Cake Line, Holiday Displays, NBA Table

1. It's another day of getting up at 4 AM. I wonder if it's because it's Cake Boss day. Stacie marked out the line with painters tape yesterday. Not everyday blue painters tape, but a green that looked a little more like frosting to our taste.'

We have been fielding calls for the last week. We have at least one middle school coming, as well as some culinary students. Thanks to the Journal Sentinel, Onmilwaukee.com, the Shepherd Express, and all the other folks who have helped promote the events. And yes,

the extra Sharpies arrived.

2. Almost all of our Christmas stuff is now out, save for some wooden trees I bought at the gift show. That's for another post, but here's one of our new tables. Our post-Halloween markdown actually got rid of a few things (some of the markdowns are now integrated into the mix at the lower price, while other things are waiting for a post-Christmas table). Puzzles and book club recommendations got mixed around.

I asked Jason if we had more Christmas-themed books this year. He said less, actually, at least in quantity per title. His pick? Lewis Black's, I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas. It's a bit Scroogian in it's ambitions, with entries like "The Carol from Hell" and...actually, I don't feel comfortable listing the subtitles. Good job, Lewis!

3. Hope to post a picture of our hanging puzzle pieces soon, that are calling attention to our jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes we sell puzzles well, sometimes we don't--it depends where we put them. There are a few displays of death in the store, so we try to rotate everything into a good spot for at least part of their lifespan.

If you've been in the store recently, you'll notice we like to hang things from the ceiling. In the last month:

a. bats (they are now down)'

b. autumn leaves

c. aforementioned puzzle pieces

d. globes

e. and a few wind chimes that are on clearance. They are a good deal and we're almost out of them.

Now if I could just hang a little more signage.

3. Our National Book Award nominee table finally looks full. Here's a list of finalists. Don't forget, Jaimy Gordon, the nominee from McPherson for Lord of Misrule is reading here on Monday, January 17th, with Christine Sneed. Here's a list of finalists. I don't know why there's a profile of Andy Borowitz, but I'm all for it, as he visited the store last year and was quite nice.