This sure is fun...

We have a lease, yes. For proof, there is a picture of the draft below. We currently have two experienced lease people giving it the once over to assure that those of us not well versed in legalize did not miss something significant. But, as of the moment, it looks perfect. The location also has begun to look like an inhabitable building of late. If you drive by, you can see people working, and we recently noticed the building actually has windows in it now! Fantastic.

At the moment we don't have any problems. We have finally managed to rummage together all information required for business loan requirements. That was nothing to scoff at. The rigmarole required for such would make climbing mount Everest look enjoyable. Sadly, though, I shudder to think that our dealings with bureaucracies has just begun. Thankfully, Dina (our manager) has experience with such insanity. That fact is most wonderful and welcome.

Martin (our chef) has been hard at work creating menus and prices. He is very experienced and very talented. He knows what he wants and he knows what he needs. With such precision on our side we cannot fail. We have become anxious to open if for no other reason than to be able to sample his wares on a more regular basis. =)

Our menu will not be immutable—several things about it will cater to the excitement of mystery. The main idea has been the consideration of world holidays—we plan to make specials associated with world holidays. We aren't settled on a frequency for this plan. It could be hectic to have a new recipe every day when we are just starting up, but perhaps as we become more established the frequency can increase. Each special will be texted to customers the morning they are made, and once they are consumed it's, "sorry Charlie," for the late comers.

The exciting part of this plan is there is pretty much a holiday for every stinking day of the year. How could it not be fun to make something for a, "Mother Goose Day"?

Rolling Along

Here's a little more excitement. Things are rolling along. Perhaps in a little while longer we will have rolled the edges off our square wheels and might roll more smoothly.

Stuck in a Rut

Sweet Thing is in a lull at the moment. The economy stinks right now, and that fact has caused lenders and landlords to be skeptical little devils. How to drive them forward to believe in our vision is our predicament at the moment. There are many hopeful signs, but none-the-less it has been a cause for stress... which is never a welcome thing.

We have looked at another space over near the pearl, but just a hair off the beaten path. It's a brand new building with lots of square feet. We were promised a fair deal and even more if needed. We like it, but wonder how much excess work it will be to market our brand when we are not on a main thoroughfare. Who knows? All we know is that the Alberta and MLK space is pretty much the perfect space for a new bakery. Hopefully something will work out soon -- we are getting anxious.

Last night it was mentioned, "you guys better have a dollar menu!" Ha! I don't know how feasible that is, but it's a good thought. Maybe if we made mini pastries... hmm. Anyway, the point is, all suggestions are considered around this joint. We plan to be successful and that doesn't happen without listening to our adoring public. So suggest away... but do be aware I don't subscribe to that dumb saying, "there are no dumb questions." Yes there are. And yes there are dumb suggestions. So no doggy log biscuits please. =)

Cupping

Last Saturday, Sweet Thing's management and family got together for an official coffee cupping. Talk about your snooty individuals. We were encouraged to be discriminant and determine which coffee was preferable over another. We are not normally encouraged to be discriminant, so it didn't come easy. None-the-less the caffeine slurping was pleasurable.

For a cupping, a few ounces of freshly ground beans are put into a small cup. Steaming water is then poured over the ground beans. The gritty concoction is left to brew for four minutes and then the cupping begins.

First, the individual is encouraged to get his or her nose down next to the lip of the mug and embrace the aroma that wafts from it when the surface is broken with his or her spoon. When the intoxicating aroma is fully comprehended, the individual then tastes the coffee. He or she sets a spoon on the surface of the coffee until the spoon has coffee in it, then the spoon is brought to the mouth and a fantastic slurping sound is made as the coffee is dispersed to every area of the tongue.

Quite amusing, actually. Yes, there was a little gagging as a few errant coffee grounds pummeled unsuspecting uvulas, but overall the event caused little harm. A little enjoyment was even had!

In the process, our forced discrimination determined three brands to be our favorites. When we get our espresso machine up and about we will then have the final judgment to determine the overall winner.

