Wednesday, August 25, 2010

meatballs & more...

Today was the first day that we all officially crossed over to the “what are we doing?!” side.  I think we jinxed ourselves when we said that things were just falling into place and seemed kind of “easy.”  Despite our minor freak-out moments, a lot has happened this week… but of course a lot more needs to happen! 

We started the week on a high note when we took a 3-hour field trip to IKEA to pick out our lighting fixtures and front desk/reception area furniture (which by the way, we are in love with)!  No trip to IKEA is complete without a taste of their swedish meatballs.  It was Cara’s first time and she loved them!

We kept in the decorating theme and also finalized our carpet choice for the smaller yoga studio as well as the relaxation room.  The WWC is proud to announce that Stonehenge 3650 is our official carpet of choice.  Very exciting!!
stonehenge
Other than decorating, we also met with our heating/cooling people and electrician.  Thank goodness there is a HVAC expert in the family.  They definitely speak a different language that we don’t speak.  Heating the HOT yoga rooms are going to be a little bit of a challenge, but we think we figured it out today.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that our monthly heating bill is going to be higher than we estimated… looks like we are going to have keep shopping at IKEA and not Crate and Barrel!  Another money saving bonus is that Keith (our landlord) will be funding our crepe machine… hence ‘Crepe of the Day’ was born!

Here are some pics of the space… it’s coming along!

The contractors are ahead of schedule and all of the framing is up.  Next is electric and plumbing.

Highlight of the day: The carpet man's ringtone was Adam Lambert’s ‘Whataya Want From Me’ haha

-Arlet
reception area

retail area and relaxation room (behind it)
yoga room 1
yoga room 2

massage / treatment room 1
massage / treatment room 2

wellness cafe (think: cupcake of the day!)




Saturday, August 21, 2010

Lease is signed!

In just 6 short weeks the Whitman Wellness Center will open its doors.  The WWC will be home to 2 yoga studios (including HOT yoga), massage rooms, a fresh food cafe, smoothie bar, and a retail area that will allow locals to avoid the trip to Derby Street in order to pick up lux goods.


The space is completely raw and since its combining two lots in the building, its being completely built to our liking.  That definitely sounds like an ideal situation - moving into a place that is completely YOURS, but not until this past week did I realize what that actually involved.  I never thought I would need to know this much about duct work, building codes (who knew a massage room needed to be within 50 feet of a handsink?), electricity, power, health codes and X walls (walls that cannot be moved and are part of the structural soundness of a building).  All in all lease signing week worked out in the end.


Pre week set backs:
1) were told we couldn't move the X wall and needed to reconfigure the entire space
2) might still need to move the sink
3) thought we couldn't have a stove due to the restored building codes
4) one sleepless night post lease signing (the "what the heck did I just get myself into?" phase) 


Pre week PROS:
1) X wall got moved
2) massage rooms need to be near sinks, not full bathrooms (phew)
3) electric stove is approved (just not gas!) 
4) project plan is in place - 6 weeks is looking good
5) lease is SIGNED!


Check back in next week to see our progress!


-Antonia






Lee-Ann signing the lease!