Cookie Shop - Week 19!

We're now in the finishing stages of the really important stuff at the shop....SO much has been happening lately so I'm going to write this blog post in short little blurbs....because there's just so much going on it's easier to list them rather than to write a story!

 The plumbing finishes are complete....which means that the sinks and faucets are all installed, connected, and working.  The grease trap is placed and connected, and the final plumbing inspection is complete!

The electric is also completed...all of the outlets are installed, the oven and hot water tank are wired, and the lighting is all installed.  We even remembered to label the new switches in the circuit box!

The building sign is installed.  The sign company came on a cold rainy day to install it and I felt so bad for them.  But it looks so beautiful....and I think it's a perfect match to the building!  As for the pole sign....there are some sort of electrical issues with the fixture so the sign company couldn't install my sign faces that day.  The electricians have to come to fix the issues and then the sign company can come back.  But I did get a sneak peak of the sign faces....they look awesome!

We fired up the oven for the first time!  What a beautiful sound that was!  I haven't baked anything in it yet because there are so many paint and chemical fumes from the construction...I'm going to wait until we are done with all of the fumey stuff before I attempt to bake anything there....but the oven looks so perfect and I'm so happy with it.

My dad and I spent an evening installing the rubber floor molding in the kitchen.  For the first time EVER we didn't argue while working on a project together.  It was the easiest thing we've done yet!

The countertop has been installed.  It. is. beautiful.  It looks so custom and just perfect for my shop.  So much hard work went into building it....I'm so afraid to mess it up!  I'm responsible for staining/polyurethaning it and I'm a nervous wreck.

The painting is alllll done. Wow, I think we went through 16 gallons of paint....very high ceilings and lots of walls.  But the painter did an awesome job and I'm really happy with all of the colors.  I painted the bathroom and utility room by myself and it was so fun.  I went to the bakery at night while Mia was at home with Rob and I listened to music and just enjoyed the time to think.  I forgot how much I love to paint....it's a lot like cookie decorating actually!

The refrigerators are up and running and working perfectly.  I can't wait to fill them with eggs and butter!

We have tables and chairs at the bakery now....and more and more fixtures and supplies are arriving every day.  Coffee mugs, mixing bowls, thermometers, handsoap dispensers, t-shirts, exit signs, it's allll arriving.

We replaced all of the outdoor lightbulbs and flipped the switch....and the store looked absolutely stunning.

I attended a food safety certification course these past few weeks.  It's required by Allegheny County and I was really dreading it.  So much of the covered topics were not at all relevant to a bakery....so at the beginning it seemed like a waste of time.  But I did learn a LOT about sanitization, cleaning, refrigeration, allergies, and consumer menu warnings, etc.  So all in all....it was a positive experience.  And there was an 85 question scantron test!  It felt so weird to take a test like that again! I hope I pass......

The next few days will be spent CLEANING, organizing, moving in the rest of the stuff, and hanging shelves and cabinets and pictures and stuff.  I'm excited!  Next week we'll have our final occupancy and health department inspection....and I'll hopefully start trial-baking at the shop by the end of next week!  So I'll be busy busy busy....I may post one more update before the opening...but I want to try to keep the final product a surprise for opening day!  Make sure to follow the facebook page for information regarding the store opening....as soon as inspections are passed we'll announce the exact dates, times, etc.

Thanks, everyone for following along with this journey!  I'll update again soon!
-k

choosing paint colors is so stressful

i probably stared at this wall for a whole hour

and I changed my mind a hundred times

1st coat on the walls!

time to lift the oven and install it on legs!

success!

as soon as the electric was done I ran around plugging stuff in!

don't know how this picture didn't make last week's post....this is my father-in-law priming the new drywall!

rubber floor molding installed!  Piece of cake!

the oven is in place!

Mia loves to color on the floor?

...she drew our family....and Bob the painter, too

this was my front doorstep after the day's Fedex deliveries

counter-top install day!  Hi, Sarah!  Welcome :)

look at that SOLID BEAUTIFUL kid's table!

Sarah....I'm really proud of you! Did you have to call IKEA?  

omg.  that hair.  I'm a mess.

no. seriously.  the hair.

LOVE

empty sign :(

so close!  Until we found the electrical problems :(

it was the coldest rainiest day....I felt so bad for them!

so happy!

installing the dish drain shelves.  My dad and I battled about these for a solid 20 minutes...

....so I didn't help because he wouldn't listen to me.

but they're up!  whatever....

HOT!

food safety.  gross.

I am officially a professional food manager.  Well....once I find out if I passed the test!

Goodnight, all!