Last night brought one of our favorite nights of the year- the annual Sandbar staff holiday party. (We have lots of favorite days and nights of the year, if you haven't noticed.)
Every year on a Sunday night just before Christmas, the bar closes to the public for a few hours so our staff can celebrate the holidays, our friendships and another great year at the bar.
We eat, we drink and we open presents! The "white elephant" gift exchange has become a highlight of the party. Some gifts are serious (pretty candles, wine and lottery tickets) while others are total nonsense (ceramic gorillas, toilet seats and broken VCR's.) This year was no exception. Some of the gifts that made an appearance:
The drink "butler"- an outstretched hand that cups a glass and is battery-operated, so the butler brings the drink across the table to you. It even knows to stop at the edge of the table.
A giant ceramic Admiral Lord something-or-other mug.
A camo-patterned Snuggie.
A gold lame thong.
"Manifold Destiny! The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car's Engine!" written by Chris Maynard, and unwrapped by none other than Chris Maynard, former Sandbar-tender.
A giant poster of Dave and Justin dressed in wedding finery, from bartender Heather's wedding to Ken last spring.
The costume contest followed the gift exchange. Not as many people dressed up as last year, when practically everyone was wearing some sort of Christmas character costume. This year, we recycled our costumes from SantaCon and filled the bar (sort of) with Santas.
Sexy Santa Michelle and Run D.M.C. Santa Todd split the first place prize, judged by Ted and Andy.
The rest of the night was filled with lots of drinking, dancing and pure entertainment. Especially from the revolving cast of boys behind the bar.
Thanks to our good friend and regular Susan, we have cheerful new pint glasses just in time for the winter holidays (and the weather that comes with it)!
We put out a call awhile back for holiday artwork for our glasses, and Susan responded with not one, but two awesome designs. It was hard to pick one- and we almost ordered both- but we decided on the tropical snowman.
Dave's supposed to pick up the pints on Thursday, so they'll be here in time for tropical drink night. They're $3 each and a great gift. If you're planning to come by and get one, call ahead to make sure they're here first.
We probably won't get a new design done in time for New Year's Eve, but if you have something in mind send it our way. We're also looking ahead to Valentine's Day.
SantaCon Lawrence was yesterday in downtown Lawrence, and it was fun!
The Sandbar was excited to be one of the six participating bars for this event. The Santa party started off here at 1:30 p.m. with around 30 Santas, elves and Mrs. Claus characters. Many of the participants were Sandbar staff and friends, but one couple even drove in from Kansas City to participate in the fun.
A reporter and photographer from the Lawrence Journal-World stopped by, and they interviewed some of the Santas and took lots of pictures. In fact, they stayed with us for over an hour and even traveled to the second bar- Louise's Downtown- with us! Read the article here, and there are a couple of pictures and even a video featuring dancing Santas.
After about an hour at the Sandbar, the Santa parade went to Louise's, followed by the Replay Lounge- where Santa and Mrs. Claus danced on stage!- the Bottleneck, Red Lyon and finally ending up at the Barrel House. Santa made a few detours along the way, wandering through Sunflower Bike Shop (at their request), the Bourgeouis Pig and Free State. The group dwindled along the way, but the die-hard crew of 5-6 Santas ended up back at the Sandbar around 8:30 p.m.
All of the bars were very accommodating to the group of Santas, and the people on Mass Street really seemed to love it! Several Santas actually had bags full of trinkets and toys, and they handed them out to kids on the street. They also popped into some of the downtown businesses to spread a few "ho ho ho's."
SantaCon wasn't all just for fun, though- in the spirit of the season, Santas were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate to Just Food, a local food pantry here in town. We filled one giant box at the Sandbar, and there were a few more bags of food that didn't fit in the box. Way to go Santas!
