Hours from Opening!

We're going to open tomorrow evening!

Today we did a whole heap of scrambling to finish some things, and we decided some could wait until afterwards.... like varnishing the baseboards- who would notice?!

Pam added the upholstery braid to the top edge of the walls, and covered some raw edges of some pegboard - giving them a very finished look. We added another coat or two to the yellow door and window.. and still they seem to ask for more. I got the credit card machine hooked up and did a tutorial on its mysterious functioning over the phone with a nice, patient man named Alan. Karen arrived after teaching and figured out Quickbooks' invoicing system and started the painting of the outside walls, seven brick rows worth (the lighter color along the bottom). I picked up a sign made overnight by a company called Signs By Tomorrow. They ain't kiddin'. I sent the logo by email and just described the rest of it, so it's not laid out the way I would have done it if I hadn't been playing Beat The Clock, but it will do for now. The sign will go just to the left of the door, against the wall. Tomorrow I have to drill holes and align them with existing holes in the wall. Yikes! Say a little prayer, people.

In the morning around 7:30, my friend Karen W. and her husband Don will arrive to help muscle out the counter and fridge and microwave and chairs and such. We'll drive them downtown and muscle them into the gallery and then Karen J and I will spend time organizing and hanging paintings and making labels and generally getting ready for the event being held in La Villita from 6:00 on. 1750 dermatologists are having a banquet there and will have the whole of La Villita to themselves. Not many of the shops are likely to stay open, so we thought we'd like to have the dermatologists all to OURselves. Pam and Mary will arrive in the mid-afternoon and be there with me through the evening. We might set up and paint or we may fall into some chairs... we'll have to see.

We'll have a grander opening later in the month once we have a notion as to what we're doing and have business cards and the baseboards varnished and the patio decorated and we can be gracious hosts. Tomorrow, though, is going to be a thrill. I'll let you know how it goes. If you want to come by before six, that would be great!