Welcome back to the Warm Wishes blog. I know it's been a minute since I last wrote and oh, do I have updates to share! It's two days away from the Warm Wishes soft opening and the Bell Tower Festival officially kicks off tomorrow. These June dates have been in my head since January and it's hard to believe they are finally here.
In preparation for the soft opening, Clancy's dad, Lloyd, and nephew, Cooper, drove up from New Mexico and Arizona, and spent five days in Jefferson helping build custom display pieces for Warm Wishes. I'm posting photo updates on Instagram (@warmwishesfromiowa) and will post more of the final products once they are fully arranged and decorated. These photos are available for anyone to see, regardless if you have an Instagram account or not.
These past two weeks have been full of highs and lows involving lots of caffeine, many trips to the hardware store, delirious late-night work sessions, and the first selfie (of many I'm sure) in front of the "glitterberry pink" display. I am so fortunate to have a community of makers supporting the vision of Warm Wishes, like Clancy, Lloyd, and Cooper, my friend and artist Queena Hoang (@createdbyqueena) who built custom card display stands, and the fabulous stationery vendors and designers that fulfilled last-minute restock requests. And I would be remiss not to mention the generous financial support I received from the Jefferson Matters: A Main Street & Chamber Community earlier this month.
I'm trying to bring a "bird-by-bird" mentality to each day (referencing another Amy Poehler thing here somehow... ) and as expected, my to-do list is slowly whittling down. The floor will get mopped, the shelves will get stocked, people will stop by this weekend, and the brick-and-mortar Warm Wishes will take shape! I hope to see you soon.
The details: