Hello! We started a blog
First order of business.
We are hosting a girl scout at our shop on Saturday, February 15 from 8:15-10:15. We are gluten free at the shop, so this will be a 2 hour departure from that—for a good cause! And we know not all our customers are gf. Be sure to come and purchase a box of cookies—even if you don’t eat them, maybe somebody you know would like a box? Your dollars will go back to the community in meaningful ways to fund programming, activities, and projects for a local girl scout troop.
Ultimately our meta accounts will stay put, at least for now. We are moving along in other spheres so that we will be ready when everybody inevitably does leave meta. As a small business with a new brick and mortar, we need to allow ourselves as much wide reaching illumination through wifi connected devices as possible in order to reach our customers. Did you know that we created a Bluesky account? You can follow us there (at wakeupiowacoffee) as well. Personally, I love the fact that my brain doesn’t have to compromise its desire to connect and socialize with meta’s never ending onslaught of mysterious ads and frustrating algorithms.
Moving along.
This past weekend, we hosted our first pop-up event, adorably named Sweetie Peetie. It went as smoothly as it could have possibly gone and was a resounding success in our eyes. In the past, our events have mainly involved us setting up somewhere else, and of course without an espresso machine. It dawned on us that we probably didn’t need to have so much hot coffee made ahead of time, since we were at our shop—with an espresso machine. People did order hot togo coffees, but of course overwhelmingly our customers wanted espresso based drinks. It does make sense to have coffee hot and ready for our events, instead of our typical pour over policy (less wasteful, fresher, better) so in the future we will include this into considerations. Lol brain farting on the fact that we have an espresso machine. But when you plan an event like this for the first time, you can’t be surprised of the fact that some heads may fall off. And ours did a little.
What made the event go so smoothly was the enthusiastic volunteering efforts of our friend Mia, who helped us out at Sweetie Peetie by being on dishes duty, bussing tables, and running drinks. Pretty sure she is a living local saint or something. Her past experience working at a coffee shop (was it Starbucks?) was evident, and her help made all the difference in keeping our flow flowing. She didn’t volunteer for the money obviously, but because she is so community focused she had an intuitive knowing we would need the help. We totally tipped her out though, just as anybody who works in service should should be.
We don’t have the ability to hire anyone nor do we need to hire anyone at the shop yet. We have fielded a slew of requests on this matter, always very sweet too. Our long term goals do not include being a big employer by any means. The intention is to create and mold something at 3605 Douglas Avenue that is uniquely catered to showcase our strengths, skills, and dreams. With conservative scaling efforts. And to be a neighborhood coffeeshop, where everyone feels comfortable to be. We were tickled when last week a mini bus/van with a group from Easter Seals poured into our space. Comfortably, I would add!
Back to the event.
We had four vendors at Sweetie Peetie. A lovely little group composed of ceramic artists, a caramel maker, and a little satellite of one of Iowa’s best vintage store in our side room. Found + Formed is located in Cedar Rapid’s Czech Village neighborhood and owner Abigail Rawson is notorious for sourcing and stocking incredible treasures. Her vintage finds can also be found in downtown Iowa City’s Heim, which is a lovely shop on Washington St. housing magical selections of jewelry, healing crystals, local art, silly gifts, and vintage. And who knows, maybe some day there will be a rack of found + formed vintage in our side room at our shop in Des Moines. Definitely check out Found + Formed or Heim if you are ever over in Johnson or Linn counties.
Amanda Rhoads (she is making a new website) brought some fresh off the kiln ceramic mugs with splashy color combinations, molded for the perfect comfort grip. Vanessa of Wade Studio brought a drop dead gorgeous collection of ceramic pieces formed to suit a wide ranging floral, utilitarian, and decorative situations. Katelyn of Holly’s Caramels made her mother’s signature caramel recipe of which are a sumptuously buttery sweet concoction. I didn’t realize she only makes these caramels once a year around Christmastime. This was the first time she made her signature “best caramels ever” (they really are) outside of the holidays.
The idea for Sweetie Peetie started bubbling at the 11th annual Brilliant Crafts and Wares Fair, which was held at the Des Moines Yacht Club (also hoping they can figure out whatever legal situation is the cause for their sudden closure this week). There was an ice storm that lasted from night before that mid-December event until just a couple hours before its start.
This compelled many people who would have come and bought from makers, who had clocked hours of prep, to stay home. People still did come out and it was a good turnout all things considered! We definitely had fun together! Found + Formed wasn’t able to travel from Cedar Rapids that day because of that storm, and Holly’s Caramels was left with more leftover caramel than expected (she sold out at the Val Air Holiday Fair).
So then we both thought: wait wait wait…We should host a pop-up with local makers at our shop! And turn the side room into a vintage store. Coffee and vintage as a concept has been gaining popularity over the years, and we are so here for it. The first place to introduce this lovely marriage of sorts to me was Tru Coffee in Iowa City, which is now Kindred Coffee. Still haven’t been here, but next time I get to Iowa City I hope to pay a visit. They also have organic vegan and vegetarian food items, which I’m pumped to try!
A Valentine’s themed event seemed to time perfectly with schedules and with energy levels returning from the new year. We can’t wait to do another Sweetie Peetie! And we can’t wait to keep you on your toes with other events in the future.
Enjoy the snow from a window at home if you can, and with a nice pour over? Even better!
Stay sweet,
Cristin