#like yeah you could knock out the pres and vp at the same time and maybe hand power to the other party

[thebreakfastgenie]

Rooting for a president to be assassinated is fascinating to me because in most cases it won't have any tangible policy difference (besides probably increasing paranoia and support for draconian security measures) because the United States has an ironclad line of succession and presidents are replaced by the vice-presidents they chose. Hoping for an assassination is an entirely personal fantasy based in spite and the desire to see the person who holds the office of president suffer.

Rooting for a Supreme Court Justice to be assassinated on the other hand, depending on who is in office at the time...

[dazzlingfantasiesblogs]

Sorry, not Sorry P2

Happy Lowman x Reader

Warnings: Violence, Cheating and SMUT! 18+ only. If under 18 kindly unfollow

Summary: Too long.. Read it. Lol. Over 9,000 Words.. I could not stop..

I worked four hours on this.. almost five... I LOVE it. Let me know loves!

After showering, there was a knock at your door. Walking out in nothing but a towel around your body and one tangled in your hair, You grabbed your gun that was under the table and hid it behind you. Moving the blinds a bit you seen Happy there. “Fuck me…” You whispered annoyed. “I would if you would let me little girl..” Happy looked at you through the small opening of the blinds. You unlocked the door, opening it. “What do you want?” your voice was laced with irritation. He stepped in slightly, soon hearing the click of a gun. “Yeah.. safety’s off.. I’d take your fucking foot out of my house if I were you.  I would not even have to hide the fact I killed you since your trust passing.” Your words shocked Happy even more. He cheated yes, but did the last three years really mean nothing to you?. “Y/n.. please..” Sighing you opened the door, letting him come in. He looked around mesmerized how this small tiny house looked so big inside. It was so clean, and everything had its place. “Let me put on some clothes.” You took off your towel, revealing your naked body. He had only seen you millions of times before naked, just because you where broken up didn’t matter. He was expecting to see hickies or something else honestly, thinking you slept with Jack. Walking up the stairs to your closet, he watched as your hips swayed from side to side. “Fuck..” he groaned trying his hardest not to bust right there. A few moments later you walked down in some booty shorts and a tank top. It said “SOA” with the reaper on the front. It was Koziks. “Did you fucking sleep with my brother?” Happy clenched his fists, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. “No asshole. It started to down pour when I went to his apartment after we had the grill party. You asked me to drive him home. He said the least he could do was give me a dry shirt from helping him up the stairs in the rain.” Happy shrugged a bit, like he was a turtle in a shell hiding. He knew you would never betray his trust, but the guilt was killing him slowly. “I was going to make a sandwich, do you want one?” He nodded to you sitting at the small bar stool. You took out everything to make a sandwich. Walking passed him you opened the door and laid the screen down. “Boys, breakfast!” soon the dogs appeared sitting at the porch. You poured them each a bowl of food setting it outside for them. They loved eating outside on the porch so after they could go run and play. “You rescued another dog?” Happy watched the dogs eat quickly. “Yes..” You spoke quickly, cutting the sandwiches in half. He watched how you handled the knife.

“You know.. guns are more effective.” You looked behind you seeing the one they called “Tacoma Killer” staring at you as you chucked knifes at the CaraCara girl posters. “Are they though?” You tilted your head with a smirk. Turning around you grabbed his gun, bending his arm back, grabbing your knife and putting it to his throat. “You see.. knifes are so much more concealable.” Happy looked around your body trying to see where you got the knife from. It was small no doubt, but very sharp. You let his hand go, giving him his gun back. “Point proven..” Happy chuckled lowly. He watched you grab your knives off the wall and posters of the porn stars. “Hate porn stars?” He watched your face, waiting for a disgusting face. “Naw, gotta make a dollar some how. If you got the talent and the body, why not?” You took another knife from Imas head shot. “I mean.. besides her.. she is just so skanky..” Happy laughed at this. “Crow eaters will be crow eaters..”

“Here.” She slid the plate to him, hoping on the counter next to him as she bit in the sandwich. He looked at her thicker legs next to him. All he wanted to do was spread them and have her running her finger nails over his head as he licked her. Fuck the sandwich.. He wanted her. She tasted better than any honey. “Thanks little girl..” “Y/N.” you corrected him taking another bite. “Why did you come over?” Happy sighed a bit finishing one half of the sandwich. “Jax needs your help with something.” “So he sent you? Damn he is dumb..” you chuckled under your breath. “Don’t call my pres dumb..” “If the shoe fits.” Truth is, Jax was far from an idiot. Sure he made some dumb calls, but he also made some that saved his club. “I asked to come..” Happy looked at you, watching as you licked your lips after taking a sip of water. “Damn are you dumb..” You hopped off the counter, walking to the fridge grabbing a beer. You grabbed the knife strapped to your thigh, popping the top of the beer. You slid it to him, your fingers touching slightly. Pulling away quickly you took his empty plate and set it in the small dishwasher. “I’ll do it for the club.” Happy nodded once taking a sip of the beer. “Can we talk about us?” Happy stood up, blocking you between the counter and him. “There is no us.” Your words where serious and calm. Happy felt his heart shatter. “I am not like one of these old ladies who will let you walk all over them. Because they love you and need you.” You scoffed at the thought. “I don’t need you. I learned that real quick.” Shoving passed him you grabbed some more water. “I’ll be there at eight.” Happy nodded, finishing his beer, throwing in the trash can. “Bye Lowman.” You spoke with your back turned to him as you walked back up the stairs.

You arrived at the club house, pulling up on your motorcycle. Juice was the first to greet you with a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. “Hey love, how are you?” “Better now that your around.” Juice smiled his million dollar smile. “Why didn’t I choose you?” You kissed his cheek causing him to blush nodding a ‘I don’t know’ nod and shrugging. You walked into the church room as they filed. It was packed with Tacoma and Nevada presidents, VP and sergeant of arms. Including Jack who was Tacomas Sgt. You sat next to Jack and Juice, talking to both as people took their seats. You opened your purse, grabbing a pack of cigs, giving one to Jack, lighting it for him and doing the same for yourself. “Y/N thanks for coming..” Jax came over, kissing your head. “What do you need me for Pres?” Jax nodded. This was not uncommon for you to be so to the point. “I need you to help sneak into the warehouse for us. Since your best with knifes.. even with a silencer, it is still semi-loud.. we need your skills to take out the guards.” Nodding you agreed, taking a puff of the cig. “Your asking a little bitch to do this?! Why not another charter?” The Nevada VP asked rudely. “Watch your fucking tongue!” Happy growled out looking at him with deadly eyes. Even if you were not his, he respected you enough to fight his own brother for disrespecting you. “I bet you fifty bucks, I can hit the tip of the reaper blade from across the room blind folded. “Impossible..” The VP shuddered. “Jack, can I see your bandana?” He nodded, following you to the other side of the room. “Here.” He handed it to you. “VP of Nevada you can even blind fold me.” The VP nodded. He wrapped the blindfold over your eyes. He pretended to throw a punch, you knew it was coming by the wind that hit your face but you stayed still. You grabbed one of your knives on your thigh holster next to your gun. Taking a deep breath, you threw the knife. After hearing a thud, you took off the blindfold. The Charming SOA chuckled lowly, knowing this trick all too well. You seen your knife exactly where you wanted. “Believe me now?” you tilted your head smirking darkly. “Fifty bucks bitch.” You emphasized the word. Causing everyone to laugh. The VP handed you a fifty as you sat back down, going over the details.

Walking out of the club, you and had your arm looped through Jacks and Juices, all of you chuckling like a bunch of teenagers. “What the fuck has all of you whipped over her?” The VP of the Nevada chapter asked Jax. “We are not whipped, more like grateful. I grew up with her, she.. has traveled a lot and very down to earth. She loves the club very much.” Jax smiled at his friend as she laughed hard at something Juice had said.  Getting to your bike you put on your full faced helmet, driving off.

Eventually the club arrived to where you were. You sat on your motorcycle, scrolling threw your phone. “Are you on Tinder?” Happy spoke behind you. “Gotta find a lay someway in this town.” You kept swiping waiting for Jaxs word. “Y/N, go.” You nodded opening up one of your satchels. Sliding on a mask, you jogged to the entrance of the building. Climbing in the window, you remember the blue prints Jax had showed you. It was very dark where you were. Looking off a railing you seen five people playing poker. All of them looking like drug dealers. You quietly made it to the front door. You swung your legs around a mans neck, chocking him out. You grabbed the zipties, tying his hands together and gagged him. You did this four more times at the entrances. Jax might be mad you didn’t use your knives but these guys where not the main issue. “Ready. They are all gagged.” “Good work.” Jax said quietly, knowing you would not kill them. It took about forty seconds before the club burst in, surrounding the five guys.

“HELP!” You hurd a familiar voice. Running up the stairs you seen small crack of light under a door. “Jax.. we got hostages. Take care of the drug dealers I will get them out.” “Copy.. Jack go help y/n.” Jax spoke calmly. “Copy.” Soon Jack was next to you. You kicked the door open and seen four people there. One was unknown, but you seen Unser, Gemma and Lyla. “Jax.. they have your mom, Lyla and Unser… and someone else” “What?!” “I will get them out of here.” You went to Gemmas side, slicing the gag off her. “Untie them.” You slid a knife to Jack who did the same. “Y/n.. There is a bomb attached to the ties. If the pressure lets up it blows.” Your face fell seeing the small detonator. “Jack… go get Opie and Happy. We can not worry Jax.” He nodded agreeing as he ran to get them.

Happy and Opie came next to you. “Opie.. I can slide my finger over the bomb but we only will have thirty seconds to get out of here. I need your help rewire the trigger.” Opie nodded, kissing Lylas, tear covered cheek. Opie traced the wires and seen that is was way more high-tech than he was use too. “Jax.. we have a trigger bomb up here. Everyone needs to get out now!” “Copy!” Jax announced the issue and you looked down the stairway to see everyone scatter. “Jack, Happy get everyone out of here.” “Not without you..” Happy mumbled. “Opie is not going to let anything happen to me. Get them out of here!!” Your voice turned dark, and Happy knew you where not going to change your mind. You watched as Happy grabbed Gemmas and Lylas hand. Jack helping Unser and the other Captive. “Y/N. Hold your finger over the bomb. You nodded pushing it down. He quickly traced wires and cut two of them. “This will give us a minute or a second…” he looked at you slightly scared. “You have kids Opie.. you cannot take that chance.” He nodded sadly to you. “I will be fine. Don’t tell them that I chose to stay.” Opie nodded getting out quickly. You sighed a bit. Why did you always get yourself in these shitty ass predicaments.

