Hey, y’all.  I’m writing this on the eve of the eve of New Year’s Day.  I know it’s a little premature for the requisite New Year thanks, well wishes, and predictions, but there’s a better than average chance that I will be too incapacitated to write this (or anything for that matter) tomorrow night.

First, in addition to my conceding that this blog post being published tonight is premature, I also would like to concede that a pseudo-state of the union blog post, such as this, for a business establishment that has been open for a little over 3-months, is also somewhat premature.  Nevertheless, I’d be remiss to not take this opportunity to comment on the relevance of 2013 for us, followed by a brief and mostly detail-free description of what’s to come in 2014, then conclude with stilted sincerity in the form of thanks.

I’d like to think that 2013 will hold a special place in our hearts for years to come.  It was the year that we built something out of nothing.  At the beginning of 2013, we had nothing but a purchase & sale agreement, and as the year draws to a close, we have a fully functional business that employs dozens and serves hundreds.

BUT THERE’S MORE TO COME!

Next month, we’ll start work on the ground level retail space.  Soon, the humdrum stretch of wood flooring in front of our frontdesk will transform into a lightning hot espresso-blasting café with side juice bar.  Wicker Park won’t know what hit it.  It’ll be like that one scene in Kingpin where Woody Harrelson throws cold (then piping hot) coffee in Willie Garson’s face.  Let’s watch:

Ouch!  That looked like it hurt.  Better get a cool, damp rag, Wicker Park.

Finally, on a personal, exceeding sappy, note: super big thanks to all of you who make Holiday Jones the place that it is.  As a hospitality establishment, Holiday Jones took a little bit of a risk, in that we constructed a place that really only works if the people inhabiting it get along with one another.  We have a bunch of common spaces and encourage all our guests to use them, to be friendly and to meet new people.  We ran the risk of people not gelling and the whole thing taking a giant Chevy Chase circa-SNL pratfall.  Like this:

But somehow, that didn’t happen.  Everyone likes each other.  And we hope you continue to like each other in 2014.  And I mean, really like each other.  Like, like LIKE each other.  And like us.  We (particularly me) are constantly in desperate need of positive bolstering.

Thank you and happy 2014,
Holiday Jones