It’s only $50 more

If we had $50 for every time we said “it’s only $50 more…”  Lately the three of us have been doing tons of shopping and have found ourselves frequently caught in the “it’s only $50 more” vortex.  It’s a mindset we all understand and have all succumbed to from time to time. It goes something like this:  your budget is tight,  you’re watching your pennies and your making every effort to be a careful shopper.  But then you see some fabulous thing that is just slightly over your budget and you begin the “it’s only $50 more” justification jig.  For us it all started when we were tile shopping.  We easily found boring tile that was within budget but then, from across the room, as if beckoning us in, we saw it...THE PERFECT tile.  Chris did some calculations and presented us with  the “well it’s only $50 more” argument. We all quickly agreed.  After all, it was well worth the larger expenditure and besides, we vowed to be more careful with future purchases. Tuesday we took delivery of our chairs, bar stools and table bases…they’re really cool and well within our budget.  On Monday we ordered our sofas and love seats, also within budget :)  So what if we couldn’t resist also buying the super cute custom-color ottomans…after all they were only $50 more!

Kettner Nights

Many thanks to all of you who stopped by to wish us well (and watch us paint) tonight during Kettner Nights.  We can't tell you how much it means to us to be so warmly welcomed to the neighborhood.  If we ever had any doubts, we know now that we picked the perfect location for 98 Bottles.  Little Italy North rocks!

The Over Budget Diet

The GC’s budget just arrived, and the numbers do not lie,

Have to save every dime cause the budget’s WAY TOO HIGH!

Last week we dined on caviar, tonight potato stew,

Tasty treats and delicacies, we bid you all adieu.

No more salmon, chocolate moose or even a slice of cheese

Just bread and water, veggies and rice, pass the soy sauce please.

Now it’s goodbye to all protein except maybe tofu,

Sorry Arrogant Bastard Ale, PBR is replacing you. 

To quench our thirst we’ll reach for tap water from here on in,

Letting Steve drink Pellegrino would really be a sin.

So be on notice Château Rothschild you're simply out of luck,

Cause we’ve gone and done it and made the switch to two-buck chuck.

But despite it all we’re having fun and really we don’t mind,

We’ll rough it out, not take the chance our credit be declined.

And remember folks for every cloud there is a silver lining,

We know that something good will come from all this meager dining.

We’ll lose some weight and feel great too, create a brand new diet,

That’s sure to work with great results for everyone who tries it.

So delicious treats and upscale meals we’re willing to forgo,

Cause once we open we’ll make tons of cash and call it Quid pro quo.

Why 98 Bottles?

Now that we’re off and running we figured it’s time to explain why we chose the name 98 Bottles (also because some folks out there are calling it 99 Bottles which is one bottle too many). 

Everyone knows the song “99 Bottles of Beer on The Wall” (and no - it’s not 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall - look it up) and when you hear it you’re instantly taken back to a school road trip, campfire, sleep over (or hangover)…either way it’s always associated with fun times and good friends.

We started planning this business (in it’s current incarnation) in 2008/09 right in the middle of the global economic collapse as well as one of the most vitriolic and divisive political campaigns in recent memory.   Fed up with 24/7 news cycles and the proliferation of more and more impersonal electronic media (that connects us while at the same time keeps us apart) we decided that we wanted to create a comfortable place where all kinds of people would want to come hang out, eat delicious but healthy food, drink cool craft beer, fun wine and creative cocktails and be entertained. We want to remind folks that earthquakes, busted nuclear power plants, crooked politicians and 401K’s aside, life is still fun and getting out of the house and spending time laughing and sharing good times are all good for your soul.

That brings us to why 98 and not 99 bottles. We want you to take a bottle down and pass it around with friends, family or even the person you just met who is sitting next to you, if not literally then metaphorically…it’s all about the sharing...THEN it will be 98. Our food menu is also designed to encourage sharing. No formal entrees here, just great platters, dips, salads, munchies and desserts you’ll want to split with everyone at the table.  Our retail store will feature great gift box ideas so when you discover an olive oil or locally made delicacy that you just love, you can pair it up with a great bottle of wine and give it to your neighbor, your boss, your aunt or your girlfriend.

Our entertainment and events calendar will be the pièce de résistance.  It will feature something for everyone - jazz, comedy, open mic, spoken word, fashion shows, food pairing events, even our own original musical revue – there will always be something fun to do at 98 Bottles. All of our entertainment and events will involve real people not TV or computer screens.  We trust that will lead to thoughtful conversation and dialogue, and maybe new friendships along the way.  This is how we plan to accomplish our mission…to get you out of the house and into the moment.

The Finished Product

The Finished Product

After two days of stripping (mostly Chris) and two more days of grinding (almost all Chris), here is the finished product, a pure concrete floor ready for staining (after a few days of sweeping and mopping-you wouldn't believe the dust).

The Grinder

Tight on cash? Start stripping...

We've known from the beginning that the budget would be tight, but we certainly didn't expect to have to resort to stripping so soon.   Being the perfectionist that he is, Chris did his research first.  After watching some instructional videos he gathered the guts to head off to the local stripper store. After shopping around he decided to go with the heavy duty steel, after all you can't expect the bests results with a cheap approach.  Amped up on caffene and sheathed in black nylon, from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm   Chris stripped away - right in our plate glass window.  Even though it was a dark and stormy day, plenty of people came by to watch the show. He may not have made any tips, but Chris certainly made an impression! Lots of neighbors raved about how delighted they are to have us joining the neighborhood.  Looks like Chris was an instant success.

By 1:30 Jill came by to try her hand at the stripping thing.   From the pictures you can see that she clearly chose the wrong outfit.  What WAS she thinking? Jill's first two attempts almost resulted in serious bodily injury.  At one point she lost control and almost went slamming into the front window.  But eventually she was stripping like a seasoned pro.  Steve didn't make it down to strip, but that's OK because that's how he used to make a living. 

After 8-hours of stripping the job is only about half done.  Its a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.  Next week we gotta start GRINDING!

The pole

The Ninja (don't try this at home)

What WAS she thinking

The Twirl

Still got lots of grinding to do

Can you hear me now?

See the little white ADA lift in the left corner? We are required to have a dedicated phone line  installed inside the lift so if someone were to become "trapped" in the lift they could call for help.  As you can clearly see, if the lift were to become inoperable during business hours a simple "hey, I'm stuck" would alert everyone in the place.   However,  if a handicapped person were to break in after hours we certainly wouldn't want them to be trapped until the police arrive, so we're o.k. with the added monthly expense.  One gleaming example of government bureaucracy at it's best.