Opie ran outside, out of breath. “Where is Y/N!?” Jack and Happy yelled. “She is still in there. She would not let me take no for an answer. “What?!” Happy jogged towards the building, not even thinking. “Y/N.” He whispered to himself. Letting go of the trigger you ran, running as fast as your legs could take you. You seen Happy as you exited the building “Happy no, turn!” He seen you, and smiled slightly. You hurd a beep and felt heat against your back. You covered Happy with your body, both of you flying as the bomb went off. “Help them!” You hurd in the back. Looking up slightly you seen Jack grab you, lifting you up. You looked over to see Happy, getting helped up by Juice. Soon Blackness covered your vision.

 “Then you cut the yellow if it is wrapped around the blue.” Opie showed you as he twisted the wire together. You watched closely and listened more so than you did in school. “If they are wrapped like this, make sure you keep pressure on the donator. Or BOOM!” Opie made an explosion example with his hands. Chuckling at him you nodded. Happy walked in seeing the explosives all over the living room in the house you shared. The two dogs laying on the couch sleeping. “What the hell?” “Hey babe. Opie is teaching about bombs. Just incase.” Opie nodded, standing up to hug his brother. “You never teach anyone..?” “Y/N begged..” Happy laughed a bit and nodded.

Opening your eyes, you felt immense pain on your back. It felt like someone too a serrated knife and sliced it up. “Hold her still!” Chibs yelled. You felt hands on all parts of your body, keeping you still. “What is going on.. everything hurts.. Is Happy ok? Where is Gemma? Lyla? Unser? The random stranger?” you were talking a million miles a minute and barley even opening your eyes. “I am right here y/n.” you opened your eyes fully to his voice,. He was sitting next to your head, gently combing through your hair. “Ah fuck.. my new tattoo..” you realized the cuts must have ruined your back tattoos. Chibs laughed as he worked on getting gravel out of the wounds. “Jack, can you hand me the morphine?” “Yeah.” You hurd Jacks voice, happy to hear everyone made it safe. You felt the push of a needle in one of the cuts. “I swear to gosh you scottsman.. Somebody get me a fucking drink!!!!” You yelled at the top of your lungs.

Soon Juice appeared with a bottle of whisky, putting one of Abels silly straws in it. He set the straw against your lips. You took a sip, almost inhaling it. “Whoa.. slow down beautiful..” Happy combed through your hair once again. You closed your eyes, drifting off back asleep.

“I think she is blacked out… this is the first time she has ever blacked out..” Happy looked at your passed out figure laying in between Lyla and Wendy. You three went on a bender when you where having a rough week and Happy was being an asshole. In all honestly, he was keeping his distance, scared he would ruin his plans to ask for your hand in marriage. “Ill call Jax and Opie to get there girls.” Juice laughed pulling out his burner. Happy lifted you in his arms, walking back to his dorm, laying you on the bed. He pulled off your boots and socks. Slowly lifting up your shirt, peeling it off your body. “Don’t touch me…  am Happys..” You hiccupped drunk. “Babe it is me..” giggling you sat up slightly. Dizziness taking over you fell back down. “Ohh.. so your in to necrophilia..?” Happy shook his back and forth. “You not dead, just passed out. But I would not do that to you. Now go back to sleep hunny.” Happy leaned up, kissing your cheek.

“Babygirl, wake up. You need to eat.” Groaning you opened your eyes seeing Jack. He held a sandwich on a plate and some chips. You closed and reopened your eyes again. Trying to sit up, you whimpered. You felt two hands sturdy you. Looking back you seen Happy looking away from you slightly. You grabbed the sandwich and took a bite. Letting out a slight moan you decided to eat more. After finishing it you handed the plate back to Jack. “Thanks..” He nodded to you. Jack leaned into your ear whispering “Talk to him.. he refuses to leave your side..” Jack pulled away, winking to you. He shut the door behind him. Happy stood staring at the wall. “I can leave your dorm.. if you want so you can rest..” Happy’s eyes fell to you. “No.. I don’t want to rest.. I just wanna be close to you.. and I know you don’t want me touching you.. so this is as close as I will get.” He looked down at the carpet. He had a slight smile on his face remembering the first time he ever seen you. “What are you smiling at.. and sit down, your making me uncomfortable..” Happy looked at you shocked, saying he could be so close to you. He nodded taking his big boots off. “I am remembering the first time I ever laid eyes on you.”

“Talk to her like that again and I will fucking bury you piece of shit!” your held a man by his collar up against the wall. “Wow..” Happy looked at a woman who was slightly thicker, but fit., holding a man against the wall, who should have been way too heavy for her. “Haha.. that is Y/N. You will see her a lot at the club. She is good friends to the club.” Juice pointed to you. “Ow..” Juice watched as you hit the man in the face, dropping him. You grabbed the woman he was with, holding her by the waist crossing the street. The woman hugged you tightly, thanking you. “Hey, it is ok. I am y/n.” “Shelly.” You nodded to her. “Shelly this is Juice, Juice, this is Shelly.” Shelly chuckled blushing a bit. He grabbed her hand kissing it. “Shelly I gotta go, make sure you don’t go back with that douch bag” She nodded to you and followed Juice. “Hey Killah.” You brushed passed Happy, leaving him utterly confused. You where the most beautiful hurricane he ever laid his eyes on.

“Oh yeah.. what did you think?” Happy smiled wider at the thought “How amazing you where for kicking a grown mans ass. Then pawning a random woman on Juice and walking passed me, calling me ‘killah’ as you put it and just bouncing.” Happy grumbled a bit. “What about the second time.. the stories are helping me relax..” He nodded to you. “Help me sit up and move on my side so I can look at you?” Happy nodded, helping you turn on your other side. He started to talk about the second time as you watched him talk.

“Shut up Tig.” He hurd her angelic voice before he seen her. Telling his brother to shut up. He walked into the main club house, sitting on the bar top. “No seriously doll.. when can we have a go in the sheets..?” “Well… how about….” Tigs eyes widened. “Never.” You hopped off the table, walking up to Happy. You put your hand on his chest as he froze. “I’d rather sleep with this sexy man right here. Has the whole ‘I could kill you with a look vibe.’” Happy looked down at you, his face etched with discomfort. “Oh don’t act like you wouldn’t want it.” He took a deep breath, watching as you walked away. Wendy walked in the room, shrieking at seeing you. You ran in her arms hugging her rightly. “Hey Beautiful!” you smiled to your friend. You hurd the door open and shut, seeing Abel walk in, Jax behind hm. “Auntie Y/N!!” Abel ran straight to your arms. You picked him up kissing the little boys cheek. “Auntie has a present for you..” Abel clapped his little hands together excitedly. “Here..” You skimmed in your purse pulling out a small coloring book with crayons. “Coloring book, motorcycles edition!” Abel hugged around your neck tight. “Carful little man, your strong your going to choke me..” He squeezed harder laughing. “Oh no.. oh no.. Abels got me…” you faked choking, carefully falling to the ground with Abel in your arms. Happy watched as you played with the presidents kid. Everyone laughing along with the show you put on. “Daddy look! Cycle like yours and uncle Happys!!” Abel ran to Happys feet, pointing at a motorcycle. Happy knelt down so he was face to face with the little one. “Yes it is lil man.” Happy kissed his head, Abel walking to the table, starting to color his book. “Thanks y/n.” Jax kissed your head walking to the bar. “Hey Love, there is a party tonight. Tacoma is coming down.  You need to get laid girl! So… ahh come on.” Wendy winked at you. “I don’t need a man to get me off thank you.” Wendy chuckled at that.

“I remember hearing that, thinking.. damn… I wish I could get her off..” Happy spoke giggling to himself. “What happened that night?” You spoke adjusting yourself so you laid your head in his lap. He gently laid his hand on your head, combing through your hair.

Walking into the club you looked around. You wore a ripped up SOA t-shirt and some shorts. Your dark red combat boots on. You spotted Wendy talking with Jax and Opie. Sauntering over you hugged Wendy and kissed Opies and Jaxs cheek. “Hey all.” The boys smiled at you, getting you a shot. That’s when the night started. You kept doing shots with them, back to back. You had a very high tolerance for liquor, but after the twelfth shot in two hours, you felt dizzy. It was a good, hazy buzz that you had going for you. “Gotta pee…Gotta break the seal!” you laughed at yourself, sliding off the barstool in the most unsexy of fashion. Gliding over to the door, you walked out, the cool air hitting you. “Where are you going beautiful?’ you seen a patch walking over to you, someone you had not seen before. “To go pee.” You mumbled. You refused to use the clubhouse bathrooms, scared you might get an std. You always went into Gemma’s office bathroom. “Aww I see.. wanna go have some fun.” The patch grabbed your wrist, trying to pull you too him. “Let me go asshole..” your voice slurring slightly. “Aww come on baby..” he wrapped an arm around your waist, grabbing your ass. Jumping slightly, you went to grab your pocket knife. “Hey douche bag, the lady said no!” you seen a fist collide with the guys face as he fell to the ground. Almost bringing you with him. You felt strong arms wrap around you, holding your jelly like body up. “Happy?” He shrugged a bit. “Where you following me?” he nodded no. “I was getting a screw driver out of the shop. Was teaching someone how to fix a bent handle bar.” His voice was low and raspy. “Well thanks for being my knight in shining armor handsome.” You smiled at Happy, causing his heart to beat a bit faster. “Is the door locked to the shop… gotta use the restroom.” He nodded yes, and walked over with you. He unlocked the door and let you in. You disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later. “Damn I love that smelly soap Gemma has..” you smelt your hands, going to dry them off on your shorts. “Out of paper towels.” Happy grabbed your hands, having your wipe them on his jeans. “Aww you didn’t have to do that.” He smiled to you nodding. He turned to the lock the door and followed behind you. “You know Happy.. as much of a threat as people make you seem, your actually a chill ass person.” You hiccupped a bit, grabbing a cig from your back pocket. You handed him one as well, he took out his lighter, lighting yours then his.

“I remember that. I was like ‘Why the fuck did he wipe my hand on his jeans’” Feeling his fingers loop a strand of hair behind you ear he looked down at you. His eyes showed vulnerability. They showed regret clear as day. “Your perfect..” He whispered staring at your profile. “What else happened that night?” you asked turning slightly, causing pain. “Ah shit what about my dogs!!” all of assuden you shot up looking around. “They are out in the yard with Tig. Lay back down.” You nodded, curious to how he broke into your house. You laid back down in the same position.

