by Debbi | Dec 30, 2009 | People, Stories
A group of Sandbar friends and regulars meet every Monday for lunch at Tres Mexicanos for half price chimichangas. I sort of feel like I'm cheating on La Familia, but the chimis are so good and so cheap. We've been doing this for almost a year now, and it's a revolving door of faces each week.
This week, Chris, a doorguy from a loooong time ago brought his family to lunch. His adorable four year old boy entertained us with play-doh donut creations and flirtatious smiles. Oh, and his thoughts on bartenders.
"What does a bartender do?" someone asked him.
"Pour BEER!" he yelled with a devilish grin.
When he got a lot of laughs for that, he did what all kids do- kept right on going.
"Beertender!" he repeated over and over.
"How old do you have to be to drink beer?" his mother asked.
"TWELVE!" he shouted.
"NO!" mom said, laughing (perhaps nervously).
"Thirteen! Eighteen!" he said. At this point he was loving the attention.
I think we might have finally convinced him that he has to be thirty before he can have beer.
by Debbi | Dec 24, 2009 | Christmas, Cool Stuff, People
And you better not cry, because this is what happens when you do.
A few days ago, I posted the first of our annual "Elf Yourself" creations using Sandbar staff members. I explained that the video only allows up to five elves, and given that we have about 14 employees, they wouldn't all fit into one or even two videos. Even though all of the staff wasn't represented at the time, it didn't mean they wouldn't be included in the future.
Danny was heartbroken that he didn't make the cut, so I made a special Elf Yourself video just for him. I hope he appreciates it.
Enjoy.
by Debbi | Dec 22, 2009 | Christmas, Events, People
This post was intended to be published yesterday, but it's taken too long to recover from all the fun at our annual Christmas party, so it's late. Sorry.
Where to start?!?
Usually we ask everyone to wear ugly Christmas sweaters, but Dave wanted to kick it up a notch. We requested that all of the staff and their guests dress as their favorite holiday character- and perhaps unsurprisingly, they delivered.
I believe it was Dave who told someone "we like to not be ourselves as much as possible."
This year Dave offered a cash prize for the best costume. As if this crowd needed an incentive. All the participants lined up on the benches, and we narrowed it down to four based on applause from the crowd. The final four were John the Nutcracker, Michele as Mr. Hankie the Christmas Poo, Chris as Cousin Eddie, and me! I was the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story.
John won the contest and Michelle came in second. Excellent costumes, guys.
Of course we had the annual White Elephant/present stealing gift game. Some people bring nice gifts; others bring crap. I'd like to point out the two especially awesome gifts in the pictures above. Thank God someone stole the toilet paper holder from Dave.
We rounded everybody up and had some of the non-costumed folks take some group shots outside the bar. Check out that variety- we had Mary and Joseph, Santas, elves, Scrooge, a couple Cousin Eddie's, Suzy Snowflake….such a creative bunch of people we have.
Towards the end of the night, we decided to do a test run of next year's Santacon. Some smart person chose the Red Lyon as our destination- which while we all love the bar, it's a million blocks away from the Sandbar. Some of us were wearing heels. And some of us- meaning John the Nutcracker- forgot our ID, and the lovely man working the door refused to let him in without it. John walked all the way back to the Sandbar to retrieve it, and all the way back to Red Lyon to have a drink with us.
Successful night. Can't wait to do it again next year.
More pictures available on our Facebook page and Flickr photostream.
by Debbi | Dec 20, 2009 | Bar Band, Birthday Party, Events, People
Our Man on the Street and former bartender Pat turns 40 on Christmas Eve, so we threw him a party last night. Instead of the usual fracas at The Sandbar, though, we took it down the street to The Barrel House, a dueling piano bar that opened earlier this year.
If you haven't visited our neighboring bar yet, you should. It's great for groups and parties, and the piano players are great fun.
Our party was in the Blue Moon Lounge, one of the VIP balcony rooms that overlook the main bar area. We had our own private bartender and lots of space for friends and family.
Pat got called up on stage, where the piano player made fun of him for awhile, forced him to sit atop the piano, and made him chug a beer or two. They sang Happy Birthday, too.
Another highlight of the night was a special performance by the Bar Band, and they played Happy Birthday to Pat also.
The birthday boy has been planning a trip to Key West to celebrate his birthday for months now, and he leaves this week. We all hope he had fun last night! If you see Pat, be sure to wish him a happy birthday.
by Debbi | Dec 13, 2009 | Newsworthy, People, Sandbar Love Stories
If you're around The Sandbar very much, or if you keep up with our blog, then you know Friday bartender Heather got engaged last spring. The wedding plans are moving along and the future married couple is enjoying pre-wedded bliss.
Heather & Ken's engagement announcement hit the LJW this weekend. A lovely photo of the pair accompanied the announcement.
You'll have to scroll down the page to see the announcement, because it's grouped on a page with all the other brides-and-grooms-to-be.
We like that Heather included her bartending gig as part of the announcement!
by Debbi | Dec 9, 2009 | Cool Stuff, Events, People
No, not our high budget hurricane film every few years. This time, we're going to be in an actual movie!
A filmmaker contacted us last month and wanted to use our bar for a scene in his movie. Naturally, we said yes. We don't turn down anything fun. And, even better, he needed some extras!
I'm not giving any details here because I don't want to spoil his announcements. And I have no idea when the movie will be finished. But, we had a blast spending a chilly November afternoon at the Sandbar, wearing bathing suits and tropical attire, and learning how tedious movie-making really is.
Maybe we'll get to have a red carpet premiere party someday!
