A Day in the Life

Woke up...got out of bed...didn't bother to drag a comb across my head, 'cause I knew it was going to be another one of those crazy/busy days (but lots of fun). Not quite as crazy as yesterday, when my neighbor Hector was finishing his painting, my friend since sixth grade and new neighbor Ben was coming to the cafe to start a different painting job, our deli case and oven were delivered, potential employees were stopping in to drop off resumes, and countless other things were going on. No, today was definitely a little less hectic.
I woke up and took our dog Zeus for a walk (as I do most mornings). Then I was off to the cafe to drink a cup. After I was fully caffeinated I went back to pick Ali up so that we could go shopping for ice cream making ingredients. Our friend David, of the Flavourspot is catering at the Oregon Symphony in the Park, taking place this Saturday, at Arbor Lodge Park. We are excited to be making some "top shelf" ice cream for him to sell alongside his fantastic waffles. Though we won't be there to scoop, we are very excited to have David serve up our ice cream to the neighborhood. On tap: Cinnamon Toast, and Lemon Poppyseed ice creams.
After we were done shopping for ice cream ingredients, we stopped in at Fleur de Lis Bakery and Cafe (3930 Ne Hancock St). We were hoping to say hi to owners Greg and Lisa, but alas they were not in, so we decided to indulge ourselves in an Almond Ring, a Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Focaccia Bread, and a Spinach and Ricotta Croissant. If we haven't mentioned it before, these folks really know what they're doing when it comes to baking...oh, and they are nice enough to let us sell some of their product at our cafe. Thanks Greg and Lisa, you (and your croissants, cinnamon rolls, scones, etc., etc., etc.) rock our world!
After a late breakfast, it was back to the cafe to meet Ben, who once again helped us with painting our awning. I left the cafe to run a quick errand around 11:30 am, only to spill an entire quart of paint, which is another story altogether, and the ensuing cleanup process (which is not yet over), almost caused me to miss our meeting with our new tea vendors, Quinn and Katherine of Foxfire Teas. These two really know a lot about tea, and it was fun for Ali and I to get a brief but informative introduction into the history of their business. The brief synopsis: two owned and operated a cafe on NE Fremont for three years, but (lucky for us) they are currently in the process of switching their business focus from retail to wholesale. Tea connoisseurs take note, we are not taking a blind eye to those who prefer to indulge in the dried leaf over the roasted bean.
After our meeting with the folks from Foxfire, Joel dropped in to do some final installation on our espresso machine. From then on we worked, and talked, and drank beer and coffee into the night. Eventually taking a short break and eating some very spicy Thai food. After dinner we put in a couple more hours making ice cream, and are now finally starting to think about bed (though I imagine sleep is still at lest a good hour or so away). That was today in our life.