Spring Time Double Dipping

We're doing a 2 for 1, double dipping on the blog posts since I didn't get around to posting last month. So strap in my lovelies and let's get to it.

February I took part in 2 awesome events in Madison. There was the Pal-entine's Day Market at the Goodman Community Center and Femmestival at Garver Feed Mill. Both events were absolutely amazing. For the Pal-entine's event I was there as both Alexandra Art+Design and as Black Cat Cafe and Gallery serving coffee, tea and hot cocoa. The event was so well put together, there were tons of amazing vendors, there was even a valentine making station for people to get creative. This was the first year that Femmestival was 2 days long, one day was dedicated to art and food and the second day was art and music. I took part in the day featuring music and there were tons of amazing musicians taking the stage.

In March I took part in the Spring Market at the Goodman Community Center and The Big Gay Market and oh my god they were so much fun! The Spring Market was organized by the same people that put together the Pal-entine's Day Market. There was a paper flower making station and this time around they had a room dedicated to art and a room dedicated to food. I was there as Alexandra Art+Design and as Black Cat Cafe and Gallery again so I was put in the food room. I got placed next to Level 5 Donuts who makes delicious vegan donuts, some are even gluten free! The Big Gay Market was fantastic! There were so many amazing artists at the market. I was there as Black Cat Cafe and Gallery serving coffee and tea.

In February there wasn't too much happening with Black Cat Cafe and Gallery or Alexandra Art+Design. Due to snow storms and the occasional migraine the shop wasn't open very often. That didn't stop me from working on things though. I was in constant communication with contractors trying to organize things, the bank to get funding for renovations and just trying get things more organized in general.

Finally, come March we were cooking with gas as we started renovations at Black Cat Cafe and Gallery. With dust in the air, power tools going, and craziness all around we saw the place transform before our eyes. Frames went up to form walls closing in the bathroom and separating the kitchen area from the customer space. Various sinks were put in, a stray toilet appeared and a bottle fill station was put together.

It took the bulk of the month of March to take care of all of the renovations. It was like a wild fever dream, time was an illusion, days blended together and everything was madness.

Upon completion of the renovations we had to have all of the necessary inspections done. Due to new electrical being put in, new plumbing, AND new walls; we had to have an electrical inspection, plumbing inspection AND a building inspection. Of course there was also the health inspection, which was my biggest concern. I was so nervous for all of the inspections and I was continually having anxiety nightmares about it all. Sleep was a problem for all of March and the beginning of April. Thankfully, all of the inspectors were able to come in fairly quickly and give us the all clear.

The health inspection was the longest inspection of them all, the other inspections were basically 2 minutes of wandering the store and looking around just to say everything looked good. We passed the health inspection with flying colors and the inspector was super sweet and helped calm my anxiety during the entire process.

I had to take food and safety management training which was interesting. A lot of it I already knew from working previous jobs at cafes but some of it was new for me. There was a practice test I could take which was nice preparation for the actual test. There were some trick questions though that were a bit annoying. For example, what kind of jewelry is a worker allowed to wear? There were the options of a plain wedding band, a medical alert bracelet, a watch, or a diamond ring. A plain wedding band is the answer but the medical alert bracelet trips me up. As someone with health issues and who should be wearing a medical alert bracelet all the time I see the medical alert bracelet as a valid answer to the question too. What do you think?

April 11th we officially passed our health inspection. We could have passed it sooner but our refrigerator stopped working so we had to wait until it was fixed to have the inspection again. Shit happens, but thankfully we got it fixed quickly and that was the only issue we really had.

Passing all of the inspections saw us officially opening the cafe on April 14th. I stayed at the shop late the night before chopping veggies, making granola and almond butter cookies in preparation for the opening. Justin came with on the 14th to buy the first mocha from the cafe and enjoy an almond butter cookie. Some art friends stopped by to say hi and show their support, and even though my parents couldn't come to the opening they sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers. While helping customers and visiting with friends I was busy cooking and made pao de queijo, mini banana walnut muffins, and vegetarian sloppy joes.

Saturday we had gorgeous weather so everyone was out and about. I made so... many smoothies. XD Even more of my friends came out over the weekend to say hi, and it was really nice to see them. Saturday was the opening day of the Dane County Farmers Market and the first day I could have vended on State Street as Alexandra Art+Design but I just couldn't bring myself to close the shop on it's opening weekend. So the plan is to hopefully train Justin on everything over the week in preparation for the 22nd so I can vend on State Street and he can hopefully run the cafe for a few hours. He already knows how to run the espresso machine and knows how to make smoothies so it's mostly just making the sandwiches that I'd have to teach him. His help at the shop will hopefully be temporary too, in theory I should be able to hire someone to help out soon. Only time will tell how the cafe will do.

Unfortunately I have not been able to create much these last few months due to all of the time spent on Black Cat Cafe and Gallery. Now that all of the renovations are done and the cafe is open I will be able to establish some sort of routine to hopefully give myself more time to not only draw but also relax in general. I am beyond exhausted but so excited to see what this year holds for both businesses.

For the rest of April my goal is to work on establishing a routine of some sort and vend at the top of State Street at least once this month. While I don't think I'll have the time to do any big projects I would like to be able to start drawing more, even if it's just little doodles for things like stickers and pins. Who else is excited to see what the rest of year brings? :D