What I Feel...

I'm not really sure what I feel tonight. Anxious. Sick. Excited. Can't tell. I'm definately NOT ready to open tomorrow, but "I'm as ready as I'll ever be", as they say. My cape was just not strong enough to get it all done and I'm trying to be ok about that. After all, it's a "soft opening" as "they" also say.

Soft my butt. There were like 50 people today alone looking in the windows, coming in to say HI (thank you, by the way - that was a fun break for me), coming over from the beauty salon with product in their hair (that was a hoot!), and the "walkers". And we weren't even open yet! Soft! Who are these "they" and why do they always have dumb things to say. "Soft opening".

I'm not happy that I'm not able to put my best foot out in front on the first day, but after all, I did just get my Certificate of Occupancy at 1:30 on Monday, so I guess I should be a little more generous with myself. We will have lovely, yummy things to offer our guests bright and early at 6:30 in the morning and throughout the day, I will make more good stuff and each day a little more and a litte more. It's all good.

Actually, it's all great! The bakery looks fun and sassy and beautiful. I've met some of the most wonderful "neighbors" one could ever have, and my buttercream absolutely rocks the world, so if I could just figure out how to work the cash register, we'd be all good! :o) (PS I WISH I was kidding!!) :o)

Sweet Dreams!! See you tomorrow!!

The opening is official!!

Our building inspector and fire inspector gave their blessings on our space today. Our B.I. also wanted to know what I will be making on Wednesday as he will have to bring a stash back to the office to share w/ all the towns-people (that work for the Town of Genesee Depot and in his building)! Now how fun is that?! He told me on numerous occasions that he wishes me well and that he promises to be a good customer of ours. Once again, could I BE doing this in a sweeter town? I don't think so!

I've booked my first corporate event. SO exciting!! I will be doing the desserts for an event that Great Lakes Distillery is hosting next Friday (I will post more on this tomorrow). GLD makes THE BEST Vodka I have ever put my lips on, so I am THRILLED to be doing this for them! I'm going to use their seasonal brews to concoct some fun stuff (Maple Rum and Pumpkin Whiskey). I'm also going to be doing all the decedent desserts for Three Sisters' first ever Night o'Decadence in October (more on that soon as well)!! I'm already dreaming of a Tiramisu Cupcake, a cinnamon chocolate truffle....mmmmm. I may book myself a spot at this event!! :o)

OK - gotta go to bed. Big day tomorrow. Don't have nearly all the things I would like to have completed by opening, but in the end, it's what gets put in their mouths that matter, so tomorrow is prep day. Got lots and lots and lots of doughs and batters to make!!

Sweet Dreams!!

We're so connected! :o)

We're so cool...or something. Let's go with the "something"! :o) BUT, we are connected all over the darn place now!

You can "Like Us" (and I hope you will, though I don't know why) on Facebook. You can go to our website to see how we run a bakery on line. You can "Follow Us" (and again, I hope you will) on Twitter where we'll "Tweet" you special discounts and flavors of the day. AND, you could even do this weird thing called "Call Us" (though I STILL don't know what our phone number is!!)! :o)

We're large and in charge!! Wait, did I just call myself fat?!

I think we have picked our tag line too. My husband came up with "Life is sweeter when you indulge a little". And boy isn't that the truth!

Gotta run ~ it's C of O day today!! Insert a quiet, not obnoxious, Whoo-hooo here! :o)

We GOT Our License!!

We did it!! We got our license from the Health Department -- ON THE FIRST TRY!! No Pre-inspection and then schedule the real one -- just HERE! BAM! Congratulations Tracey and here are your copies!! WOOO and may I say HOOOO!!! (although, years ago, I banned the Woohoo...it's SOOO overdone!!). I digress...

WHOOO HOOOO!!! We got our license!!! OK, so here's what's next ~ on Monday, the Building Inspector and Fire Chief will do our final building inspection to grant our Certificate of Occupancy. If all goes well, as it should, we will have our "C of O" and I will RUN to the store and suppliers and be open on Wednesday!! You heard me people!! WEDNESDAY!!

Did I say WHOOOHOOO yet??

Hope to see you on Wednesday, September 1st!! Well, not my new friend Mary (cuz she lives in Florida) or my sister and Momma (cuz they live in Georgia), but I know they'll all be here in spirit. As for the rest of you -- getchyer butts in here!! I have a cookie with your name on it!!! :o)

WOOOHOOOO!!!

