Vibe Check: Shaken & Stirred 2026
A gaggle of Pitbull impersonators, two shirtless bartenders, and more than $50,000 in tips: 'Saratoga Living' goes behind the bar at UPH's annual fundraiser.
I woke up Thursday morning with a hint of a sore throat, and decided I’d take it easy that night at Shaken & Stirred. But Shaken & Stirred had other plans.
After a snafu involving a missing screw for our step-and-repeat backdrop (shoutout to the Saratoga National staff for magically producing the exact size screw we needed seemingly from thin air), I made my way to the bar for a light and refreshing drink: a tequila soda. I ordered, had a sip, and quickly realized that when I said “tequila soda,” the Saratoga National bartender must’ve heard, “tequila, splash of soda.”
“That bartender is a problem,” my friend Maddy said when I made a face. “I keep hearing him tell people he’ll make their drink ‘special’ for them.”
The heavy-handed bartender’s motive made sense, of course. The point of Shaken & Stirred, UPH’s annual celebrity bartender party, is for people to tip well—all tips go to Proctors Collaborative’s children’s and family programming. And anyone who knows anything knows that people tend to tip better when they’re a little more, say, lubricated.
Now, after that drink, I could’ve gone back to the plan—ordered a water, hung out at Team Saratoga Living’s paparazzi-inspired photo op station and accepted donations from attendees to get their picture taken for the next issue of the magazine. But my coworker, Tina, was already doing that job, and I was ready to yap.
When I went to check out the DeCrescente Distributing table, Carmine DeCrescente hurried me along, saying, “nothing to see here,” as if I was going to copy their team’s activity and—quick!—go out and buy the same giant, inflatable money machine booth. At the Bocage Champagne Bar table, pro bartenders Matt and Michael showed me their activity (a ring toss onto wine bottles), and only after a few minutes of chatting did Matt realize who I was; apparently my hat-and-sunglasses paparazzi disguise worked a little too well. At the Fingerpaint table, Elyse Manosh told me she was “trying something new” as she donned a bald cap, which all members of her Pitbull-themed team wore all night long. And at the Hideaway table (which was actually manned by a team comprised of bartenders from the Hideaway, Bailey’s, Lucy’s, Tap & Barrel, Milton Tavern, and Fillies on Phila), Justin LaViolette and Matt Beecher told me of their pact to leave their Pit Vipers on all night. Their shirts, however, were a different story.
Despite some would-be attendees staying home due to the rainy weather, Saratoga National’s toasty-warm tent was still full of ride-or-die UPH supporters who showed up for the organization’s only fundraiser of the year, including the 70 Shaken & Stirred celebrity bartenders who brought their A-games with props, costumes, giveaways, and games. Team Saratoga Living even came with our own celebrity—Kate VanHerp, who, OK, may not be an actual celebrity but who certainly should be one. At the end of the night, our motley crew (comprised of Saratoga Living employees, Saratoga Living Insiders Club members, and a couple of friends) raised $2,015, putting us in sixth place—aka, second to last. “If we can’t win the most money can we at least win best looking?” Insider/team member Lauren Leddy asked.
After another tequila soda (what can I say?) I bounced between DJ Trumastr’s dance floor and conversations with Samantha Bosshart (she learned that she does not like Miller High Life), Kim Weir (who has been embracing her resemblance to Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly during this year’s Devil Wears Prada revival), and Justin Metzger (who was trying to keep the fact that it was his birthday a secret—happy birthday, Justin!). When I saw Liam Ambrosio, I tried out an icebreaker line I recently learned from Suleika Jaouad: “What are you most proud of in the past week?” Liam said he recently made a pretty impressive chicken cutlet dish from a 2003 Martha Stewart recipe, and I told him that I, too, was proud of him.
By the time the last bartending matchup rolled around—Team DeCrescente took on one member from each of the other teams—I’d wholeheartedly given up on my plans to “take it easy.” And I wasn’t alone. About three hours into the party, Michael Devellis told me he had only planned to stop by for half an hour, and two separate times, Jason Lorenz hugged me goodbye. At 9:30pm, as UPH Director Teddy Foster announced that Team MLB Construction was the winner of the 2026 Shaken & Stirred title, I looked across the room and saw Jason deep in a conversation, showing no signs of leaving anytime soon. It seems that on the second Thursday in May in Saratoga, laying low simply isn’t in the cards.
—Natalie
For more photos of the night—including multiple bald-capped Pitbull impersonators in action and all the pics from our step-and-repeat—check out our gallery by Jess McNavich. Here’s a sneak peek:
