Whisking on Pens & Needles

There is definitely *plenty* to celebrate on the third birthday of this blog!  Here are some of the highlights:

• Today is my first day of freedom from corporate America
• I sign the lease for my new cake studio next week (on my birthday!)
• I have a pre-paid cake order to deliver next weekend
• I’ve been asked to submit sketches of both wedding & grooms cakes for another magazine

It still hasn’t quite sunk in that I have officially made the leap into entrepreneurship just yet, but I am sure once I start writing those big checks, it will seem much more real!

The universe must know that I need to be busy so I don’t freak out about not having a steady income for the first time in over 10 years.  There is definitely a lot to get done in the next few weeks, while I wait for my construction drawings from the architects & engineer working on the bakery space.  Between prepping for our second BBQ of the season, getting a cake done for delivery on the day of our BBQ (yes, I am crazy for accepting the order, but I couldn’t say no & it’s a small cake), coming up with some creative ideas and getting sketches drawn out by next Wednesday, reviewing my lease, & getting bakery insurance – I’m relieved I don’t have to squish in commuting & a 40+ hour workweek next week!

Today marks the very beginning of a brand new chapter in my life … here’s hoping it’s a great one!

I can’t believe it’s been two years already … but today is officially the two year birthday of this blog!  As one might guess from the far fewer postings this year, it’s been a crazy one.  In many ways I felt like I grew up a lot more in the past year than ever.  If your 30′s are about finding out who you really are and caring less about what others think of you … then I think I’m on the right path.

I’m extremely grateful for the completely awesome ring of people in my life right now.  I’m not going to name names, but they all know who they are.  While I tend to cocoon and pull into my hermit-crab like shell during difficult times, these are the people that knew when to let me have my space and also just full on dragged me out to have a good time at those critical points when that’s just what I needed, even when I thought it was impossible.  This past year has definitely had it’s fill of challenges – the biggest of which included; finding myself as the sole breadwinner for a bit, real estate ups & downs (both commercial & residential) and losing both my grandmother & our sweet little girl.

It wasn’t all bleak though – there were plenty of good times had, happy surprises and a lot of steps taken to get closer to my dream.  Our mulch pile provided us with some awesome surprise pumpkins, Jay got a job he’s much happier in, we paid off our car, saved a ton of money, found “our” new crack pizza place, finally got a jitney to the train for a much more pleasant daily commute, and I’m really working on finally getting that legal commercial bakery space.  We also managed to get around to fixing up our house to get ready to put it up on the market … so fingers crossed that by this time next year we’ll be happy in our new home! 

My current day job also brought on a slew of SweetElement orders, and in down-times I found the inspiration to make a few killer cakes of my own to share with friends and family.  So all in all, the SweetElement circle of influence is growing.  Hopefully, in the next year or two the circle will grow exponentially.

One of the toughest challenges of the past year: Time.  I still haven’t figured out how to hold it all together – exercise, commuting & day job, SweetElement orders, setting up a shop, seeing friends & family, keeping a non-exploded house (exterior & interior), giving the mousers the attention they crave, and finding time for date nights with Jay.  Oh, and sleep.  Did I mention that … yeah, sleep.  The gym hasn’t seen any of me in quite a bit – ever since Jersey passed.  My jeans tell me it’s time to go back … so somehow I’ve got to carve out some time for it.  Let’s see if 31 is when I finally manage to get it all together!

Until next time … thanks for stickin’ with me y’all!