“So where are you from?” Happy asked you, sitting next to you on the picnic table. “Tacoma actually. Moved to Charming when I was 18.” Happy nodded to you, listening. “You?” happy was not one to talk about himself much. “Long story.” You respected his answer, not pushing him further. “So Jax tells me your good with knifes..” “Yeah… Id like to think so. I have no clue why.. I guess throwing things at a target as a kid payed off. I like bows and arrows too but, you can’t really conceal that..” you gave a toothy smile to him. “You asked JAx about me?” Happy felt his face get slightly red. “Well.. you know.. you.. I am um.. new here.. well newer here..” you laughed at him stuttering. “Seems like you’re a little frazzled.” “You are fucking intimidating.” Happy spoke clearly. “Awww thank you!” You wrapped your arms around his neck, taking it as a compliment. Happy would be lying if he said he didn’t like having you hugging him. You smelt of cherry and vanilla, causing his brain to swoon slightly. Wondering what you tasted like. Pulling away you took a sip of the beer Happy had gotten you when you passed through the club house. “So.. do you have a boyfriend.. is he a patch?” Happy was worried of the answer, this girl almost seemed to good to be true. “Haha.. fuck no. Men cause problems.. I already have 99 of them.” Happy nodded a bit. “Truth is.. been with one guy. Broke my heart so badly, I don’t think I could recover.” “What he do?” Happy looked at your face, reading you intently. “I grew up in a bad part of Tacoma.. The guy I was with for a few years, came here with me. I walked in on him cheating on me with my boss at the time.” Happy scrunched his face. “I don’t trust guys. They think with there dicks. I trust most of the Charming guys though in SOA. They usually have my back.”

He wanted to kiss her, the whole time he told the story. It was their story. He loved her more than anything or anyone. He broke her heart into a million piece, but he would try and put them back together, for as long as he and her was alive. “Happy you look upset. What’s wrong?” Your voice calm, with a hint worry. “I can’t kiss you.. I can’t make love to you.. I can’t watch you sleep, and hear you cussing someone out in your sleep.. knowing now that it is probably me your cussing out.. I can’t hear you humming in the kitchen as you make us a delicious meal… I can’t see you playing with our dogs in the backyard for hours on end.. I can’t kiss you in front of the whole club to show who you belong too..” you put a finger to his plump lips. “Happy.. just keep telling stories ok? They make me feel better.” He nodded.

The next time you seen him was when you went for a jog around Charming. You stopped in the dinner, your whole body covered in sweat. “Hey Leah, can I get a water please and a blueberry muffin?” you smiled to her. “Sure thing Y/N.” She left and came back with water and a muffin. You went to take out your card from your leggings pocket. “No need. That gentleman over there paid for you.” You trailed her eye sight to see Happy, giving a slight wave to you. “Thanks Leah.” She smiled to you going to help the only two other customers. You walked over to Happy, seeing him drinking black coffee. “What are you running from?” He asked casually like it was normal and no a joke. “My demons.” He choked on his coffee when he took a sip laughing. “Touche..” he nodded to you. “Thank you for paying for my muffin. Also kicking that guys ass a few weeks ago.. and letting me dry my hands on you…. Also for letting me vent.” Happy nodded, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “So seriously? Why are you running?” you debated on telling him the truth. “I need to lose weight.. not happy with how I look.” Happy set down his coffee, looking you up and down. Even under the table. “Why?” was all he could say. “Your beautiful.” “I am not looking for compliments.. that is not why I told you..” “That is not why I said that Y/N. I asked. Your gorgeous. Your thick fit. Or Sexy as I like to put it.” You chuckled at his words. “I also do it to make sure I have my endurance up. Never know when SOA or anyone in this damn town will make an enemy.” He nodded honestly. You hurd a loud clank on the door of the diner. Looking over you seen two people with guns walk in. “Give me all the money!” they wore masks, and talked directly at Leah. The two customers started screaming. You stood up calmly. Your hand behind your back. Happy seen the steak knife in your hand. He grabbed his gun from his holster standing up as well. “Leave her alone.” You spoke to the front masked man. Leah stared at you with pleading eye. The man pointed the gun at you, you didn’t flinch. This was not the first fucking time you stared at the barrel of a gun. Sighing you laughed a bit. “What are you laughing at Bitch!” the man went to hit you with a gun and you dodged him, elbowing him in the solar plexus. Grabbing the gun you pointed it at him. “Drop your weapon or I shoot him.” “Y/N!” Happy tackled you and the man to the ground as shot rang from the outside. Good thing the diner was basically empty you though. Seeing the man try to grab his weapon you stabbed him in the hand. Happy kept covering you. “Happy.. aim for the mans foot..” Happy nodded, shooting the other masked man in the legs. “Call Jax and get them down here. Leah, get behind the counter!” You yelled out. You seen a mother and kid behind a booth shaking and crying. “Happy we gotta get the hostages out of here.” Truthfully Happy wanted to get you out of here. However, he seen the small kid with terror on his face. Sliding on the ground you peaked over the window to see three armed men outside. “Alright you two.. Stay low, I will cover you. Get behind the bar of the diner with Leah.” The mother nodded. “Happy cover me!” You stood up and shot out the window, taking one man out. You watched the mother and kid get behind the bar. You looked over to see the man who was unconscious previously about to stab Happy. You raised the gun and shot the man in the shoulder. You herd sirens in the distance, along with motorcycles. The men dropped their weapons once they were surrounded. Three police men came in, one of them Unser. “Sheriff.” You spoke calmly. Unser helped Happy and you up. “Your bleeding y/n!” You looked down seeing the chunk of glass stuck in your stomach. “Fuck.. just perfect.” You seen the blood soak your shirt. “Man.. I really liked this shirt.” “Y/n!” Leah ran over to you. “Are you ok?” you asked her looking for injury. “No and yes. You and Happy saved everyone in the diner.” You smiled nodding. “Feeling kinda light headed yall..” you lost your footing, Happy pushed past Unser catching you. “Whoa.. thanks sexy..” you smiled at him. “Happy, Y/N!” you hazily looked over to see Jax, Chibs and Juice. “Hey boys.” You waved. “We gotta get her to the hospital!” Unser yelled. Happy picked you up in his arms, walking you to the ambulance.

“Ugh.. I remember that.” You lifted up your shirt seeing the scar on your tummy. “Such an ugly scar…” your rubbed your fingers on it. “I cant wear a two piece… not like I would before..” you chuckled. “Your beautiful, shut up.” Happy leaned over, rubbing the scar as well.

After giving your statement to the police, you got to go home. Wendy was nice enough to pick you up and drop you off. Letting out your two dogs while you where being stitched up. “Bye hun, Gemma will be by later to check on you.” You nodded waving from your porch. Walking into your house, making some coffee, you sat on the couch trying to not itch the stiches. You hurd a knock at your door. “Gemma already?” You opened the door to see Happy standing there with some flowers. “Here…” He handed them to you confused on how the hell this was supposed to go. “Aww.. thanks. What are they for?” Happy narrowed his eye slightly “You saved me. Girls like flowers.” “Happy.. you saved me first.” He nodded, watching as you walked to put them in a vase. “They are beautiful. Finally add some color here.” He nodded. You motion for him to come in and take a seat. He took off his boots and set them by the door. “Coffee?” He nodded as you poured him some in a mug. Repeating the process you carefully sat down. “Crazy day huh?” he nodded staring at you. “You ok Hap?” he smiled inside at the nickname. He looked at your lips, gulping slightly. Fuck he wanted to kiss you. What the fuck was happening to him. He had the urge to hit it and not quit it. What the fuck! He kept repeating to himself. “Hap?” he shook his head slightly. “I am fine.” You smiled go him. He hurd a growl and looked around. “Sorry.. hungy. Gotta go grocery shopping. Was waiting for Gemma to help. I cant lift more then five pounds.” You spoke standing up, looking at your empty cupboards. “I can take you.. however I only have my bike. “I have my Charger in the garage. However you really don’t have too. I am sure you got better things to do.” He nodded no, standing up, finishing his hot coffee, ignoring the scolding feeling. “Hap, I could have just put it in the fridge and reheated.” You laughed a bit. He lifted up the garage door for you, seeing the black charger. “Fuck.. that is a beautiful car..” He mumbled. “Cool, glad you like it.” Your threw the keys and he caught them. “You want me to drive.?” You nodded to him. “I have pain pills in my system.” You got in the passenger seat, leaning back, then buckling your seatbelt. Happy got in doing the same. He adjusted the mirrors and turned the car on. “damn… sounds wonderful..” He noticed how clean it sounded when it started. The radio was on and you instantly started singing. ‘Love me like you do’ by Ellie Golding played. Happy raised an eyebrow slightly. “Change it, and I will cut you.” He laughed nodding, turning it up for you. “I’ll let you set the pace, because I am not thinking straight, my head spinning around, I cant see clear no more. What are you waiting for? Love me like you do!” You sang along, your voice at the same tempo at the singers. Happy listened the words, thinking about how he felt for you. The song ended as Happy pulled into the grocery store. You opened the door, he did the same thing. He locked the car, and was by your side quickly. Walking in you grabbed a cart, leaning on it slightly as you walked, trying to alleviate some pressure on your stiches. Your butt slightly poking out as you walked. Groaning slightly, Happy wanted to have his hand on your ass as you walked. You two started talking about random things as you picked out groceries. Happy could not believe something so mundane could be so fun. Fuck he was in trouble. He needed to get his emotions in check. “Hey Jeff, can I get a pound of the hamburger please?” “Y/N! Hey girl! Sure thing!” the man lighting up when he seen her. Happy watched as the two talked. She was so personable with people. “Thanks Jeff. See you boo! Say ‘Hi’ to your wife for me!” He waved, waving back you turned around putting the meat in the cart. Strolling down the frozen food, you shivered slightly. “You cold y/n?” you nodded to him slightly. He took off his kutte, taking off his white t-shirt, helping your put it over your tanktop. He slid his kutte back on over his black beater. “Thanks Hap” He nodded. He watched as you tried to reach some ice cream cones. “Here.” He picked up your legs gently, helping you grab them. He walked you back to the cart. You giggled a bit noticing he was not letting you down. “Happy put me down..” He twirled you around gently not to hurt your side. You laughed harder. He set you down smiling at you. “Be right back, going to grab crackers.” The aisle was packed, so you slipped on through, grabbing a box. You walked back to him and seen girl trying to talk to him. His face read annoyed. He looked down at the girl. Usually he would take a girl home and fuck her and kick her out. Yet, he felt nothing towards this girl. “Hey bitch back off.” You walked over to Happy. The girl rolled her eyes at you. “y/n.. you don’t date.” You knew this girl all too well. She was one of the girls at the club. You were slightly surprised Happy didn’t know her. You grabbed Happy by the neck, lifting his face to yours, kissing him deeply. Slipping your tongue in his mouth. Happy was shocked, quickly snapping out of it. Your tongue was a damn drug. It was so sweet and man did you know how to move it. After you parted ways you looked back at the girl shocked. “Come near him again.. I fucking dare you.” She turned and left, walking away quickly, swaying her hips.  At the check out line, you paid. Happy put the bags in the cart for you. He also pushed it, not wanting you to push too much weight. Happy opened the trunk putting the bags in. thinking about that kiss and if he should question it.

