Elite Event: Merry Yelpmas with OTP & ITP!

This was crazy amounts of fun. Apologies for being a slowpoke with my review, I totally forgot I can review events since I haven’t been to one in so long (also my bad). I’ve been naughty, but Santa was still nice to me and gave me a corkscrew.
This was an amazing event. I brought my roommate and she was like «damn, I need to start writing reviews on Unilocal!». There was lots of sweet Unilocal swag, as well as lots of good from vendors such as Onli, Honest Tea, Buffalo Trace, and scrumptious spreads provided by Flying Biscuit, Longhorn, Marble Slab, and CaJa Popcorn. I think I tried everything (definitely multiples of everything). I got both massages by Spa Sydell — so relaxing after the stressful finals/​holiday season. We also got to make fun little stockings and gifts for our friends at Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Definitely one of the best and well-​organized Unilocal events I’ve been to, and hopefully I get to go to more in Atlanta :)

I am beyond late with my review but I did enjoy myself! It was so funny because when we first entered, we thought the party was only in the very first room. We were about 30 minutes late so we assumed everyone had come and gone. But — we kept hearing noise coming from the back. So we eventually walked around and saw a larger room full of people. Too funny!
Longhorn had some really good food and I loved the sparkling water… Onli! The photo booths were pretty cool also! Love my pics!

What a wonderful event! Unilocal holiday parties get better each year & this event was a night to remember. I appreciated the warm welcome from JJ and Colleen B. My guest Morgan W. & I checked in very easily and was also greeted by a prime rib sample from LongHorn’s and a wine bottle opener.
The studio space was pretty rad. I was definitely looking forward to how the space was going to be utilized for our Unilocalmas party & to our surprise, they did a great job. Loved the two different photo booths that were set up for us to enjoy and the food from LongHorn’s hit the spot.
The Buffalo Trace Bourbon & CaJa popcorn vendor were a great addition and who knew that mixing bourbon with Onli flavored sodas would make a great drink for the night!
I didn’t get a chance to try the Honest Teas or Flying Biscuit samples but it didn’t matter because we all had such a great time catching up & taking plenty of selfies that night.
The overhead holiday music was a nice touch & definitely got us all in the spirit. Wish there was more upbeat music so we could break a sweat on the impromptu dance floor but again, just the chance to see new & old Unilocal faces, definitely was the best part of these end of the year, holiday parties.
Great choice on the event space, selected vendors & overall positive vibe throughout the night!
Congrats to all the 2014 Unilocalie winners & looking forward to a rockin’ 2015!
Thank you Ben G., Heidi P., JJ G., Colleen B., the talented Krisandra Evans & the photobooth vendors for a memorable night!

Thanks Ben, Heidi, Unilocal and all the vendors we were able to come in contact with tonight. Another great Unilocal year and a great end to the year. All of the vendors were great to talk to and very friendly. All of the food and drinks were great. My favorite was definitely the baby back ribs from Longhorns. It was delicious and fell right off the bone.
There were a couple photo booths and Santa walking around. There was quite a bit to do and lots to try.
Looking forward to another great Unilocal Elite year with lots of great people and events! Shout out to Ben & Heidi for throwing awesome events!

I’m down for a party but a party with good food and drinks and some ELITE company??? Why yes!!! My RSVP is I must attend!!!
My first large Elite event and it was so much fun! It was almost like a move premier where all the stars were the Elites you come cross online for their great reviews and now you get to see in person!!!
Overall this was such a great event. Longhorn represented strong and if I was not a fan before, I am a fan now. There was Longhorn, The Flying Biscuit Café, Onli Beverages (which mixes well with Bourbon), Honest Tea, a Popcorn, Buffalo Trace Bourbon and Red Hare Brewery. So there was a great selection of food and treats and quality beverages to wash it all down.
There were two green screen set up with props to take some fun pictures! I got in on the scene and got to chose a background and that was a lot of fun.
There was a room for Spa Sydell to get some massage time in but unfortunately didn’t get in there. But the fact they were there was awesome! Whats a Christmas party without a 5 minute massage!
There was a mini awards ceremony and that was cool because I was familiar with all who won and I was happy to see fellow Unilocalers getting some special recognition.
It was a really cool event and I am so happy I had the chance to attend. Thank you Heidi and Ben for such a great event!

Well I didn’t get there until 8:30 so of course the food was gone and the drinks were almost out, but I did get a chance to see some Unilocalers that I haven’t seen all year and once again was just amazed at all the new people that I don’t know at all.
Who knew this space was here? When I entered the address in my GPS and it said 13 minutes from my job, I knew I could make it there after work easily, but was concerned that most people would have left the party. This was not the case, the party was still in full effect with only 30 mins left.
I was able to try the spinach dip from Longhorn as they were packing up shortly after I arrive, so I can only comment on that. It as tasty AND warm.
I also tried the Bourbon. The lady that was running the table said she had ran out of the juice, but thankfully the Honest Tea folks had given her a few bottles of tea to use as chaser. I’m not a bourbon drinker, so it did help, because I couldn’t have handled the drink without a chaser.
One of my favorite things to do at Unilocal events are take photos and this party had two photo booths. It was a dream come true.
The check in surprise was really nice. I found Santa and grabbed my corkscrew and even got Santa to pose for a photo op.
My daughter was suppose to meet me, but she had gone to the Usher concert the previous nite, so she left me to my own, and without my Walmart gift cards, but I could see the stocking bins were filled up, so it was very pleasant to see that Unilocal gives back as only the Unilocal community can.
I squeezed as many hellos, hugs and Merry Christmas greeting as I could in the 30 mins that I was there, and can only hope the New Year brings me better work hours, cause getting off at 8 at night doesn’t make it convenient for making these events.
As I was leaving the Honest Tea guy offered me a bottle of tea, and somehow it was the flavor that I drink most often in their teas, so that only enhanced the Christmas spirit.

Unilocal, Ben and Heidi, you outdid yourself! This was truly the best Christmas party of the year! I was so happy to see that we collected gift cards and donations to the Boys and Girls club of Atlanta.
We had 2 green screen photographers with props and different backgrounds. Who doesn’t love fun costumed pictures? APS shots and Tap Snap was a brilliant idea-​had it emailed to me that night.
We had differnt stations with yummy Nom-​Noms everywhere.
Caja popcorn had carmel sea salt, pimento, spicy bbq (my favorite) popcorn. Their popcorn tubs can satisfy any snack fanatic.
Honest Tea: Their teas are the perfect blend of not too sweet and not too tart. They also went well with the Buffalo Bourbon offered in the other room :)
Buffalo Trace Bourbon– this stuff was so good, the premixed alcohol ran out in an instant. It happens to be one of my top favorite picks, glad to see it at our Unilocal event.
Flying Biscuit– we had grits, fruit, homemade french toast with homemade raspberry glaze and cream frosting. Also, a pimento spread with pita chips. They spoiled us!
Spa Sydell– My date had a massage and loved it. This was a genius idea!
Longhorn Steakhouse-​We had steak, roast beef, chicken, ribs and seafood. I got to eat every meat on the market. They made sure to serve generous portions (much to my delight) with a happy smile. They also gave bags which came in handy for our swag. This was most definitely the hot spot for the night.
Onli beverages-​They had carbonated beverages. I couldn’t get enough of the espresso drink! Yup, carbonated espresso with a hint of sweetness.
Red hare beer– Local beer is where it’s at. I’ve been to their brewery (a mile from my boyfriend’s house). We had 3 beers to pick from and I fell for the dark beer. Their rep was such a sweet girl too. Learned so much about the company from her.
Marble Slab Creamery– They had cake batter, coffee ice cream and one more. Coffee please! My sweet tooth was in heaven.
I met so many folks that night. Can’t wait for more official and unofficial Unilocal events so that we can continue our conversations!

Ben G (ITP) and Heidi P (OTP) put together a very cool combined ITP/​OTP Unilocal Elite event at Studio Space in Doraville. In addition there were many other sponsors. What a great time! Longhorn Steakhouse provided us with the main eats and there were great drinks by Buffalo Trace bourbon, ice cream by Marble Slab Creamery, beer by Red Hare Brewing and photo opps galore.
It was also nice meting the Southeastern Director for Unilocal.She seemed like she’d be a great person to work for.
Thanks all for a wonderful time and Merry Christmas!

This was such a great way to finish an amazing Elite year! The vendors were fantastic and joyful in the holiday spirit! Santa was walking around taking photos and handling out Unilocal corkscrews! I loved it! The vendors who attended are listed below:
Caja Popcorn
Longhorn Steakhouse
Red Hare Brewery
Spa Sydell
The Flying Biscuit
Honest Tea (Healthy and delicious)
Marble Slab Brewery (flavors of ice cream offered were chocolate, coffee, and birthday cake)
Onli Beverages
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
I’d have to say my favorite was the Baby Back Ribs from Longhorn along with their Mushroom Truffle Bisque! I had to go back for seconds (maybe thirds lol). The Birthday Cake Ice Cream from Marble Slab Creamery and Salty Caramel popcorn from Caja were delicious! We also had a lot of fun in the photo booths in our Xmas attire. Great Souvenirs!
Thank you so much to Ben and Heidi for hosting such a phenomenal Unilocalmas! I truly enjoyed writing reviews and meeting so many new wonderful people through my Unilocal Elite journey. I’m looking forward to the amazing Elite events next year has to offer.

Merry Unilocalmas!
Hurrah to Ben and Heidi bringing in OTP and ITP under one big studio… Studio Space that is. 2 large rooms filled with green and white backgrounds to film, photo, party to your heart’s content.
The only downside is the parking in the front… but yay for the additional parking in the back!
Kudos to the community managers in giving back… donations to the Boys & Girls exceeded goal! Yay for us Elites! :)
Once again, the Elites got spoiled many thanks to the following vendors:
Buffalo Trace Bourbon — my bf really enjoyed the bourbon.
The Flying Biscuit — gave out their yummy grits, fruit salad, biscuits with yummy toppings
CaJa Popcorn — gave out awesome bags to go, I must come here to get more of their sea salt caramel
Spa Sydell — the line was too long, I was sad not to able to partake… I heard that they gave out awesome massages and facials! I am definitely sad now!
TapSnap — this was a photobooth that took pictures against a green screen… but I didn’t take pictures myself but from the pictures, it looked pretty awesome!
LongHorn Steakhouse — MAD PROPS to the ladies and gentlemen that served us crazy Elites… and keeping up with us! We had chicken, ribs, PRIME RIB (highlight of evening and surprised me!), flank steak, mushroom bisque, avacado shrimp salad, spinch dip… oh my…
They keep spoiling us… I really really love you guys! And shoutout to Warren for checking up on my bf and i! :)
Honest Tea — I’ve always loved their kids’ juice but their tea is just as awesome! Thank you for the bottles of drink! So refreshing and not overly sweet!
Onli Beverages — business venture from Florida with 7 diffferent flavors of carbonated water. The Hibiscus is definitely my favorite… and possibly new addicition.
Marble Slab Creamery — I didn’t get any ice cream since it was cold but marble slab creamery is always and have been yummy!
Through the year, the events has gotten better and better each and every time. We are blessed to have Ben and Heidi that works feverishly to make each event better than the last.
And being a sappy person that I am… I LOVED the fact that I have made many of new friends via the Unilocal Elite events. Its not about the free food, drinks, etc… I would say meeting people and forging a bond through our love of food, driven by our opinions.
This is the best way to end 2014, I am proud to Unilocal and even more proud to be a Elite… so I end this with, Unilocal on my fellow Unilocalers!

Woohoo! It’s Unilocal Christmas party time!
With my plus one, we found the event held at Studio Space Atlanta, a venue for many productions held in Atlanta. I found myself wondering from room to room and finding myself in the most random places. We were promptly greeted by JJ, Heidi and Colleen at the check in table. And if you checked in on Unilocal app, we got a free Unilocal approved wine opener. I was also able to finally snag the coveted Unilocal mug. Love it!
Another great aspect of this event were the donations to the Boys & Girls club. The set up made it super easy for me and the boy to drop our gift cards into cute stockings, fill them with loads of candy and write a quick note. So proud to see people coming together to do some good for the community.
I also ran into many familiar faces, took plenty of pictures and met lots of new faces! There were two areas set up for photos, one with a super cute background set up and one with a massive green screen. We fully took advantage of both.
The food: Sponsored by Longhorns, Marble Slab Creamery, Caja popcorn and Flying Biscuit. Huge spread in the main back room and they also had servers come by offering small bites to the front room. Everything was delicious! Stand outs for me were the prime rib from Longhorns and the spicy BBQ popcorn from Caja popcorn. Both made me wish I had bought a bigger purse to snag some food to go.
The drinks: Sponsored by Honest T., Onli sparkling drinks, Red Hare brewery and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Unilocal sure knows how to party! The bourbon was so smooth. Red Hare had an awesome lager. And both Honest T and Onli were delicious. We even scored some bottles to take home.
The Unilocalies: A smaller version of the Unilocal awards. Congratulations to everyone who won! I had to steal one to take an impromptu picture. Thanks to Duc L. for letting me borrow his!
Cannot wait to see what Unilocal has in store for the new year!

Maybe it was the Christmas spirit in the air, but, this was my favorite event of the year! Everyone was so happy to be there, from the Unilocalers to the vendors the air was filled with Unilocal love and joy!
First I would like to say as my first year as an Elite it has been a pleasure! I have been welcomed with open arms into a community of amazing people that I am so happy to have in my life!
Now about the party… the location was a cool little video studio located in a warehouse district off Buford highway and 285. The studio was divided into several different rooms, both small and large, each filled with Unilocal activities!
There were 2 different professional «photo booths» which were really more like professional photo sessions with fun props! The food was amazing, provided by Longhorn Steakhouse, The Flying Biscuit, Marble Slab Creamery, and Caja Popcorn. And alcoholic drinks were flowing thanks to my favorite Red Hare Brewery and Buffalo Trace Bourbon!
Additional activities included stuffing stockings for the children of The Boys and Girls Club, a craft table of Unilocal Ornament making, a massage from Spa Sydell, and pictures with Santa!
Big big big thank you to Ben, Heidi, ALL of the vendors, and Studio Space Atlanta!
Happy Holidays too all! See ya next year!

Unilocalmas time!
Since this was my first Unilocalmas Party… I didn’t know what to expect. Me and my +1 arrived separately and I let JJ knows at the check in station and it was totally cool. Thank you guys for being so flexible! :D
Since this was my first time being inside Studio Space Atlanta, my experience was wow, this studio… which looks so small and hidden from the outside is actually very big and spacious on the inside! You really can’t judge a book by its cover (cliché, I know: D).
Since everyone have reviewed mostly what we ate and stuff, I am just gonna sum up my experience and keep it short and sweet.
What I love:
–That we can give back to the boys&girls club. And we can also give them a handwritten note!
–Everyone’s christmasy spirit.
–The photo booth fun!
–The free Unilocal swag (finally got a mug and my Unilocal wine opener)
–The full meal from longhorns (ribs, chicken, avocado & shrimp)
–The Flying biscuit grits and french toast
–Free facials from Spa Sydell
–Honest tea
–Sparkling water
But best of all:
The chance to just celebrate being a Unilocal member and being able to meet new faces. I made some new friends at this event and interacted with some old ones I have met at past events.
Overall…thanks Unilocal for an amazing year of being an elite and all the events you have put together for us! It has been a wonderful year and looking forward to next year!
Thanks to JJ, Ben and everyone else at Unilocal for making this event! :)

Great end to a great year for Unilocal Atlanta and Unilocal OTP! I think this event really embodied what Unilocal and Unilocal Elites are all about. Every single person was in a festive, friendly mood, decked out with their festive sweaters, ugly sweaters, and Santa hats while taking copious numbers of festive and happy photos in front of two green-​screens, one in each room. The new schwag was great — a Unilocal waiter’s corkscrew (with clever inscription «Wine me, dine me, make me Unilocal!») and a festive red Unilocal mug.
I was really impressed with the vendors. First, they were all SO friendly, and generous with their wares, whether it was the Caja popcorn cups, the Red Hare beer, the Buffalo Trace bourbon, the Honest Tea, or the Longhorn Steakhouse spread. And what a spread it was! We ended up getting caught in traffic on the way over from Marietta and therefore had to park in the back of the building, where we saw the Longhorn grill going strong, grilling up those steaks and chicken. I was surprised to see it all cooked fresh, right at the event, but now I understand how the steaks tasted like they were just off the grill — they were!
Studio Space Atlanta worked perfectly, too. There was a smaller room and a large room, and it was just the right size to not be too crowded but keep that festive atmosphere — where you could actually hear and talk to people! There was also a make-​your-​own ornament table, and a table where you could create a festive note for your gift card for the Boys and Girls Club. And more Unilocaly awards — cool!
So great job to Heidi P., Ben G., JJ G., and everyone else involved for capturing the «spirit of Unilocalmas» in one great event, with Food, Drink, Schwag, Photobooths, Philanthropy, Friendly People, and Fun. The only thing missing was a Fit Club event for the morning after! ;)

It’s The MOST Wonderful time of the year…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attending this festive holiday Elite event was a MUST GO! (Even though it felt like frosty the snowman was blowing crazy cold winds outside)
I walked around said hello to familiar faces, and met a few others for the first time.
My first friendly face was Heidi, she greeted with a warm hug on such a cold night. Next Ben greeted me and pointed me in the direction to the holiday card table. (There I included a walmart gift card to a deserving child for the boys/​girls club of Atlanta. (How awesome)
I started to follow the smell of food and ended up almost passing the Unilocal mug and trinkett table, I finally got the Unilocal chap stick I have been wanting.
In the largest room they had flavors galore, Longhorn, flying biscuit, and marble ice cream were the tables I had to make a few returns to.
I didn’t stay the entire time, but the time I stayed was such fun… Thanks Unilocal u did it AGAIN…

Unilocal didn’t have a holiday party in Atlanta last year, so it was great to get back into the holiday spirit with the Merry Unilocalmas Elite Event at Studio Space. What a cool space with green screens galore. I felt like I was on set for some sort of media production. Having a holiday party in this sort of setting was different, unique, and cool. The evening turned out to be a success.
This was one of the bigger Elite events of the year. +1s were allowed and both Atlanta communities (ITP + OTP) were invited. It was fun and exciting. Our Community Managers Ben G. and Heidi P. were joined by Associate Regional Marketing Director Colleen B. Santa C. was in the house (giving away new schwag: Unilocal corkscrews) along with a whole host of vendors such as The Flying Biscuit Café, LongHorn Steakhouse, Onli Beverages, Honest Tea, Marble Slab Creamery, CaJa Popcorn, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon.
LongHorn has been generous to Unilocalers all year long. Their Atlanta area staff was out in full force, meeting & greeting Unilocalers, handing out food samples & free appetizer cards, and offering a full-​on dinner buffet with freshly sliced steaks (two kinds), chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, chips & dip, and soups. The steak was delicious as was the scintillating mushroom truffle bisque. Cheers to LongHorn for all the Unilocal events they’ve hosted in the Atlanta metro in 2014 and for their heavy presence at the holiday festivities last night.
I enjoyed sampling the different flavored sparking waters from ONLI Beverages. Who knew espresso-​flavored sparking water could taste so good? I also liked the lemon watermelon and hibiscus pomegranate flavors. The two ladies working that shiny stand were very nice.
The Flying Biscuit delivered breakfast with cheese grits, fruits, and French toast with homemade sauces and Marble Slab Creamery was giving out complimentary mini scoops of vanilla, chocolate, and birthday cake ice cream. Yum! Gourmet popcorn producer, CaJa Popcorn, brought a few interesting popcorn flavors for us to sample. They included pimento cheese and spicy BBQ. I’m a fan of Honest Tea, a familiar face at Unilocal events, so I’m always happy to see them around.
There were two «photo booth» opportunities. I put photo booth in quotes because these were not only photo booths in the traditional sense, but all-​out green screen photo shoots. Yes, we took advantage of the giant green screens installed at Studio Space. We get to experience and try out all sorts of photo booths at Unilocal events and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the nifty system TapSnap rolled out. We were able to customize our professional quality photos, from beautiful backgrounds to funny/​silly props, using TapSnap’s large and vibrant touchscreen display. Once we were happy with our photos, we were able to email them immediately to ourselves. It was sweet. I hope we get to have more fun with TapSnap in the future.
It was a pleasure finally getting to meet some faces I’d seen online, but never in person. These include Mary T, Quynh N, Janos J, Steve B, and Jabari M. Unilocaly Awards were presented for categories such as Most Useful, Funniest, and Coolest Unilocalers as well as Best New Unilocalers, in both ITP and OTP, for the year 2014. Congratulations to all the winners including Lindy F, Jang C, Samantha H, Mary T, Praveen R, and Ravi B!
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we wrote Christmas cards and donated gift cards and funds to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. I saw a lot of completed cards and stuffed stockings towards the end of the night, so I hope we reached our goal (50 gift cards).
Thank you to the fine folks at Unilocal (Ben (and JJ), Heidi, Colleen), photography personnel (Krisandra Evans, TapSnap, and others), the friendly vendors, and the people behind Studio Space for hosting our merry shindig. Merry Unilocalmas and Happy Holidays, everyone, and here’s to a great 2015!

