It's not that we don't love the Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, it is just that the world is in danger of running out of ugly holiday sweaters.
In fact, is the very last ugly reindeer sweater in danger of being worn this year, due to the sheer number of ugly sweater parties? We think it might be.
There are other ways to greet the season, in a fabulous and sophisticated manner, and to leave with something beyond way too many photos of you, on various sites, with a giant glowing snowman on your torso.
We speak of Cocktails & Canvas, the every-so-often art-and-beverage happening The Hideout at the Hilton Garden Inn. Artist Tommy Vinci leads an unusual cocktail hour, or make that cocktail two-hour, as the class runs from 7 to 9 p.m.
Date? Saturday, Dec. 21. Price? Forty bucks, and that includes your art stuff -- canvas, brush, and paint -- plus appetizers and beverages.
"Guests can follow along as Vinci guides the class, step by step, on how to paint a signature art piece." Oh, and yep; you'll sip "expertly crafted cocktails" as you put brush to canvas.
Call it an offbeat mash-up with two nicely entwined end goals: You get to get out, socialize, and have a delicious adult beverage, and voila! You leave with a painting at the end of the night.
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When's the last time you left with a piece of art you created while sipping cocktails? We usually find a couple of crumbled cocktail napkins, covered in peanut dust, in our pocket.
And check out the date again: Dec. 21. Doesn't your mom want to open a painting you did on Christmas? She does, trust.
Finally, we love the ugly Christmas sweater. We embrace its itchy charms. But maybe next year we need to develop a new sort of dress-up to-do: Everyone show up as either Naught or Nice. Or maybe as their favorite TV special character. Or the red-and-green party?
The choices are plentiful, sweaterists, trust.