“That was the best fucking kiss of my life.” Happy spoke looking down at you. “What about all the others with me?” “So good.. we went together well. Fuck I miss kissing you..” He stared at your lips, slightly biting his. “You can kiss me..” you whispered. Truth is, being alone again didn’t bother you once you left Happy. However unlike your last broken heart, this one left you slightly empty. He grabbed your face gently in his oversized hands. Kissing you gently. He tried to pour all his love in the kiss, worried that this would be the last kiss. He slid his tongue in your mouth, lifting you up, setting you in his lap, wrapping your legs around his waist. You pulled away looking at him smiling slightly. “Still the best damn kisser.” He whispered against your lips. “Keep talking.”

Getting back to the house, Happy grabbed all of the groceries and the case of beer. You slowly put things away in the kitchen, breaking down the bags and sliding them under your sink. “Boys, dinner time.” The dogs came through the dog door, sitting down, waiting for their food. Happy took off his boots, watching as you poured them food. “So about that kiss?” you froze slightly. You thought you where home free. “What about it?” you glanced over you shoulder trying to read his expression. “Best kiss of my life..” He mumbled. Washing your hands, you walked over to him, drying them on his pants laughing. “I doubt it..” he nodded no to you. “Seriously… no way you have only been with one guy.. have you slept with more? Like one night stands?” you laughed at the intrusion of a question. “I have kissed guys and Wendy and Lyla.. because of a drinking game.. but.. no. I had one, one night stand and felt disgusting after. I don’t believe just giving my body away like that. Scares me honestly.” Happy grabbed your waist, lifting your chin up gently looking in your eyes. His eyes where so dark, mysterious. “What the fuck are you doing to me..?” He pushed his lips against yours again. His tongue swirled with yours. A small whimper left your lips. Not one of pain but pleasure. “Hey Y/N you home baby?!” Gemma walked in to Happy kissing you deeply. Your face was bright red when you pulled away. “Guess that answers my question.” You nodded to her. “Hey Gem..” Happy nodded to her. “Happy..?” “Umm…” you where unsure how to handle this situation. “Beer anyone?” Happy laughed a bit, nodding. Gemma laughed a bit confused as well agreeing. You grabbed three beers, they where still warm unfortunately. Grabbing your knife from your pocket, you opened the caps, not realizing they where twist off. “So…. What is going on with you two?” the queen smirked, taking out a cig. “Umm..” “I like her a lot.” Happy spoke up smiling at you. “So are you a thing?” you where unsure what to think, hell you just kissed him today. No way would the Tacoma killer settle down. You broke your own rule about letting your self feel something. “We are together. She is mine.” Your eyes went wide staring at Happy. “I swear to stay loyal.” “You better, or I will cut your dick off myself.” Gemma smiled at Happy. “Where are my pups? I brought them a bone.” You whistled. The dogs ran in, sitting next to Gemma.

Knowing he remembered that day made you smile. “I lied to you.. I didn’t stay loyal. So for the rest of my life. I will be alone.” Happy looked you in your eyes. No hint of lying or guilt tripping. “No..” you whispered. “You will find someone else.” Happy laid his head on your shoulder. “I’d rather die.. then it not be you…” “Don’t say that..” you pressed you lips against his again. He kissed back gently. You felt something wet against your cheek. You pulled away to see tears roll down his cheek. The sight took your breath away, he may have hurt you.. but he was feeling the repercussions of it. It was killing him.

Walking hand in hand you smiled. He kissed your hand as you both walked into the diner. He wanted to take you to breakfast. After talking to Leah and how they rebuild went, she refused to let you guys pay and you left. “I gotta go to work baby girl.” He kissed your lips before hopping on his motorcycle. You waved to him and went inside.

Later that day you walked into TM. He hurd you voice and smiled to himself, finishing up the oil change. “Thanks Gemma, let me know if you need help sorting the papers.” She nodded to you. You walked into the club house, talking to Chucky. “What is my girl doing here?” you turned around smiling at him. “Gotta get the oil done in the Charger. Usually id do it myself but still can’t lift much.” Happy made his way to you, picking you up, hugging you. His face against your breaths. “Come on.. Y/N your with Happy?” Chucky nodded ‘no’ laughing. Rolling his eyes, he pressed his lips to yours hard. Biting your lip slightly. “Are you trying to turn me on at work?” He whispered in your ear. “Wearing my shirt that I let you wear and some shorts?” “If that turns you on we are in trouble.” “WHAT THE FUCK?!” Jax and Tig walked in. “What?” You yelled at them. “You tamed Happy?” Jax asked, a smirk breaking out on his face. “No. More like the other way around. We are new at this, leave us alone assholes.” Happy smiled at you. “Holy shit… he smiles..” Tig fake gasped. Grabbing a knife from your boot you threw it towards him. It cut a piece of Tigs hair off. “Shut the fuck up Tig!” you kicked out of Happys grasp. He grabbed you by the waist as you flailed trying to get to Tig.  “You can kill him later baby. I know a place to bury a body.” “Scariest fucking couple ever..” Jax spoke slightly worried.

“Jax was so scared for the longest time that we would be the modern Bonnie and Clyde” laying your head on his shoulder he rocked back and forth, peppering kisses in your hair. “He had a right to be worried. We where so synced at times it was scary. From me needing to pick up something on my way home, to you sensing I needed to relieve stress.” Happy whispered in your hair. “Not mention all the orgasms.” You chuckled a bit after saying it. Both of you laughing like kids who say a naughty word.

Hearing a knock at your door, you seen Happy through the peep hole. It was pouring out and he was soaked. “Come in..” you grabbed his hand when you opened the door. He grabbed your face in his hands, backing you up the wall, capturing your lips in his frantically. The door still open, the rain pounding hard at the patio. Pulling away you looked in his eyes. “Babe.. what is wrong?” Happy shut the door, taking off of his boots. You helped him out of his kutte. “I got some of your clothes, sec.” you sprinted to your room and came back with sweat pants and a shirt. You walked out and he was in his boxers. You handed him the clothes. As he changed you grabbed two beers and joint. Sitting on the huge couch, Happy sat next to you. “Hun, tell me what’s wrong. We have been dating for two months but I have known the club for a long time. Please.. let me help you. Don’t block me out.” He looked at you nodding. You sparked the joint, taking a hit and passing it to him. You watched him relax instantly. “Sometimes… doing this shit for the club.. I put up the facade that I love it. I usually do.. but sometimes it gets to be too much. We had a.. thing to do” you nodded knowing what he meant. “I went home, took a shower and passed out. I had a dream that I found you. Dead. Blood was everywhere. I was holding your body tight. I looked in a mirror and seen it was my gun that killed you.” Listening you seen his hands start to shake. You grabbed the joint from his hand, taking a long puff. Setting it in the ashtray, you sat up and sat in his lap. “Look at me Happy Lowman.” You grabbed his chin, in your hands. You felt his stubble on your finger-tips. He looked into your light eyes. “Happy, I have lived alone and protected myself for a long time. I will not die by SOA. You will not be the reason. Promise.” He didn’t know how you were able to make that promise. However he believed every word. Loving you was seeping into his mind. He needed to make love to you. You cured his pain and he wanted to repay you in the most intimate of ways. “Let me make love to you…” Happy whispered against your lips. “Please..” it had been two months since your first kiss. You wanted to make sure he was not in it for the sex. You looked into his eyes. He needed this, he needed to feel you alive underneath him. “Ok..” Happy picked you up, walking to your bed room that he held you so often since you started dating. His lips never left yours. The kiss was hungry, wanting and so very passionate. “You don’t have any STDs right.” He chuckled against your lips. “None. I always wrap it up.” Ignoring the thought of him with other women, he must of felt you stop slightly. “Only girl I ever want is you..” He pushed his hips against you. He was hard.. so hard. He kissed down your neck. Biting it. His teeth sinking in the soft flesh, he created a suction. He kept sucking leaving a dark purple mark on your neck. You slid his shirt up his body, throwing it. You looked at him and traced the tattoos on his chest and down his stomach. He went to lift your shirt and you stopped him. “Let me see you… all of you..” you were nervous. You were not those stick figures that he surely slept with before. You allowed him to lift your shirt up. He seen you where not wearing a bra. Wanting you was something he could not get out of his head for two months. You where utterly perfect. He kissed the valley of your breasts, leaving dark hickeys over them. He sucked on you left nipple, and then the right. His lips sliding over every inch of your body. “Fuck..” you moaned as he kissed your stomach, kissing the now scar that was left from the diner incident. He unbuttoned your black jean shorts and unzipped them. Sliding them down your legs, he took your laced panties with them. He held your legs open, looking down at you. You went to grab a pillow to cover your face embarrassed. He grabbed the pillow throwing it. “No.. your mine right? I think you are a fucking gift from above… so beautiful.. I don’t deserve you..” he whispered against your thigh. “Yes you do.. don’t talk about above when we are doing this.” He chucked and kissed up and down your legs. He pressed a kiss to your clit, pushing his tongue against it. He growled, grabbing your hips, sliding you against his face. He could not believe how fucking good you tasted. His tongue slid down to your entrance, prodding it with his tongue. “Please..” you whimpered, sliding your fingers over his head. Pushing a finger against your entrance, he slowly slid it in. Watching your back arch, a thin layer of sweat covering your body. This was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Sure he had done this before, but you reacted to his touch like his perfect mate. He sucked your clit, rolling his tongue over and over against it. “Please!” he gently bit slightly and you seen white. He felt your cum coat his finger and licked it off. His mouth back against your entrance licking the rest up. “Happy..” you looked down at him. Pupils dilated and so disheveled. He slid down his pants and boxers. “Condom?” you shook your head no, wanting to feel all of him. “I am on B.C.” he nodded to you. Usually he would never not wear one. However, he wanted to feel you against him. He leaned up, capturing your lips with his. He twirled his tongue over your lips, slightly biting your bottom lip. “This might hurt..” you nodded to him. He knew you had not had sex in a long time. You felt his head push in. gasping your arms flew around his back hugging him. He kissed your head, pushing in more. Relishing in on how good you felt, he could have came right then. Your walls squeezed him so tightly he thought it was impossible. You looked into his eyes, seeing love pour out of them. You nodded to him and he pushed in fully. He kissed up and down the side of your face. He grabbed your hands, holding them as he pulled out and pushed back in. “Happy..” your eyes rolled to the back of your head, his name kept slipping out of your lips. He felt so good, so fulfilled. “You weere made for me.” He pushed against you more, his chest against yours. “I am going to cum..” moaning in his mouth. He lifted you in his arms as he turned around. You sat on him, moving up and down as he sat against the headboard. He pushed up to meet your bounce. Your lips entangled together. Letting out a whimper, he pushed all the way in you, causing you to cum. He bit your shoulder, feeling you clench on him. Soon cumming after you. You laid against his chest. His arms wrapped around you. “It may be too soon, but I love you y/n..”

