Creative Bliss 2006 Sponsors

The Bunker

The Bunker, in Westport, is Kansas City’s hippest independent boutique. It carries more than 1,000 styles of shoes, including Puma, Adidas, John Madden and Vans. Clothing lines include Ben Sherman, Penguin and 555 Soul. The store’s fashion-forward approach is maintained by regular trips to New York and Los Angeles to keep up with recent trends. Recently, The Bunker’s online business — at www.thebunkeronline.com — has become bigger than its retail sales, and the store has shipped goods to more than 60 countries.

Café Sevilla

In its elegant, Moorish-style building, Café Sevilla serves Spanish cuisine and tapas in a surprisingly casual and approachable ambience. There’s entertainment Wednesday through Saturday, and the happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday features half-price tapas and sangria in the bar area. The wine list is the metro’s most expansive collection of Spanish and Latin wines, with 90 percent of the bottles from Spain and Latin America. A large patio will soon allow diners to bask in the atmosphere of Southwest Boulevard.

Hobbs

If you’re looking for a unique gift or the world’s best horseradish or premium denim or handmade pocket knives from France, Hobbs is the place to go. Owners Mark and Kathy Swanson birthed the gift shop, at 700 Massachusetts in Lawrence, out of a women’s clothing store seven years ago. Now they travel the country to attend hardware and gift shows, picking up the collectible and eclectic.

Kansas City-Area Toyota Dealers

It’s a big year for Kansas City area Toyota dealers. The redesigned RAV4 joins an updated Camry, a completely new Yaris entry-level sedan and hatchback, and the new FJ Cruiser sport utility. Come see them at Adams Toyota, Jay Wolfe Toyota and Molle Toyota in Kansas City; Roger Smith & Sons Toyota in Kansas City, Kansas; Olathe Toyota in Olathe; Superior Toyota in Merriam; Crown Toyota in Lawrence; and Town & Country Motors in Sedalia.

KC Fringe Fest

For the second year, Kansas City joins communities across the globe in bringing citizens together for the Fringe Festival. The 2006 KC Fringe Festival is a four-day event packed with live theater, dance, performance art, visual art, spoken word, puppetry, storytelling, film and fashion. Local, regional and national artists perform at venues downtown and in the Crossroads District July 27-30.

Lady Luck Hair Parlour

There’s no denying that Lady Luck Hair Parlour is different. The diamond-plate toolbox stations, vintage ’50s hair dryer and sideshow banner separating the hair stations give the place a laid-back and comfortable feel. Celebrating a year in business this May, Lady Luck caters to everything from business types looking for a modern look to the tattoo-and-mohawk crowd. Owner Amy O’Rourke makes patrons feel as if visiting Lady Luck is an affordable luxury.

Laser Pure Center

The cold-tip laser used at the Laser Pure Center of Kansas City has been used in Europe and Canada for 25 years. These FDA-approved laser treatments target the same meridian points used in acupuncture but use no pins or drugs and are completely pain-free. The lasers, the center says, are 85 percent effective in helping patients lose weight and quit smoking, some in as little as two visits.

Lillie’s on 17th

Former TWA flight attendants Trelle Osteen and Lynn Richardson created the bistro Lillie’s on 17th to make diners feel more like they’re in the south of Spain than on the west side of Kansas City. Lunchtime features salads and sandwiches, and dinner is highlighted with tapas, specials and four entrées. Lillie’s is in a lovingly restored 19th-century Victorian home, and its eclectic menu is made with all-fresh ingredients.

Original Juan

Original Juan is a homegrown manufacturing plant that in 1992 grew out of the Dos Hombres restaurant. Its plant, at 111 Southwest Boulevard, offers tours and includes an 800-square-foot factory outlet store. Original Juan produces up to 10,000 bottles a day of 148 products, including Fiesta salsa; Cowtown Barbeque Sauce, the Pain Is Good hot sauce and salsa line; and The Source, billed as the world’s hottest hot sauce.

Marquee Selections

Marquee Selections scours the continent of Australia, searching hundreds of wineries to find the finest bottles representing the best regions. Marquee’s unique, patent-pending approach of providing winemakers with complete packaging (bottles, labels, corks, etc.) and marketing a range of wineries under one brand provides wine enthusiasts with a one-stop shop for the finest new-world wines.

Matsu

For seven years now, Matsu has served up sushi, rolls, hibachi and an assortment of dishes from the full kitchen. The Westport restaurant is known for its eel sauce, and its signature dish, the deep-fried Westport Roll, combines salmon with avocado. Soon, Matsu will open a sister restaurant called Domo in the old Einstein’s spot in Brookside. The upscale Domo will have a sushi bar and a full liquor bar, and there are plans to turn the basement into an open-until-3-a.m. hot spot.

McCormick & Schmick’s

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, at 47th Street and Pennsylvania on the Plaza, is Kansas City’s fresh-seafood authority, featuring at least 30 varieties of seafood flown in daily, the metro’s largest selection of oysters, the famous Chocolate Bag dessert and a new Sunday brunch menu. Dining or drinking can be casual or elegant in the two dining rooms, in private “snugs” dining booths, on one of the two patios, in the traditional bar or in the new private dining room.

Miller Lite

Since 1855, the Miller Brewing Company has set out to make original, distinctive beers. Brewed for more than 30 years, Miller Lite was the first light beer, and the only one worthy of company founder Frederick Miller’s signature. Miller Lite regularly wins awards for flavor, including the 2002 Gold medal at the World Beer Cup for Best American-style Light Lager.

M&S Grill

The M&S Grill menu offers twists on timeless American fare including aged steaks, pasta, salads, fresh seafood and chicken. There’s a $5.95 blue plate lunch special as well as the popular $1.95 happy-hour food menu. The M&S Grill, at 47th and J.C. Nichols Parkway, provides a 45-minute lunch guarantee and Kansas City’s only free valet every evening at 5 p.m. Vintage cocktails dating to the 1800s highlight the signature drink menu and join hand-shaken cocktails, premium liquors and heavy pours of ale and wine.

Screenland

The Screenland Theatre is a single-screen movie house located at 1656 Washington in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It specializes in cult classics, independent and hard-to-find films shown on the first Friday of every month. Screenland also serves as a unique site for corporate and private events in the theater and connecting gallery space, accommodating up to 500 people. See www.screenland.com for descriptions of current releases and pictures of the event space.