Lapping From Our Hands

Do you remember that story in the Bible when God asks David to take his warriors down to the river and drink? He allows David only to take the men into battle who lap from their hands like dogs - so that David will trust in God and not in his own might. Mike and I feel a little like the men lapping water. So many things have gone so wrong this weekend, that it forced us to just trust in God that we would be OK - We found you can't put your trust in expensive Italian machines or staff or computers. (Gelato machine on the fritz, ice cream maker a no-show, computers no worky first day.)

But, although so many things have gone wrong, one very important thing has gone right: Customers are coming into the store. We've been meeting our sales goals nicely these first four days, without much (any) marketing.

For those of you who are too far to make it to the store just yet, I thought I'd treat you with some pics. So here you go! For those of you who came in this weekend - thank you! I felt all warm and cuddly from all the support and love everyone has shown us (and I rarely feel or say "warm and cuddly," so I mean it).

First, the front. You've already seen this, but I know my mummy wants to see our neon signs - an "open" ice cream cone sign on the left and an espresso sign on the right. We're still waiting for our purple umbrellas.
Here's our front - that's a "shake" neon sign on the left and our "Umpire Estate" coffee decal in the middle ("Umpire Estate" is the brand of Colorado Coffee Merchants.) Those are our little bistro coffee patio sets.
This is what you first see when you walk in. See our pretty purple case?! Now if only it worked...Our menu signs were designed by one of the women who works for Colorado Coffee Merchants. I think they add some nice color. Our mural of Colorado Springs will go on that large blue wall, coming next week!
This is the coffee area, just to the left of the above view. See my awesome airplane? Most of the guests and workers don't notice it, but it makes me happy. There are three pendant lights hanging down next to the plane, but you can't see them very well in this shot.
Now, moving back to the right, here is the fireplace and cozy seating area. See the glass tile above the fireplace? The pics you see hanging are historic prints of the Springs - balanced rock, downtown, Garden of the Gods (and one around the corner of the Incline).
Here's the back view of the fireplace with our cozy chairs.
Moving on, here's the drinking fountain back towards the bathrooms. Over the fountain, we put Disney animation drawings of Mickey and Donald (to go with the comic books we have out for the kids). Then I put up this map today with a sign that says, "Where in the World Are You From?" with pins stuck in it. It's only been up 4 hours, and we already have pins in Lebanon, Munich, and Naples!
Here's the women's bathroom. I took down their awful industrial mirrors and put in these warmer wood ones. In the reflection, you can see the funky blue doors, which have a fun formica look going on.
Lastly, here's some of the best scenery in the house - our great employees! We've hired eight great people that we're really enjoying getting to know.
We still can't believe it's really happening, as we haven't had time to slow down and think about it! But we have been so blessed, and we are thankful.