You smiled remembering that night and every detail. “I love you Happy..” his eyes met yours shocked.

Two weeks later

“Hey babe.” Happy slid behind you, kissing your cheek as you helped Gemma at the bake sale. “Hey, I think Jax was looking for you.” He nodded kissing Gemmas head as he went to find Jax. “So how are things going?” Gemma plated some food for the next customer. “Taking things slow. He knows he is on thin ice. Gemma laughed high-fiving you. “I am glad you didn’t give up on you two.” You nodded to her popping some brownie in your mouth. “What happened to Jack?” “He and I where never a thing. Truth is I knew him years ago before Happy. Saved me from a motorcycle accident. I am here because of him. He joined SOA in Tacoma. He is falling for that new bartender you had. Been coming down every week to see her.

Getting back to the club, Happy swatted your ass as you carried in the left overs. “Best ass in the world.” “Shut up Lowman.” You shook your head laughing. “Why? MY GIRL HAS THE BEST ASS HERE!” he shouted. Rolling your eyes you put the food away. “I gotta get going though, gotta check on pups.” You yelled to Happy. “Alright babe, I’ll swing by after Church.” He kissed your lips deeply. Surprising you by picking you up and slamming you against the kitchen wall. He moved your face over, leaving a deep hickey on your neck. “Since I have to wait to put my crow back on you.” Moaning as he licked the hickey. You nodded to him. “If having you forever means going slow, I will be a fucking tortoise.” You snickered at him and pushed him away. “Love you baby..” he spoke happily. “Love you too Lowman.”.

[wineanddinosaur]

Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events

Airing between regular episodes of the VinePair Podcast, “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at podcast@vinepair.com.

In this episode of “Next Round,” host Zach Geballe sits down with Belinda Chang to discuss her new project, “Virtual Boozy Brunch.” While this project is Chang’s newest endeavor, it is one of many exciting positions she has held in the wine world. Here, Chang discusses how she moved into the wine and hospitality industry shortly after majoring in biochemistry and economics, and the influential roles she has held along the way.

Early in her career, Chang moved to Chicago then San Francisco, where she was selected to replace Rajat Parr as the new wine director for the Fifth Floor. From there, she earned a series of interesting positions and was chosen to be the wine director at MoMA, as well as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH. She also led a team to win a James Beard Award, as well as hosting both an annual pre-prom for female nominees to get ready for the ceremony and an annual pool party in Aspen.

The latter two events were put on by her own company, which she describes as “luxury experiential marketing.” Now, her platform hosts “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” which she initially launched to support wine professionals at the beginning of the pandemic. Today, the series has evolved into what she calls a “sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along, and many- other-things-along experience,” where users can log on and learn within interactive sessions. Chang emphasizes that these events always focus on user engagement and storytelling and will continue on well into the future.

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Or Check Out the Conversation here

Zach: From Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe, and this is a “Next Round” “VinePair Podcast” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations in between our regular podcast episodes in order to focus on the issues and stories in the drinks world. Today, I’m speaking with James Beard Award-winning sommelier and the creator of “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” Belinda Chang. Thank you so much for your time.

Belinda: It’s my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me virtually, Zach.

Z: That’s still the way we do pretty much everything these days, for now. So let’s start before we get into “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” where I want to spend a fair bit of our time today talking about your past with your trajectory, your career as a sommelier, before Covid-19 changed everything.

B: Sure. Like many of us, I started at university. I was a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas, who majored in biochemistry and economics. And if you ask my parents, they would probably say it all went wrong when I started dating the lead singer of this ska band. I mean, there were pretty good ska bands, right? They opened up for the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. It was a college band, but they were pretty darn good. And the lead singer of the band who I was dating, he was a senior. I was a freshman, and he had the whole down low on how to be really well-fed and drink wine while being a college student and on a typical college student budget. And that was to work at the University Faculty Club, which is called Cohen House. And so that was my first job ever. Of course, I followed along and got myself a job at the Rice University Faculty Club, and I ended up being the head waiter there because I think I was just really having so much fun. So what that looked like was during my lunch hours, I was carving brisket — that brisket in Houston is so delicious — and ladling out bowls of the incredible gumbo and shrimp to say that they had on the buffet line for all of my professors. And then in the evenings, we had a small team that did these synchronized service, fine dining events for the president of the university. And a lot of the illustrious alumni, like the Baker family, people like that. And that was my first experience with fine dining and great wine. Well, the great wine at the time, I think, was Magnums of Macon-Villages.

Z: Seems great.

B: Yeah I mean, it was a private institution, and to me, that was slightly nicer than what they were serving at some of the other faculty clubs. But that’s how I got into this whole thing and fell in love with wine and fell in love with hospitality and fell in love with it all and decided to abandon the path that I had been set on to, maybe become something respectable, like a doctor or a lawyer management consultant. So while I was there, I then — after I fell in love with the lead singer of the ska band who knew a lot about how to get free food and wine — I then fell in love with the new chef of the top restaurant in Houston, which at the time was a restaurant called Cafe Annie, owned and operated by a Ph.D. in biochemistry who became a chef. His name’s Robert Del Grande. He won all the James Beard Awards and was a huge wine lover and lover of rabbit enchiladas and mole. So that was interesting. But, they ended up with a Wine Spectator award-winning program. And it’s a beautiful place where I believe that we had the most interesting clientele you could have at the time, like Colombian drug runners and people like that that are in Houston. And so there were a lot of Chateau Mouton ’82 and magnums of Dom Perignon all over the place. So that was a really fun place to get my start in restaurants proper. So I started in the kitchen there. I knocked on their back door one day and ended up being hired on as a banquet line chef. So I know a lot about making wild mushroom quesadillas really quickly and en masse and also doing that, remember that like ’90s Zig-Zag from the squeeze bottle? The crema fresca over the mole-topped enchiladas and all kinds of beautiful Southwestern food. And that’s where I got my first subscription to the Wine Spectator. I started reading about wine, started guzzling that Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. I guess Texas is the biggest buyer of that wine. And there started my wine education that set me in that direction. And then a lot of things happened after that. I don’t know if we want to go into that.

Z: Well I just was going to say maybe obviously you’ve had a remarkable and illustrious career, and feel free to recount more of it, but I’m just wondering, obviously for all of us there are the initial formative restaurant experiences that you say “this is where I learned the ropes.” But then along the way for you as well, were there any other stops that you particularly feel like recounting? Or if not, we can certainly move on.

B: Yeah, I mean, I think I think the early stops are to be the most interesting because they really are the formative ones. So I had a great time at Cafe Annie and I loved working with the husband-and-wife team. And I’m grateful that I started on the culinary side to have a good grounding in how a fancy kitchen works and all of that, which made it easier for me to adapt moving forward. So while I was at Cafe Annie — and maybe this is also a little bit about my career strategy from the beginning — I went to Cafe Annie because a friend of mine told me it was the best restaurant. So if you’re going to learn something about cooking in restaurants, go there. And then while I was at Cafe Annie I saw a cover of the Wine Spectator that said that Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago is the best restaurant in the world for a food and drink experience. And I thought, oh, well, of course, I should just go work there next.

Z: I appreciate that. That is some self-confidence.

B: Right. So I wasn’t even thinking about it. It’s like how you might think to yourself, like, “Oh really? Yeah. I’ll just go to Harvard. That’s what I’m going to do.” And so I faxed my resume and went to Kinkos before it was FedEx. I remember driving there, sending in a resume that I’d cobbled together. And lo and behold, by the time I got back, on my answering machine that used a regular cassette tape was a message from Chef Trotter himself. So that was the next thing I did. I packed up everything. And I think within a week I just hustled myself out to Chicago and started working there. And there he starts you wherever he wants to start you, and even though I was so proud of myself at that point, at Cafe Annie I was the only woman working as a captain in the dining room, which in fine dining is like the top of the heap. I went to Charlie Trotter’s, and I was a food runner. So five years there, and I ended my time as the wine director of that very venerable cellar and learned everything you could possibly learn about operating a restaurant in the way that he did and many other lessons. So I think that’s the stop that really set me on this path forever and also informed a lot of what I believe in hospitality and how to deliver experiences and how to work and how to mentor and lots of other things. So I did that. So I went from Houston back home to Chicago. My parents have lived here, and I lived here from third grade on. This was my hometown. And after a couple of years at Charlie Trotter’s, I got a call that a chef named Laurent Gras was looking for a wine director and a replacement for Rajat Parr in San Francisco.

Z: I think I’ve heard of him.

B: Yeah, right. So I was like, oh my God, who doesn’t want to be the follow-up to Rajat Parr and that incredible cellar stocked from floor to ceiling. That was a giant cellar of Burgundy, I think probably the largest in the country, if not the deepest in the country just at that moment in time. And so I flew myself out to San Francisco with the same thought, like, “Of course, I’m the one to replace Rajat Parr.” And I met the chef. I think I was probably the 60th person he’d interviewed, the very last person who put their hat in the ring for it. And there’s a nice moment here where I took the elevator up to the fifth floor, right? The Fifth Floor in San Francisco was on the fifth floor, and I saw Martine Saunier sitting outside and she was on a cell phone. And it wasn’t an iPhone. It was like one of those big ones, I think, or maybe a Motorola flip phone. And she looked up, and we didn’t know each other well. But I met her a few times and she said, “Oh, Belinda Chang.” She said, “Are you here to interview?” And I said, “yes.” And she nodded. And I went into the interview. I found out later that she called chef Gras after and said, “hire her”.

Z: Oh, wow.

B: Yeah. So that was a really cool moment. And I didn’t know about this for many years. And I can tell you, I love him deeply. I think he’s so amazing and I treasure my years that I worked with him. But I do know that when I walked into the room, he was definitely like, but you’re a girl, right? But he comes from very classic dining rooms. And I’m sure in those years, there definitely was not a woman sommelier on any of those service teams.

Z: Yeah, I think that is a safe assumption.

B: So it was pretty cool that she got in the game and told them what to do, and he followed her advice. And I think that at that time that was the job that a lot of people wanted.

Z: I bet, yeah. If 60-something people applied, I bet so. So before we shift gears and talk a little bit about “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and what you’ve been doing lately, what was the last sommelier or wine director job you held? Was your stepping away from the floor just a thing or time that had come, or how did you make that decision?

