May 9, 2015: One year since our expansion party. We've been making, thinking, moving, and shaking in this space for over 365 days now, and I can't help but feel a little bit reflective thinking about it all. Like with a lot of life milestones, it feels simultaneously like the party was just yesterday and also 5 years ago. I'm so happy we have a whole album of photos from that night to revisit, as well as ones from the first few weeks getting settled into our new production studio. Take a look! Photos above courtesy of Rachelle Hacmac For the entirety of the first few months of 2014, May 9th was at the top of my mind seemingly all hours of the day and sometimes into the night. The party to celebrate our expanded space - a project officially started in December 2013 that more than doubled our occupancy at 2403 NW Thurman - was attended by 400+ of our closest friends. The weeks leading up to the party were a crash course in event promotion, and I was beyond thrilled to see the work of our team pay off in attendance, sales, and general good times. Photos above courtesy of Portland Supply Co & Sarah Deragon One of my favorite quotes about writing is "We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." (thank you, Anaïs Nin) and I love our blog as a way to revisit betsy & iya moments big and small. For further reading on the expansion, I recommend revisiting two posts about the buildout process from Betsy's perspective and Will's perspective. And since there's nothing like spiraling down a hashtag for nostalgic purposes, click to view posts tagged #betsyandiyabuildout. You can see ALL the photos from our party on our betsy & iya Facebook page. Cheers to one year down and here's to many, many more. Thanks for giving me a place to stand every weekday. -Anna ***Song of the Moment: Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan***