This weekend was the United States Bartenders’ Guild‘s National Cocktail Competition & 60th Year Anniversary Celebration in Long Beach. Saturday, Mr. W and I volunteered for the after-dinner cocktail competition located at the Westin Long Beach Hotel. The winning cocktail was made by a competitor from Las Vegas with a drink he called “The Big Easy.” His garnish was a kumquat with a big smiley mouth cut out of it, candy eyes, a small sprig of broccoli hair, and the best part — he stuck a tiny twig of dried rosemary stem into the mouth, LIT IT, and as it glowed red and smoked, that was the kumquat head’s cigar! It was beautiful weather, free food and open bar. We walked away with a big bag of those little 1-oz sized bottles of a new vanilla liqueur by Grand Marnier called Navan and another bag of little bottles of Hennessy Cognac VSOP, leftover from the goodie bags they were giving out to guests. We also got some nice Boston shakers from their Absolut Vodka sponsor and Mr. W scored some nice shirts and an odd handcarved wooden bowl. Since we helped out, we were also invited to the formal banquet dinner that night…at the famed Sky Room in Long Beach! $200 formal dinner, open bar, live 1940s style entertainment, 360-degree panoramic view of the city and the ocean and Queen Mary, for free! It also appeared that I rubbed elbows with some big wigs in the industry. But not as much as Mr. W did; I guess it’s a male-dominated field or he just looks more professional than me, but he walked away with tons of contacts and business cards. The only downside to the night was a big group of rowdy disrespectful people who ended up sitting at our table, and they could not stop laughing and throwing napkins, doing stupid drunk things throughout the speeches and award ceremony. It got so annoying that Mr. W and I left early in case a food fight broke out or something. How rude.

Sunday, we again volunteered to help set up for the last event: a champagne buffet brunch aboard the Queen Mary ship. Gym Trainee and her son came by and ate with us, since Gym Trainee volunteered for the competition setup on Thursday or Friday. The event coordinator gave us a care package before we left: 2 unopened bottles of premium vodka, 2 new bottles Tabasco Bloody Mary Mix, 3 or 4 bottles of a rose champagne from the brunch. She also said that if we want to join the guild, just fill out the application online, send it to her, and we’re automatically in (I get the feeling they’re normally selective, requiring a resume and certifications to be sent with the application). It’s nice to work closely with and make a great impression on influential people!

Since Sunday’s Bartenders’ Guild activities were done around noon, we were free in the afternoon to attend my old friend Lily’s get-together at their new beachside apartment in nearby Seal Beach. We stopped by a supermarket and picked up some orange juice and cranberry juice, and with the liquors they had on hand at home, I played bartender and Lily’s husband Arnold gave me a standing invitation to go to any of their future parties to share my new trade. Haha.

I think all in all, I had a total of 2 drinks on Saturday and 2 small glasses of champagne on Sunday. Mr. W drank his weight in alcohol. We definitely made out well.