If sipping on a stiff drink is your preferred way to keep warm in the winter, head straight to Lucy’s Bar, a creative new craft cocktail joint on Caroline Street. In addition to being popular with the later-night weekenders, the tiny watering hole’s delicious concoctions have quickly made it the hot new spot for the pre- and post-dinner set. “We’re open 5pm to close seven days a week, and the beauty of that is that a mix of people are able to come in and enjoy it,” says owner Lucy Rivas, who opened the bar with co-owners Zach VanEarden, her fiancé, and long-time friend and Whole Harvest owner Kelsey Whalen. The imaginative cocktail menu, which now includes such belly warmers as Express Yourself (the bar has a loose Madonna theme thanks to the bathroom’s Material Girl mural), a sinful espresso martini with a heady hint of chai tea, and the Lucky Lucy, which Rivas admits is one of her favorites. (It’s a gin cocktail made with goodies such as lavender mist.) The entire staff worked together to create the yummy winter cocktail menu. “We had a little get-together, where everyone brought two cocktails and we had a fun contest,” Rivas says. With work assignments like that, no wonder she calls opening the bar “a dream come true.”