You know how much we love costumes at the Sandbar, so we are definitely looking forward to doing this again next year! Our upcoming staff holiday party will also be a Santa costume party, and we've heard that some cities have started having "BunnyCon" and "PirateCon" events to tide them over until Christmas every year…
Check out our pictures on Flickr or Facebook here. If you were at SantaCon, we'd love to see your pictures! Email them to us at sandbar@thesandbar.com, upload them to our Facebook page or tag them on Flickr!
Everyone loves our tropical drink toys, and we often hear about how you take them home to your kids for bathtub toys. Or play with them yourself. Well, here's an actual bath toy- but it might be a little scary for the kids.
Bored or stuck in an awkward situation? Make it fun (or even more awkward) with this instant beach ball. It comes deflated in a decorated 3-inch can, but judging from the size of purses these days, it shouldn't be a problem for most of you to carry around.
You knew it was coming- a beach version of the Snuggie. Take this to the pool or the beach and cover up while leaving your arms free to hold a book or a drink. We only wish it were more tropical-looking, with palm trees or flip flops on it.
Everyone loves Homer the puffer fish. Now you can hang an ode to him on your Christmas tree- though this puffer fish looks more like a she, with her rhinestone bling for eyes and hot pink color.
Your kids love our inflatable pink flamingo koozies- now they can have their own funny, fluffy flamingo slippers. And this is a flamingo you can't claim as your own, because they only come in kid sizes. A great way to share some tropical love with the kids.
Here's a snow-globe like desk game with a tropical flair. When you need a break from work, shake the globe to try to get the beach ball into the hammock.
These pieces of apparel rightfully come from a place called "What on Earth." Just in case you NEEDED a one-piece romper that snaps and also turns your fleshy body into a toned six-pack.
Everyone knows we love mermaids, and there's plenty of mermaid paraphernalia on the internet. But how about mermen? Not as much. We particularly love this ornament, especially because the guys seem to like dressing up as a mermaid at least as much as the gals do.
This surfboard picture frame reminds us of our popular shotski, with its multiple photo openings lining the surfboard. Hang it on your wall and remember all the fun times. Even better, put pictures of people doing the shotski in it.
Here's an inexpensive stocking stuffer for the pink flamingo lovers- a pink flamingo keychain made from glass beads. Too expensive to give you with our tropical drink, though.
For our final offering, we present the Aloha Gorilla costume. Instead of Santa, why not dress up as a giant grass skirt and coconut bra-wearing gorilla, complete with a lei? The only thing stranger would be the Holiday Armadillo.
We hope you've enjoyed checking out our 12 Days of Sandbar Gifts as much as we enjoyed scouring the internet for them. Happy gift-giving!
Last year we wrote about an event that man on the street Pat brought to our attention: SantaCon.
In that post, we said: "We are totally doing this in downtown Lawrence next year."
Well guess what, kids? WE ARE!
SantaCon Lawrence makes its debut this year on Saturday, December 11. There are six bars participating in the inaugural event: Louise's Downtown, the Replay, Red Lyon, the Bottleneck, Barrel House and Sandbar.
SantaCon is free and open to anyone who is at least 21. The only requirement is that everyone must be dressed in Santa apparel! Creative interpretations of Santa are encouraged. Can you imagine a mass gathering of Santas parading around downtown from bar to bar?
In the spirit of the season, Santa is also adding charity to the event. Even though it's free to attend, Santa wants everyone to bring non-perishable food donations. A box will be located at each bar where you can leave donations, and Santa will pick them up later and deliver them to a local food bank.
SantaCon starts at 1:30 p.m. at The Sandbar. A full schedule will be posted on the official website, so Santas who are late can find the party. Though, it shouldn't be hard to find a bunch of rowdy Santas downtown.
If you aren't sure what SantaCon is, check out the video below:
This popular annual event in downtown Lawrence is in its 18th year. It showcases horses, carts and carriages from several states, and the organizers expect about 90 participants this year.
Our very own Friday bartender Phil serves as the parade's chairperson and helps organize the parade every year.
This is one parade we just watch- no ginormous Sandbar creations in this parade. Join us downtown on Saturday! The parade starts at 11 a.m.
