Loretta and I do a lot of things well but the thing we do best is gather friends and create connections. Loretta is affectionately known as the Happiness Coordinator and me, well I’m the Hostest with the Mostest. We love time with our girlfriends laughing, talking, crying, trying new things and drinking wine. It’s so, so good for the soul.

We decided we wanted to do this for other women. Women like us who are intelligent, strong, successful, adventurous women busy with families, work, community or all three. These women need a place to decompress. Really, what they needed and what we wanted was a ‘clubhouse’. But how does one have a clubhouse and pay the rent? We had no idea then along came ‘paint and sip’ and we knew we had found it.

It’s exactly one year today since we started on this journey together and what a journey it’s been. We thought we would rent a little space, set up a few tables, buy some canvases and pour a glass of wine or two for friends (old and new). Then reality set in. You can’t have wine without a liquor license and you can’t have a liquor license without a commercial kitchen and you can’t have a commercial kitchen without permits, licenses, contractors, leases and a whole lot of hard work and a few lessons.

Still a lot to do but we are getting close.  ONLY 18 more sleeps till we open Vin Gogh on October 1!

Stay tuned for our next blog – All I Need to Know I Learned Starting a New Business (using Robert Fulghum’s lessons from All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarden).

Written by: Brenda Mahoney, Vin Gogh Paint & Sip Studio Inc.

Construction Begins

Ready for Painting