Lights!

Last week was a big week!  We found an amazing refrigerated display case and we're having it delivered this week!  Thanks to Jim @ East Coast Restaurant Supplies (in Whitman!)  for showing us all around his shop and helping us find "the one".  After a little paint job (Thanks to the Cappellinis!) it will fit in perfectly in the Wellness Cafe.  We also got our stove / oven  and sink.  The cafe is finally coming together. 


While the yoga rooms require a lot less space planning, we made some progress and got our lights delivered last week (thanks Sonya!)  Arlet and I had seen them in an NYC studio and tracked them down at Ikea.  They fit our lofty look perfectly!

Arlet and I are on "vacation"  this week (Arlet in MD, me in Mexico) and we've left Cara and Mom/LeeAnn in charge of all the WWC responsibilities.  The top priorities of their list include: making sure the insulation goes in, getting website copy together, and placing the yoga supplies order.  Next Monday we're all reuniting in NYC for our long awaited shopping day.  Stay tuned for a recap of our trip!

Cara and Mom have a lot to accomplish this week but I'm confident they will get everything done!  I promise to keep check in calls / texts from Mexico to a minimum.

-Antonia

Logo'd!

Week Three at the Whitman Wellness Center.  Things are coming along so well, thanks to the entire group working on getting the center up and running.  LeeAnn, Antonia, Arlet and I are a great group all bringing our own talents to the process.

The most exciting part of the week is the Whitman Wellness Center now has a logo!

Erin Alexander created this for us and we are all so happy with it. They say that your sign is the first impression of your business.  It truly is a great representation of the Whitman Wellness Center. 

Official Logo of the Whitman Wellness Center!

This week we also became an official business of the United States. We got our federal tax ID number. So exciting!!!  We're planning a big trip to NYC to put our tax id number to good use at all the amazing wholesale only shops. (be sure to visit the retail area for our NYC goods).

Other big news is that our website is being created as we speak.  Check out www.whitmanwellnesscenter.com for links to our facebook page and feel free to email me at cara@whitmanwellnesscenter.com with any questions about the WWC.

Construction is moving along on time and all the first phase of the electric work has been complete.  Next week is the sheetrock and insulation.  Many thanks to Keith for keeping everything on schedule!

We will be finishing up our menu for the Wellness Cafe. We are still practicing with our crepes but they look beautiful - Antonia and Arlet make a crepe daily, they are working really hard perfecting our recipes!

banana, organic pb, local honey, cinnamon

it didn't last too long!

filled with blueberry jam and topped with locally grown blueberries

Be sure to check back in for more updates!

-Cara

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!)

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!