Hidden treasure...

We started tearing down walls at the coffee shop this weekend and I found this lovely little gem of a family photo inside one of them...

Taking out the ceiling tiles, walls and glass door 

One of the other coffee shops in town closed this week, so they were nice enough to not only offer to sell me some of their equipment but they also gave me a TON of extra supplies they had!

It's a coffee shop on wheels...

Sweat Equity

Today I really upped my sweat equity in Sip! I spent the better half of the day on the floor hand scraping paint off the concrete with a single edge razor blade. My hand just might be permanently stuck in a claw-like grip and I'll have blisters for the next two weeks, but other than that it wasn't too bad! Ha!

We're hoping to start our very light "remodeling" this week.  We're just taking out a couple walls and building the bar/counter area. My structural/engineering skills are completely lacking so designing and visualizing what I want the bar/counter to look like and exactly how it needs to be laid out has been really hard for me, and of course it bothers me that I can't figure it out myself...so, I made a trip to Barnes & Noble yesterday and picked up a few books. "The Complete Guide to Countertops" and "Working with Concrete" ... can't wait to get started! Believe it or not they also had "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting & Running a Coffee Bar." So, yes...I got it, too!

I'll be completely honest and admit I started reading the "Idiot's Guide to Opening A Coffee Bar" last night and had to put it down about 10 pages in. It was a little overwhelming. I had one of those moments where I  thought...Am I really doing this? CAN I do this? Ahhhhhh!!!

I picked it back up 30 minutes later and got about halfway through before going to bed, but it was definitely a reality check! I have a feeling there will be more of those moments along the way where I just want to pull the covers over my head and hide, but I think it's also in those moments where you have to dig deep and figure out who you really are and what you can really do. As they say, "Nothing worth having ever comes easy."

My pile of paint scrapings from the floor!!!

What I have left to finish....

Happy Monday!

It's a Monday...what can I say, I just wanted to see some pretty things :-)

I had a great weekend in Fort Worth celebrating Haddy & Ed's wedding, it definitely made me realize how much I love my FW "family" of friends, but reality calls and I have a lot I need to get accomplished in the next couple days!

The floor in the cafe is stained green concrete and I have had a blue color scheme in mind from basically Day 1, so I've been on the lookout for blue and green color combos, these are some of the cutest ones I found. 

I thought these were some cute ideas for bulletin/announcement boards with a little personality

A couple blue and white Chevron pattern fabrics I really like for window treatments...

And in case you need a pick-me-up...Just Dance

In the name of research...

Market research continues! I am feverishly working on a floor plan and counter/bar schematic for Sip!, so the past few days I have been mainly interested in seeing what kind of layouts different places have.  I’ve got to say I’ve been really disappointed in some of the coffee shops out there. I won’t name names because I don’t want to be rude, but I’ve thrown away a lot of coffee in the past few days! I’ll admit I am a tough critic, but you have to have standards and I don’t want to open a crappy coffee shop!

Having said that, I was almost ecstatic when I came across a place I love on Friday!  Oddly enough, it’s about ½ mile from the house I lived in in Austin for almost two years. It’s a really neat, neighborhood coffee house called Teo Espresso & Gelato in the 26 Doors shopping center. My vanilla latte was amazing and I loved their outdoor seating area! I didn’t try their gelato (hello self-control) but it looked delicious and it is all made in-house.  I will definitely be back to Teo!

The other place I found is The House Coffee Bar on Florence near downtown Fort Worth. What a find! And I mean 'find' literally! It took me a few u-turns and oopsie's to get to it but I finally did. And what a pleasant surprise! I really thought Fort Worth had no neat independent coffee shops left. My latte was great and they had a large indoor seating area with comfy chairs, couches and tables—a great atmosphere overall. Plus free Wi-Fi...that I happened to be especially grateful for this Friday morning, no thanks to AT&T.  I would definitely recommend The House!

 

I am happy to say I have renewed faith in the coffee house industry ;-)

Have a great weekend!

Michele

Hello, Cupcake!