After the cupping the party moved on to a meal. An Italian meal, to be exact. After all the coffee tasting we needed something to overwhelm our palates.

What A Zoo!

In places of unknown, fears are elevated; emotions run high; tension attempts to tear apart all that has been put together. During such times it is essential that life, purpose, and sanity not be neglected. Overwhelming support is key in such a miracle.

Sweet Thing has been in the midst of pushing through first phases of "ideating" to apparent physical achievement — many contract meetings and emails have led to many design meetings, which, sadly, have led back to more contract meetings and emails. We love our place — it is perfect for traffic — but we would like some allotment for bumps in the road. Who wouldn't? How many people expect to get things perfect on the first attempt. So, that is the why of our intense correspondences: Sweet Thing WILL be successful and a good lease agreement is a vital step.

On another, happier, note Sweet Thing's management has begun its weekly meetings. The first meeting was simply to provide assurance of job descriptions and to provide assignments for each to accomplish before next meeting. There is little more exciting than actually using physical things (i.e. people, hard copy documents, etc) to produce progress—virtual and imagined progress looses its comfort factor after a time.

Tonight will be our second manager's meeting. Assignments solutions will be related, ensuing ideas pitched, and final decisions promulgated within the organization. It is very exciting. We have a very talented and productive team!

Tomorrow Sweet Thing's management will meet again for a blind cupping. We have five brands of coffee that we have looked into serving at the shop and tomorrow we will test them all together. The hope is that through this process we can narrow the field down to two or, at most, three brands and then (when we actually hook up our espresso machine) we can compare the coffees as they would be served in the shop. For some of us this is a completely new experience and we hardly know what is required of us, but we are slowly learning to become snooty connoisseurs.

At some point in the near future we plan to roast our own beans, but in the beginning, simplicity dictates, that would not be possible with minimal employees.

So, Sweet Thing still exists, yes, and is more real than ever. We will have updates from the meetings with new ideas and such. Opinions are more than welcome—as was stated earlier, "Overwhelming support is essential in such a miracle."

Below, for you enjoyment, is the platter that Martin (our pastry chef) prepared for us as an introduction to his wares. Quite fantastic.

Meetings and such

Last week we met with the land owners. We got a lot of information and a lot of promises and a lot of hope... but we didn't have a lot of progress. It turns out we have a problem.



Yes, we are in the process of changing spaces. The space is a better location, but we will not have the outdoor seating we were hoping for. But, if everything works out (which, we have no reason to believe it will), we may get something even better than outdoor seating. We will not share what that may be at this time for fear of jinxing the endeavor.

We will meet again with the developers this week or next week, depending on schedules. That meeting should determine, for sure, the terms of lease, square footage, and so forth. That will be a happy day.

And then the week and month following should be a lovely combination of stress and progress.

We're moving forward... really.

It may seem as if nothing happens around here, but, honestly, we actually work hard. Our two largest obstacles (floor plan, and lease) are close to being realized. We received an initial floor plan before turkey day, which Shawna immediately marked up and returned for updates. We expect an update any day now. The wretched part about the floor plan is that the estimates the designer gives us hinge entirely on the terms of the lease... which, obviously, we have not obtained yet.

Today we did get some reaction concerning the lease. A fellow with significant clout at the developer was spoken with and a time set for a lease meeting. This has happened before and resulted in a canceled meeting. But this time it is with a different fellow. Hopefully a different result will ensue. Once that is complete it's off to the bank to beg for money, and then off to find some willing contractors to make quick work of our little plot.

Yesterday, we had a rather festive time. In the evening a pastry chef we are, so far, well pleased with dropped off a platter of his wares that we might get an impression of his baking style. Mmmm. Fantastic. It's amazing how we randomly run into all these fantastic contacts we have.

All in all, things progress. There is so much stinking paper work involved with every dadburn process it gives one urges to harm things. Overwhelmed is a pretty normal feeling these days. If we just keep our heads about water, though, we should be good.

Ugh.