What a GRAND Grand Opening!

Sat., Feb. 28: It poured! All day! 

Despite the rainy weather, it was an incredible launch party! So much happened that day--live music, Tiki carving, killer Mai Tais and that guy from the latest Tim Burton movie...

Under a drizzling gray sky, I couldn't stop smiling all the way to the shop that morning. I knew it was going to be a good day! 

We have the nicest neighbors, for one thing. Mia from Ready Set Yo, located in the shopping center across the street, provided a complimentary coffee bar for our guests.

My sister, who drove across the state just for our Grand Opening, arrived with a BIG SURPRISE...MY MOM! 

Harpist John McColley set up under a sparking chandelier on the Patina Maison side. Beautiful music and a perfect setting!

A crazy dude with a chainsaw turned this...

...into this! Thanks for the shop-warming present, SurfSoulTiki Jeff Chouinard!



Since we couldn't set up our afternoon entertainment outside, we just moved a few things around and Voila'! House band...IN THE HOUSE!

We served bubbly & nibbles at the sales counter...and once the afternoon band cranked up (a rockin' 3-piece version of UNRB playing an energetic mix of ska, jazz and rock covers), the Mai Tai Bar got cranking too...We emptied a lot of rum bottles and I spanked a lot of mint!

At the end of the day, a tall mysterious gentleman came in and asked if I still had a particular chalkware statue of a jungle girl. Since she had been tucked away, waiting for a little touch-up, I immediately knew who HE was! 

His assistant had come in the day before, scouting random pieces for her boss, who happened to be the SET DECORATOR on the latest TIM BURTON movie, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which had been filming in our area. The assistant spotted my exotic little gal hiding in the corner and took some photos of potential decor options.

So--He came in to claim her...and many other cool pieces (including a vintage rattan lamp & table, some antique books...) that I hope show up in the final version when it comes out next spring! This is the only pic I could find of my sweet Jungle Girl (above) and a tiny rickshaw that had just come into the shop a few days earlier. If they don't end up on the cutting room floor, maybe that will be Roadside Attraction's little connection to Hollywood!

Anyway--We just want to say a gigantic THANKS to everyone who came out in the rain to make our Grand Opening the best event EVER!!!

Mahalo & Cheers!
The Tipsy Gypsy & Tiki Dave

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Sippin' Saturday, April 11--sample a recipe from one of Beachbum Berry's tiki cocktail books and get 20% off cocktail goods & gadgets, vintage glassware, etc...



3rd Thursday, April 16, 6-8 p.m.: Roadside Attraction + Patina Maison will be open till 8 p.m. for Sunset Shopping, refreshments, PLUS a Meet & Greet with MYSTERY AUTHOR Carol Perry, celebrating the release of her 2nd WITCH CITY installment, Tails, You Lose. (Our buddy shops, Julie's Cottage & Emporium 2, will also be open late on 3rd Thursdays. Stop by and visit them too, located at 13128 Indian Rocks Rd, across from Anona Methodist.)

GRAND OPENING SATURDAY!

Talk about flying by the seat of one's pants!

We've been so busy working out the kinks since we opened quietly a few weeks ago, I almost forgot to mention that we're throwing a big party this Saturday! Stop by from 10 to 5 on Feb 28 and join us for all kinds of fun!

In the morning, harpist John McColley will be playing in Patina Maison's space. We'll have coffee and sweets, too. And bubbly...lots of bubbly! A 3-piece version of St Pete-based reggae-ska-jazz band UNRB will play from 1-4 out front, weather permitting.

Tropiki's Peter Janus will do a little Tiki carving at 11 a.m.

Shopping and shenanigans all day!

Our regular shop hours are Tues-Sat, 10 - 5. If you can't make it out Saturday, do come by some other time and say hi. We think you'll like our new space!

13836 Walsingham Rd, in the Hammock Hardware plaza.
(Just east of the intersection with Indian Rocks Rd, across from the Neighborhood Walmart & McDonald's)

Cheers!
The Tipsy Gypsy & Tiki Dave

Love is in the Air...

...and the Certificate of Occupancy will be posted on our wall soon...we hope.

When asked "ARE YOU EVER GOING TO OPEN???" we answer that, after a month of waiting for answers, we're (still) trying to get through the City inspection, etc..., and everyone makes the same comment that the City DOES have a reputation of being "difficult to work with."

Well...yes and no. Our situation turned out to be a little more complicated and it took lots of discussions inside their putty-colored bureaucratic cubicles--I mean it's not every day that two such fabulous businesses-to-be stroll through the doors of the permit department, right? (You may recall in our last post I mentioned Jennifer Kapper's Patina Maison is Roadside's "Siamese twin" in the new location.)

