Approval Day: May 27, 2019

I was still sleeping when Kate shook me awake.  

“We’re in!  We’re in- they did it!”  Kate yelled.  “Final health is approved!”

It was Memorial Day 2019.  May 27th, exactly 3 months before our wedding- our lucky number 27 struck yet again!  Now it was “Approval Day.”

I threw some clothes on & we both rode our beach cruisers to the shop.  Eric & his crew were there, correlating all of the paperwork.

“Congratulations guys,” Eric said.  “You now have the green light to start selling your delicious grilled cheeses.”

“Thank you guys so much,” Kate said.  “Oh my God, it doesn’t even feel real.”  The moment was like something you’d see on a reality show when the home builder shares the big reveal with the home owner.  

I thanked Eric & his crew multiple times as well.  It had taken them a little more than 4 months to get it done, but I know most of extra time was due to the city & waiting for inspections.  None of that mattered right then- the shop looked great & it was our turn to take over.

We all left together, the builders for the last time & Kate & I for the first of many, many, many times, we hoped.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go to Restaurant Depot & we’ll getting everything setup, stocked & cook a bunch of bacon on our new griddle,” I said. 

“Perfect.  Then we’ll open Wednesday 2-8,” Kate said.  “I’ll post it on facebook & instagram.  I don’t want to do anything too big for a grand opening.”  

We spent the rest of the day hanging out with some friends in our yard, enjoying one last day off.  It was hard not to share the biggest Mad Munch news we’d had in years.  

The irony of Approval Day was also hard not to notice. 

After all of the waiting around, it only made sense that we’d open on a Wednesday afternoon, right before the OB Farmers Market began, just a block away from our new shop’s front door.