The Highlights. And Lowlights.
There was a lot on my mind today at PJP Buttonwood and so, in no particular order, are the highlights. Or lowlights.
- Jeanne left town last Friday to deliver pies for a wedding just as I arrived in town from Behind-The-Scenes-Tech-Guru Jason's Mexican siesta/margarita birthday vacation. And then I didn't see her all weekend and by the time she arrived at PJP Buttonwood late this morning, I felt like we were two ships merely passing in the night. And I didn't care for it one bit. Apparently, I need conversation about Thanksgiving pies, King's Daughters, and Ecolab while drinking my coffee with Jeanne to be satisfied about the state of my life.
- Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are over 200 orders as of this evening. I beg of you to consider ordering early once you have your holiday plans finalized. We all know that I am the worst Director of Procurement that has ever existed, so let's try not to force me into a situation that requires a lot of guesswork about how many pie tins and pie boxes we will need. My sanity thanks you.
- And further speaking of Thanksgiving, we can't decide what to do about our hours on the Friday and Saturday after the holiday. During the reign of PJP V 1.0, the shop always closed the doors on those days...in part to recoup from the rigorous week of holiday baking. And that sounds so very appealing. But people keep asking if we will be open that weekend. Mizzou plays an afternoon game that Friday and Saturday is Small Business Saturday. I can see both sides and I have no idea what the answer is, so what do you think?
- Speaking of King's Daughters, Jeanne would like you to know that we still don't have a plan. She has finally agreed with me that we both function at our optimal level when we are completely in a panic, so I think the best course of action is to just chill out and then fully freak out somewhere around next Wednesday.
- Look, this has nothing to do with pie, but I must say that "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift may well be the catchiest tune I've ever heard.
- We served up some coffee from Bunnita today, but the only ones drinking it seem to be PJP employees. If you are out and about tomorrow, can you stop by for some coffee so we feel justified in the square footage we've allotted to Bunnita?
- We have shipments of Jelly Jar pies going to nine different states tomorrow. If I were better organized AND crafty, I would get a map and keep track of all the different destinations. But I'm not (and likely never will be), so I'm just going to memorialize it here...nine states.
- Our windows kept fogging up all day today at PJP Buttonwood. The cold air outside and the warm air from our ovens on the inside made for 0% visibility and we actually had a few people call from the parking lot to see if we were actually open because they couldn't see in the windows. And a few commented that we were really crafty to decorate our windows in such a cozy manner. But the truth is, we had nothing to do with it and we found it a bit claustrophobic. We used a squeegee (we squeegeed?) the windows several times, but it was a losing battle and so we have to figure out some sort of solution.
- A kind customer sent me a Facebook message today that alerted us to butter on sale at Gerbes for $2.54 a pound when you buy 10. It is possible that I left tire marks in the parking lot as I peeled out to secure all the butter. Add "Gerbes Employees" to the list of people who might wonder if we are crazy.
- A very sweet customer stopped by with gifts for us today. Among other things, the gift bag included two pumpkin pie hats. I think if we are going to lead a charge to World Pie Domination, we should at least have the proper hats, no? We have the best customers ever.
