The last two weeks have been big for Kenton – demolition began on the future library site (two doors north of Posies), and a press conference was held announcing the start date for the Denver Streetscape Project funded by the Portland Development Commission. For those of you who are new to this information and the changes about to happen in our darling neighborhood, be prepared to be excited… Last year Kenton was awarded the next Multnomah County Library to be located in the middle of our mainstreet, and serve as an anchor for area businesses. This was a major win, and something that will change the face of our commercial district forever… and also the main reason I opened the coffee shop where I did. Things were perpetually delayed however, and an open date of June 2009 was pushed back to early 2010, foiling my plans of opening May 2009

My family decided a few months ago that we had to schedule a short camping trip to make sure we got a little rest before the end of the summer, and the start of fall. However, even with talks months back, we didn’t actually get around to attempting to reserve anything until two days before our scheduled departure. Of course, as is to be expected when trying to camp along probably the most beautiful coastline many have ever seen, they were booked through mid-September, with the exception of one yurt available for one night (Thursday night). We decided to reserve it because Jonathan was sure someone would cancel and we could get a spot for the rest of the weekend, so we decided to continue our preparations for the trip. The day before our trip, Jonathan and I both had important meetings to attend, so Anouk was spending the evening

Last night felt like an amazing culmination of everything we had been working towards coming to fruition, and was a moment I was so proud of. From the beginning it was agreed we should have live music at the shop, because it would add a nice atmosphere, and because it would add some life to the main strip… I could never seem to get it together in time, until the day that I ran into Ben Thompson at the shop. He lives over on McClelland, and said he was interested in doing some music shows for kids during the day. I thought that might be a good option on our slow days – then he mentioned he would love to do a performance for adults one evening too. I suggested trying out performing for 3rd Thursday when we were having our art opening for April Coppini. It was a deal

I wondered if I should write today about the lessons learned so far, or something else that came up today that got me thinking… because lessons learned sounded kind of boring, I opted for the latter. Today I was visiting a friend, using her new iPhone, which had the Urban Spoon application (the one where you can shake it and it randomly selects a restaurant for you… totally awesome). While I simultaneously shook and coveted my friend’s iPhone, I came across my own shop. I had to run after Anouk because she was starting to play too far from the porch, and my husband took the phone and started reading one of the reviews someone wrote. It goes as follows: ————————————————————————————— “Good for Kenton or Good for Kenton ‘Mamas’?” by niccurl (3 reviews)June 16, 2009 – Likes it – As a Kenton resident (and parent!) I have longed for a

I frequently struggle with the fact that my local bank does not open until 10am. Anytime I get up early to start getting errands done, I always find myself having to backtrack to the bank because they don’t open until nearly lunch time. The other day I was taking Anouk to our new nanny-share a couple of miles away, and decided I would ride her over on my bike. Because I didn’t want to backtrack on my bike, I decided that I would break the bank rules (and probably parent rules) and take my bike (with baby) through the drive-through because they open a bit earlier at 9am. We rolled in with just two cars in front of us, so it looked like it should be a quick transaction. The sign said “Single Transactions Only” and so I was sure that everyone had prepared like I had and had their

I’ve wondered since we opened how I would take it if we received a less than perfect review in a public forum, and today I read our first one on Urban Spoon: “Good for Kenton, not me” by warmgray9 (1 review) May 27, 2009 – Doesn’t like it – I’m super glad that there’s a new coffee shop in Kenton – much needed and I wish them the best – but this place was just not for me. It IS a place for moms. And kids. And moms with kids. There’s a play room in the back and children are pretty much given free reign of the rest of the place as well. Makes it awesome for moms who want a place to converse, not so much for dudes who want to work.Coffee was good, cupcake was not so much good. No complaints on the service. “ I’m not sure

May 1st was our first day, and all I can say is thank you to everyone who has welcomed us with such open arms over the last 27 days. I’m so happy with how everything has turned out and only wish that my mind was less foggy with business details to fully appreciate everything that is happening and changing around me. The Oregonian printed a big article about us on the cover of their Food Day section (what?), which was fantastic press for such a new and little business. I wasn’t sure how the article would go over, but the morning that the article came out, I went into the shop fresh from a conversation with my mother-in-law, Bev, about the ongoing struggle for women in business and as mothers, and how the inequities are just less obviously socially acceptable. When I walked in the door, one of my dear

We just had our important meeting (that I am forever referencing) today with the Portland Development Commission and Mercy Corps NW. PDC had put together a financing proposal for us, and it was exactly what we were looking for. Mercy Corps agreed that the proposal was agreeable to their terms as well (the proposal indicated how much Mercy Corps would contribute), and so now it all goes to their respective loan committees. Next steps are staying on top of the underwriters to make sure that they get the application in to the loan committees in time for review by next week’s meetings. If the loan committees approve the applications, things will move quickly from there, and we should have all funding in place in a matter of 2-3 weeks. Jonathan and I were both thrilled to see the proposal outlined all of the financing we had requested, and that both

Have you ever wondered what you should do for the rest of your life? For the last ten years, I’ve been trying to figure out just that. I enjoyed doing many things, but was always haunted by whether or not what I was doing was prestigious enough; could I climb the ladder? My other issue was that by the age of twenty I could already see my life in fast-forward, and I was afraid that if I didn’t do something I was passionate about, I would forever be trapped and die having wasted my life doing something I didn’t care about… With that mentality, I was continually conflicted – major is something for prestige or passion? Climb the ladder or build the ladder? I majored in education at Penn State and taught high risk kids at a local charter school in Pennsylvania, a job that I loved, but is so