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!!!

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!!!!!!

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!

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.