If you haven't read my blog yet....THIS is the one to read!

Well......thank you for coming.  If you can all take a seat while I prepare my rant for today/tonight

*clears throat*

Do you know how Led Zeppelin got their name?  Someone was joking about the idea of them starting a band and said it would "go over like a lead balloon".  Boy was that person wrong!

So here is my store update....

On Thursday August 19th I wrote the following email to my landlord (Laura) and the Artist (Matt Muirhead) sharing my space,  when i found my store space in disarray the weekend before:

Matt & Laura,

I was good to see both of you recently.  Matt, it looks like you are truckin' along with all of your gallery work and festivals, and Laura....i'm happy to hear about your new shirts.

I've been thinking.......because of the recent encounters at the shop this past weekend.......the new sign and Matt living there.......I'm going to work harder on getting the shop finished and open.  I feel like because of my absence maybe you and Laura don't believe that i'm serious about the store....or that......i don't really 'need' it. 

But i do. 

I may be a little delayed right now because I'm weening myself out of my mom's company and trying to find my place in life......all on a $0 budget.......but this is my dream and I am very excited about it.

I am very easy going and i am ok with A LOT.......but the sign and the condition of the store this weekend......got me upset.....to the point of tears.  I just saw my dream go down the toilet.  I questioned weather this was the place for me.

So i'm asking you both.......is this the place for me?  Can I continue to make my store here? 

I currently do not have problem with the sign being up......until i am ready to put mine up.  I think it would be a good idea to add her to my sign OR put hers up next to mine.  I'm open to anything that promotes everyone.

I also do not have a big issue with Matt living downstairs at the moment......except for the fact that we are paying the same rent....and yet he his living there.  Not to mentioned i was never asked if that would be an issue.

I hope you both see my point.

Again....i'm the new kid in town......i don't want to make waves....and i don't want anyone to feel like i'm passive aggressive or whiney......BUT.....i don't want to be a doormat either.

I will be up there both Saturday and Sunday.....hitting it HARD.  Please email me or call me and let me know that you understand where i am coming from.

Ana

My landlord Laura Kalman emailed me this Friday August 20th:

Dear Ana,

I am glad that you sent this email, as I was going to compose one to send to you as soon as I had a chance.

I totally understand where you are coming from, and I am sorry to have had a part in your being uncomfortable this weekend.  I did not realize that the sign would be a problem for you, and I am sorry that the place was a mess and that you were upset.  When Matt moved in, I know that he intended to use only a small portion of the basement, and when you were absent for most of the summer, I think that he just organically began to take up more and more space.  In terms of the rent, I am beginning to think maybe I am just too nice.  I am giving both of you really good deals.  As you know, I do not make any extra money from rent paid on the building, and I try to do my best to be fair. 

I must admit, I have been having my doubts about the idea of using the basement as a retail space for quite some time now.  Going into the lease, I am sure you remember that we signed for only 6 months because I wanted to have the option if being able to do other things with the space if I chose.  I was under the impression that you would be using that space mostly as a workshop and doing a small amount of retail in preparation for moving into a larger space.   Ideally, I had been looking for someone to utilize the space as a work space or studio, so maybe I let my desires for that muddle my perception of what you actually wanted to do.  I was certainly not clear, and still am not, about what kind of shop you are planning to open or whether the space is suitable (in terms of fire code and accessibility) to open a shop.   Basically, when I realized that there was the potential of major (and long term) changes happening down there, I started getting nervous.

All in all, what I am trying to say is that I think your intution may have been right last weekend when you began to  question whether this was the right place for you to open up a shop.  I am concerned about your goals with the store just not being a good fit for the space.  Sorry I didn't say something sooner.

Sincerely,
Laura

--
Laura Kalman, Licensed Massage Therapist
Metta Integrative Wellness Center
(410) 207-1297
www.metta-wellness.com
www.healbaltimore.org

Of course i didn't check my email before i went up there Saturday August 21st to spend 6 hours cleaning and painting the store.  I didn't get the above email until Saturday evening.  Take a look at my progress!

So, if you still don't understand what is going on.....

After almost 1 year.....my landlord has asked me not to do the store in the place that i've been cleaning up and painting!

Granted......it's been "on and off" because I've been doing it by myself on my downtime.....BUT she has seen changes and progress!!

This was a big blow......and I am PISSED, but I'm moving forward and i know Karma will take care of this.

I am still going to do the sore.  I'm working on my website and different festivals.

I appreciate EVERYONE's continued support through this transition.

Thanks to you for your kind words and motivation.

"If it was easy......everyone would do it!"

I WENT GREEN!

So i did it.......I went Green!

$19 and 3 hours later (cause it did it with a paintbrush instead of a roller)
Take a look....i LOVE it!

Nice Right? I think i'm going to paint the metal airduct too

I painted that window from too. I'm going to finish it and put it back up on the shelf where Matt had it. It looks good there.

That was the old brown...which was dreary and boring.

I think it's softer AND more cheery. I plan on going there again this week. I'm re-excited about the whole thing and just want to get it done!

I came upon an interesting thing when i got there yesterday.....a sign....hmmm.....I was a little upset.....but i'm working on it. We are going to figure something out so we all get equal exposure. I want EVERYONE to do well in this shitty economy.

Tell me how you would feel about this.

As of August 2, 2010

So here is the progress so far at NOR!

I got all the shelving up...they look great! I will post a picture soon.

However.....i think i need to re-paint the walls a different color. The brown matches the business card.....but it's not colorful enough :(
Kristen and I are thinking GREEN! We recently went to Rehomo Beach and went to my favorite store...... The Pelican Loft. **This is where i would link you to their website IF i could find it!!**

Anyway......going in there inspired me once again to keep on truckin' with NOR. I LOVE everything about The Pelican Loft. And it's owned by Lesbians!

Anyway.....i'm going to do some test colors.....and then get on with it! This is the green...


I also painted the front area WHITE.....which i like....but may change that as well.

Since i haven't been able to go to the store....I've been working on some pieces. I call them "Pallet Creations". They are made from the leftover scraps from cutting the pallets for my store. Take a look:

This Dragonfly one is $25.

This LOVE one acts as a shelf too....so it is $35

I have another one....but it was misplaced when my sister and i were running from a mini-tornado at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds. So....needless to say.....these have survived a mini-tornado :)

I have 2 more in the works.
I'm very excited about these. They are coming out better than i had hoped :)

Anyway....i will try and post more photos soon! Thanks for reading!

Ana