vacation all i ever wanted, vacation had to get away

Our employees are all taking turns taking vacations.  Alas,no vacation for us.  That is okay.  We love traveling, but having the coffee shop is pretty damn fun!  The last couple weeks have just been extra-hectic, so I have travel on the brain.

I've been having a good time playing baker for the last couple of weeks.  I put out many of the same things, but tried some different variations.  My favorite is the lemon bread that was out today.  There will be another loaf tomorrow.

In the midst of all the baking, schedule juggling, coffee slinging, and life living, we were broken into last weekend.  It certainly was not a pleasant call to receive from the alarm company at 3:30 am, but I would much rather deal with a night time break-in than a daytime hold-up!  We had a window totally smashed into tiny pieces, some stolen money, and a moment of feeling defeated.  Jeremy cleaned up most of the glass in the early morning hours, I came in to open, and it was business as usual Saturday with some tree trimming, and getting the window boarded up added in.  Thank you for every one's well wishes all week, and to The Light Shop for helping to trim up the bushes/tree.  Unfortunately we are not the only ones who this has happened to recently.  Many businesses in Waldo have been broken into over the course of the last few weeks, and I heard that houses in the area are starting to get hit too.  Sigh.  Everyone just check over your property for vulnerable spots, and be aware.  It may not stop it from happening, but it can't hurt.  But...our new window is installed, and we keep going, going, going.

The only other major piece of news I can think of is that we will be closed all day on Monday, July 27th.  Our air conditioner is a 25-year-old, energy-sucking, on-the-verge-of-total-collapse heap.  So, on that day, we are getting a new, energy-efficient unit installed!  They also will be putting vents in the kitchen so that it is not so hot back there. Hooray!  We are sad to close down for a day, and apologize for any inconvenience that might create, but we are terribly excited to replace that system.  We toyed with being open, but there will be no AC, and a good portion of the work they need to do is right in the path we have to walk about five-hundred times a day through the kitchen.  We will just play catch-up that day, and see everyone Tuesday.

and another thing

We have a profile on a new website Kansas City Made.  They are just getting the ball rolling, but I think will be a great resource for finding local business and products in the KC area.  Thank you KC Made!

finally...a moment

I've been hunkering down trying to finish tasks that should have been done ages ago.  That means my online time has been taking a hit.  That's probably not a bad thing, as I can easily get lost in the internet!  Anyway...

I just got our specialty drink menu board put up yesterday.  Definitely have some good drinks up there, and hopefully some unique ones...some are, some aren't.  Here is a brief rundown:

white mocha strawberry (espresso, Shatto strawberry milk, white choc. sauce) 

neapolitan (espresso, Shatto choc. milk, Shatto straw. milk, vanilla syrup) 

root beer chai (chai, Shatto root beer milk)

pomander (chai, Shatto orange milk)

coco loco (espresso, Shatto choc. milk, coconut syrup)

mocah toddy au lait (toddy, Shatto choc. milk)

curious george (espresso, Shatto choc. milk, Shatto banana milk)

We also added root beer floats (Lost Trail root beer and Shatto vanilla ice cream...both local and crazy good,) toddy floats, and simply 3 scoops of ice cream (Shatto chocolate or vanilla.)  We still have popsicles too.  Sorry, no smoothies, shakes, or blended drinks.  That's just not our style.

We also have started getting ham/cheese and egg/cheese croissants from City Bakery.  They are good for folks who want something a little hardier than sweet pastries.  For vegan folks, or others, there are Larabars.  They are crazy simple  - fruit and raw nuts in various combinations.  They seriously don't have anything else added, and are delicious!

Our bike rack has arrived!!  But, alas, we must wait for our friend with the tools to mount it to return from vacation.  That will be in about two weeks.  We also have a nice, new banner out on the deck, so you know who we are from behind!  It is done in about the same shade of green as the bike rack.

