by Debbi | Dec 29, 2010 | Christmas, Cool Stuff, Off the Wall
Some of the pictures from Dave's infamous Christmas gift made an appearance yesterday. Today, after a few more of the boys granted permission for their pictures to be posted here, I bring you a few more.
January: Joe, looking sharp with all his classy accessories, including the Rolex.
May: Danny, looking all hot and sweaty on a trail run.
August: Fyler. This might be the month where the calendar started to go downhill.
November: Frank. Everyone utters a collective "Whoa, Frank!" when they flip to this page. He's our resident tech expert/website host/Guinness drinker.
There's obviously a few more pictures in the calendar. And they're certainly not more outrageous than these, but the boys haven't given permission for them to be posted online. If they do, I'll post them.
So, we're thinking of doing something like this every year now. Danny suggested a fundraising calendar. What do you think? Would you buy one? Would you prefer that the ladies be included? Let us know!
by Debbi | Dec 28, 2010 | Christmas, Cool Stuff, Off the Wall
The Sandbar boys put together a fairly amazing gift for Dave this year: "The Men Behind the Bar," a calendar full of fun and sometimes outrageous pictures of the male bartenders, along with a few regulars.
We've talked about making a Sandbar calendar for a long time. Andrew finally came through and accomplished the task, and it was a huge hit. A second copy of the calendar made its way into our white elephant gift exchange, and we've talked about ordering more copies to sell.
Here's a glimpse at a few of the pictures in the calendar.
April: Sandbar art director Brother Pants, painting himself. He also conveniently marked his birthday in that month so Dave would never forget it. Even though their birthdays are a day apart.
July: Dave himself, floating the day away in his pool with his dog.
September: Tyler, our fearless bar band leader posing with his instrument of choice. For his white elephant gift, Tyler brought an autographed copy of this picture, along with the robe he wore in it.
December: Blair. I wasn't sure if I wanted to share this one, since the joke is on me too. But I figured it's funny and fairly harmless. This picture is from our staff Christmas party a couple years ago when everyone wore ugly Christmas sweaters and other stuff.
So, there you have a peek at four of the pictures from the now-legendary calendar. I was nice and asked the boys for permission to put their pictures on the internet. Of course, these were the first ones who said "Yes! Show it to the world!"
Perhaps we'll post more later.
by Debbi | Dec 6, 2010 | Christmas, Cool Stuff
Last year we started a new tradition here on the Sandbar blog: helping you find fun, Sandbar- and beach-themed gifts for the holidays.
Here's our second annual version of "12 Days of Sandbar Christmas Gifts." We hope you like our suggestions!
Day 1: Shark Attack Bath Toy
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.
Day 2: Instant Beach Ball
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.
Day 3: Snuggie Beach Towel with Sleeves
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.
Day 4: Puffer Fish Ornament
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.
Day 5: Funny Flamingo Slippers
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.
Day 6: Beach Ball Desk Game
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.
Day 7: Palm Tree Shaped Electric Fan
Because everyone needs a metal sculpture of a palm tree with a working fan inside it. It's a beautiful and innovative piece of home decor, after all!
Day 8: Muscle Beach or Bikini One-Piece Bodysuit
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.
Day 9: December Diamonds Mario Merman Ornament
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.
Day 10: Surfboard Picture Frame
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.
Day 11: Flamingo Key Chain
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.
Day 12: Aloha Gorilla Costume
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!
by Debbi | Nov 19, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Downtown, People, Social Media
Last week, we got a message on our Twitter account from local artist/podcaster/gallery owner/man of many things Jason Barr. He wanted to drop by the bar and do a Q&A about current events with some of our customers for his A.D.D. podcast. We have no experience with podcasts, but of course we said "sure!"
The finished product was released yesterday on iTunes (it's free!) and we downloaded it right away. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the first guest was none other than Frank, Sandbar IT/web consultant and regular Guinness drinker. (It shouldn't have been a surprise. Frank is frequently at the bar during the late afternoon/early evening hours.)
Frank talked about politics with Jason. Next, a couple of Marines who were in the bar celebrating the Marine Corps birthday got on the show. There were even a couple of girls who sounded college-age and talked about the toys in their drinks. Quite the variety of guests, which is typical of our customers.
Go listen for yourself! You can download the podcast for free here. While you're there, be sure to check out Barrr's other podcasts, like Hall Monitors and Story Slam.
Like the A.D.D. Arts Podcast on Facebook
Find Jason Barr at Wonder Fair Gallery in downtown Lawrence
by Debbi | Nov 18, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Downtown
This postcard showed up the other day at the bar, addressed to Dave and Peach.
We checked out Lynn's website, and there's a whole slew of paintings like this that feature various downtown shops and scenes. They're pretty cool. Stop by Milton's to check them out.
We love the one on the postcard, especially since Dave's silly yellow scooter is parked in front of the building. Nice job, Lynn!
by Debbi | Nov 12, 2010 | Cool Stuff, Stories
A few days ago I wrote about the fabulous Shark Attack cupcakes our friend Brenna baked. The post was accompanied by a rather terrible photo I took of a cupcake. That picture absolutely did not do the cupcakes justice.
Brenna graciously provided us with a much better picture of her creation. In fact, it looks like a professional cupcake portrait from a cookbook. My first thought was to take down my awful picture and replace it with this one. Then I thought it might be funnier to leave it up and add this one so you can compare. And laugh at my photo-taking non-skills.
THIS is what the cupcakes really looked like:
Complete with an actual Sandbar shark. Makes you want to eat one, doesn't it?
