Woe is me!

I got to the store at 8:30 this morning to wait for the fire inspector. When nobody (except people wanting to buy stuff) showed up by 10:30, I called Dawn--you know, the one who said somebody would come this morning at 9. She said tomorrow at noon somebody would come. I'm beginning to understand the mandatory 24 hour waiting period a little better. GRRRRRRR! I think that at least 5 people came in wanting to buy stuff. I refused, but let them browse. Then Nanci's neighbor Kate called to see if I would be open tonight since she needs a gift for some one at work tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about the money (since I'm really totally broke now). I just feel bad that people come by and I can't serve their needs. I hope they'll come back. . .

Then, because of the day I'm having, I got a lovely Hallmark E-card from somebody. It took me about half an hour to view it (it was in my junkmail folder and MSN really didn't want me to open it). It was lovely--like an I'm-there-for-you kinda thing. But it wasn't signed, as far as I could tell. Now I know that all you gentle readers of this blog are there for me, so if you were the kind soul who sent it, please let me know. Or maybe it really was a virus and my computer is going to blow up. If the vein in my neck doesn't explode soon, I'll be mighty surprised.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Well, today I tidied up a bit and actually brought the camera! Jon helped me tweak the lighting and here it is--Fly Right Gifts as you will see it soon when I open!!!!!
















From top to bottom we have the window from inside, the window detail from outside, natural cleaning products, natural bath and body products (Mudlark and Pacifica, and Spatacular), bassinet with cards and toys, puzzle rack with my childhood desk, the man section (wallets made from Tyvek, computer motherboards frames & coasters, worker's soaps), Notecards & office stuff, kitchen stuff, the fairly empty (ironically) jewelry case, louvered doors with misc.,the pet section with CDs above, toys, cards and gift wrap.

There are still a lot of things (well, a few anyway) that didn't make this editing round, but maybe later. . . You can tell that I love candles by how many I have for sale--let's hope a lot of Berwynites share my obsession. Once I get the counters organized you can see more of the POP (point of purchase) items. That pretty much just means the candy. Mmm. Candy. I brought chocolate for Angel(a) and I to eat last night while we worked so we wouldn't scarf down the profitable POP organic candies. They look so good. I guess I should try them before I sell them, don't you think?

Better news from yesterday!

I guess fighting back tears when speaking with the fire inspector has its merits. . . after I had my irritating conversations about lack of paperwork and July 2nd being the earliest they could come, I went home and did some laundry (really angst-ridden laundry). Then I had to go to Target to get a few things. I decided to stop by the store and see if I had any reason to be there for the rest of the day. Two messages!! One from the fire inspector, and one from the building inspector. The building guy, Tommy, said he could come by at 3:15. And the fire inspector said she could send somebody over Monday at 9am. If the paperwork goes through on Monday, I can get my business license and be open on July First! I also have to pay rent that day, so whatever money I can make is greatly needed. Tommy was great. He found 4 things that the landlord needs to take care of, but he said he'd go ahead and push the paperwork through and approve my license. We have 30 days to replace a lightbulb in the EXIT sign, change a switch/plug combo in the bathroom, and two basement things having to do with water (don't put your sump pumps on a GFI outlet--it shouldn't shut off when it gets wet) and some other 3 initial thing having to do with a valve on the water supply (it has an R and a Z in it).

So it looks like Monday I'll be done with inspections and ready to open! Angel(a) came again last night and we finished the displays and did up the window--it looks great! Today I need to go over and clean up the cash/wrap counters and install the cash register in its permanent home. Track lighting needs some adjusting (with the good ladder). And I'll take some pictures!

Same title as the last one. . .

Looks like City Hall dropped the ball that is my livelihood. I don't know who to blame, myself (which is what I usually do) or the powers that be in local government. I faxed in the paperwork I was missing (the signed lease), as did my insurance agent (the copy of the paperwork that names Berwyn as the certificate holder). They never got it, even though we both got success reports from our fax machines. When I called to follow up, nobody called me back. So I finally got a hold of somebody who said they were still waiting on all that. So I physically drove it over there and handed it to somebody and watched her put it on the desk of one of the important people. She claimed that their fax machine has been working this whole time. Hmmm. . . Yesterday I got a copy of the insurance paper and drove that over there and gave it to the aforementioned important person (who said she already got it when they re-faxed it). So now I can begin to set up the appointments with the inspectors. BEGIN. But they haven't gotten the paperwork yet (even though SOMEBODY told me she would walk it down the hall to them immediately--that was yesterday at noon). The fire inspector person said she can't schedule me until she gets the paperwork. And they're not doing any fire inspecting until next Wednesday. Whenever I think about all this I get that jumpy feeling inside like you get right before vomiting. Oh--also contributing to this is the TWO plumbers it took to unblock my home kitchen drains and clean out our catch basin yesterday. They were both very nice and professional and expensive.