I picked up some new kid's books, and a couple new adult books from Half Price Books to add to the collection beginning at the shop.  I have a fairly serious book addiction, and am trying not to get too carried away at the shop.  I save it for our house.

I am finally trying to get in gear about finding artists to hang their work in the shop.  If you are interested or know someone whose stuff you think is great, please send a message our way at jdneff@onemorecupkc.com  We would like to switch the work out monthly.  All work must be able to be hanged (hung?) off of picture rail.  The spaces available are the following sizes: 23 feet x 3 1/2 feet and then 4 feet x 2 1/2 feet.   

As far as style goes...painting, drawing, photography, mixed media...whatever!  Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate three-dimensional pieces.  Also, just because someone submits work for consideration, does not mean that we will hang your work.  No hard feelings, we all just like different things!  If you have a website of your work, that is the easiest for me to deal with.  Otherwise, we can arrange a time to look over some pieces.  I may not be able to get around to that as quickly.  I am hoping to fill up the months at least through the end of the year.  So far, I believe only October is spoken for.

If you happen to be in this Friday afternoon, you may get to witness a photo shoot!  Two of our customers approached us after we opened about doing some pro-bono advertising work.  Apparently it is not uncommon for advertising folk to do that so that they can stretch their creative legs a bit more than with their paying clients!  Anyway, Laura and Elena got back to us with some excellent ideas, and now our coffee and shop get to be stars in a shoot on Friday.  The end product gets to be used however we see fit...posters, fliers, ads, etc.  We just can't believe how lucky we are to have such different, and talented customers!  

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable 4th of July.  We certainly had fun relaxing with family and friends, and stuffing ourselves silly with grilled meat and summery side dishes!  Mmmm...now I'm hungry just thinking about it all.  See you all later...off to snack!

Forgot!

Also, I picked up a copy of "eat.shop.kansas city." for the store.  I read about it in the Ink, and thought it sounded pretty great, and it is!  It certainly doesn't cover every local business in KC, but it contains a ton of them.  The photos are beautiful, and the writing is charming.  Love it!

Trying to Balance

Just when I think we are starting to find a groove in a particular area of the shop something pops up!  Such is life.  It has been a real struggle to find the right balance in all that we are doing... be at the shop or be home with our son (though thankfully whichever one of us is at the shop, the other one is home with him,) what do we offer as far as drinks and food, what are our policies on every little thing, how to be nice employers while still getting people to do things, ordering correct quantities of items so that you don't come up short, but don't order too much...plus keeping on top of bills (home and shop,) taxes, house keeping, personal health, and spending enough time together as a family.  I know this is not a unique situation to us.  It is everybody's life!

Owning your own business is amazing, but there is sooo much that goes into it.  Sorry if it sounds like I'm complaining too much.  I love what we are doing.  Sometimes it just gets stressful.

Here is some of what has been going on lately (with a focus on the positive!)

I got the planters on the deck fully planted!  My friends Kris and Joanna very helpfully picked up the plants for me, and I had a wonderful afternoon doing one of my favorite activities.  There is a nice mix of herbs and flowers.  One step closer to deck prettiness.

We have a beautiful, light green colored, 5-bike wave rack on order.   We hope it will make it's way to us by the end of the month.  Theresa from Waldo Family Bikes helped pick out the best spot for it.  It will be in back at the end of the deck.

We hosted a party for our employees, because they have been so great in bearing with us during this crazy time, and we really could not do this without them.  It was a blast...grilling, much beer, kids being cute and wild, and good conversation.

The Roasterie gave us access to the Fair Trade organic Mexican coffee!  Previously it was available exclusively to one client (a great organization actually,) but now we can offer it.  Very tasty.

There are a couple new faces working behind the bar.  We like them, and hope that you do too!

We have received some really wonderful compliments lately, and it makes us so happy.  Thank you to everyone who comes in...whether daily, weekly, or just once.  You don't even have to compliment us.  

All of our aluminum cans are now going to Habitat for Humanity.  They turn the cans in for cash, and the cash goes directly to their work.  We found out about this program through one of our fantastic customers!  Thanks Mandy!

