Can you say March Madness?

I've said it before and I'm saying it again ... LOVE my repeaters :) I think I've lost count on how many cakes, cupcakes and the like I've created for my sweet friend Lisa! 

For those of you that know Lisa, you already know what a kind, hilarious and sweet spirit she is! For the rest of you, you should know she's pretty amazing. I've known Lisa for probably around 6-7 years and you talk about someone who is always upbeat, fun (I mean FUN!), loves to celebrate, extremely generous, first to volunteer and give of her time and loves her family & friends ... which brings me to her latest & greatest request! Basketball & Jayhawks for her baby who turned double digits! Happy Birthday Anthony!

I would say that's what is most fun about creating these cakes and cookies are the friendships & the stories! I love hearing what they are planning to celebrate and the excitement & emotion that goes along with everything! 

Definitely reminds me of my mom and how she was pretty much upbeat all the time (every time she called, it was, "Hi! It's your mom!) and loved celebrating everything ... even the smallest of celebrations! I would love to have her around to help celebrate all the goodness in our family.

So keep the cake & cookie orders coming and let's keep celebrating the goodness!

Basketball, Babies & Princess Parties...oh yeah!

The baking bash is definitely ON! It's been so fun creating all the cool and creative cake, cupcake & cookie designs my friends have been giving me...very thankful for all the baking!

This Thursday will be 6 years since my mom has been gone. It still seems like it was yesterday and there are so many things I'd love to share and talk with her about. I especially wish she was here to see Hannah & Hank and how they are growing up, the conversations they have and how they remind me of my mom in the sweetest ways. On the not so sweet ways, I'm sure my mom would tell me I was exactly the same ... haha. She would love everything about them!

I love baking (more than cooking) and love baking in memory of my mom. She always baked our cakes and I love that I can do this for Hannah & Hank ... and carry the tradition onto my family & friends.

My husband Torie told me something in the midst of one of my saddest days after losing my mom..."Think of all the things your mom did for you to make it special and then keep doing those things for Hannah & Hank"... what a perfect way to remember my mom and keep the memories going with Hannah and Hank.

Speaking of baking memories ... here are a few of the latest "memory" creations that my friends have so graciously asked me to create!

So ... bring on the baking ... keep the memories coming ... and I'll keep creating!

Sweet Strawberry Shortcake!

Love when my friends keep coming back for more cookies, cakes & cupcakes ... asking me to create them that is!

The best part is who, where, when, why & what my friends want me to create. I love hearing the "story" behind the celebration and I find that I'm suprisingly blessed every time! This ... I'm sure is why my mom was always so involved in teaching and helping others ... for the blessing! So for this creative outlet of creating all things yummy ... I'm thankful for the baking culinary creativity that my mom has passed on to me. Both my mom & dad for that matter!

Now on to the adorable "Strawberry Shortcake look-a-like" birthday girl ... Ms. Kerry who just turned 4! Kerry's outfit looks like it was made to go with her cake ... who knew cake could be fashionable?

Strawberry Shortcake definitely takes back ... well, at least to when my sister Em's (aka Emily) was little and all those yummy smelling dolls ... Lemon Chiffon was my fave! Loved their curly hair and cute clothes to boot! I do remember also a Strawberry Shortcake book my own Hannah loved and how we were "stuck" on that book (& all its sweet smelling stickers) for about a month.

Ahhhh, the childhood memories mixed in with my being a mommy memories ... that definitely takes the cake!

Well...it definitely has been awhile since I was out here baking & creating but the good news is...I'mmmm baaaack!

Feels good to be baking today...good tunes, good designs and definitely good smells making the house smell yummy!

Thanks to my friend, Traci Shortt for helping me get back to baking (stay tuned for Fiona's double birthday cakes tomorrow)! Actually, thanks to all my friends (Lisa A., Anne H. and many others) who keep checking in to have me bake/create cakes & cookies!

So...that's the dealio...back to baking and loving it! Bring on the creativity!

Someone's baby is double digits!

I know I've said it before but I LOVE my repeat customers because they are so sweet & kind to support my creative venue of cakes & cookies ... thank you Lisa!

So Lisa's "baby" turned the dreaded (not really) double digits! I think as moms we just don't want our baby girls to grow up. It's one thing to see them go from babies to young ladies but for me it's all the in between things that make me nervous. However, with all the "in-between" things, there's even more goodness with each day so for that I'm thankful!

