Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Holiday Wishes

Hi All!

We are working diligently to get our little shoppe up and running. It looks like we will be opening in January and I can't think of a better way to start the new year. The hubby and I have been extremely busy making the new space fabulous; I am thinking of buying my own tool belt at this point. It will be great and we can't wait to see everyone's gorgeous faces on opening day. I will keep all posted as to the exact date. We are still available for orders so shoot us some emails; the kitchen is still open.

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, Hanaukah, Kwanza, beautiful holiday. I hope you are able to spend time with the ones that you love and that peace follows you throughout your celebrations! We will see you all in 2009!

Happy Tidings!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Cupcake Update

Hi Everyone!

I am sorry that it has been so long since I posted anything. BabyCakes Cupcakes has been extremely busy the past month, which is wonderful! The most exciting news of all is that we just signed our lease for our new retail space. Hooray!!!! Our sweet little cupcake shoppe will be located in Patchen Village off of Richmond Road. We should be up and running by the middle of December, but I will keep everyone posted for the exact date. We are so overwhelmingly excited to finally have a home for BabyCakes Cupcakes. We will still try and deliver as much as possible, but I think this will open the door for even more people to come and visit us. I really do love the delivery part of the business; it let's us meet so many wonderful people on such a personal level. So, thank you so much to everyone who has supported us and who continue to spread the word. To all the new folks, welcome to the family!!!

On a sad note, our sweet Bella Rose lost her fight with lymphoma last month. It has taken me a long time to post the news; it was just too hard to see in print. She was such an amazing dog and truly fought harder than most human creatures. Bella touched everyone that she came in contact with and for that I am so proud to have had her in our lives. She was truly a gift from above and to all the wonderful people who sent their love and support, I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. We fought very hard for her, but in the end, I knew that she would do things on her terms. The crew at Sheabel and Bluegrass Vetrinary Specialists are such an amazing group of people. They loved her very much and showed her such compassionate respect. They are truly a part of our family and I will continue to sing their praises from the roof-tops. We miss her horribly, but both Keith and I know that we did all that we could to give her a great life. In return, she blessed us with her tail-wagging, sassy-barking, unconditional love.

Peace & Love!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Finding a Balance



Hi All!
BabyCakes Cupcakes had a great weekend. We helped support breast cancer this weekend by baking a multitude of cupcakes for local businesses and the Pink Tie Gala. On Saturday, we delivered 2 1/2 dozen to Season's Salon and Spa. Everyone that got Season's Cupcake Mani/Pedi received one of our adorable vanilla cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream. How fun is that?! Then later on Saturday we delivered 120 mini cupcakes (vanilla with vanilla buttercream adorned with pink ribbons and chocolate with raspberry buttercream) to the Pink Tie Gala, plus we donated a gift cerftificate for a free dozen cupcakes. We met a lovely lady, Jennifer Moore, who put her heart and soul into this years Pink Tie Gala. We will definitely be attending next year's gala and are so happy to have met Jennifer. To all who participated in this year's breast cancer support, cheers to you all!


We are still in the process of securing our retail location. The process is more intense than I orginally thought; a part of me just thought we could throw an oven in a space and we would be set. Hopefully we will progress speedily this week. I am so excited to have the space for BabyCake Cupcakes; we have such wonderful ideas to put in place. We are also looking into getting some great t-shirts and tank-tops with our adorable logo. The shirts will be finalized this week and I am psyched about that considering how much I adore our logo.


Finally, our sweet Bella Rose is not doing as well as we had hoped. Her cancer is very aggressive, but we are still doing all that we can for her. We are walking on egg shells at the moment, but we will do what is best for our precious girl. I am definitely trying to find a balance lately; some days I am good and other days the tears won't stop. This weekend definitely taught me to celebrate every moment; good or bad. My balance will be to carry that thought.


