a peanut butter and jelly store

Back in August, when I posted a picture of this table--yellow top, green legs--and the four green chairs that go with it, Mise commented, "The yellow table looks indomitably cheerful, as though it were waiting expectantly for a group of happy children for sandwiches and jelly." Since then, I think of it as the peanut butter and jelly table. Soon after that, the town flooded and I almost closed the store and then decided to keep it open, and have been constantly thinking about how I can make it better. Sometimes I wish it was cooler, or hipper, or more elegant or stylish, or something.

Those thoughts arise when I'm not in the store--when I'm there, it makes me happy. It's a peanut butter and jelly store. The peanut butter is a supermarket brand, but the jelly is from the farmers market--your choice of raspberry (with seeds) or strawberry. The bread is freshly baked---sometimes whole grain, sometimes a baguette. Some days it's served with soup. A bucket of crayons and pad of paper is at hand.

Getting tired of the metaphor? Me too. What I want is to create a store that is more than just a place to buy things. One that feels like home, but is also interesting and inspiring. Filled with creativity, and humor, and beauty, and nature. One that continues to evolve, so every week there's something new. The store's been open a year now. Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm doing it. Nothing in my previous lives pointed in this direction Have you ever done something completely unexpected, but once you've done it, it feels so right?.