Slogan

Tomorrow is an important day for SSS. I meet with the Health Inspector at 11:00 am to have our Pre-Inspection done (there are 2 inspections). If everything goes as it should, we could be open by Labor Day weekend!! So ~ say a little prayer for us, if you've got an opening in your request line! :o)

We've been brainstorming trying to come up with a catchy phrase. It's hard, ma'an!! So far, I like John's the best ~ "Life is sweeter when you indulge a little". I like it, but I didn't say "THAT's IT!", so I'm not sure it is. We've also thought of "So Sa-Weet!".

Well, you mull it over and let me know what you think!

Oh! Annie is working on getting our Facebook page done. I hope you will "like" us there! We'll also have our Twitter page finished soon and I would highly recommend being a "Follower" there as I will be using that to tweet specials and freebies JUST to our followers!!

Sweet dreams!

We're movin' stuff into place...

We started moving some of the equipment into their designated spots today. It's kinda neat to see it coming together, don't you think?! It's been a busy 3 weeks!!

The Health Inspector comes on Thursday for his pre-inspection. He's been very helpful to me along the way -- making sure I know the information so that I can follow the codes and completely upbeat and positive about us opening (and soon!). Nice to have him on my side!

This Week in Review

We're so close I can almost smell the cinnamon, chocolate, butter, coffee, peanut butter, nutmeg, caramel, almond, blueberry, coconut.......

John took pictures today of the bakery ~ post clean-up of Dad and Ben's gear being packed up and outta there. I can't even pick my favorite part! But if my Daddy asks, tell him I said "the one-of-a-kind, no-one-else-has, custom-made-just-for-me, beautiful counter top!! :o)

The 4 pictures are taken from each corner of the bakery. The smaller green post is in every picture if it helps you get a bearing on the whole layout. The two windows on the side look out into the mall hallway. We also have two doors to that hallway, but the door under the EXIT sign is the main door into the space from the main entrance (which you can kinda see in the first pic). The big picture window is the one that is directly under our awning and sign. The little room you see in the second pic is our office space. So fun!!

The floor is done!

So...this is what the bakery looked like on Monday morning....

And this is what it looks like today! The green post you see is the same post in all three shots.

Can you "see" it?

The floor is (mostly) done! What a difference hey? The holes in the back wall were patched today and will be done by tomorrow. Then I can finish painting the entire bakery and we can put the base molding down in the kitchen area. The counter is in the finishing stages too. Ben was putting up the face board today and will finish tomorrow and then he and my Dad are going to customize some trim pieces to finish off the edges.

The big sink and little hand sink will go along that back wall (where the holes were) and the oven, frig, mixer will go along the left side wall (opposite of the counter). The windows you see look out into the mall hallway. Hopefully one day that hallway will be brimming with excited customers!! :o)

Things just keep falling into place!

It just keeps happening. Things just keep going my way on this bakery business! My dad called me today to tell me about all this "stuff" he has in his storage area leftover from this job or that job and how perfectly it will work for the bakery and my cost..."priceless". Well that, AND I have to "hook Big Daddy up" with all the cookies he can possibly eat for the rest of his life. That, I must say, is entirely possibly since he lives just 7 minutes from the bakery!! :o)

The floor is almost laid and sorry I forgot to take a picture of it tonight, but will do it tomorrow (and it will be finished by then). The drywallers come in tomorrow to close up all the large sections that were cut out for the plumbers and they should be done by end of the week. My husband is going to put all the new ceiling tiles in this weekend and I should be able to put the final coats of paint up as well. I'm not sure what the girls will do to help since they are too busy jumping out of their skin with excitement! :o)

More updates tomorrow -- it's late and I must get my beauty rest. Time to go back to early bedtimes and even earlier rise times!! Don't say it! If I had a nickel for every time someone riddled back the 4:00 am Time to Make the Dunkin' Donuts commercial...well, I'd have a bakery already!! :o)

Hey! Who took the bakery?!

This picture makes me laugh a little! My dad's tool trailer simply covers the entire storefront of the bakery. I actually think it may be as big as the bakery! :o) But I know it's still there because I can see the sign (if I look real hard)!!

Today, Dad and Ben installed the custom made, one of a kind, 21' long counter top! It is so flippin' cool looking! I'm glad I said yes to my dad's 3:00 am idea! The counter top that was in the previous tenant's kitchen was cut down today so that dad can mount it to the wall to use as my desk (and save me another $100!!). The flooring will start to go down tomorrow and the rough mechanical inspections were done today. We're just hummin' along people!

I've met some really neat people from the Genesee Depot area this past week. On Friday when I was working in the bakery, I met a walker -- his name is Harry (yes, Harry met Sally....). Harry lives at the end of the road in the "old Mill Pond house". He has been here for years and caught me all up on all the different places that have come and gone (none of them bakeries, I assure you). Harry is a fellow "Pizon" and I think one of these days I may just have to close the bakery early so he and I can trek down to Kenosha to go to our mutually favorite Italian grocery store and deli (Tenuttas). Mmmmm...I can taste the Caprese Panini now!!

Then, tonight while John and I were working, we met Leah. Leah works at the Heating and AC place in our building on the opposite end as us. She grew up in Genesee as did her Grandmother (who sadly died this past Christmas). Gary, our sweet, wonderful landlord is trying to find me some old pictures of Genesee Depot so I can hang them in the hallway of the mall and I showed Leah one that he had found so far and she said (are you ready for this...) that her grandmother is one of the children in the (school) picture!!! She took a copy of it to find out which one is her so I can mark that accordingly. How stinkin' cool is that?! Such a neat ol' town. Such neat ol' people. Such a neat ol' place to put a bakery!

The week in review

The girls called tonight from Boston. They are on vacation with their other parents and they had a few neat things to tell us about their trip. Then, Gracey (Gracey is our oldest...her name is Anna Grace...but I just call her Gracey and that's all...) asked "So, how's the bakery coming along?". YEAH!! Well, if you must know, and I think you must....

The plumbing and electrical will be inspected on Monday. Papa Hohe will start installing the flooring and start building the counter top on Monday. Daddy and I will be spending the weekend at the bakery cleaning up the equipment, moving everything to the hallway to clear the space for the flooring install, painting the kitchen area walls that can be painted, clean up and repaint the mall entrance that our customers will be using to get to our suite (look, I'm kind of a prideful person...I like things to look nice and so no I do not own the building, but I still do take pride in what my customers will experience when coming to the bakery) as there are about 2,000 spiders to clean up, prepping the floor, touch-up painting the walls I already painted that got dinged, and on and on and on. Good stuff!

I think we will be open by Labor Day. There I said it. No take backs! Well, we're gonna try any ol' way!

And Gracey, if you're reading this -- thanks for asking honey! I can't wait to show you and C all the work we did when you get home on Tuesday!! :o)

The little things...

The bakery is flying! The rough plumbing and the electric are done and being inspected on Monday! HOLY CRUMBCAKES!! As I said yesterday - Amazing!

My sister in law, Lisa, is an Uber-Scrapbook Crafter (I think that is actually the job title they use!) :o) and she came up with this OH-SO-CUTE idea for my pricing signs and I JUST (today actually) got the clips/holders delivered. They are a cute Lucite aqua box that are just fun! I think they look fantastic with the little price signs!

I think this (the background around the price sign) is going to be my counter top. Dad has two boxes of this flooring leftover from a couple jobs of his and nothing he can use it for. So, at 3:00 in the morning (you know, right before he falls asleep for 3 hours) he had this epiphany that we (meaning HE) could make a counter top for me out of this beautiful flooring! I picked up a couple pieces to "mull it over" and I think I really like it. Originally I was going to do a chocolate brown counter top or that Boomerang counter top from centuries ago (c'mon -- you know your grandparents had that green counter top), but this is well, brown, and pretty and best of all - FREE, so I think to say it's growing on me would be a perfect statement.

Found a recipe for BAKED cake donuts -- no frying! I am SOOO excited to try them! If they are as good as I predict them to be, we may have our first HOT seller of the bakery! And what a genius concept -- all the flavor of donuts w/o the frying! Can't wait to make 'em!

Over Delivering

OK...did I enter a new world of a different dimension? Again, I have been in the construction industry since 1994. For the last week, people have been promising me that they will be working or something important will be delivered for a certain date. And (I should really be sitting for this...oh, I am....) EVERY SINGLE TIME they have exceeded my expectations! They have come a day early (or when they were supposed to, which alone is a miracle), they have delivered ahead of schedule, they have done more than they were asked, or I received more than I was promised. EVERY DAY for the past week!

My sink was delivered a day early. My plumber just happened to get some cosmic wave from the universe and showed up a day early to install it. My refrigerator is TWICE the size of the original one I wanted, is nearly brand new, and cost me only $100 more! My electrician decided to change out ALL the outlets in the entire bakery so that the old ones would look as pretty (yes, they can be pretty) as the new ones. My Dad and Ben created the coolest counter top wall shelf thingee in one day's work! I found a company that I can order small quantities of items instead of by the thousands and they are so reasonable that when needed I WILL order the thousands!

