so unhappy

after spending all yesterday, 8-5, waiting for verizon at the shop, they never showed up. GRR. i find out that they did a check at the F1 (some kind of switching station) and found out they have no more lines for me, or something. argh.

and then today, i checked in with speakeasy and found out they *cancelled* my order. without telling me. because what the F1 thing really means is that there are no more lines to lease for my one-link DSL. !!!!!

i am so very mad. so i have a vonage phone number set up, printed on business cards and all, and no Ethernet to plug it into. and i can't have Ethernet without getting a land line set up. so i would be paying for two phone lines. this is exactly what i was trying to avoid. nice to find out it can't happen, one month after signing up for it.

not sure what i'm going to do yet :(

ikea pt 2

the secret is to get on the 11am bus, then take the first return bus at noon. if you know EXACTLY what you want, it is doable.

so we got some jarpen. we got some klang. and then we got the hell out of there. derek installed the jarpens until we ran out of anchors, and i popped in the klangs, all five of them, nice and lined up and level (more or less). and then i put greeting cards on them and danced around a bit. (possibly the fumes from the oil-based stain for the counter contributed to the dancing. ooh my head.)

so the Bubble Roome soap scent is fighting the icky toxic stain scent, and i think it will win. though i have to put another coat on tomorrow.

i have this goal in my head of opening doors this weekend. i don't think it's actually going to happen, but it's good to have a goal. i mean, no tissue paper or bags, no credit card machine, no telephone, no signage. no clothing rack yet. um, no it's not going to happen. but soon!

i'm still stuck on how to display earrings (other than flat) in the case. i might have to hit some other shops and check out what they do.

also: today i bought the first top of my new, non-slubby wardrobe. it's cute and asymmetrical and has a red buckle on it. whoa! and we did the Atlantic Antic and ate the shawerma, banh mi and a pulled pork sandwich too. the street is filled with garbage now, it's kind of gross.

maple ply = yummy

hey hey it's my birthday!

so this morning erin's boyfriend brought over the counter/jewelry display he made for me. it's awesome. my floor is really crooked so we're going to have to shim one side, which is too bad. argh crooked floors! i just bought some white-ish stain so it will have some grain showing, kind of like pickled wood. that's tomorrow i guess, after IKEA and after i eat the world's best shawarma at the crazy Atlantic Antic festival, which runs right outside of my apartment all day long. can you say, 100,000 people really don't fit very well on Atlantic Ave? i will also enjoy the music and belly dancing of 'eddie the sheik'. all. day. long.

some pics for you. we added yet more shelves to the right half of the room. big fluffy pillows go there. it's getting kind of exciting. the left side needs lots of work still, and i have to get something for the center of the room, but we're getting there.

also i got some cutie birthday books from Good on Paper. just found out they are in the October InStyle, which is quite a coup!

ok, pictures:

luck

not having much lately. everything i ordered online, early, isn't available, or they never got my order, or some catastrophe. i'm talking to you, IKEA! maybe if the phone rep knew that their system had dropped all Internet orders since the 13th, they would have posted something on the website maybe?

so i get to go to IKEA again on the bus. yay. on my birthday. yay. i think this means i get some cinnamon rolls as a consolation prize.

i got an order of soap and bath stuff today and so my whole house is gently scented.

i am covering all white painted surfaces with contact paper. magical, nearly invisible, smudgeproof contact paper.

i got the bill from Con Ed for the utility deposit. it's huge, but they put it in an account and pay 2.6% on it. i can't even get that from a bank, so maybe i should give them more of my dough. they have been quite nice, actually.

what else? trying to decide what to do about computer/printer at the shop. i have a regular old inkjet, and an all-in-one black and white laser printer. which one to bring?

got in some more maga/zines too. i'm really not sure if they'll make any money, but i want to carry them. amazon, bless them, really does suck up business from the booksellers. my only hope is to carry titles that are not easily found. it's hard!

i need a medic

my wrists are going down, down, down. too much computer! they are numb in spots. i have wristguards but the answer, sadly, is just to lay off the computer.

i am a bit behind in the jewelry making department right now, and need to get with it. i need to hire someone to help me a day or two a week, and then everything would be fine!

let's see. friday my counter and jewelry display arrives, very exciting. i'm getting some acrylic boxes made, about the size of a standard jewelry tray but taller, to hold more goodies, they should be ready on friday too. at that point 85 percent of the fixtures will be in place and really, i can start putting inventory out. there is still last-minute stuff to do, quite a lot, like painting/cleaning up the aluminum window trim (already has most of a coat of paint on it), and the radiator cover and the platform in front of the window which looks awful right now. hemming the dressing room curtain. getting vinyl lettering for the window. installing the damn phone line. stuff like that.