Peace & Love!!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Life is Hard

Do you ever have those moments when you feel like you are being tested over and over again? I am having one of those moments. Bella Rose did not respond to her second round of chemo treatments; her lymph nodes began swelling at an alarming rate on Sunday. Her hind legs were double in size and she looked like something from the Elephant Man. We took her back to the vet and she had another round of chemo. This was the third round that wasn't supposed to take place until Friday, but the docs decided it was an emergency. So, now we are at a point that if her lymph nodes go down and stay down, we have hope. If her lymph nodes go down, but swell right back up, then our hope is lost. At the moment, her lymph nodes have shrunk and I am just praying that they stay that way. Regardless, her not responding to the second round of treatments makes her remission time much shorter. I have cried myself sick and at the moment, I have no clue how to feel. I am very excited that the lymph nodes have shrunk, but scared to get crazy excited. The kicker of this whole deal is that 2 years ago we had to put our beloved chocolate lab, Bubba, to sleep because he had inoperable cancer. Hence, why I feel like I am being tested...over and over again. So please just keep Bella in your thoughts; I know that she can feel them.

On the bright side, I got to bake 4 dozen cupcakes for a lovely ladies 87th birthday today! Those things make me immeasurably happy. How cool is it to be 87 and get tons of cupcakes?! I love my customers!!! We also received our lease this week and we are pouring over it, so that we can get our store up and running. I am so excited about our retail store because we will get to reach so many people. Also this week, we were fortunate to celebrate Raising Cane's 1 year anniversary with them. They had a great party at Upper Street on Monday and we supplied them with 150 cupcakes. It was a lot of fun and a great concept restaurant; if you haven't tried it, go now!

So, as always, I send you all my love and thanks to all for your loving words and thoughts! If you are ever looking for a vet, please visit Sheabel. Dr. Lynch and Dr. Anutu have been amazing along with Sarah, Rebecca, Tasha and all the other lovely ladies at Sheabel. They are a part of our family now and I hope you make them a part of yours!

Peace & Love!!!!!!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Bella Rose Update


Hi dolls,

Well our fears were realized on Friday; Bella Rose has Lymphoma. I think that we caught it early enough and she will at least have a fighting chance. She started chemo on Friday and has responded very well to the treatment; her lymph nodes have actually gotten smaller which is a great sign. She has 20 weeks of treatment ahead of her and then we try our best to keep her as happy as possible after that. I wish that you all could meet her; she is just an amazing creature. Hopefully when BabyCakes Cupcakes store opens, she will be the one to greet you at our door. I have been an animal freak since I could walk and numerous pets have graced my doors, but Bella Rose is one that we thank God for allowing us to have in our life. She is extremely special to our family and friends; when we talk about Golden Retrievers we actually call them 'Bella dogs'. So, thank you all for your prayers and great vibes. We understand her ultimate outcome, but we plan on fighting for her the entire way. My heart goes out to all who have gone thru this with their fuzzy babies or are going thru this now.
Peace & Love!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Bella Rose


I am sad tonight kids. I haven't posted anything in awhile because our golden retriever, Bella Rose, is sick. Bella has diabetes and she is blind; she was diagnosed last Christmas, but over the weekend she started feeling really bad and her lymph nodes were swollen. We took her to the vet on Tuesday and she is still there. The docs think that she might have lymphoma; cancer of the lymph nodes on top of the diabetes. We find out for sure tomorrow. Bella Rose was my Valentine present from Keith 6 1/2 years ago. She is the most loving, amazing dog and my heart is breaking. Keith and I were unable to have children, but Bella Rose and Jack (2nd golden) are our 'kids'. If you have some time tonight, please think of Bella in your prayers or meditations. Throw me in there too because I am not sure how to deal with this one. Love you all.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Nervous Anticipation

Hi All!

Well we are now in the process of securing a retail store. I am submitting our financials today and I must say that I am very nervous. I want our little cupcake shoppe to truly succeed and thrive, so the setting-up process makes me a tad bit anxious. It is wild to think that we just decided to "see what happens" with BabyCakes Cupcakes at the end of May and we are looking into a permanent location in August. I have had some people say, "I would love to do something like this, but I don't have financial backing or I am a little scared to go thru with it". So, in the spirit of those comments, I want to give you guys a little of our background. I had been sick for the majority of my life. From the age of 10 until 31, I had debilitating endometriosis; to all of you beautiful women out there suffering with this disease, my heart, soul, spirit goes out to all of you. I know how hard this road is. So... I always said that when I get healthy, I would do something that I love each and every day. After countless surgeries and at the age of 30, I had reached a point with the disease that I could no longer function under any circumstance or even eat for that matter. I underwent a hysterectomy at 31 and honestly, it was the happiest day of my life. So in May, it was a little over a year since the life-saving surgery and my husband and myself were sitting at our kitchen table. I decided at that moment that it was time to fulfill my dream and BabyCakes Cupcakes was born. So, to everyone out there wanting to do something wonderful; know that we have no financial backing, it is just the two of us trying to make this work one day at a time. Live your dreams people, whatever they may be!!! If that means opening your own cupcake bakery, then I say rock on. We can exchange recipes! We are waiting with nervous anticipation for our dreams to be realized, so if you have some extra time, shoot some good vibes our way. We love you all and thank you for taking this ride with us!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Shout Out