I simply can't believe how well this is going. I can't. I'm waiting to wake up and have someone tell me to get to work 'cuz somehow I fell behind. It is simply amazing me. The Lord must really want to make sure my plan is executed by August! :o)

Here are some pictures of the progress! The "castle" wall, as we called it, came down on Monday morning as did the little 1/2 wall by the office. In it's place is a wide open expanse so people can see the work in action! The new counter top for serving the customers is what Dad and his guys are building from post to post parallel to the inside window wall. I can actually see and feel it already!

Simply amazing isn't it?!

The door where all the customers will come in!!

Let the Construction Begin!!

Big day, today!! Dad's guys tear down the walls and build the countertop wall today!! It's a good day.

This weekend John and I finished the painting we could do, took out the non-conforming ceiling tiles (lots of codes when serving food to the public), bought materials for Dad's crew, and cleared the space (with some help from Mom). All to prepare for today to go w/o a hitch. Well, all to prepare as BEST we can for today to go w/o a hitch. Cuz that's all you can do is prepare.

Alrighty then...gotta run...I baked cookies just to make sure the guys know why I need to open soon -- Chocolate Chip Pretzel.....I KNOW, RIGHT?!!! :o)

Let the construction begin! FINALLY!!

With zoning permit in hand and a promise from the building inspector that my building permit will be ready by Monday, we officially start construction!

Now, there's not much to do -- tear down a couple partial walls and put up a 1/2 wall that will support our incredibly long display and service (and work) countertop (that I just love!!). Of course there's electrical and plumbing that need to be done too along with redoing the floor and of course putting up drywall on that new 1/2 wall, but all in all, it's a very small amount of work to get done.

In my perfect everybody's-IS-and-keeps-their-word world would love to tell you that we'll be in and out in a week, but unfortunately, that is never what happens. We are still keeping our hopes alive to have the bakery open in August, however. What do we have if not hope?! :o)

I Wike Your Sign Auntie Twacey

My nephew (Ikey) called me on Monday afternoon to tell me that he liked my sign. I had no idea what he was talking about! What sign, Ikey? "Da green one". Still...no clue.

Apparently, my sign installer, whose wife passed away last week, installed the sign -- no word, no clue, no bill, NO WAY! He SOOOO did! I'm not used to contractors exceeding my expectations. Afterall, in 16-17 years, that didn't/hasn't happened often.

So, I waited VERY PATIENTLY until John came home so we could see it together. Ask me how long those 2 1/2 hours were?! We were ear to ear smiles. And here's why.... :o)

I think we "wiked" da sign too!

Music To My Ears

Music to my ears...

Tracey,
Your Plan of Operation and Zoning Permits have been issued. The Plan of Operation Permit will be mailed to you and the Zoning Permit is mailed directly to the Town Building Inspector. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you and good luck!

Peggy S. Tilley
Senior Land Use Specialist
Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use

OK people! Let's get to work already!! WHOOHOOO!!! It's a good day!! :o)

My 1st Rent Check

My first rent check is due today. I'm guessing THAT is what makes one feel official. I think it kinda sucks. Not that it is due, just that it is due before you have a chance to actually MAKE money. I know, it's the way of the world Sally.

Acknowledge and move on (as my friend Buttercup and I used to say all the time).

Today, the Tracey that I don't like to bring out much is sitting right under the surface of my skin. I can just feel it. She is waiting to put anyone in their place that gets in my way. I can just tell. And that's ok, cuz sometimes, people through their lack of respect for others, deserve her wrath. OK, I'm done talking in third person now -- kinda weirded me out a bit there. But come hell or high water today, I WILL have some answers on my permitting.

We have bought a bunch of equipment for the bakery this past week as well. We got to work with two lovely families that both had former restaurants and I have had the good fortune of being able to buy some of their equipment. We have our mixer now and our oven and one of our large work tables and a BUNCH of small items that were needed. I always name my mixers since they're such hard workers when I am baking. So I shall name this mixer Maggie after the lady I bought it from. Ironically, that is also the nickname I have for my "other daughter" in this world, Stefi (our foreign exchange student/daughter) from Mexico. I nicknamed Stef, Magdelena which is "Little Cupcake" in Spanish. I just know she will love that!

Jeanne (my original Cupcake) came and helped John and I in the bakery this weekend. We got almost all of the retail area painted - YEAH!! We had fun too! It's sooo nice having so many people that want to be a part of this adventure with our family. I have never felt LESS alone than I do now. It's a good life. Sa-Weet!

Hope your day is filled with indulgent little moments! ~ Sally