B: Yeah, it’s a great question. We can fast-forward to it. So from the Fifth Floor in San Francisco I came back to Chicago to oversee a big group of restaurants for Richard Melman from Lettuce Entertain You. From there I was recruited by Danny Meyer’s team to take over the wine director position at the Modern and MoMA in Manhattan. And then after that, after winning the James Beard Award with my team, I then went into a couple of experiments. I worked with Graydon Carter and Ken Friedman at the Monkey Bar, and then I went into that corporate paradigm that a lot of people think that they want to go into after single owner-operators or small-group restaurant paradigms. And I spent some time as the corporate wine director at Starwood Culinary Concepts, which was part of Starwood Hotels and restaurants run by Jean- Georges. And then after that, I spent time as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH, for M.H. USA. So those are all the various things. And then after all of that, I decided it was time to get back onto the floor. So I took a managing partner and wine director position here back in Chicago, my hometown, with Maple and Ash. So that was the last time that I was on the floor. And that was a two-and-a-half-year stint that launched me into my own business.

Z: And so let’s let’s talk about that. So what were you doing, broad strokes, pre-pandemic? And how did you pivot into virtual events?

B: So pre-pandemic, I was about a year and a half into my first foray into single-owner-operated bootstrap entrepreneurship — terrifying in and of itself. But pre-pandemic, I had some great clients. I was working with Champagne Taittinger and Calvisius Caviar, and I was already then doing something that’s not easily explained. I guess if you had to give it a one-liner, it was luxury experiential marketing. The funny thing is, I actually did do some virtual Champagne 101 and food and wine pairing classes via Skype for editors at Sauver Magazine and Elle Magazine before this all happened. But aside from that, I was putting on really cool experiences, like an annual pool party in Aspen and my six-year-running James Beard Awards pre-prom, which put together a glam salon for all the women nominees and women winners to get them red-carpet ready. So things like that. So definitely in the luxury space, definitely in the experiential marketing space. So when we got to that fateful March — which feels like it was 10 years ago, but I guess it was just a few months ago — it was the first year of the business where I felt like it was all going to be OK. I had all my 2020 Q1, Q2, and Q3 lined up, deposits put down, and it was in one day, I was in Toronto on a business trip when I got all the calls. I got four of them in a row, which I thought was really weird, from different clients. And they were all calling me to refund deposits, so I emptied — like, literally emptied, maybe to the last 5 cents — my operating cash account and, of course, refunded all these clients, because I want to work with them again later and sat and cried on my couch, on this red velvet couch. So you can picture me just like, “Oh my God. Oh, my God!” Yeah. So that led to a “Virtual Boozy Brunch” a couple of days later.

Z: So can you again, having attended a couple of them, I don’t know that I could fairly ask you to summarize it in a couple of sentences, but just for the people who are listening who aren’t familiar and we’ll include the links in the show description, what is “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and and how has it maybe evolved since the early days of the pandemic?

B: So it’s how I got off the couch. So I got off the couch a day later and I saw Jackie and Dani’s virtual happy hour. I don’t know if anybody has seen that, but they were really, I think, the first to really put on this big effort where they were inviting three bartenders a night with two showings a night and recreated a bar scenario where friends and supporters could come in and virtually tip these bartenders from all over the country. And they also gave an opportunity for the liquor brands to come in and help out and sponsor all these bartenders that needed help. They’re all furloughed. They’re laid off. What are they going to do? So I thought I should try to do something for the wine people. I feel like that never happens because they all think that we’re landed gentry or something. And it might be because we all have friends who are such natty dressers, that I think it’s pretty unusual or until now pretty rare that there was a dedicated effort to help them. Like, who needs help? They look like they’re doing just fine. But just because we are sipping and swirling Jayer doesn’t mean that we bought it ourselves. It’s just a part of our job. So I thought well, what could I do that could be something similar to this virtual happy hour scenario that really helps wine people? So I called Carrie Leavens, who is a protege of mine. I called a friend Rachel, who was at Osteria Mozza. And I said, “You know what? Let’s put together a Sunday brunch where you can come and chat about wine. You can invite all of your collectors and your fans and your friends and your supporters. And they can tip you for sharing your magic. And we’re going to find a way to do that virtually on camera so that you can still ply your trade.” Right? Which is making people feel great and helping them to drink good wine. So that was what episode 1, 2, and 3 were about, having great wine people and giving them a place to connect with their supporters and fans and try to make some money and do it without having to ask for a handout. And what we realized was that a lot of our chef friends were coming and tuning in and a lot of other people with interesting stories and magic to share were tuning in. So it evolved after a few weeks into this sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along and many- other-things-along experience. So it evolved really quickly from being like a virtual wine class into being like, I don’t know, it’s a living magazine. It’s a virtual experience. It’s a lot of things right now.

Z: Yeah, well, and I will say just from my own experience attending a few of them, one thing that I think is really fun about it is it feels like going inside the cooking segment of something like “Good Morning America.” And this isn’t a negative thing, but not kind of polished within an inch of its life the way those things are, like, “Hey, mistakes happen!” Swear words definitely happen. People are drinking. But I think you guys do an amazing job of making it. If you want to learn how to do something, you really can. And I think that was the next question I was going to ask. I think one of the hardest things about the virtual format in my experience, especially as it relates to things like cooking, cocktail creation, even the more static things like even just wine tasting, I find it’s very hard to communicate and to receive that training when you’re distanced from somebody, when you’re watching them through a screen. But I think you guys do a really good job of making all of the recipes, all of the cocktail recipes really comprehensible. So how have you done that?

B: Well, I think from the start, we’re thinking about why someone would tune in and how we could keep a great audience and make this endeavor worth our time and engage people all the way through. I mean, I don’t know about you, but especially as I got later into my career, I was like “the formal wine tasting is the most boring thing.” And I was always trying to find ways to make it a little more interesting, in that landscape of back in the day when you and I were full-time directors on the floor, you get like 50 invitations per day. So it’s like, how do you choose which one’s going to be really great? Aside from like maybe going to the one that has the most expensive wine, I think in this virtual space, the ones that are really interesting to me are the ones where I get to really participate. Right. So we never have a moderator read off the questions from the chat and relay that to the chef. We flip you up on screen if you have a question about, “did I do this correctly or does this look right or is it brown enough?” So our audience is always invited to be a part of the experience in every way. I always tell our team if at some point you’re looking at the gallery of viewers and they’re all looking down and they’re texting or they’re looking at their phones instead of what’s happening, we’ve done something wrong. We want it such that everybody who’s in the audience is engaging with the talent the entire time. So it’s a really worthwhile endeavor, whether the talent wants to tell a brand’s story or share a recipe or technique, or just connect. We make it so that it’s a platform in which they can always do that at the highest level. So I think that’s what we’ve learned how to do throughout the pandemic. And I think that’s what we’re doing best.

Z: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I definitely can tell the participant and viewer engagement is high, which is very challenging to do, both in person, frankly, and also virtually. So I think the last thing I want to ask you about, at least at the moment, is we are hopefully — knocking on every piece of wood in my house — at a point in time where it feels like the end of the pandemic might be closer than the beginning. And obviously, none of us know what that process period is going to look like. It’s going to be uneven. Some people are going to be vaccinated and feel comfortable going out in the world. Some people might not even after being vaccinated, it’s going to take time, et cetera. But obviously, like anyone who’s created something in this period of time, you have some thoughts about how to carry it forward into a post-Covid landscape — and don’t feel like you’ve got to share any trade secrets here — but what have you been thinking about in terms of continuing “Virtual Boozy Brunch” once that virtual part is no longer mandatory?

B: It’s such a smart question, Zach. And also to your point about not showing any trade secrets, I’m very proud of the fact that I think that our “Virtual Boozy Brunch” format, which started March 16, has inspired tons of people to do their own take on it. So all my trade secrets are not secrets, I always want to share. I love sharing best practices and what I’ve learned. But to your question, I absolutely think that this is an idea whose time has come — not just because of the pandemic, but because it’s a smart way forward, particularly for marketing and this striving for experiential marketing and authenticity and storytelling. I’m going to be attending virtual experiences, I think, for the rest of my life, because it’s expensive to travel, right? Remember when we would get offered the trip to Germany, but you could only send one person from the restaurant or they were only inviting 10 wine directors from around the world? You can put together this programming that is so powerful if you do it well and hire the production team where it feels just like you’re in Luca Cerrado from Vietti’s mom’s kitchen, smelling the blueberry risotto because they sent you all the ingredients. And you can be stirring that pot with them from home and you can visit the vineyards and you can invite as many people as you want from all over the world. So I think that this is some cool stuff. I always use this analogy: You know those futuristic movies where they’re having the board meeting and all the people on the board are holograms and they’re all sipping the same Scotch together? Whenever I saw a movie vignette like that, I always thought, “Oo, how could we do that in the wine and food space?” And we’re doing it! So I think that this is going to go on forever, and people are going to get better and better at it and send bigger experience boxes and really make this so it does feel just like you’re in the room, but you’re in the room so safely and you can be in any room anywhere in the world with just the click of a button and the opening of a laptop. So I think it’s so cool. I’m all about it, and I’m all in. And I don’t know when I’m going to want to go like, are people going to still do Vinitaly? I don’t know. I did the virtual version of it this year, and it was really fun.

Z: Yeah well, I think that — just my two cents on this whole thing — I think two things seem pretty true to me. One is that virtual experiences and in-person experiences are not mutually exclusive. And people are going to want some of each. They’re going to want the experience of whether it’s getting on a plane and going to Europe, some of them, or the experience of just going out to dinner or having someone serve them. All those things are going to still be popular with people. But I think what we’ve learned, as you said, is that you can do an amazing job of creating a really memorable experience. I think the fear heading into this or before the pandemic was people were going to see a virtual experience as, at best, a pale imitation of an in-person experience. And I think what we found is they’re not exactly the same thing. And there are things that a virtual experience can deliver that an in-person experience can’t, including the fact that you could do it in your house with your pajamas on. And that is, as it turns out, for a lot of us, a thing that we like very much. I also think the other piece of this is that I wonder about, even in my own career. You said that in-person wine tasting had gotten old to you. And I largely agree that there becomes a time for everyone, especially professionals, but even I think for amateurs or just hobbyists and enthusiasts that having access to all the wine is less important than having good wine. And I think about some of the consumer-facing events I’ve been to big, big events in the States and it’s like, is there going to be the same demand? Maybe there will still be the same demand for the drunken s*** show that is these big, hundreds and hundreds of producers pouring drinks as much as you want events. There are always going to people who want to get drunk, for sure. But I think that the smarter positioning for a lot of people is going to be, if you’re a winery or a spirit brand or whatever, do you really want to go be lost in that sea of drunken red-wine sloshing, or do you want to do focused events for people around the country? Who are your actual potential customers? And I think that’s where you’re going to see a lot of that shifting is people’s marketing budgets are going to say, “You know what? We’ve been able to really reach our audience directly, as opposed to hoping that someone not too inebriated comes by our booth, likes our wine, and then remembers to order it five days later.”