Wow, this week has been pretty hectic! We met with a coffee vendor in Austin who is turning into an amazing resource. He has over 30 years of experience roasting coffee as well as owning and managing restaurants and coffee shops all over the country from Montana to Austin. He definitely knows the ins and outs of the food service industry and not just what flavor of coffee people like! One of his smaller coffee shops is a 9' x 12' space on the UT campus that does about $3,000 a day in sales...that's a lot of coffee for a small space! And let me tell you, a coffee shop requires a lot of space. You can't just throw an espresso machine in a room and call it a coffee shop, you have to have grinders, blenders, air pots, brewers, pitchers, temperature gauges...the list goes on and on! Sip may be looking to expand before we've even opened...!

One of my favorite things so far may be all of the taste testing I get to do, in the name of "market research" of course! I need to know how other people's coffee tastes, how the different brands of syrup and flavoring stack up, and who has the yummiest cupcakes! I know I know...it's not just about the cake! I am also looking to see how their stores are laid out, what their work space looks like, how their prices compare and what's on their menu...but I'll probably stick to writing about the tasty stuff, like the vegan mint chocolate cupcake I had at Austin Java, or the chocolate peanut butter one...both very good! (Guess I better keep hitting the pavement as often as possible)

One of the main reasons I went into this venture was to do something that would challenge me and push me in a new direction and it definitely has. I mean who knew a little paint thinner wouldn't take paint off a concrete floor? Or you can add a plumbing line through the ceiling, that was news to me! I am glad I can say I have really loved it so far. There are and will definitely continue to be hurdles to overcome but it is a fun and rewarding process. I am reminded of the saying that I know enough to know that I don't know everything and the best thing I can do is surround myself with smart people! I feel very fortunate to have such people around me. 

G'night all!

Michele

Decor Inspiration

I love these Trina Turk fabrics!

A bunk room? And now I am completely off track...

I love this chandelier!

I need one of these

Show me what you're workin with...

As you can see below, we have some work to do! The previous tenant had a baby/toy store and the walls and trim are all light blue and green and parts of the floor are white. We need to clean the floors, paint, install plumbing, etc etc. My dad and I were talking this morning about what to do with the ceiling. The tiles need to be taken out and replaced, but he thought it might be cool to leave the ceiling exposed. I was kind of hemming and hawing, thinking it over and he said to me, "In case you can't tell, I'm really trying to be as objective as I possibly can here. I mean I really just want to tell you what to do and get this shit done and on down the road. But I'm gonna let you make your own decisions." Oh...thanks, I guess...

M is for mmmmmm

Our first purchase! Other than the espresso machine... A big metal M...

Doors & Windows

It sure is funny how things work out...five weeks ago I left the job that I’ve had and loved for the past three years in order to move on to the next phase of my life. I knew it was the right thing to do, but honestly, I didn’t have a plan. Given the current economy, it was definitely a dicey move, even borderline a bad idea, but I knew in my gut it was time. I filled the first few weeks of my “temporary retirement” with odd jobs and volunteer work. People asked me what I wanted to do and occasionally I would say the obvious response, “Oh, something in marketing.” But every once in a while I’d be honest and just say, “You know…I want to do my own thing. I’m not sure what that is yet, but if I could do anything I’d start my own business.” It felt a little like an empty promise, like I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or even like maybe I didn’t really plan on doing anything at all! But it was the truth. So, as they say, “When a door closes, a window will open somewhere."


My mom and I have shared a love of coffee for years, so it just seemed like a natural fit when she told me she wanted to open a coffee shop in Wimberley but she just didn’t have the time. If there was one thing I had to offer, it was time! 


So...I'm headed down to Wimberley to open a coffee shop! This was a scary decision to make, but I'm a firm believer in taking chances, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I’ll use my blog to keep everyone updated on the progress we make and to let you know when we’ll have our grand opening. I am so excited to pour my time and energy into this new venture and be able to start something from the ground up. I can only hope it is a huge success!  Thank you for your love and support!! 

Oh, and visitors are welcome!!!



XOXO,
Michele