I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually written down the story of how I met my husband 9 years ago… it was online. But not in a dating app, or even on Facebook, it was through a virtual happy hour. 

Yep, a virtual happy hour. 

This all started when my friend Ashley Routson, a.k.a. the woman formally known as the beer wench was living in Berkeley, I was in Santa Rosa, Baconator (aka Ryan) was in Austin Texas, Leilani in Napa, many other beer friends across the country, and Jeff (aka my current husband) was living in Reno.

Many of us either met through the wine or beer Twitter world of 2008/2009, either in person at Wine and beer blogger and conferences. And since we were all across the United States, Ashley decided to join everyone together with Skype calls where we could drink a beer or a glass of wine from the comforts of our home, but with some of our closest friends via video. 

Long story short, Jeff and I were both part of these virtual happy hours, and we simply connected. We met in person when he came to Santa Rosa to visit Russian River Brewery, and after three months, I got him to move from Reno to Santa Rosa. A few years later we were married, and then a few years later after that Ryeson was born, and the rest is history. 

Virtual happy hours during a pandemic. 

We are in a situation that requires us to stay at home so we don’t continue to spread the coronavirus. For people in the bay area, the shelter at home is mandatory, except for essential business (like working in certain industries or going out to grocery shop). 

And now that we are more secluded than ever, but I do love seeing is the sense of community. 

Wineries trying to do virtual tastings with their customers, restaurants, and food bloggers sharing live videos of them cooking, and herbalists doing webinars on food that can help boost immunity.  Read more about some creative ways brands are marketing during a pandemic. 

In addition, people getting together through FaceTime, or video conferencing tools to simply connect with each other through video, versus a “sup” text. 

It’s pretty easy to set up a virtual happy hour. 

1. Figure out a time that works for all of your friends (you can invite a select few, or open it up to everyone via a Facebook link). 

2. Open a bottle of wine or grab a beer. 

3. Invite friends to video chat through Facebook messenger (here is a great how-to video chat on Facebook article), or download a free video-conferencing app (my personal preference is not using Zoom, because long story short they have a lot of issues, and my husband works for WebEx, and they have a free version also, here are more details on how to download and get started). 

4. And chat for as long as you want. 

A simple video chat with relatives

I know from experience, being able to use FaceTime on my phone, or video messenger through Facebook has been so great for Ryeson being able to connect with all of his grandparents who live in different areas of California. During the last few days of quarantine, I think we’ve talked to each grandparent at least every other day. Mostly Ryeson has just wanted to show them artwork that he’s drawn over the past weekend. 

No matter how you do a virtual happy hour or video chat - what is important is connecting with loved ones and friends. And hey… if you happen to find a husband out of it, all the better!?!?!