Let’s talk about the Merry Unilocalmas holiday party for a second, okay? This event was in a somewhat secluded area in Atlanta right off Buford Highway in one of the studio suites! Such a good idea with plenty of little rooms and open space!
Upon walking in and check-​in, the next room to your left was a Spa Sydell sponsored massage room! Equipped with a masseuse and lay down table! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to experience this, as every time I came by or to the room if was full of people but I heard the short massage was worth the wait. I may have to visit a Spa Sydell on my own one Saturday or Sunday morning.
Next you have the waitresses walking around with samples. The first sample I tried was this spinach dip from Long Horn! Needless to say I ran out of the tortilla chips but definitely finished the dip *wink*. I just couldn’t let it go to waste. It was just that freakin’ good!
The next appetizer I sampled was the PRIME RIB! (If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you would know that I am a PR fanatic). There was some kind of white sauce that came along with it and I meant to ask what it was, but don’t worry when I use my free appetizer coupon I got from the event I will be sure to ask upon my visit to Long Horn!
One of the other tables in the front room had popcorn and another had a table with Honest Tea! (Don’t you just LOVE that name? Pure Genius!!) The popcorn was out of this world. There was a peppermint-​chocolate flavored popcorn and I think that may have been my favorite but the salted caramel definitely came in a close second place. Next to it, the Honest Tea (chuckle) table had different flavors to try and the guy who was working helped me make a pin! LOVE IT!!!
When you walk into the major room, you see a table full of Unilocal!paraphernalia! I got a mug, some more Unilocalie gloves, another koozie and some stickers! In the big room we also got to run into Drunk Santa and retrieve our check in gifts (a corkscrew and pocket knife! — yes please). Then we roamed around the room and got to try some beer, visit the whiskey table, try some ice cream, get some Flying Biscuit grits, have a few brewskis, try some of the Long Horn spread and most importantly — EAT MORE PRIME RIB!
Heidi and Ben took the floor for some surprise Unilocalie award announcements! Can you guess who won for COOL UnilocalIE!?? *points to self-​* Yes, she did! So cool and surprising! I was SHOCKED; but from my fellow Unilocalers I heard it was kind of deserved! Guess I’m one cool chick! LOL
This event was absolutely great! I can’t wait until next year!!! Bring on 2015! Thanks OTP/​ITP managers.

What a way to finish the year as elite and devoted Unilocal fans. It keeps getting better and better and I got to be the best elite Unilocal event of the year.
On a chilly Wednesday some 200+ ardent Unilocalers and their guest got together at studio Space. Studio space is nicely tucked away from the hustle bustle of Buford highway and excellent party and studio space. And to be frank I wouldn’t have ever known about this business if it’s not for the Unilocal event.
We were greeted by JJ, Ben and Heidi at the door and checked in. There was a massage room, which I think is the favorite for many who came directly from long day at work. And there was a green wall photo space, where our funny faces where immediately put in front of Unilocal background and they gave us a instant photo printout too!
Longhorn has always been a good sponsor for Unilocal Atlanta and they continued to support us here as well. There was chips, dips, mushroom truffle soup and shrimp bisque soup as well. Mushroom truffle was my favorite among two. They had generous sample size of Prime rib, pork ribs and salad with shrimp!
This along with beers, soft drinks by onli in so many different flavors more than filled out tummy.
The best part though for me was that I met so many of my Unilocaler friends that I have only interacted online. So many people who goes out of way to explore and experience something new everyday and you bet there was so much to talk about and share with others.
Ben, JJ and Heidi has made this event appear so seamless but thinking back I can only imagine amount of work and preparation went into organizing an event of this size. We heard they have been setting up and preparing the space for the event since 3 pm. And it’s amazing how much they have managed in 3 hours when some of us showed up early. You guys rock!
Oh there was some awards too! Unilocal awards each for funniest, coolest and most useful for both Atlanta and Atlanta-​otp. There was also awards for best newbie elite Atlanta and Atlanta otp. And these were real tangible cute awards! It was such a proud moment to get one for myself! It was quite frankly a magical moment for newbie like me.
Like how I started my review, what a way to celebrate everything we enjoyed this year with Unilocal and to welcome the next new year! And I for one believe the best years are yet to come. Happy holidays and happy Unilocaling!