B: “Remembers.”

Z: Yeah, exactly. Remembers anything that happened, of course.

B: Agreed. 100 percent. I think we’re at a really interesting moment for those of us that engage in the storytelling marketing activation side of things. I think we are now going to see some permanent changes and things for how we move forward, even when it is possible for us to all be safely together in the same space again.

Z: Absolutely. Well, Belinda, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. It’s been super cool to watch you experiment and explore this virtual space, and I look forward to seeing what comes in the months and years ahead.

B: Thank you so much, Zach. It was a pleasure.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair is produced by myself and Zach Geballe. It is also mixed and edited by him. Yeah. Zach, we know you do a lot. I’d also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder Josh and our associate editor, Cat Wolinski. Thanks so much for listening. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

The article Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-belinda-chang-virtual-boozy-brunch/

[johnboothus]

Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events

Airing between regular episodes of the VinePair Podcast, “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at podcast@vinepair.com.

In this episode of “Next Round,” host Zach Geballe sits down with Belinda Chang to discuss her new project, “Virtual Boozy Brunch.” While this project is Chang’s newest endeavor, it is one of many exciting positions she has held in the wine world. Here, Chang discusses how she moved into the wine and hospitality industry shortly after majoring in biochemistry and economics, and the influential roles she has held along the way.

Early in her career, Chang moved to Chicago then San Francisco, where she was selected to replace Rajat Parr as the new wine director for the Fifth Floor. From there, she earned a series of interesting positions and was chosen to be the wine director at MoMA, as well as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH. She also led a team to win a James Beard Award, as well as hosting both an annual pre-prom for female nominees to get ready for the ceremony and an annual pool party in Aspen.

The latter two events were put on by her own company, which she describes as “luxury experiential marketing.” Now, her platform hosts “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” which she initially launched to support wine professionals at the beginning of the pandemic. Today, the series has evolved into what she calls a “sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along, and many- other-things-along experience,” where users can log on and learn within interactive sessions. Chang emphasizes that these events always focus on user engagement and storytelling and will continue on well into the future.

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Zach: From Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe, and this is a “Next Round” “VinePair Podcast” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations in between our regular podcast episodes in order to focus on the issues and stories in the drinks world. Today, I’m speaking with James Beard Award-winning sommelier and the creator of “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” Belinda Chang. Thank you so much for your time.

Belinda: It’s my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me virtually, Zach.

Z: That’s still the way we do pretty much everything these days, for now. So let’s start before we get into “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” where I want to spend a fair bit of our time today talking about your past with your trajectory, your career as a sommelier, before Covid-19 changed everything.

B: Sure. Like many of us, I started at university. I was a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas, who majored in biochemistry and economics. And if you ask my parents, they would probably say it all went wrong when I started dating the lead singer of this ska band. I mean, there were pretty good ska bands, right? They opened up for the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. It was a college band, but they were pretty darn good. And the lead singer of the band who I was dating, he was a senior. I was a freshman, and he had the whole down low on how to be really well-fed and drink wine while being a college student and on a typical college student budget. And that was to work at the University Faculty Club, which is called Cohen House. And so that was my first job ever. Of course, I followed along and got myself a job at the Rice University Faculty Club, and I ended up being the head waiter there because I think I was just really having so much fun. So what that looked like was during my lunch hours, I was carving brisket — that brisket in Houston is so delicious — and ladling out bowls of the incredible gumbo and shrimp to say that they had on the buffet line for all of my professors. And then in the evenings, we had a small team that did these synchronized service, fine dining events for the president of the university. And a lot of the illustrious alumni, like the Baker family, people like that. And that was my first experience with fine dining and great wine. Well, the great wine at the time, I think, was Magnums of Macon-Villages.

Z: Seems great.

B: Yeah I mean, it was a private institution, and to me, that was slightly nicer than what they were serving at some of the other faculty clubs. But that’s how I got into this whole thing and fell in love with wine and fell in love with hospitality and fell in love with it all and decided to abandon the path that I had been set on to, maybe become something respectable, like a doctor or a lawyer management consultant. So while I was there, I then — after I fell in love with the lead singer of the ska band who knew a lot about how to get free food and wine — I then fell in love with the new chef of the top restaurant in Houston, which at the time was a restaurant called Cafe Annie, owned and operated by a Ph.D. in biochemistry who became a chef. His name’s Robert Del Grande. He won all the James Beard Awards and was a huge wine lover and lover of rabbit enchiladas and mole. So that was interesting. But, they ended up with a Wine Spectator award-winning program. And it’s a beautiful place where I believe that we had the most interesting clientele you could have at the time, like Colombian drug runners and people like that that are in Houston. And so there were a lot of Chateau Mouton ’82 and magnums of Dom Perignon all over the place. So that was a really fun place to get my start in restaurants proper. So I started in the kitchen there. I knocked on their back door one day and ended up being hired on as a banquet line chef. So I know a lot about making wild mushroom quesadillas really quickly and en masse and also doing that, remember that like ’90s Zig-Zag from the squeeze bottle? The crema fresca over the mole-topped enchiladas and all kinds of beautiful Southwestern food. And that’s where I got my first subscription to the Wine Spectator. I started reading about wine, started guzzling that Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. I guess Texas is the biggest buyer of that wine. And there started my wine education that set me in that direction. And then a lot of things happened after that. I don’t know if we want to go into that.

Z: Well I just was going to say maybe obviously you’ve had a remarkable and illustrious career, and feel free to recount more of it, but I’m just wondering, obviously for all of us there are the initial formative restaurant experiences that you say “this is where I learned the ropes.” But then along the way for you as well, were there any other stops that you particularly feel like recounting? Or if not, we can certainly move on.

B: Yeah, I mean, I think I think the early stops are to be the most interesting because they really are the formative ones. So I had a great time at Cafe Annie and I loved working with the husband-and-wife team. And I’m grateful that I started on the culinary side to have a good grounding in how a fancy kitchen works and all of that, which made it easier for me to adapt moving forward. So while I was at Cafe Annie — and maybe this is also a little bit about my career strategy from the beginning — I went to Cafe Annie because a friend of mine told me it was the best restaurant. So if you’re going to learn something about cooking in restaurants, go there. And then while I was at Cafe Annie I saw a cover of the Wine Spectator that said that Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago is the best restaurant in the world for a food and drink experience. And I thought, oh, well, of course, I should just go work there next.

Z: I appreciate that. That is some self-confidence.

B: Right. So I wasn’t even thinking about it. It’s like how you might think to yourself, like, “Oh really? Yeah. I’ll just go to Harvard. That’s what I’m going to do.” And so I faxed my resume and went to Kinkos before it was FedEx. I remember driving there, sending in a resume that I’d cobbled together. And lo and behold, by the time I got back, on my answering machine that used a regular cassette tape was a message from Chef Trotter himself. So that was the next thing I did. I packed up everything. And I think within a week I just hustled myself out to Chicago and started working there. And there he starts you wherever he wants to start you, and even though I was so proud of myself at that point, at Cafe Annie I was the only woman working as a captain in the dining room, which in fine dining is like the top of the heap. I went to Charlie Trotter’s, and I was a food runner. So five years there, and I ended my time as the wine director of that very venerable cellar and learned everything you could possibly learn about operating a restaurant in the way that he did and many other lessons. So I think that’s the stop that really set me on this path forever and also informed a lot of what I believe in hospitality and how to deliver experiences and how to work and how to mentor and lots of other things. So I did that. So I went from Houston back home to Chicago. My parents have lived here, and I lived here from third grade on. This was my hometown. And after a couple of years at Charlie Trotter’s, I got a call that a chef named Laurent Gras was looking for a wine director and a replacement for Rajat Parr in San Francisco.

Z: I think I’ve heard of him.

B: Yeah, right. So I was like, oh my God, who doesn’t want to be the follow-up to Rajat Parr and that incredible cellar stocked from floor to ceiling. That was a giant cellar of Burgundy, I think probably the largest in the country, if not the deepest in the country just at that moment in time. And so I flew myself out to San Francisco with the same thought, like, “Of course, I’m the one to replace Rajat Parr.” And I met the chef. I think I was probably the 60th person he’d interviewed, the very last person who put their hat in the ring for it. And there’s a nice moment here where I took the elevator up to the fifth floor, right? The Fifth Floor in San Francisco was on the fifth floor, and I saw Martine Saunier sitting outside and she was on a cell phone. And it wasn’t an iPhone. It was like one of those big ones, I think, or maybe a Motorola flip phone. And she looked up, and we didn’t know each other well. But I met her a few times and she said, “Oh, Belinda Chang.” She said, “Are you here to interview?” And I said, “yes.” And she nodded. And I went into the interview. I found out later that she called chef Gras after and said, “hire her”.

Z: Oh, wow.

B: Yeah. So that was a really cool moment. And I didn’t know about this for many years. And I can tell you, I love him deeply. I think he’s so amazing and I treasure my years that I worked with him. But I do know that when I walked into the room, he was definitely like, but you’re a girl, right? But he comes from very classic dining rooms. And I’m sure in those years, there definitely was not a woman sommelier on any of those service teams.

Z: Yeah, I think that is a safe assumption.

B: So it was pretty cool that she got in the game and told them what to do, and he followed her advice. And I think that at that time that was the job that a lot of people wanted.

Z: I bet, yeah. If 60-something people applied, I bet so. So before we shift gears and talk a little bit about “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and what you’ve been doing lately, what was the last sommelier or wine director job you held? Was your stepping away from the floor just a thing or time that had come, or how did you make that decision?

B: Yeah, it’s a great question. We can fast-forward to it. So from the Fifth Floor in San Francisco I came back to Chicago to oversee a big group of restaurants for Richard Melman from Lettuce Entertain You. From there I was recruited by Danny Meyer’s team to take over the wine director position at the Modern and MoMA in Manhattan. And then after that, after winning the James Beard Award with my team, I then went into a couple of experiments. I worked with Graydon Carter and Ken Friedman at the Monkey Bar, and then I went into that corporate paradigm that a lot of people think that they want to go into after single owner-operators or small-group restaurant paradigms. And I spent some time as the corporate wine director at Starwood Culinary Concepts, which was part of Starwood Hotels and restaurants run by Jean- Georges. And then after that, I spent time as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH, for M.H. USA. So those are all the various things. And then after all of that, I decided it was time to get back onto the floor. So I took a managing partner and wine director position here back in Chicago, my hometown, with Maple and Ash. So that was the last time that I was on the floor. And that was a two-and-a-half-year stint that launched me into my own business.

