Five Ring Friday, Take One

Here at HappyHourLA, we sometimes get a little tired of looking around for the best deals and Happy Hours that LA has to offer. I mean, we're only human, right? We've come across many, many good ones, to be sure. And we've also stumbled across a few places that have, well, stumbled, in our opinion. That's the nature of the best, I suppose, but like I said, sometimes we get tired.

And that's when we decide to take matters into our own hands and host our own parties.

You may remember, a few weeks back, us alluding to something "big" on the horizon. Well, that big thing came and went, and in our minds (and in the minds of those who attended), it was a real success.

We held the event at Citizen Smith in Hollywood, which is a beautiful venue at which to host a party. It's got the space, the ambiance, and the skilled staff (much thanks to Luke, who runs a fully enjoyable but no-nonsense kind of bar) to handle events of any size, even while running their normal operations. The food at Citizen Smith is a delightful mix of down-home and haute cuisine (think delicious mac-n-cheese, sliders, and the like), and everyone was glad to arrive, get out of the horrible Friday traffic, sink down into a booth on the patio, and enjoy some great food and drink. Thanks to Chris and Brett for letting it happen in such a fine establishment.


We also got great support for the event from Marani Spirits, which is a locally-based spirits company whose main product, Marani Vodka, is made, literally, with milk and honey. As in "the land of milk and honey." And as anyone who attended can attest, those ingredients give it a noticeable and unique smoothness and flavor that any seasoned vodka sipper can notice. Marani's COO, Ani Kervorkian, was kind enough to give the go-ahead to sponsor the party with their fine product, and to send along Kamron Hakhamimi (aka The Party Doctor) to direct the festivities. The event would not have been possible without the efforts of these fine people and their superior product, and HappyHourLA wishes to extend to them the sincerest thanks. We hope that we'll be working with them again, and we also hope that you'll start looking for their products at your favorite liquor store and demanding your vodka and soda be poured with Marani at your favorite Happy Hour.



We were also lucky enough to rope into helping two local artists who added just the right amount of extra to the festivities. Amelia Burns was kind enough to bring along her camera and shoot the event for us, and the very talented and handsome Johnny Fraser came out and filmed, cut, and packaged an amazing promo for the site (you can see his delightful, French New Wave-inspired-and-informed work/photography/film here). Again, we at HappyHourLA are extremely gratified to have such talented friends, and we're even more thankful that these friends like us enough to put their talents to work for the site. Make sure to check out the video at YouTube, where you can view it in all its HD, full-screen glory. And comment on it.




Since we're in the thanking mood, we'd also like to give plenty of same to Janean Lesyk, who, after designing the entire site, has in effect become our partner/design guru/trusted adviser here at HappyHourLA. We couldn't do this thing without her help and support. Make sure to check out her great design work here. We'd also like to thank Tess Osborne, Eric Derrington, Erich Lochner, Michael Jedrzejewski, and Jinnie Rosales for all the continued support of the site, its operators, and events.

Give me a second.

Sorry, I had something in my eye. Anyway, that was our first "Five Ring Friday" event. We surely hope that there will be more coming up soon, and that everyone who reads and uses the site can make it out to one. Thanks for reading.