Dear, PJP Buttonwood...

Dear PJP Buttonwood…

Last week, we emptied you of all of your contents and on Thursday afternoon, we said our final goodbyes. And really, each time I rolled a cart of baking supplies across the parking lot to our new home at PJP Nifong, I thought to myself “welp, I won’t ever miss this". And honestly, I am 100% here for opening PJPs everywhere…but never moving a PJP from one store to another again. EVER.

But honestly, PJP, Jeanne and I both welled up with tears when we handed your keys over to the property manager. Because for five years, it’s been you and us. That we never gave up on each other…well, that is a miracle. Mainly what made me melancholy is that I’m such a different person now than I was in those early days of 2014. I’m a lot smarter and a lot tougher now, for sure. (Though, Jeanne is basically the same as then because she was already those things and she was just waiting around for me to get on board. Moms are like that.)

And I’m not saying I’ll miss who we were on our opening day at PJP Buttonwood, but I’ll always have a soft spot for the 1,050 square feet that propelled us forward to the next level of PJP. (Even if it did have a terrible air conditioner, a pothole that masqueraded as a lake, and at least one set of neighbors that harbored disdain towards us because we shared the alleyway.) I’m pretty certain that we left part of our souls in that space. We had some amazingly wonderful moments at our Buttonwood location - both as entrepreneurs and just as humans learning to be better people. It’s amazing how sometimes we forget that is part of the experience we all share.

(We also had some super low moments in that space - and at least a few times where we weren’t better humans AT ALL. Once or twice, I sat on the floor and cried in the middle of the night. And a few times, Jeanne and I disagreed so vehemently that I swore we would never survive it. We always did, though. THANKFULLY.)

We spent around 2,000 days at PJP Buttonwood, if you can believe it. And this morning, I automatically drove straight to my spot at PJP Buttonwood and then realized it only after looking in at a blank space. So then I went to PJP Nifong and IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. And if you want to know our favorite element inside our new storefront, it is the sign that hung outside our old storefront that now hangs in the new one. It reminds us both of where we’ve come from and that PJP Buttonwood will always be a part of us.

Thanks for taking carrying of us and making PJP what she is - you won’t be forgotten, Buttonwood.

Love,

Us