Woof! An awesome result from Pomegranate's annual Holiday Soirée and Fundraiser

The ice bar at the end of the night. Everything gone; still pretty

Have to say, it's been a really fun December at Pomegranate, starting with our annual Holiday Soirée and Day of Giving Back on December 3. That's the day we put on our fancy pants (so to speak: someone was so busy she never managed to put on a bit of makeup, or eat lunch or drink water until reminded to do so late in the day) and fill the shop with nibbles, libations, good music, tons of great holiday merchandise and decorating. Oh yes, we set up an ice bar outside and serve martinis. Real cocktails in real glasses (until we run out of glassware). And this year, we even had live music, thanks to our buddy and most excellent guitarist Bill Hayes, who played for hours and entertained everyone out in our little cottage. Perhaps best of all, this event is also a fund-raiser, as we always donate 10% of the day's sales to charity. This year, our recipient was The Humane Society of Central Oregon (specially picked by Mollie, our sweet old rescue dog). Over the years we've supported Saving Grace, Family Access Network, The Sparrow Club, Assistance League, Partners in Care... and many others.

It's pretty simple. The more we bring in, the more we can donate to our charity. The past couple of years have been okay, but not outstanding, as one can imagine. {And, you have to take into account the smallish size of our shop and total possible capacity, which I think we hit at about 5pm that day.} But this year, we blew the roof off our goals, and were able to write a check for $750 to the Humane Society. That's pretty darn good for us in our teeny shop, and we're very happy with the outcome... We were really delighted to see so many of our dear customers, who came flooding in to buy gifts and goodies. We rented 100 martini glasses and blew through those right away; had to move to the plastic glasses, until we ran out of those, too. We may have served 160+ cocktails (real ones, mind you: Robert is a good bartender and doesn't skimp on the vodka). Add multiple bottles of champagne, lots of nibbles, and plenty of good cheer. It was a darn good day, and a great kickoff to a joyous and busy season for us. Thanks everybody, for remembering us and coming out to our little hidden location to partake in this fun day!

I finally took a photo of the ice bar at the end of the evening, when everything (and everybody) was gone. We always get our ice from Cascade Ice. They deliver it, and it's beautiful and clear. We have a little stand/table it fits on; line it with white felt and led lights and it's a magical place from which to serve drinks. This year one big block did it; Robert crushed the inner edge of the block and added more crushed ice as a bed for the bottles and shaker... and it really looked like a little glacier. This was definitely my favorite design from all our years throwing this party. {Although some customers would say the year we designed a luge was the best, but I had to put my foot down: we are never doing that again – don't even ask.} Our Pometini recipe is on our website (pomegranate-home.com), and we're happy to share ideas with you if you want to set up an outside bar for a party. It's easy, really. All you need is someone crazy enough to stand out in the cold and shake up a bunch of cocktails.

Oh, the best part of this story: The Humane Society gave us a poster board with pictures of current pets looking for homes, and a couple who attended our soirée saw a picture of a sweet dog, and went out the next day and adopted her. Yay! We're so happy to have done a little bit to help facilitate this new happy placement. I myself was kind of smitten with a little guy named Peanut, but knew Mollie would not be happy at all with a new roommate...