i am trying to get some fun books and magazines in, too. i already have JPG mag, with photography, and there is another one called Hamburger Eyes about photography. there is a little culture zine called The Drama, and i'll have some KnitKnit, and a new one from the Stanford design school called Ambidextrous.

what i have to do now is stop compulsively looking for new product. i have quite enough! now i am just bookmarking things.

progress

today i ran into the Shy Siren ladies and completely forgot to nag them about consignment! they helped me flag a car service to take my new west elm shelves (sigh, more shelving) to the shop. the car service really wanted to take me to 7th ave and 16th in manhattan, but i didn't let them.

derek is currently at the shop, installing said shelves. that man has stamina. the inventory is starting to arrive and i'm starting to freak about where it's all going to go. eep!

so my super-special notebooks, trucked all the way from portugal, are here. they are so lovely and tiny and limited edition. i'm all about the limited edition.

and my business cards from overnight prints came today too. they look quite spiffy, i opted for the hipster rounded-corner look. they are like tiny playing cards.

other things - today the F train sucked a lot. i rode a very late car from Bergen St to 47th, with no air conditioning. it was seriously much warmer in the train than outside. bleh. bad subway day.

ikea

looks like my Jarpen shelves are back in stock! this means i get to take the IKEA shuttle from port authority to elizabeth, NJ and bring back as much as i think i can carry on the subway. fun fun sunday plans.

jewelry display - ugh. it gets expensive. i've decided that some earrings can lie flat, some can hang on a pin in the wall-mounted case, and some will have to go on those leatherette earring stands in the countertop display space. hopefully there will be enough room. i might have to rig up a wire rack for the top of the counter, and just keep an eye on the jewelry.

legal - i bought and am actually trying to use QuickBooks. it is hard because there are so many options!! also it doesn't do a good job w/ inventory and has nothing for consigners so i have to either buy a separate inventory/POS system, or just do it by hand. it might be the latter for now as i have no more money!

collateral - ordered some biz cards from overnightprints, on erika/mellifluous' approval. hope they turn out nice. also ordered a rubber stamp of just the R and D to use on hang tags and envelopes and i guess shopping bags. hm, time to buy shopping bags.

i got a haircut and it is oh so lovely. almost boy-short again, to combat the humidity that has arisen this week.

more pictures, this time with more inventory! i'd like to say i took them so i can see how well i've space-planned or something, but i just wanted to feel the actualization of my planning. it feels good.


purses! mostly west coast folk.


lovely JPG magazines live and in person on the reading rack.


gratuitous dog shot, mia at home. she like to restructure her bed for total comfort.


more bags, unisex styles, nice and simple. these are a tough waterproof nylon and i will have colored canvas as well, in different shapes, including a bowling bag and a laptop bag.


pippi gets some clothing. owls are the new squirrels!

interesting fact

when you are expecting a package, OF COURSE they try to deliver it 20 minutes before you get there, but you have no way of knowing that until you go home 4 hours later and check the computer. duh.

this meant however that i got a lot of time to scrutinize the Store So Far and decide that i needed more flat surfaces, ie shelving. and this means that i need matching shelving. and because of the wenge, i have the dark brown IKEA Jarpen shelves that they don't sell online, only in stores. and because of that, it's sold out all over the Northeast. o-kay!

i am still pondering how to display earrings, too. such a hassle, earrings, especially the long dangly sort that don't look good lying down on a nice civilized "shadow suede" pad.

to everyone and their comments - thanks! and yes i have hit all the organization stores around. twice. it gets so expensive!

---

inventory arrives daily. it's really fun and gratifying to see all the goodies. i got a batch of lovely design and oddball books from Chronicle Books/Princeton Architectural Press, and gorgeous stuff from Sharon Spain, who got a big fat mention in the S.F. edition of Lucky this month. and more bags and cards i am just not going to tell you about yet! don't you love surprises?

why a bubble level is your best friend

we have been spending a lot of time at the hardware store, ikea, the store, and the place that sells great iced tea down the street.

let's do the bad news first. one: we found a giant cockroach in the bathroom. eeeew! two: ikea never has enough of anything in stock. three: nobody knows who does the private trash pickup on my street, so i don't have trash service, so everything is staying in the store for now.

now the good news: 80% of the shelving is up and looks awesome. liberal use of the bubble level and profanity enables me and the wonderful husband workerbee to create straight lines across 16 feet of wall. well, mostly straight. the other good news is that the immensely heavy floating shelf/box things have not yet fallen off of their brackets.

