June 25, 2009
(E discovered teething biscuits– disgusting and delicious)
I am prepared with a rather long list of excuses as to why I haven’t posted in a while. Get ready…
- Last weekend was Solstice in Fairbanks, which means a lot of fun stuff to do around town- including the Midnight Sun Festival where we got some good fair food and enjoyed the awesome sunshine (all night).
- I officially named the cupcake business “yum”.
- I set up a meeting with a woman at the Cooperative Extension, they have a division that helps small businesses get started. We will meet to talk about what can happen next.
- I baked for the Bolz’s Bake Sale/Garage Sale.
- I now have three more orders. Whoo!
- Elliot is still trying to crawl… he just won’t pick up his belly off the floor. He is making it so much harder for himself.
- I started working out 4 days a week and I’m feeling GREAT! (granted, it’s only week two).
- I applied for a job that I was WAY under qualified for. It felt good just to beef up my resume.
- I did a cupcake decorating birthday party for my now 11-year-old friend, Maddie. It was fun! The girls were so intense about their cupcake designs.
- We also swear E said “Daddy” the other morning when Andy woke him up. He said “Mama” long ago… more like “Mamamamama”. I’ll take it.
- Our vacuum cleaner died a slow painful death & we have a shedding dog. Ewww…
- We are still trying to plant grass around the yard. It’s a slow process, mostly because we are lazy.
- Andy got a new (and awesome) grill for father’s day and it took both of us to put it together.
- I added a “yum” page to the blog (did you see it?). It has photos of cupcakes that have been good and will soon have a menu & price sheet.
- “So You Think You Can Dance” is on TWO nights a week.
I think those are all of my reasons. I’m back to posting (we’ve heard that before).
Last weekend was BEAUTIFUL in Fairbanks. On Saturday I got up early and brought cupcakes over to our friends’ bake sale and then I got coffee and went to the farmer’s market. It was so packed! It was great to be out in the morning, enjoying the sunshine, the people and the great stuff at the FM. I got to have a great little conversation with Gretchen from “Gretchen’s Confections” about starting a business. I picked up some lettuce from our CSA farm and had a lovely morning. E and Andy were at home playing and sleeping. Flying solo feels good every now and again.
I am missing riding my scooter this summer. I am still really upset that it’s socially unacceptable (or illegal) to carry your baby on your back on a motorized vehicle. Andy said I should get one of those bike trailers and throw E in the back… I still think that’s frowned upon.
June 9, 2009
I have been feeling particularly… restless. Not in the active, get things done kind of way. More like in the cranky, depressed, unsatisfied with my life kind of way. I know I have not been a fun person to be around. I find myself taking inventory of my life and just not really being happy with the sum of the parts. Not that I’m doing any addition, I just get this weird feeling like there is so much more and I’m somehow missing out. I am not sure what I’m missing out on, though. I love my family, I love my friends, most days I love my job. I just feel so… average. Does that sound crazy? I think it sounds childish and spoiled.
I’m thinking and praying about what this might mean for me. (I know, you’ve all heard that before). But because of this I do have a reignited fire for getting a cupcake business rolling. I stalled for a while because I realized that I need to get quite a few permits and find a commercial kitchen before I can do regular sale to the public. But for now, I can operate on word-of-mouth publicity. I have an order for 50 (!) cupcakes in July. I just did a birthday party with seven lovely girls. It was a blast. They were surprisingly so intense about their cupcake designs. I loved every minute! SO…
The next task is finalizing a name. Here are some that I’ve narrowed it down to:
- abundance
- a cake of your own
- yum
- sugar rush
- lick the spoon
- eighty nine
Let me know what you think.
May 12, 2009
Here is my first decorated cake. I know the colors are tacky… but I was experimenting. I’m feeling pretty good about my skills so far. I think they will get better with practice. Next week I’ll be learning a few more skills and making my “finale” cake. Should be a fun time.
I also just spoke with a friend and I am going to help her with a CUPCAKE DECORATING PARTY for her daughter’s 11th birthday! How fun is that?! So I might be teaching some little gals how to make fancy cupcakes. I am excited.
I also found out that I have not had a cold for the last month, in fact, I have allergies. My doctor gave me 5 prescriptions. I’m feeling back up to about 68% and looking forward to feeling better.
In Elliot news, he is rolling all around and trying really hard to scoot around on his belly. He wants to crawl… just not quite there yet. We also just saw his first tooth break the surface. I’ll try to snap a picture soon.
May 9, 2009
For my cake decorating class I had to make a cake to bring with me. It actually turned out pretty well.
Here is my beef with cake decorators. They just want to make their cakes look really good. The recipe they use for frosting is HORRID. It’s called butter cream, but there is no butter in it. Yuck. I think all of my cupcake research has turned me into a baking purist. I’m okay with that. I want to use real ingredients that taste delicious. That is priority numero uno. If I can make them look good, too, then that’s a bonus.