Long story short...to satisfy The Man...we formed a partnership to become "one business" so we could stay in that space...which we love--when you see it, you'll understand, it's quite perfect!...There was NO QUESTION--we were NOT going to close up the wall between our shops and WE WERE NOT GOING TO MOVE. No sir. 

So we got married. 

We are now... "Roadside Attraction / Patina Maison" in the eyes of the City of Largo and the State of Florida. Has a nice ring to it, huh?

That doesn't really change anything that you all have to worry about...the new shopping experience we're creating is going to be as awesome as ever! 

But in case you were wondering what was up...

Love & Tikis,
The Tipsy Gypsy

A Long Hot Summer...and a Super Cool Yule!

Wow! So much can happen over the course of a few months.

Roadside Attraction experienced a long, hot, QUIET summer at Antique Alley...TOO quiet for our liking! Sad to say, after two years spent trying to work with the other shops to bring the Alley back to life as a fun shopping destination, we realized there were too many things beyond our control (Hello, derelict south side! Yes, I said that!). Even though we have been building a following of the coolest customers in Pinellas County and beyond, that location became more of a liability than an underdog rallying to get back into the spotlight...so we decided to pack up and move to greener pastures.

But where? Finding THE PERFECT SPOT was going to take some time...or so we thought. One day in late October, a potential new location dropped out of the blue as a suggestion from an Alley neighbor who also happened to be looking for a more happening locale. Jennifer Kapper, of Forty Three Oh 3 and Oh Whatever fame in South Tampa and soon-to-open Patina Maison in Largo, mentioned a double-wide opportunity in Largo! (insert trailer joke here)

We see it as more of a "Siamese Twin" kind of space, naturally! Two lovely units are...ahem...conjoined at the cash wrap, allowing us to help each other out with staffing, camaraderie and snack sharing, ha ha...

Here's a "BEFORE" picture of
Roadside
Attraction's
NEW location at
13836 Walsingham Rd, LARGO.

Also, with her "vintage reimagined" style--voluptuous painted furniture, unique accessories...and the chandeliers!--and our retro-tropical flair, shopping at our two new stores will help you fill every room of your home, from boudoir and dining room to tiki bar and rumpus room, with a unique look seen nowhere else.

Moving the shop into a new location was not exactly how we imagined spending the end of 2014, but we couldn't be happier and more excited to take the party to such a fantastic new location! Yes--We are missing out on all the holiday retail fun, but in The Big Picture, Santa knew EXACTLY what to bring us this year! We must have been REALLY good!

So, we hope you all have the best of holidays and please come visit next month (probably by mid-January) when Roadside Attraction opens at 13836 Walsingham Rd, Largo FL, just east of the intersection with Indian Rocks Rd, in the Hammock Hardware plaza, directly across from the WalMart Neighborhood Market. 

And don't forget--you can always get the latest news at www.Facebook.com/ShopRoadsideAttraction.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Best Regards,
Tiki Dave and the Tipsy Gypsy

Aloha and Cheers!

Time for an update, kiddoes!

The Tipsy Gypsy is thrilled to announce that Roadside Attraction continues to evolve as we learn more about the retail vintage scene and work on refining our niche. (And what a niche it's turning out to be!)

Running a small business is the most exciting and all-consuming adventure for us as it represents pretty much every thing we love: treasure hunting near and far for the coolest stuff and being able to share it with everyone who walks through our door.

But the absolute best part of it all has been making so many new friends and meeting so many cool people. From favorite customers to fellow dealers and vendors, artists, musicians--the people we've gotten to know have added so much to this experience. No matter how hard running a business can be--most days, it's like trying to keep a lead balloon up in the air--we wouldn't trade it for the world because it put these awesome folks in our path.

What's next? Oh, so much is coming down the pike, I can't even believe it! Here's the summer in a nutshell:

Most immediately, we'll be setting up shop again at The Hukilau in Ft. Lauderdale, June 12-15. Not only will we finally get to meet one of the nicest guys on the planet (Jeff from Vintage Roadside--we've been carrying his popular Tiki Gardens T-shirts since we opened in 2012), we'll be seeing some of our favorite people who really helped make our first show EVER (at last year's Hukilau) such an amazing weekend. The booth next to ours, Jim & Freda of Aloha Art & Alligators, were so kind to help us with our set-up and offered such good neighbor-liness. Robert and Nicole were picture-perfect Hukilau-ers and an all around swell couple that we were thrilled to meet. And of course...there were The Intoxicators and their alter-egoes, The Disasternauts--what would a Hukilau soundtrack be without them?

