Disclaimer: Sorry about the layout of the text of this blog. I spent forever trying to fix it and we want to go to the park. I have no idea what the problem is, but it can't be user error!
Liam and Courtney just returned from a week in Destin. I stayed home and ate frozen pizza, spent some good times with friends and slept in, until 8am! Here are some great pics from their trip.
I'm just about ready to start crawling!
I am biased but this picture belongs in every picture frame that is for sale worldwide
Trade you my sifter for your bottle...playing on the beach with Cousin Kingston
Hammin' it up with Mom
Playing with my big cuz's Gunnar and Jansen...
For a strong, balanced tan, make sure the undersides of your arms
get sun also
The way to relax when you only get 3 naps a day, is a dip in the pool
This one is him doing an impression of a Richard Simmons workout
video. And this one is a valiant effort at crawling. Enjoy!
Ugly Mugs Update
We get asked a lot of questions about our coffeehouse on a daily basis.
Sometimes, you can tell people are sincerely concerned, other times
you can tell people are thinking 'what the heck are you doing?', and still
others ask with a sympathetic tone as if they are thinking 'oh, were so
sorry, did you know that 80% (or whatever) of businesses fail. I do have
to say we have had overwhelming support of our concept and for pursuing
our dream. So here we have decided we would take a few minutes and
answer some of our most frequently asked questions. And we mean it
when we say frequently. If we answered it here it means that at least ONE
person has asked us this question.
When did you decided to do this?
For the five years that we have been together, we have always talked
about the idea of opening a coffeehouse and standing there together
watching people talk, read, write or do whatever they do at one. Then
we lived in Charlotte together and learned (at least I did) from our friends
there what real love and community meant. When we had the opportunity
to come back and live in Nashville, we were torn actually because we loved
Charlotte. But we prayed and talked and decided that we would attempt to
come back to Nashville and see if we could apply what we had learned in
Charlotte back 'home'. We did not expect to do it this quickly upon returning,
but who are we to decide when 'right' time is. This feels right, so here we go.
Why a coffeehouse?
We love coffee! And Courtney has taught me to love tea...and people. Life
goes by really fast and coffeehouses just seem like a place to slow down for
a while. I also found thatthe business world seemed to be full of superficial
relationships. Most relationships are based on some sort of agenda (this
person is a client, that person can help me advance my career, etc.). Not that
opening the coffeehouse will change anything for me, but it will be one more
place in the world where, we hope, other people will develop true relationships.
Are you worried about opening during a weak economic period?
NPR called and asked about this. No, not really. But this is probably the
question I have received the most. It is a great question too. Early on, I had
a touchy-feely answer about coffeehouses being a place to get away from
feeling like the economy is weak. "You know, we're selling $2 cups of coffee,
not $20,000 cars, " I would say. But I've been asked that so many times, I
actually did some research on it and it turns out that historically speaking,
coffeehouses are recession proof. Coffee is an 'affordable luxury' that has
allowed the industry to grow even in times of a slow economy. You will actually
see companies like Starbucks and McDonald's increase their marketing/advertising
budgets during weak economies to compete more for those dollars that are spent.
What does happen though is that consumers scrutinize the value they got
for every dollar spent. You had better make that $4 spend at the coffeehouse feel
like an good spend of their dollars or they won't come back again.
What is your location like?
We are in a brand new mixed-use building that will eventually be one of several
buildings in a development. Our building will include a restaurant, smoothie/juice
shop and a couple of office type spaces. The second floor of our building is eight
apartments/flats. There are two popular restaurants across the street. It is a
walker-friendly neighborhood with a school close and plenty of houses, and it's
on a bus route. All in all it's very good.
What is your decor going to be like?
Clean, contemporary, a little brighter than a lot of coffeehouses are. We strayed
away from the browns, blacks and dark reds you see in many coffeehouses for a
more modern feel. Leather(ish) furniture, booths, bar seating, lots of natural light
coming through our vast windows. Stainless countertops...get the picture?
Will you...
Have free Wi-Fi?
Yes - I don't understand how you couldn't these days.
Have live music?
Yes - this is Nashville. Know someone who wants to play, email us at
music@uglymugsnashville.com. We will support local singers, songwriters,
artists, writers, etc is as many ways as we can within reason.
Have food?
Yes - but not tons. We are only a restaurant as classified by the government.
We are a coffeehouse. But we will have options that go well with coffee and tea.
Most will be prepared outside of our walls so that we can focus on our coffees, teas
and atmosphere. More to come on that...
Roast your own coffee?
No - that is a whole other business that many coffeehouses have in addition
to running a coffeehouse. We love the process. It is artistic, scientific, detailed
and many other things. But like I said before we want to focus on one thing and
we will leave the processing of coffee and tea up to people who are the best
available so that we can bring the best quality to our place.
Can I get free coffee when I come in if I know you?
Jarod: No
Courtney: Yes
Liam: Goo ga bhlue
Sorry these pics aren't very exciting. You can see the drywall is going up.
The hope is that this week the space will be painted, we'll get pics.
Then the flooring should be done and equipment moved in!
Next week, the floor should be completed. You can
see the front door on the left, then a set of windows
that will have bar seating overlooking the sidewalk,
some landscaping and the parking lot.
We're trying leave as much original character of
the building as we can, like leaving as much exposed
concrete ceiling and these columns raw.
Picture this, a warm summer evening and the garage
door on the right is open, there's someone performing
music in front of the opening and your sitting with friends
having coffee and a chocolate cupcake with fluffy mint icing
See you soon. Peace and love,
TDT