Z: And so let’s let’s talk about that. So what were you doing, broad strokes, pre-pandemic? And how did you pivot into virtual events?

B: So pre-pandemic, I was about a year and a half into my first foray into single-owner-operated bootstrap entrepreneurship — terrifying in and of itself. But pre-pandemic, I had some great clients. I was working with Champagne Taittinger and Calvisius Caviar, and I was already then doing something that’s not easily explained. I guess if you had to give it a one-liner, it was luxury experiential marketing. The funny thing is, I actually did do some virtual Champagne 101 and food and wine pairing classes via Skype for editors at Sauver Magazine and Elle Magazine before this all happened. But aside from that, I was putting on really cool experiences, like an annual pool party in Aspen and my six-year-running James Beard Awards pre-prom, which put together a glam salon for all the women nominees and women winners to get them red-carpet ready. So things like that. So definitely in the luxury space, definitely in the experiential marketing space. So when we got to that fateful March — which feels like it was 10 years ago, but I guess it was just a few months ago — it was the first year of the business where I felt like it was all going to be OK. I had all my 2020 Q1, Q2, and Q3 lined up, deposits put down, and it was in one day, I was in Toronto on a business trip when I got all the calls. I got four of them in a row, which I thought was really weird, from different clients. And they were all calling me to refund deposits, so I emptied — like, literally emptied, maybe to the last 5 cents — my operating cash account and, of course, refunded all these clients, because I want to work with them again later and sat and cried on my couch, on this red velvet couch. So you can picture me just like, “Oh my God. Oh, my God!” Yeah. So that led to a “Virtual Boozy Brunch” a couple of days later.

Z: So can you again, having attended a couple of them, I don’t know that I could fairly ask you to summarize it in a couple of sentences, but just for the people who are listening who aren’t familiar and we’ll include the links in the show description, what is “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and and how has it maybe evolved since the early days of the pandemic?

B: So it’s how I got off the couch. So I got off the couch a day later and I saw Jackie and Dani’s virtual happy hour. I don’t know if anybody has seen that, but they were really, I think, the first to really put on this big effort where they were inviting three bartenders a night with two showings a night and recreated a bar scenario where friends and supporters could come in and virtually tip these bartenders from all over the country. And they also gave an opportunity for the liquor brands to come in and help out and sponsor all these bartenders that needed help. They’re all furloughed. They’re laid off. What are they going to do? So I thought I should try to do something for the wine people. I feel like that never happens because they all think that we’re landed gentry or something. And it might be because we all have friends who are such natty dressers, that I think it’s pretty unusual or until now pretty rare that there was a dedicated effort to help them. Like, who needs help? They look like they’re doing just fine. But just because we are sipping and swirling Jayer doesn’t mean that we bought it ourselves. It’s just a part of our job. So I thought well, what could I do that could be something similar to this virtual happy hour scenario that really helps wine people? So I called Carrie Leavens, who is a protege of mine. I called a friend Rachel, who was at Osteria Mozza. And I said, “You know what? Let’s put together a Sunday brunch where you can come and chat about wine. You can invite all of your collectors and your fans and your friends and your supporters. And they can tip you for sharing your magic. And we’re going to find a way to do that virtually on camera so that you can still ply your trade.” Right? Which is making people feel great and helping them to drink good wine. So that was what episode 1, 2, and 3 were about, having great wine people and giving them a place to connect with their supporters and fans and try to make some money and do it without having to ask for a handout. And what we realized was that a lot of our chef friends were coming and tuning in and a lot of other people with interesting stories and magic to share were tuning in. So it evolved after a few weeks into this sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along and many- other-things-along experience. So it evolved really quickly from being like a virtual wine class into being like, I don’t know, it’s a living magazine. It’s a virtual experience. It’s a lot of things right now.

Z: Yeah, well, and I will say just from my own experience attending a few of them, one thing that I think is really fun about it is it feels like going inside the cooking segment of something like “Good Morning America.” And this isn’t a negative thing, but not kind of polished within an inch of its life the way those things are, like, “Hey, mistakes happen!” Swear words definitely happen. People are drinking. But I think you guys do an amazing job of making it. If you want to learn how to do something, you really can. And I think that was the next question I was going to ask. I think one of the hardest things about the virtual format in my experience, especially as it relates to things like cooking, cocktail creation, even the more static things like even just wine tasting, I find it’s very hard to communicate and to receive that training when you’re distanced from somebody, when you’re watching them through a screen. But I think you guys do a really good job of making all of the recipes, all of the cocktail recipes really comprehensible. So how have you done that?

B: Well, I think from the start, we’re thinking about why someone would tune in and how we could keep a great audience and make this endeavor worth our time and engage people all the way through. I mean, I don’t know about you, but especially as I got later into my career, I was like “the formal wine tasting is the most boring thing.” And I was always trying to find ways to make it a little more interesting, in that landscape of back in the day when you and I were full-time directors on the floor, you get like 50 invitations per day. So it’s like, how do you choose which one’s going to be really great? Aside from like maybe going to the one that has the most expensive wine, I think in this virtual space, the ones that are really interesting to me are the ones where I get to really participate. Right. So we never have a moderator read off the questions from the chat and relay that to the chef. We flip you up on screen if you have a question about, “did I do this correctly or does this look right or is it brown enough?” So our audience is always invited to be a part of the experience in every way. I always tell our team if at some point you’re looking at the gallery of viewers and they’re all looking down and they’re texting or they’re looking at their phones instead of what’s happening, we’ve done something wrong. We want it such that everybody who’s in the audience is engaging with the talent the entire time. So it’s a really worthwhile endeavor, whether the talent wants to tell a brand’s story or share a recipe or technique, or just connect. We make it so that it’s a platform in which they can always do that at the highest level. So I think that’s what we’ve learned how to do throughout the pandemic. And I think that’s what we’re doing best.

Z: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I definitely can tell the participant and viewer engagement is high, which is very challenging to do, both in person, frankly, and also virtually. So I think the last thing I want to ask you about, at least at the moment, is we are hopefully — knocking on every piece of wood in my house — at a point in time where it feels like the end of the pandemic might be closer than the beginning. And obviously, none of us know what that process period is going to look like. It’s going to be uneven. Some people are going to be vaccinated and feel comfortable going out in the world. Some people might not even after being vaccinated, it’s going to take time, et cetera. But obviously, like anyone who’s created something in this period of time, you have some thoughts about how to carry it forward into a post-Covid landscape — and don’t feel like you’ve got to share any trade secrets here — but what have you been thinking about in terms of continuing “Virtual Boozy Brunch” once that virtual part is no longer mandatory?

B: It’s such a smart question, Zach. And also to your point about not showing any trade secrets, I’m very proud of the fact that I think that our “Virtual Boozy Brunch” format, which started March 16, has inspired tons of people to do their own take on it. So all my trade secrets are not secrets, I always want to share. I love sharing best practices and what I’ve learned. But to your question, I absolutely think that this is an idea whose time has come — not just because of the pandemic, but because it’s a smart way forward, particularly for marketing and this striving for experiential marketing and authenticity and storytelling. I’m going to be attending virtual experiences, I think, for the rest of my life, because it’s expensive to travel, right? Remember when we would get offered the trip to Germany, but you could only send one person from the restaurant or they were only inviting 10 wine directors from around the world? You can put together this programming that is so powerful if you do it well and hire the production team where it feels just like you’re in Luca Cerrado from Vietti’s mom’s kitchen, smelling the blueberry risotto because they sent you all the ingredients. And you can be stirring that pot with them from home and you can visit the vineyards and you can invite as many people as you want from all over the world. So I think that this is some cool stuff. I always use this analogy: You know those futuristic movies where they’re having the board meeting and all the people on the board are holograms and they’re all sipping the same Scotch together? Whenever I saw a movie vignette like that, I always thought, “Oo, how could we do that in the wine and food space?” And we’re doing it! So I think that this is going to go on forever, and people are going to get better and better at it and send bigger experience boxes and really make this so it does feel just like you’re in the room, but you’re in the room so safely and you can be in any room anywhere in the world with just the click of a button and the opening of a laptop. So I think it’s so cool. I’m all about it, and I’m all in. And I don’t know when I’m going to want to go like, are people going to still do Vinitaly? I don’t know. I did the virtual version of it this year, and it was really fun.

Z: Yeah well, I think that — just my two cents on this whole thing — I think two things seem pretty true to me. One is that virtual experiences and in-person experiences are not mutually exclusive. And people are going to want some of each. They’re going to want the experience of whether it’s getting on a plane and going to Europe, some of them, or the experience of just going out to dinner or having someone serve them. All those things are going to still be popular with people. But I think what we’ve learned, as you said, is that you can do an amazing job of creating a really memorable experience. I think the fear heading into this or before the pandemic was people were going to see a virtual experience as, at best, a pale imitation of an in-person experience. And I think what we found is they’re not exactly the same thing. And there are things that a virtual experience can deliver that an in-person experience can’t, including the fact that you could do it in your house with your pajamas on. And that is, as it turns out, for a lot of us, a thing that we like very much. I also think the other piece of this is that I wonder about, even in my own career. You said that in-person wine tasting had gotten old to you. And I largely agree that there becomes a time for everyone, especially professionals, but even I think for amateurs or just hobbyists and enthusiasts that having access to all the wine is less important than having good wine. And I think about some of the consumer-facing events I’ve been to big, big events in the States and it’s like, is there going to be the same demand? Maybe there will still be the same demand for the drunken s*** show that is these big, hundreds and hundreds of producers pouring drinks as much as you want events. There are always going to people who want to get drunk, for sure. But I think that the smarter positioning for a lot of people is going to be, if you’re a winery or a spirit brand or whatever, do you really want to go be lost in that sea of drunken red-wine sloshing, or do you want to do focused events for people around the country? Who are your actual potential customers? And I think that’s where you’re going to see a lot of that shifting is people’s marketing budgets are going to say, “You know what? We’ve been able to really reach our audience directly, as opposed to hoping that someone not too inebriated comes by our booth, likes our wine, and then remembers to order it five days later.”

B: “Remembers.”

Z: Yeah, exactly. Remembers anything that happened, of course.

B: Agreed. 100 percent. I think we’re at a really interesting moment for those of us that engage in the storytelling marketing activation side of things. I think we are now going to see some permanent changes and things for how we move forward, even when it is possible for us to all be safely together in the same space again.

Z: Absolutely. Well, Belinda, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. It’s been super cool to watch you experiment and explore this virtual space, and I look forward to seeing what comes in the months and years ahead.

B: Thank you so much, Zach. It was a pleasure.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair is produced by myself and Zach Geballe. It is also mixed and edited by him. Yeah. Zach, we know you do a lot. I’d also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder Josh and our associate editor, Cat Wolinski. Thanks so much for listening. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

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