I am a firm believer in karma; the love that you give to the universe is returned 10 fold. When we first started BabyCakes Cupcakes, there were a few people that supported us 1000%. So, in return of that unconditional love, I am sending out my weekly shout out. I hope that you guys will visit these wonderful people and keep sharing the love.

One of our number one fans and loving friend is Ms. Sarah Pratt. Sarah works at Season's Salon and Spa and she is a phenomenal stylist. Her deft hands and amazing imagination sculpt my husband and myself into what you see today. She shouted our praises from the roof-tops before we even had praise to shout about. Please visit Sarah; I promise that you won't be disappointed and you will have the opportunity to meet one of the most loving people in Lexington.

The amazingly gifted Tyler Adkins designed our beautiful logo for BabyCakes Cupcakes. I absolutely love our logo; I think she is so hot! Tyler does amazing images with digital graphics and he creates beautiful sketches by hand based on photos; they are truly unbelievable. Please check Tyler out at
http://www.thadesigns.blogspot.com/.

If you haven't checked out the Melting Pot on Tiverton Way then run there now. All you need to know is beautiful, hot pots of chocolate that you are free to dip amazing fruits and deserts in without anyone yelling at you to stop playing with your food. Ms. Lori Hagan ordered some cupcakes from us for her staff. So not only will you be able to play in glorious chocolate, but you will also be dining at an establishment that loves their employees!

Ms. Melanie Mauer sent us a lovely email right after the article in the Hamburg Journal was published. She is a photographer and her website pictures are absolutely gorgeous; you can find her at http://www.melaniemauer.com. The amazing thing about Melanie is that we have never met and she took time out of her day to send us the sweetest email, welcoming us to the wonderful group of "small business owners". Anyone that would be as thoughtful as Melanie deserves to have tons of business, so please check her out.

I currently work two jobs until our retail business is up and running (soon!!!), so I need to send my undying love to CRM Companies. They have supported me unconditionally and are truly one of the best companies in Lexington. They own the Raising Cane's restaurants, the Gratz Park Inn and manage multiple properties in many states. If you are in need of property management, please look them up. Visit Raising Cane's, stay at the beautiful Gratz Park Inn and send them all my love when you get there.

Last plug of the week, we recently visited Del Ray Beach Florida and when I travel I have the tendency to talk to everyone and learn their life stories. My husband was there on business (I was there for tanning), he works for ZLB Plasma, so go donate, save some lives and say hi to Keith on Winchester Road! We stopped in a cigar shop and met a lovely man by the name of Billy. The cigars are North Carolina Cigar Company and they are family owned and operated. We fell in love with Billy, so I wanted to pass along a great cigar made by some great people.

So that is it for this week. Go visit all of these wonderful people and their websites; I promise that you won't be disappointed. Love each other and treasure your random acquaintances.

Peace & Love!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Welcome All!!

Hello Everyone!

I have decided to create a blog for BabyCakes Cupcakes. We L-O-V-E our customers and we want to share our growth and day-to-day operations with you guys. Also, we really want to hear your feedback, comments, suggestions, rants...basically anything that you would like to share to help us grow.

I have titled our blog 'Love Story' because that is how I feel about our little company. BabyCakes Cupcakes has brought me and my husband so much joy; mainly due to the amazing people that we have met so far. This is my Love Story and I am so amped to share it with everyone. Please leave your comments freely; I am a big girl and we can handle it. I believe you can't grow without criticism.

We are currently in the process of signing papers to open our first retail bake shoppe. I cannot describe how excited we are and I will keep everyone updated on the progress along with the open date. We are also working on shipping methods for our cupcakes and doggie treats; that is a little more difficult since we are such cupcake freaks. We want to maintain the quality and still share our 'happy' with the world. I feel like one of us should have majored in engineering for this shipping experiment, but we will figure it out.

We can't wait to hear from everyone!!! Peace & Love!!!!!!!!