Signing on the dotted line…

In my last blog post (here) I announced the exciting news that I am the proud new tenant of 13 King Street, soon to become my very own ‘Afternoon Tease’ cafe! It was such a relief and a pleasure to share the news that I’d been keeping to myself for so long. The reason for all the secrecy was because I had submitted a planning application to the Council, which if granted would allow me to cook on the premises. My whole plan was hinged around finding a place where I could bake and sell my cakes fresh to the cake loving public, so without the permission ‘Afternoon Tease’ just wouldn’t have been possible. I waited (not so patiently) for 2 months to roll around and on 15th August, got the news I’d been waiting for…application granted!

During that time I had also been negotiating the finer points of the lease, something I luckily know quite a lot about having worked as a PA in the property department of a University. I have to say, reading 60 page pompous lease documents is not something I revel in…I’d rather bake a cake any day! But, read it I did (multiple times just to be sure ;)). I received a call on Wednesday last week saying that the documents were ready for me to sign so I biked over to my Solicitors office, shaking like a leaf and waited…

and then signed the most important document of my life!…

At this point I still couldn’t spill the beans as the Landlords had to do their bit of signing before the deal was complete! I was a nervous wreck for the next 24 hours! But on Thursday 22nd August I received a phone call from Nick, my Solicitor saying ‘Congratulations you have a cafe’…music to my ears!! I sat, just shaking from head to toe with a crazy grin on my face and a tear in my eye! Then called my folks to tell them the good news before unleashing it onto my blog and the realms of social media. The amazing response that ensued brought even more tears to my eyes (yes, I am a tad emotional at the moment :))…you guys are so awesome! It was also really lovely to get messages and responses from friends who have had to endure the years of me banging on about my cafe dream that is now a reality! But anyway, that’s enough of that, before I get all teary again!

I didn’t dither when it came to collecting the keys…

and popped down to survey my little empire and toast it with a couple of glasses of pink fizz and some friends 🙂

Here is my blank canvas at number 13 King Street…

We’ve got a long way to go but us Kruczynski’s don’t hang around…

Don’t worry…the green isn’t staying! 🙂

It would have been lovely to discover that I had a wonderful parquet floor hiding under the laminate but no such luck! Instead I discovered this jumble of bad flooring…

Yesterday I was down there papering up the windows to let people know what’s going to be landing on King Street and how to follow my progress…

But don’t worry, you can still take a peek inside…

The next few weeks are going to be pretty mental, it’s all hands on deck…we’ve got some serious clearing to do before starting to install the new extraction system, fitting out and decorating…I can’t wait to see it taking shape!

In the meantime I am also on the hunt for my oven(s)…a vital piece of kit! 🙂 Just one of the many tasks on my ever increasing ‘to do’ list.

Bring it on!