Irritated

I just have to vent for a moment. There is a gal I know who lives in TX. Her husband grew up w/ my husband and so they're an aquaintance of mine. She has lost about 140lbs during the last 3 years and looks great. Here is where I get frustrated. She started her diet when we went to Texas 3 years ago. She started doing Atkins and lost about 40 lbs, then gained some weight, then joined a gym, then tried Atkins again, then switched to some expensive weight loss supplements and drinks. Off and on, back and forth, after 3 years she accomplished a 140lb weight loss and looks amazing. My husband and I got an email last night from her husband. It was to several hundred people, not just us. In the email her husband is basically telling of his wife's weight loss and how she lost it ONLY using these crazy expensive supplements which she is now selling. He then asks everyone to consider buying them because they'll make you lose weight and .....get this......help them get out of debt. He also told everyone that she lost 140lbs in one year. I was really mad. I know for a fact it took her 3 years and that she lost her weight in several different ways, not just those products. Then to have to gall to beg people to buy the supplements so they can get out of debt........i dunno, just seems really tacky. I don't appeciate it when people lie and embellish the truth so they can make money. Grrrr!!!!!!

End of rant.

So far the cake is going great. I have 3 layers of white vanilla cake, filled w/ raspberry filling and covered in a thick layer of buttercream (per the customer). I'm just waiting for the icing to crust so I can smooth it out and then it's DECORATING TIME!!!!!!!! I tried a new white cake recipe. I've made a few over the years that have been awful. They tend to be super dense, dry, and tasteless. This recipe is light and fluffy and yet sturdy enough for carving. The flavor was lovely too. I'm saving the scraps to make cake pops for my kiddos. Well I need to keep working on the cake, hope you all have a lovely day!

twilight

So I've been kinda wishy washy on my design for the twilight (team jacob) cake. I think I've finally nailed down what I'm going to do. It has some things involved that I've never tried. Crossing fingers it turns out right. I tried a new cake recipe. It smells so freaking amazing. I was hoping I'd have a little bit of extra batter that I'd be able to make a teeny 4" cake to try for myself. No such luck. I only had enough for my thre 10" layers. One layer is slightly domed, so I guess I'll get to taste the scraps. I'll post pictures tomorrow or Saturday of the cake and let you know how it all turned out.

This girl wants some CAKE!

So I recomitted myself to the bodybugg. I charged it last night and put it on as soon as I got up this morning. I have a wedding to go to in July and a very judgemental mother in law coming at the beginning of July. I need to refocus and keep working on losing the weight. I've been feeling really down and depressed for much of the last month and it's really getting old.

I have had a handful of people comment to me....."bummer you didn't start this "cake thing" years ago.....wonder where it could've taken you". Ummm can you say RUDE? I've had the passion and desire to learn cake decorating since I was in grade school. For years my mother and grandmother would promise they'd sign me up for a Wilton class, but that never happened. So I used to try and just mimick what I've seen other bakers do. Then the shows started coming on tv ie Duff and Cake Boss. This sparked a whole new passion in me. I could actually SEE how they transformed sugar and flour into works of art. As the popularity of the cake shows on tv progressed, a new outcrop of tutorials started popping up on youtube and in blogs. I realized I could learn a ton of information just by taking the time to research. It was kind of like going to school for free. So I started expirimenting. A little over a year ago I made my 1st fondant cake for my daughter's 3rd birthday. I had so much trouble with that darn cake. I had to redo the fondant several times and even then it was cracked and torn. I had to make fondant circles to cover up my mistakes. I learned a lot from that 1st cake....and really from each cake I do, I feel like I'm learning from hand's on experience. This Saturday I have a Twilight "Team Jacob" themed cake. It'll be a fairly easy one, so I'm not stressed at all. Then I want to make my mother a small but really cute Mother's Day cake. Then I will be making a guitar cake (still a little unsure how I'm going to pull this one off) and a fun rainbow/peace cake for a little girl's bday. I keep getting lectured from my mom that I'm not charging enough. I do not have the money to keep making cakes just so I can learn. If I charge people for the ingredients and a few bucks extra for my time so I can learn the art of cake making, then I'm happy. At some point, when I feel I'm not such a novice I'll up my prices. In reality I'd love to work in a cake shop and just get paid to decorate all day. I don't want to open my own bakery. I thought I did and the more I think about it, I don't think that's for me. I don't want to be concerned with payrole and hiring etc etc. I just want to dig in and do what I love best, which is making and decorating. If I can find a job at a custom cake store......that would be a dream come true for me. *finger crossed* that it will happen for me someday. Until my kids are in school full time, I will be a dedicated stay at home mom. Once they're all in all day school, then I want to start venturing out into the workplace again and really start doing what I love and have a passion for doing.