Lisa's double-digit daughter had recently seen "Soul Surfer" (loved this movie) and wanted to go with a surfboard theme for her birthday complete with a bite out of the board.

What sweet dedication to an amazing young lady like Bethany Hamilton! I loved creating this cake while thinking about this movie and remembering that no matter what or how severe if your faith is grounded in Jesus Christ, He will help you move through. It may not be pleasant, fun or easy but He will always be there for you to lean on. I definitely need to be more like that ... it's okay to get mad and "fall down" but I have to remember .... it's not about how many times you fell down ... it's how many times you got up! Not only do I need to remind myself of this truth but for my peepers (Hannah & Hank) as well .... it's okay for me to watch them "fall down" but I need to be there to help them "get up" and learn from the falls.

Thank you Lisa & Meredith for reminding me to keep pressing on no matter what! Happy Happy Double-Digits to Meredith!

Turning 9 and oh so fine!

My sweet friend Traci (love my repeat customers!) asked me to create her darling daughter's (Fiona) 9th birthday cake!

Ms. Fiona also is getting ready to receive her blackbelt (kick it Fiona!) so a Taekwondo (not Karate as Traci educated me and btw hotmail detected that Taekwondo was not in their dictionary, but a possible substitute was "Wonderbra" ... really? Must be b/c they are kickin'? Not sure there but hilarious! Thanks Traci for the belly laugh!) cake was definitely in order!

This is what I love about creating cakes and cookies for all events, milestones and just because reasons. I feel like I get to be a part of the celebration in the design and creation. I never know what kind of creations my friends will ask for and I'm always up for the challenge ... that's the best part!

So Happy 9th Kickin' Taekwondo Blackbelt gettin' Birthday Fiona! May you continue to kick it forward and accomplish great things!

Sweet & Surprising 16!

I love how good news travels around ... my friend Pam @ work asked me last week about doing a cake for her son's 16th birthday .... that weekend. Well, if you know me, I can't say no when it comes to my cakes because I would hate to miss out on helping to create a celebration and creating a new cake! I asked Pam how she knew I did cakes and my other friend, Brenda had swayed Pam from going to Costco (don't get me wrong, LOVE their cakes!) and calling me instead! Thank you girls!

While we're on the subject of 16th birthdays, I remember my 16th birthday like it was yesterday (yes that's a bit cliche' but it's true) for a couple of reasons.

The 1st reason was the surprise 16th birthday party my parents pulled off for me (who knew parents could be cool when you're 16 AND pull off a surprise party). My mom had secretly moved my clock back by an hour or so AND had managed to get a boat load of my friends over to the house BEFORE school to surprise me when I came downstairs. Of course my mom had all this awesome food & table set-up (like she always did for pretty much any meal) and everything was perfect.

The 2nd reason was getting my drivers license ... excited and nervous at the same time. I really remember this day like it was yesterday so bear with me on the details.

I'm in Typing 1 (yes with electric typewriters) and my mom comes to pick me up in the middle of class so everyone knows I'm going in for my drivers test. I'm sure my mom was coaching me the entire way because her whole life she never received a ticket and no I'm not kidding and yes, she liked to tell us that. So ... at the DMV (the old 18th Expressway location) .... it's old and gross in there and no one is nice. I take the test and pass. Check. Now for the drivers test.

Picture this ... I'm in a 2 door Oldsmobile Delta 88 ... light blue ... with crush velour seats. Nice. The drivers test guy goes through the safety checks and everything's going smoothly until we get to testing the horn ... really? A horn test? Well, I go to honk the horn and nothing. Okay, so it's broken ... let's get on with the test. The super cool 'Barney Fife'-like drivers test guy says, "No can do miss. Not with a broken horn." Again, really? Super. The worst part was not really getting to take my drivers test but going back to school where everyone was waiting (or so it felt) to see my drivers license. And to top it all off, I'm sure I'd had changed several times that morning to be sure my picture was perfect. Talk about embarrassing!

Talk about a day of surprises ... all in all, I survived and still had friends and had the pleasure of returning for my drivers test with our lovely wood paneled, diesel station wagon complete with an alarm ... and I passed.

Learning to handle the little letdowns along the way is always challenging but after I've gotten through it, it's really not that bad. I have my health, my family and blessed with more than I could ever imagine.

So Happy 16th Birthday Gus and may your life be full of 'sweet surprises' that continue to help you grow & be stronger! Bring on the surprises!