some pictures:


i bought a mannequin. her name is pippi, just like the little orange striped cat that lives at the pet shop down the street, and who likes to visit unannounced. actually i don't know what her name is (the cat), but that's what i call her.


the great metal angled shelf where books and magazines will go.


some of the jewelry boxes. yes, an alignment nightmare. i have to spackle and repaint everything.


gotta hang something in the box! a custom silver tag for the store. this will be my sample, i think.


workerbee at work. i did have to make him smile for this picture. he slashed a knuckle and kept bleeding all over the wall. bad derek, no biscuit!

friday report

i feel like i'm getting nowhere lately, which is sad. i am just so anxious to open! but i should take the downtime and crank out jewelry...

my awesome landlord drove us over yesterday, along with some very bulky boxes that i had shipped to my house. they stored the boxes in their back room for a week, which also has a skylight and a little parakeet in a cage. he also made us coffee and gave us a date cookie to eat on the way. did i mention awesome?

anyway we need to buy a ladder. derek can't reach the very top of my ceiling to put painter's tape on it, so painting is still not done. we are going to replace the clear chandelier bulbs with reveal-blue ones for more natural light. does anyone need 15 clear bulbs?

now i am thinking about what color curtain for the dressing room area could possibly go with white, wenge and lilac. i will go to baltic bazaar, the thrift shop/fabric scrap depot, for ideas.

we've decided to put in more shelving than first anticipated. the space is so small, and no storage, i just have to build UP and that's another reason to have a ladder on hand.

what else - arranging for Speakeasy to give me "naked DSL" - no phone service necessary. boo to you Verizon! it is cheaper this way. then i will put Vonage on top of that, and get an ethernet-ready credit card processor. everything takes time and i think installing the credit card machine will ultimately decide when my store officially opens. or, i guess i can open early and take cash for the first weekend or something. so many people have been sticking their head in the doorway, i think they'd at least like to look around the shop, if not buy...

finally, i am hustling to place some ads in the local mag and shopping guide. the Fall deadline was of course last week but i will beg and plead to get a mention.

now the fun part - i have ordered a ton of goodies to supplement the great stuff from the consigners. at the high end, i am getting exquisite leather bags in very simple modern shapes from Kisim, a company based in Israel but with a San Francisco distributor. i remembered seeing them from the SF shows i have done in the past. yummy. and at the low end, i will probably get some notecards from Waste Not Paper, and i also found these Japanese wool felted cozies (no other word for it) for your keys...it is a clever design where the keys get sucked up into the cozy so they don't jingle in your bag. i am using one right now and i love it. somewhat more info at raredevice.net. the logo (one version of it) will go up this weekend.

pictures, finally

ok here we go. these start when we first got the keys and are through yesterday's painting.

views through the front window out to the street. every so often the neighbor across the way in the red plywood hut will open the doors, point a large fan outside, and then run his table saw, resulting in clouds of sawdust all over the place.

view toward the back. this is before we washed the walls and painted over all the scuff marks. notice the complicated 3-curtain system that is going away. too confusing.

wenge cabinets are here. i hope they last a while! they really do have a peculiar reddish-purple tinge, which is why the new paint color goes so well.

new paint color, lavender blue by benjamin moore. derek has to come paint the top of everything since i don't own a ladder. yet.

tape bits to indicate where hooks and shelves should go. yes i am obsessive, especially when waiting around for 5 hours for shelving delivery. sigh. at least i got to scrape paint off of light switch toggles, and important things like that.


that's it so far. today i have to make jewelry. though i might go assemble the shelving tonight. i have not ordered floating shelves but i have to soon. products are starting to stack up at home so it's almost time to get the van from downstairs and move everything over...

today

many things going on today, some of them related to the shop, some not:

derek goes back to school. wah!
paul pope, a favorite comics artist, is at some gallery opening tonight. i am going!
i *promise* to upload pictures of the shop.
derek is finalizing a logo for me, based on his architecture drawings from last semester.

the walls are crispy white and i did a tester in the back dressing room of 'lavender blue' by benjamin moore. it's an odd, light, not grey, not lilac color. it works well with the chandeliers and the wenge wood of the fixtures, which is really more purply-red than walnut.

also i ordered some hooks to hold all the lovely totes and handbags i'll be carrying. also i have to get some magical pottery barn shadow box frames to hold the jewelry. also i am searching for a nice, plain, modern earring display, and this is pretty much impossible to find. no curlicues is not possible.

pictures today i PROMISE.

update

well, the furniture people were supposed to call before coming, so of course they call when they are sitting in front of the store. and me not at home. but all is well, pictures soon.