

Me and Ashleigh

Along the back wall, the caterers were offering bites of a few food items. And I do mean bites. I've never seen portion sizes so small. 

Our tiny food

I don't go to Yelp parties expecting a full-fledged meal but the previous events have had enough food to constitute a good snack. This event, however, merely offered a lox appetizer about the size of a dime; a bite of ribeye (which was incredibly tender); a lemon lavender sorbet shooter and a two-bite biscotti. 

Thankfully, there was also a cupcake display. These mini cupcakes were offered in a variety of flavors, including red velvet and, my favorite, cookies and cream! The cupcakes were all delicious!

Ashleigh and Jeff

The Yelp photographer snapped this photo of us...I think his flash was a little too bright...
I'm pretty sure my skin is not the same color as my white sweater. :)

After we were done drinking and eating, we lined up for the photo booth again...and again...and again. There were just so many fun props that we had to keep returning for more! Micah and I gave it three shots, Ashleigh and I hopped in for a go and then the four of us all piled in for a round. All the pictures turned out awesome, minus the first shot of Ashleigh and me with my eyes half closed (not sure what happened there but I'm choosing to forget that the photo existed).

Our collage of photo booth shots

All in all, it was fun to get out of the house but the night didn't quite live up to my previous Yelp events. Hopefully 2013 will bring many more Yelp parties though!