Now the good news!
Angel(a) came to the store last night and we worked on the displays--they look great! She's coming back tonight and we should be able to finish up most of it. She's got a great eye and I think the stuff looks amazing! So if we get it done tonight, that will give me a weekend off and a store that's ready to open upon inspection. Cash register practice continues, and the thing is programmed with all my departments. Now I'm off to Target in search of baby hangers (for clothes, not hanging babies) and hooks. I'm very proud of the fact that hardware is the only thing I've bought new for this whole project (and only some of the hardware is new. . . most I found in my basement or inherited from Janet and Pat).

Hopefully next week. . .

I will be open for business! It seems my paperwork at City Hall isn't where it should be to schedule the inspections yet. Rats! I've left some messages and I'm hoping it will all be tidily resolved soon.

Jon has been working out of town again, and he needs the camera and the ladder for his job. I'm sorry I don't have any more "after" pictures yet. Maybe tomorrow. I'm luckily to the point of not needing the good ladder so much. The flimsy one is fine now that the painting is done.

Many of the products are on the shelves now. I have a much larger toy/kid/baby section than I thought I would, so hopefully the breeders of Berwyn will continue with their breeding. And hopefully the dog and cat owners will feel the need to buy their little babies a nice treat or toy.

I'm starting to get some of my artists' work together--the aprons that my friend Erika made are spectacular!!! We've got some made from vintage dresses that died, and one that she made from a man's oxford shirt that is really cute. Tomorrow my cousin Alexis is coming by with some samples of her crocheted wash/dish cloths and a few other things. I hope I can make us all rich!

Price tags, price tags everywhere!

I'm starting to price the products and get them ready to put out on the shelves. Lisa and Paloma, who is three, came out to help me on Thursday. I'm starting to understand why we need child labor laws--they love to help! And stickers are really fun! And they'll work for carrots and string cheese! Come to think of it, so would I. . .

I'll try to take some more pictures of the store today. All the painting is done now and it's getting very close to being finished overall. I took most of the day off yesterday--went to Champaign with Jon and his band for a lovely outdoor gig. I got to see a dear college friend of mine, Angela G. (hello, Ang!). I figured it may have been my last chance to see the band for awhile.

Pay attention! Take notes!

Don't take notes on this blog, but in general, in life, take copious notes. I called for my fire inspection (lovely sounding lady, Dawn, in charge of that). Dawn informed me that I need to turn in all my paperwork for the city business license before I can get inspected. I thought I had to get inspected to get a business license. It's all connected. So I called Debi, the city controller, to make an appointment to do all that. Well, this week is Berwyn's centennial celebration. Which means every city official is really really really busy. So Debi let me come in today, even though she's really really really really busy and I gave her all the paperwork for my incorporation, insurance, lease and everything. I thought she said not to sign a lease until I passed the inspections. Well, it turns out you need a signed lease to get a license. (see? I should have taken better notes--it turns out you can sign it, but it needs a clause that says it's only binding if you pass the inspection). My initial meeting with her was months (and a business partner) ago. Should've taken better notes. But it looks like George the landlord can come by tomorrow night and sign stuff. And the insurance company needs him to write up a statement of the work that's been done to the building. He's only owned it for a few years, so I said I'd write up what we know so far (George doesn't have a computer) and he could sign it. That should make the insurance people happy. And he'll sign the lease and I can take it all to Debi's office and then I can get rolling on this inspection stuff. Looks like maybe next week I can wrap it up and finally get open. *Whew* Now I need to learn how to program my cash register. The credit card processing stuff is getting done on Friday. Sometime in between I need to get the wood in the window cleaned up and finished and then I can comfortably put out my products (after pricing them and taking inventory).

I've had a few musicians/bands come by with their CDs to sell. I'm doing a small section of local Berwyn bands. Jon was there this afternoon when Peter Budd came by with three of his titles. He was really nice. So he and Jon were talking music (Peter has been playing for years) and he mentioned the musician friends that he's played with that he still keeps in touch with. When he said Jeff Beck, Jon almost passed out--that's one of his guitar heroes. There are a lot of talented musicians and artists here in town, and I'm happy to be able to help them distribute their music. It's really hard for unsigned bands to sell their stuff in stores. It seems like labels do that sort of merchandising for them.

We had the first car show event of the summer in the Depot District tonight from 5 - 9. I was really impressed with the turnout of cars and car fanatics. Next month when they do it, I'll be open, so it's good to know that people come out for the Cruise Night. It's the third Tuesday of the month June - August. And my block seems to be the heart of it all. That's a nice bonus I wasn't counting on!