Beautiful Madison morning. Perfect day to start something new.
Here we are
And we’re here! On December 10, 2011, we officially opened our beta site and launched www.chocolate.ly. It was a soft launch, as we’re still ramping up our operations over here. But almost immediately, after we opened our doors, we had orders. AWESOME! I was excited.
My husband always makes fun of me for this — for getting excited about things most people wouldn’t get excited about, or wouldn’t even notice: letterpress cards, a beautiful teak garage door, the way pajamas feel when you take the extra 2 minutes to put them in the dryer before putting them on and crawling into bed.
Or going through customs at the airport. Weird, I know. But one of my favorite part of any trip is when the plane touches down, back on US soil, and when heading through the customs area, the custom official looks at your passport, gets out the big stamp that goes ‘clomp’ and says, “welcome home”. No matter where you’re coming back from, (for me, most recently it was Mexico), they say it. “Welcome home”.
The night before we launched chocolate.ly, I was up late, tossing and turning, too excited to go to sleep. And when we launched and we hit the ‘live’ key, all I could hear was that stamp. ‘Clomp’.
See, to me, chocolate IS home.
Chocolate is my go-to when I want to celebrate, and my go-to when I need to console. Chocolate is what I indulge in and what I reward with. I love chocolate in the morning, in pancakes or in banana bread, and I love chocolate in the evening, in a hot cocoa or in an ice cream treat.
I love white chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate with nuts, chocolate with fruits. I love chocolate in bars and chocolate in truffles. I love chocolate in drinks and chocolate in breads. But most of all, I love decadent chocolates. Artisan chocolates. Chocolates that delight with the surprise of an herb or the scent of lavender.
And so, out of love, I am building a home for chocolate life, chocolate culture – a destination for all things chocolate.
So if you love chocolate too, then from the new founder of chocolate.ly, dare I say, welcome home.