I had a great time at this event. It was a kinda hard finding exactly where to turn in only because it was dark… but I found it. Even with Atlanta traffic I was somehow able to make it right at 6:30.
When we walked in I saw the Spa Sydell room on the left. I was hungry so I didn’t stop right away but I knew we were going to come back. We did and it was great. I got a chair massage which was much needed. I’ve been super busy at work lately so very tense. They have holiday specials going on which is great to give as a gift or to go yourself. They also gave us a 5 star package gift. It had lots of goodies in it… $ 20 off any Here To Serve restaurant, 20% off a purchase at fabrik and Alliance theater, $ 20 off 50 at cooks warehouse. Very nice.
I cannot remember the exact name of the Buffalo Trace whiskey punch but I liked it alot. I had food from Flying Biscuit and Longhorn. Both were great. My fav was probably the ribs from Longhorn but I could’ve used some extra bbq sauce. I also enjoyed the chicken salad at Flying Biscuit.
I stopped by Caja Popcorn after I ate. It was fabulous. I tried the Spicy BBQ and Pimento cheese – both were really good so I mixed them. The combo was everything lol. It’s not far from me so I plan to stop by. I also took a togo bag home.
It was great to see some familiar faces, meet some new people, and support the Boys and Girls Club.
Happy Holidays!

Wow! I’m impressed at how awesome this event was and how it was able to capture the last few months for me as a Unilocal Elite in one night. I had the opportunity to spend time with my favorite Unilocalers from both ITP & OTP Atlanta while meeting new future favorite Unilocalers from both ITP & OTP Atlanta and I even received an award!
This party was held at Studio Space Atlanta, a venue for photographers and filmmakers with all the utilities that they would need to do awesome photoshoots. I probably would not have known about this if it wasn’t for Unilocal,but now i’m glad that I got to see it to recommend it to my photographer friends. It’s such a great space and there was so much done with it for the party too.
First off, the greeters at the door were friendly and helpful and helped me feel comfortable at the event right away. Chef Justin White and I proceeded on to write a motivational message and donated money to the Boys and Girls Club while filling up a stocking with candy =). That was meaningful for me.
Now, let me talk about the awesome Unilocal Swag. I got the most amazing Christmas present — a Unilocal mug! I can’t wait to brew some awesome coffee and drink it. I might even bring it to a Starbucks that I will review in my future. It is exciting. There was also pins, chapstick, gloves, and corkscrews. Yessssss. Love it! After marveling all the swag we looked for name tags to make it easier to meet new people.
As we walked towards the back, we realized that the space is so much bigger than it looks from the outside. We saw a station where you can make Unilocal ornaments on the way to the food: D. For food sampling, we started off with some marble slab ice cream. I created a new flavor by mixing birthday cake and coffee. Later I made a mocha flavor with coffee and chocolate. Yummmm. Next, I tried some dishes that are only on the catering menu for Flying Biscuit. The pimento cheese and chicken salad were a little different than usual. They were okay. Then we got some whiskey and Red Hare IPA beer. We proceeded on to get perfect sized servings of Longhorns food. I really liked the truffle soup, chicken, ribs, shrimp & avocado stacks, and spinach dip.
Later, we had fun taking pictures with two different photographers. One of them was TapSnap and I’ll fill in the other one when I remember. I’m excited to see how those pictures turn out. We sampled some different popcorn flavors from Caja popcorn and then they presented the awards.
I was honored to find out that I was the 2014 Unilocaler Elite Newbie for OTP Atlanta! That was really exciting and unexpected! It was even greater that a couple of my Unilocal friends also received awards. To finish the night, I tried some Onli sparking ginseng drinks.
I wanted to say thank you to Ben & Heidi for organizing this event. Thank you to the volunteers, Longhorn, the photographers, Marble Slab, Flying Biscuit, Red Hare, Onli Beverages, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Honest Tea, and Spa Sydell for helping sponsor this event!