We're also hoping to launch a new event concept in late June or July called "Speakeasy Sundays." It'll be a fun cocktail-related symposium, complete with a little learnin' and a little "refreshment" and a few other special treats. Keep checking our Facebook page for details.

In mid-July...We're doing away with the Craft Lounge and bringing in the Craft COCKTAILS! We expect to do a lot of SERIOUS RESEARCH at Tales of the Cocktail (a liquor industry extravaganza) in New Orleans, so we can bring you..."everything but the booze" by the end of the summer. In addition to showcasing even more sweet vintage cocktail accoutrements, we will make it easy for the home mixologist to whip up first-rate libations using the latest barware and other necessary ingredients for enjoying a civilized evening in with friends.

This segue into promoting the entertaining arts of yesteryear also represents another thing we love--hosting fabulous parties, as anyone who ever attended one of our legendary Halloween soirees can attest. So with the addition of more cocktail-related goods, we'll be elevating the retail experience to feel like more of a drop-in shindig on a regular basis.

Thank you for reading this post and be sure to follow Roadside Attraction on our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/ShopRoadsideAttraction .

Mahalo and Cheers, Everyone!
--The Tipsy Gypsy

My, how time flies...

Has it really been almost a year since Roadside Attraction, the shop, opened its doors?

Oh my stars! Where are we now?

We've been refining our vision to bring you the coolest MidCentury home decor and furniture (Heywood Wakefield galore!) and a luau's worth of vintage tiki paraphernalia, including mugs and Hawaiian shirts plus T-shirts featuring cool logos of long-gone tiki bars. And if you need a late 1920s smoking stand featuring a cast-iron dragon to catch your ashes, well, we've got that too.

We still feature oodles of fine local talent, bringing you jewelry, handcrafted soap and home decor, photography and art. The Craft Lounge has been entertaining hands-on parties for projects as eclectic as Crowns & Tiaras and super-fancy Easter Egg decorating.

Roadside Attraction has participated in all of Antique Alley's special events, including the big Fall & Spring Antique Shows, the Christmas and Valentine Strolls, and coming soon...Lots of new events!

On May 23, Roadside Attraction hosts a Wedding Trunk Show featuring the work of Tumble & Drift Design, a Dunedin-based outfit creating super-cool upcycled and handcrafted event decor and accessories to celebrate one of life's most memorable occasions. Also featured will be several of Roadside's most popular artisans, offering wedding-specific lines of jewelry and other handmade goodies. Up and coming bakery star Sugar Me Sweet will be providing a variety of samples to enjoy and the champagne cocktails will be flowing.

This summer, mark your calendar for Summer Sunsets @ The Alley. Shops will be open late on the 3rd Thursday each month in June, July and August for shopping, live music and specially-themed refreshments and sales.

In June, Roadside Attraction takes its show in the road as a vendor at The Hukilau, an international tiki festival held on beautiful Ft. Lauderdale Beach. We'll be hawking our gorgeous 1950s pin-up girls, Tiki Ts and vintage Hawaii and Florida souvenirs in the Tiki Treasures Bazaar, held at the old Yankee Clipper, now known as the (yawn) Sheraton Beach Hotel.

Stop by and see us some time!

Check out the latest shop news at: www.Facebook.com/ShopRoadsideAttraction

Roadside Attraction is open Wed - Sat, 11-ish til 5 p.m.

Located at Antique Alley:
596 Indian Rocks Rd N., # A-1 (behind Petal & Vine)
Belleair Bluffs FL

Step Right Up!

ROADSIDE ATTRACTION will be opening soon!

Roadside Attraction is a Carnival of Creativity in Beautiful Belleair Bluffs, on the west coast of Florida...

Part Vintage/Retail Boutique, part Arts & Crafts Gallery, part hands-on Arts & Craft Studio & Lounge, Roadside Attraction welcomes All Who Dare Enter to Explore the Reaches of the Imagination!

Right now, the Peerless Pickers of Peculiar Products are treasure hunting near & far to bring you the coolest finds for jazzing up your own hacienda with one-of-a-kind prized possessions with fascinating stories all their own.

The Tipsy Gypsy is packing up her caravan of Glittery Goodies and making ready to move into her more permanent Gypsy Camp Craft Lounge in Roadside Attraction's mizzen quarters...

And the Expert Eye Classy Stash Arts & Crafts Jury of Seriously High Standards is rallying a bevy of hand-picked artists and craftspersons to supply the finest in handmade wares for the Gallery.

There's a lot going on...and it's going to be Fabulous Fun!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Ciao for now...