Hello there kind people of the internet! I am writing to you live from my little windowless office. It’s Monday afternoon and I didn’t work from the office on Friday (I was at the bakery, helping them prep for the weekend – we rolled over 700 bagels!). We are officially looking at fancy schmancy bagel rolling equipment because this is staring to get cray-zee and very time consuming. I found this bagel roller that pumps out a few thousand bagels an hour! Can you imagine how much more efficient things would be?!

So anyway, my email was fuller than I like it to be coming into the week. I usually empty my email to about 50-70 (50-70 emails, but everything answered and in “stand-by” and try to register all outstanding invoices etc before the end of the day on Friday), but like I said – I didn’t come to the office on Friday and spent the day rolling bagels and doing other fun things at the shop, like:

Trying on the new merch that came in! I ordered myself and no one else one of these cozy sweatshirts. Not because I am an egotistical person (though I may be), but because I wanted to see how they look before ordering more and I can say with confidence that they are great. I have worn it for 3 days straight, but not today because it smells like soup (see below…)

Besides the sweatshirts, there was other excitement…

We have new Off Menu Bagels starting today (Monday), so I snapped some pictures. This is our roast beef bagel (made by Sheryl) with housemade roast beef, horseradish sauce, dijon mustard and lettuce. Served with fries and horseradish for dipping.

And then there is this beauty: The Tex Mex by Morgane. She is neither Texan nor Mexican, but this was her idea and I think it will do v. well. V is for very.

When we had these drawers put into the display case, the idea was to fill the drawers with merch and then we…never did. They have sat empty for the most part. So the extra t-shirts are officially living in there and we will see if anyone wants one! Also fun fact: those seeds on the doorknob are real seeds. The carpenter bought a package of crackers and glued the seeds onto the bagels one by one. They have mostly fallen off the top one because our customers like to touch them, but that’s ok. Talk about dedication to your craft.

Speaking of craft, look at this incredible cake our baker made for a special order on Friday! I was impressed to say the least. The cat even has a tail.

On Friday night, Luis and I had a could-be important meeting with a could-be important customer and then we went to a restaurant that I have been wanting him to try for weeks (I went a few weeks ago with a colleague… I sound old saying that).

Hot pot!

It was authentic hot pot, or at least I thought it seemed pretty legit with aprons to not stain your clothes and hair ties so your hair stays out of our face while you slurp the soup. There was a robot that brought us our food and a machine that sprays you with good-smelling air so you don’t leave smelling like soup (spoiler alert – it doesn’t work, I still smell like mushrooms). We also got a bottle of wine to split because the bottle was 6€ and were the last (slightly drunk) people to leave the restuarant close to 1 in the morning. Anyway, that’s why I smell like soup.

On Saturday I worked (I have relapsed in the Not-Working-on-Weekends category). I don’t have to work per se, but I do like being there on weekends. It’s crazy and busy and fun, but by 4pm I start to resent everyone and their mother for “having to work” on weekends. Luis picked me up around 5pm and then we went for a little coffee and cake at a neighborhood place called Rebel Cafe. Once we got home, I was so sleepy so I took a nap at home before going out for a girls night at my friend Jess’ house. I stayed until 1 am and had a great time, but was definitely thinking about my pajamas and a blanket starting around 12 am.

I read for about 30 seconds on Saturday night and then was dead asleep. I woke up 10 hours later feeling refresed and ready for a sunny Sunday and I have to say, it was the best Sunday I have had in a long, long time.

I went to brunch with Jess and we sat outside on the terrace of a cafe that wasn’t too full, it wasn’t freezing and when the sun hit us, it was nice and warm. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a normal person enjoying a Sunday with a friend and didn’t even think about what was possibly happening back at the shop and that felt really good. We stayed for a couple of hours and then walked all the way to Mazál (about 30 minutes) where I found a line of people outside and the girls bathroom toilet overflowing, but cest la vie. I guess this is balance!

I stayed at Mazál through the afternoon and then headed home with Luis for dinner and more reading and it was a good end to a good weekend.

Off to answer more emails and tweak our website like I always do.

P.s. Dad, this is for you!