I thought that at this point I would have blogged many times about the fantastic progress on the Tanasbourne location. I thought wrong. Why, you ask? Well, one word: permits. For those of you who have never had the, ahem, pleasure of being involved in a commercial buildout, there is a little thing called permits that can sometimes stand in the way. Permitting differs from state to state and county to county, and Washington county has a rep for being sticklers. So this is how the story went:

Day 1: Demo
Day 2: Wall Framing goes up.
Day 3: Kolan (my infinitely patient contractor) informs me that I will need lots of permits, and said permits can only be attained by getting drawings stamped by an architect. These drawings cost upwards of $3000 that I did NOT budget for. Pause for small meltdown.
Day 4: Remember that my dear pal Marywynn’s husband is an…drumroll…architect!!! Call him and plead my case and ask if he can help.
Day 5: Fly to Las Vegas for the Esthetics Convention, all the while seething at the fact that the store has been untouched for nearly a week.
Day 6: Get a call from the great Kenton (the aforementioned architect) to tell me that he is in the process of cutting through the red tape at the Hillsboro permitting department and getting things straight. Love. Him.
Day 7: Vegas.
Day 8: Success! Success! Kenton found out that I do NOT need stamped drawings! All I need are basic drawings done by Kolan, the HVAC company, and the Electricians! I deeply heart Kenton and Marywnn.
Day 9: Flurry of phone calls to and from the Hillsboro permitting department. Emails, faxes, scans, messages.
Day 10-14: Repeat day 9.
Day 15: Finally ready to see permit department after much interaction. I have spoken to every person in every department at least once per day. They are sweet and helpful and don’t even act annoyed when they hear my voice. However, there are many departments to wade through, everyone needs to sign off, and I want to make sure all of my ducts are in a row before I drive to Hillsboro. SO, I schedule an appointment for the next day: Friday.
Day 16: Arrive at the permitting department at 3pm. I have all of my drawings, my applications, and an expectant smile. They review my permits for 30 minutes, then return to tell me that they are all signed off except for the Mechanical department (HVAC) and no one will be there until next Tuesday. Try not to cry in front of them. Drown my sorrows with a Sonic hot dog and tater tots. Don’t judge me, people.
Day 17: Take Stella down to the empty shop, stare at the metal framing, and tell her one day all this will be hers. She is unimpressed.
Day 18-19: Nothing.
Day 20: Back to Hillsboro. Talk to the main in charge of permitting and explain to him the story. He tells me that the guy that I have been dealing with is on vacation until THURSDAY and there is no record of my permit application. Heart stops. Pleading, hand wringing, whining begins. Finally, after much review, conferences with the other departments, and data entry: SUCCESS! They hand me my permits!!! I squeal with delight and clap my hands. I ignore the stares. At this point, I’m pretty sure they were tired of dealing with me, and/or they felt sorry for me. I skipped out of the department, permits in hand!!!

So, that’s if folks. A bit of advice: get permits first. Get permits first. I repeat: get permits first!!!