The Wind Beneath My Wings.

Yeah, that song is sappy and I'm probably not the only bride in the late 80s that danced to it with their Father for the Daddy/Daughter Dance but it pretty much sums up how I'm feeling about my Dad this week.

He and Mom came back out here from Michigan last Friday to help me get things put together at the store. On Thursday I was really stressing out that I wouldn't be able to meet my goal of being ready for my first customers by April 11th. On Friday morning I was still operating on folding tables and all my new inventory was either stacked on the mantle or still in the cardboard boxes it arrived in. By Monday at noon, I had a new desk ($15 from the guy that moved out of the upstairs office!), a new counter and cash register shelf, a gorgeous handcrafted oak fabric display (see above), the gigantic mahogany library table that is a family heirloom from my husband's grandfather, and three slat-wall displays loaded with all the product I have so far. There were also a plethora of small jobs that Dad banged out on Monday morning before hitting the road like installing a pull out keyboard shelf to my cheapy desk and hanging some more shelves.

Here are more pictures of where we are now.





Friday afternoon I have my first children's birthday party scheduled. We're doing a bath themed craft; scented salts in a decorated tin, bath fizzies, and melt and pour "fish soap". Saturday the St. Charles Downtown Partnership is sponsoring a "Sisters Weekend" and I'm planning on flipping the "open" sign around and seeing if I can pull in any passers-by. So if you are in the area Saturday between 10am and 6pm, stop in and see what I have going on. I'm not fully stocked but with any luck the friendly UPS guy will at least bring my cash register in the next few days and maybe a few more boxes of goodies.