Doom and Gloom

I thought I was suffering from allergies on friday and saturday.....once Sunday hit I realized that I was coming down with the flu.....AGAIN!!! Everyone loved my cake. It was fun to see them all oooh and ahhhh over it. =) I left my parent's house at 5pm and whenI got home I crawled into bed and slept until 8am the next morning. I got up and made my son's lunch for school and sent him out the door to catch the bus. Since my other son and daughter were still sleeping I deceided to go back to bed for a little while. My son woke me up at 1:00pm because my phone was ringing!!!!! My poor kids were up and alone and never got breakfast or lunch. I felt sooo guilty! They were in good spirits though. They'd been gorging on Easter candy and watching cartoons. I went to bed early last night even though I'd slept for most of the day. I woke up today still feeling awful, but considerably better than the day before. I kept forgetting to post a picture of my new Vibram shoes. I love them!! Just wish they weren't so ugly.

Happy Easter!

I've been feeling better the last couple of days. It's been so sunny and lovely outside I can't help but feel full of life and happiness. I worked on my cake last night and couldn't believe how quickly it all came together. I started whipping up my buttercream around 6:30pm and the cake was finished within 3 hours. I did have to let the handle of the basket dry overnight though. I'm really pleased with how it all turned out. Now if I can just transport it to my parent's house w/o any mishaps I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Here are a few pictures of the cake. Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter♥

distant

Well I'd love to report that I'm doing well.....but I'm not. I haven't even worn my bodybugg in over a week. I did put it on today though. I think since the fight last week w/ hubby I've just been kind of "out of it". I feel very distant from everything. I don't even want to blog, but Mia texted me and told me to blog, so I am! My husband is taking 3 days of vacation. He has to use them by next week or he loses them. So Wednesday, today and tomorrow he's off, plus the weekend. It's hard to stay in my usual weekly routine w/ him here. I haven't been able to spend near the time I was hoping to w/ my sugar flowers. I did make a bunch of calla lillies yesterday though. The 1st 4 I made were ok....then I started tweaking things and got great results. The stamen is brushed w/ sugar glue and the dipped in cornmeal....I swear it looks exactly like a real stamen....yay! Anyhoo so now I have 3 gorgeous lillies and 4 lame lillies. Tomorrow I need to get all my cake layers baked so they can rest before I put the thing together. I hope to ice and decorate the cake saturday evening so it'll be ready for Sunday's lunch/dinner.

If anyone out there has even a little bit of extra motivation please send it my way! I so need some!!

Off the deep end.....

Hubby and I got into a HUUUUGE fight this morning. UGH! I hate weekends that start off like that. I ended up going to starbucks and getting a mocha and a slice of their lemon loaf. Then after lunch I had lots and LOTS of smore's bars (golden grahams cereal w/ chocolate and marshmallows made into bars). I hate how I eat when upset. My stomach hurts really really bad. I'm not used to all that sugar not to metion the amount of food. blech

Tomorrow I need to get a really good treadmill workout in. I need to chanel my frustrations into working out and not eating. I have had so many nights of crappy sleep......tonight I'll be taking a couple tylenol PM's to help knock myself out.

I'll be making an Italian Cream cake for Easter. I plan on decorating it w/a basket weave design to look like an actual Easter basket. It'll be filled w/ all kinds of sugar flowers. The following week I'll be making a Twilight themed cake. I'm excited!! A couple weeks after the Twilight cake I'll be doing a lime green fondant cake decorated w/ peace signs. Inside will be a rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple cake layers. FUN! I also have an electric guitar cake to make for the same weekend. I was thinking about trying something fun and girly for Mother's Day. We'll see. I might be sick of cake. (yeah right!) lol