Cafe' Louise

Did you ever wonder how did I come up with the name for my blog? Well it was the name of a coffee shop that I opened in Watertown back in 2001. I had to sell my building and close the business when my husband got a job transfer with UPS up here to central Wisconsin.

First I owned and operated a consignment shop called Second Showing for 15 years and even tho the business was doing very well I wanted to try something different so I sold the business and designed and built Watertown's 1st coffee shop in that downtown building that I owned. It was sometimes very frustrating during those 6 months of remodeling but in the end the place turned out awesome.

I hired an artist to stencil and paint murals.......check out how amazing they turned out.

We had a huge gas fireplace with a couch and recliners in front of it, kinda like Friends (the tv show). I had to get certified in the food business since we would be serving food and I also had to learn how to become a barista and to make the most amazing coffee drinks. I do miss those drinks!

We had live music as you can see in the grand opening picture, we had book clubs and even had a Creative Memories class there which is how I started scrapbooking in the first place. By the way this was a smoke free place so people loved to come have a drink, relax and visit.

It's hard to say what I liked best about the business but I think it was different people coming in every day and night and allot of them becoming my friends. I got up at 5am to start baking scones and muffins and we didn't close until 10pm so it was a very long day. We were lucky enuf to live in the loft that I had built upstairs so I never had far to go and I could always call on the intercom for my sons or someone to come down and help if I got swamped. The best part was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace after a long day and visiting with my husband when he came home from his job.

I'm starting to scrap this experience and I do still have the stained glass sign hanging here in my house and everytime I see it..............I think.............would I do it all over again? My husband says NO because of all the long hours and hard work but anyone in business knows the first few years are the hardest and then it only gets better. But the memories are enough for me right now!