Happy Father's Day

Hello all, I hope today was a wonderful day for everyone! It was a great first week at the store and I am very pleased with the traffic and response thus far! I am confident each day will bring new ideas from our heads and new people through the door. We want to keep people interested and therefore we will be changing things up a bit so people will always find a small surprise when they come in the door. We are hoping to add some fabric and glass artists soon!

We are featuring some wonderful wines as well, Twin Vines Venho Verde and Snap Dragon Red...I love it when people want to sample...because I get to join in! Shame. It's tough work.

We are going to be in the paper this week for an article on our opening so I will post that for you to see.

I am also hoping you shared this day with your loved ones and that you soaked up every minute of togetherness. I planted five flowers today in honor of my dad. He would have loved knowing I was playing in the dirt. Three of the shrubs I planted were actually from the farm he grew up on in Cumberland Co. He would be proud. Gardening is a thing in our family and it is my form of art. I've told you before I can't draw or paint, but I do love being creative in my yard.

I think he would also think it is cool having a store named after him.

Be good and stay in touch.

Well, it's about time!!!

MyleStone Gallery and Wines is now officially OPEN!!! We opened the doors yesterday morning! Yippee!! It is beautiful and everything I imagined it would be and more. It wouldn't have come together without the help of my mom and sister. Ben helped too and was very patient while I spent many hours at the store. His people-watching skills have definitely improved!! I couldn't ask for more support and generosity. Thanks guys for helping me realize this dream.

And to everyone else who has watched the store evolve over the past 9 months, thanks to you too. I have enjoyed your comments and your support. I hope you continue to watch us grow and evolve even more. Stay tuned for more as I keep you updated on the gallery artists, events, wines and more.

MyleStone has been a dream of mine for a very long time and I am very proud of this moment. I know my mom and sister are proud and I know my dad would be too. I think this has proven to be the best 'milestone' in my life so far.

Thanks for sharing the journey with me so far. Hang on for more as it's gonna be a good ride!

And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed. Dr Seuss

I think that is a great quote for this posting. Tonight was a big night...my signage went up on the door. It made it so real. Brittany and Ben were there and that made it complete. I'm excited and scared and happy and scared (I said that already haven't I?) and oh my gosh!! It's finally here. Fingers crossed all!

Yes indeed, yes indeed.

How many little things can there possibly be left to do????

I kept thinking the little things left won't take long to finish. But I would be wrong. They take FOR-E-V-E-R. I only want things to be right as I only have one time to make a great first impression. So I vacuum and I mop and I move things around and I put Orange-Glo on my newly varnished floors. I mean, really, any idea why I do that??? They were just varnished two months ago. This problem can simply be called obsession.

I obsess because I want everyone to enjoy shopping at MyleStone and to tell all their friends who will tell all their friends and so on.

My dear mother came down this past weekend to help us set things up. She keeps me on track. I had found this great tobacco basket and varnished it and she had to decorate it for me. We had some left over butterflies from the window display and we thought it would be nice to somehow add them into the basket display. She ended up adding these branches from a tree we had cut and then she added the butterflies. She was like a little kid and we all loved her creation. She manages to get a PhD in Accounting, run the entire finances for a small university and she still makes great displays???? Wow, what a talented star!

This has been such a family effort and my sister has been a gem with helping me. She also keeps me on track. She has organized the jewelry and the wine and the pottery, set-up the card display, designed my business cards...whew. I know you are asking yourself, "well, what has Meredith done?" I just supervise. And take pics of Ben in the store. And sample wine. (See why I need to be kept on track?)

What a dream store!!

Catching up...

Gosh...it is so hard to write when you are watching a tribute to your most favorite singer ever...George Strait. Isn't he just the best-est!!

Here's a quick update about the store for you though (I think I can at least put together a few coherent sentences while the camera is panning over him) so that you will know how things are coming along. We are so close to opening and I am getting more excited every day. We have some wine and beer in now, soy candles have arrived, did I mention the wine and beer???? I am now the only store in the town of Farmville to sell Duck Rabbit beer, a wonderful beer brewed right down the street from me. I have more pictures for you, but thought I would show you the store mascot and his new favorite wines.

It's all very exciting and I can't wait. It sure makes you proud to see something come together doesn't it?

You all take care now.

I'm Floored

Time for a floor update...I know you are excited. I have shown some before pictures of the floor in a previous post but I have kindly included some before shots again for you. I want everyone to see just how much fun we have had throughout this process...

We were delighted to find concrete and what looked like brick pavers under all the layers (this ranged from vinyl and cardboard tiles) of old flooring!

We, (well, not really we, but my contractor) scraped and sanded each tile in the front of the building to reveal my wonderful floor. The pic here shows the floor before I put my sealer on this week.

Now, the creme de la creme, is the platform yours truly designed :) I passed on my grand plan to my contractor who worked his magic and made it all happen. (I love being the thinker-upper of all things wonderful.) The concrete at the back of the storefront area was not in good condition and something had to be done. With so much brick and concrete I wanted a different texture and this is what we came up with...

I love it. My friend wants me to add a pole in the center....

Sneak Preview

I am a slacker for not writing over the past few weeks, but it's been just a little bit crazy! We had a sneak preview the weekend of our local Dogwood Festival here in Farmville, NC! My main goal for the weekend was to gain exposure for the store. I had items from several of the artists that will be featured in the store on display. I really enjoyed seeing the items out of their boxes and on display. Helped to give me an idea of how things are going to look for the real thing!! I have old wooden shutters and ladders for the jewelry and I must say the jewelry hanging on the chipped paint shutters looks awesome! Thanks to mom and Britt who helped a lot! I have no idea what I would do without you girls! Girls ROCK!!