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.
Every year we get super excited when Elf Yourself arrives. Here's our first attempt at holiday greetings from some Sandbar elves! I gave in and upgraded my JibJab subscription this year, so many more of these are on the way. I can only put five elves in each video, so obviously these greetings don't include *all* of our staff. I'll do some more so everyone gets in there.
You might notice that Dave did "the worm" at one point in that video. Next time you see him, ask him about the time he tried to do that on a hardwood floor.
Our Man on the Street, otherwise known as Man Who Will Be Celebrating His 40th Birthday Soon, tipped us off to this event. Or rather he has been pestering us about it with video links and posts on our Facebook pages.
I finally decided to check out what was so important, and I'm glad I did. We are totally doing this in downtown Lawrence next year. We might do a test run at our annual holiday/employee appreciation party next weekend.
How fun would it be to roam around Mass Street with a huge group of Santas, scaring little kids handing out candy canes, and spreading holiday cheer?
Otherwise known as the employee and friends Christmas party, this night of fun and games takes place soon.
The last several years, we've gone with the ugly/tacky Christmas sweater idea. It's been popular. Some of us have shopped at Goodwill and JCPenney's for attire; others have raided their mom's attic for the clothes they were forced to wear while growing up.
We're changing it up just a little bit this year.
Dave decided that merely wearing an ugly sweater appliqued with snowmen wasn't quite good enough. This year, everyone is encouraged to dress up as their favorite holiday character: Santa Claus, Elf, Clark Griswold, or any number of other easily recognizable Christmas folk.
Word on the street is that Heather and fiance Ken already have their outfits. And I'll tell you right now, Dave and I will knock your socks off with our awesome craftiness.
Of course, if an actual character is too much for some to plan, a regular tacky Christmas outfit is fine. A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Goodwill for sweaters, and they had two large circular racks full of some of the best selection I've ever seen. Apparently a week later, they ran out, restocked, and ran out again.
What do you to do celebrate the holidays for your employees?
Oh, and just in case you were planning to hit The Sandbar on Sunday for some drinks: we won't be open to the public until 8:30. We need a little employee time first, but join us after 8:30 for what's certain to be a fun night!
Twelve extremely cool Sandbar themed gifts would seem like an easy blog idea, but I have to admit it came to me in a very roundabout manner.
The other day at my "real job," I got a rare spam email. I say spam only because it was an unsolicited email from a company I've never heard of, but it wasn't anything sneaky or poorly spelled. It happened to have pictures of cute socks, so I clicked to their website and promptly fell in love.
Hence, the inspiration for "12 Days of Sandbar Christmas Gifts."
I died laughing when I saw this set- it's exactly the sort of cheese that we love at The Sandbar and would be a perfect gift for our annual holiday gift exchange. Somehow I think boys, especially, might like this one.
We love all things pirate. And who doesn't love Legos? They even have real magnets so you can keep them on your fridge or your file cabinet or wherever else they'll stick.
Not really sure where to start with this one. Most of the 12 days of gifts are things I'd dearly love to own. Not so much this one. It's rather unique. I suppose if you like to feed the birds, and you like parrots, and Santa, then you might like this. (It kind of looks like a rainbow-ish Jayhawk, too).
Can't get enough of the Sandbar hurricane and Tiki Ted? Get a Tiki Tissue Box. This box is sized to hold a standard tissue box, and he'll blow Kleenex out his nose. Really, I can't make this stuff up.
Need a gift idea for kids (or fun-loving adults)? Check out this mermaid cookbook, with recipes like Sea Foam Foats and Goldfish Gorp. I actually own this cookbook (thanks to Michelle!) and can vouch for it's coolness.
I should be slapped upside the head with a giant vinyl shark for forgetting that this CD was released just a few days ago (December 8, to be exact). Jimmy Buffett, hero of everyone who needs a little escape from life now and then, has another new CD just in time to fill your stockings.
Make your own shot glass using a piece of fruit and this little gadget. See, I'm helping you find ways to make drinking alcohol just a little bit more healthy.
Need a reminder of the beach for your desk? A toy for the kids when they can't go outside? Here's your very own tiny sandbox to play with when you need some stress relief.
Our last gift in the series. A hand cut, hand finished, colored steel mermaid is ready to hold your favorite wine bottle. Ironic, a little, since we're not exactly a wine bar. But it's a neat gift anyway.
We hope you enjoyed our 12 Days of Sandbar Christmas Gift series! We'll do it again next year.