New wand tips were put on the machine recently, and the difference is crazy!  The ones before were not terrible by any means, but they frothed the milk very quickly which doesn't lend to the fine micro-bubbles.  The ones now make such a beautiful surface on the drinks, plus make them taste even sweeter.  

And lastly, we just fall more in love with Waldo every day.  We knew we loved the area or we would not have moved here, but being a business owner has allowed us to meet so many more people, and learn so much more about what is going on in the neighborhood.  Thank you for the support Waldo, and the KC area in general.  We hope we are brightening your day just a little bit when you come in.

Updates

We will be closed all day Monday, May 25th, for Memorial Day.  Other than that we will have regular hours throughout the weekend.  Come in and have a cup!

I chatted with Theresa from Waldo Family Bikes the other day about what kind of bike rack would be best for us.  I think it takes a month or so for delivery (they are made to order,) so hopefully we should have one in by mid-July...maybe earlier?!  We are working on it.

Our planters in back (that line the deck) should be planted soon either by me, or our friend Kris.  I have been lax about getting the deck spruced up.  That is definitely my next big project.

So, the dilemma came up recently of what to do in the way of frosty summer treats.  Many coffee shops offer blended drinks or smoothies.  I really wanted to avoid going that route (even though I know they are popular) for a couple of reasons.  Most places use a powdered mix for blended drinks.  They create a smoother beverage than just blending ice, milk, and coffee together.  These mixes contain trans fats, and also we can't use our coffee in them.  That just doesn't fly with us.  Then there is the smoothie factor.  Everyone does smoothies it seems like!  We don't have tons of extra space to work with, plus I like the baristas focusing on espresso drinks versus blending smoothies.  So...I came up a solution that should please all (people in need of frozen-ness and baristas)...at least it pleases me!  

Popsicles!  I've been working on my flavors, and gathering opinions from taste testers.  From Memorial Day through Labor Day we will have the following popsicles available: mocha (espresso, Shatto chocolate milk, Shatto 1/2 & 1/2, and a touch of chocolate syrup,) chai (chai and Shatto milk,) and a juice/berry one (orange juice, chopped berries, and a bit of agave syrup.)  Other flavors may pop up throughout the summer, but those three are the main ones.  I'm not nailed down on pricing yet, but I'm thinking it will be something like 95 cents!  Please come in and try one once they are available.

Otherwise...just enjoying having the doors open most days until it gets too hot to do so, tweaking little aspects of the store, and still having fun meeting lots of new people!  I've even had time at home to finally clean a bunch at home, and plant the garden.  That makes me very happy.

I hope you all have been well.

P.S.  I decided to sign us up for Twitter.  I'm a line straddler with the internet...I love it, and I enjoy a lot of the sites like Facebook and Twitter, but I also feel like people are over-informed about each other too.  I'm trying not to post too many updates, but still having fun with it...whatever!  If you would like to follow us we are @onemorecupkc

Catch up!

You may have noticed our letters out front!  I've discovered that the space in which they are hanging has become a real inspiration for me.  I'm currently thinking of different displays I can do in those areas.  I think that I may change it out every few months.  In the meantime, they will stay as they are.

We have just been plugging away at the store!  Business is picking up more and more, which is fantastic.  We've been having to adjust our ordering accordingly.  It is tricky to find the right balance, especially as things are bound to change every month or so, but it is generally working out fine!  

The baked goods have been a success!  The coffee cakes, quick breads (especially zucchini!), and cookies have been the most popular.  Though the cupcakes and biscuits aren't slackers for sure.  Either way, I know I have been raiding the cookie jars a little too much.

Otherwise...we are looking into getting a bike rack installed sometime soon, getting ready to plant all of the planters out along the deck, and working on some new ideas for frosty treats just for summer (sorry, no smoothies here...much more interesting!)

It is shaping up to be a busy and very fun summer!!!