My Handyman

Jim has contributed major points to his "Husband of the Year" tally with all of his help in getting Zoe assembled and ready to go!

We had a good start to the day on Friday when my MIL, FIL, and SIL arrived.  We loaded a number of things into my FIL's truck and headed for the store.  After a quick unload, they surveyed the situation with the wall units and my FIL determined what type of anchors were needed to install them (they do not come with bolts since they can be used in different ways with different types of wall materials).  He and I were off to Lowe's and then Home Depot (they didn't have enough of the right size anchor at Lowe's) to buy the necessary hardware.

We got started installing and had done two prior to Jim's arrival in the afternoon.  He quickly surveyed the scene and gently took charge of the situation.  He and his dad work well together and they were able to make a difficult task go smoothly.  While I love the wall systems, they are almost too configurable!  I need to figure out how to best make use of them to display the merchandise!

Today, Jim and I split the tasks at the store in the morning.  I put together the rolling racks (for staging the clothes) while he installed the toilet paper holder (always a necessity!)  I installed the wireless router and configured Zoe's wireless network while he filed out the not quite even holes in the bottom of the two way racks and assembled them.  We then took stock of what was needed next - shelves for the storage room, hooks for the dressing rooms, and a paper towel holder for the bathroom.  It was off for a quick lunch and a trip to Home Depot!

Back to the store in the afternoon and Jim continued his installation work while I tried some combinations with the wall units and different sizes of hangers.  At around 3:45, we had a delightful visit from a longtime friend of mine, Michelle.  Michelle had moved to Wrightsville Beach, NC a few years ago and was in the area visiting after a trip to NY!  It was so lovely to catch up with her and show her all things Zoe!

So much has been happening recently that sometimes I forget some of the small, interesting things that happen along the way.  Since I've appeared on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Bureau website, I'm getting a lot more attention from people wanting me to advertise - I've had calls this week from Northern Virginia magazine and the Washington Post.  I also got confirmation that the ResortMaps (with the Zoe advertisement) will be coming out the second week in April - perfect timing!

Our living room/dining room is slowly returning to normal (meaning we don't have 40 boxes stacked all around)!  I did get two jewelry shipments this week, one of which has a really neat story.  The artist is from northeast Georgia (close to the location where my family lives).  She called me a couple weeks ago to tell me that one of the bracelets I had selected had been broken when she was preparing it for shipment and she would be sending me a slightly different one.  She had lived in the DC area many years ago and asked me where my shop was located.  She was thrilled when I told her that I was just down the street from The Torpedo Factory!  As an artist, she thought that was very cool.  One of the things I loved about her jewelry is that each piece has a story and an inspiration behind it.  It was really a lovely thing to talk directly to the artist.

LOTS more to do this week.  And I'll try to do better with the pictures!