shuen
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 07:24PM There is a Chinese word, shuen, which means flowing or smooth sailing, and it seems when you are on the right track, everything just flows and feels effortless.
Take this new coffee shop I just opened yesterday, for example. I saw that this little space (385 square feet) was available in December, and I called the landlord and said I'd take it without asking any questions. He laughed and said sorry, he'd just signed a lease to someone else. Bummed, I said to please call me if anything changed.
Fast forward to June 27th, when I got a call out of the blue saying the space would become available soon. I wanted to take over on September 1st so I'd have some time to plan and get everything together, but after negotiating for two weeks, it became clear that if I didn't take over the lease by August 1st, they would find someone else.
So, on July 12th, I turned in my signed lease. On July 14th, I found three amazing baristas to help me out. And yesterday, on August 1st, we opened a brand new little coffee shop with tons of colorful art covering the 15-feet-high walls and a sky blue ceiling, we're serving the best coffee we could find (Ecco, a boutique branch of Intelligentsia), serving the best food we could find (organic, local vegetarian spring rolls, grain salads and turkey sandwiches for those who need some protein), baking fresh cupcakes daily and we already have a steady stream of customers. Somehow, in those two weeks, we all completed our food safety certification and a full-day barista training down in LA, sorted out our dairy delivery, and acquired all of the coffee, coffee equipment, baking ingredients and equipment, and paper cups and so on.
It's a minor miracle, but that's shuen for you. The universe/God/whoever you believe in at work.
Reader Comments (4)
Good luck with the shop! This sounds amazing.
Thanks! :-)
this is great. a d-house reunion here?
Ha-- YES!!! Meese always welcome in my home, in my little coffee shop-- anywhere I go, D-house peeps are welcome. :-)