What I Am Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Thought I would share my two favorite guys on Thanksgiving morning. One is running the camera and the other is just doing his normal morning routine.



Two reasons why I am so very thankful. Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone!

Peace & Love,
T

Winning Cupcake Statement of the Day

There were a lot of deserving statement winners of the day regarding our cupcakes, but the prize must go to the lovely mature lady who brought her grandchildren into the shoppe around five this afternoon.

Lovely Mature Lady: "We were afraid that we would miss you before you closed. You guys close at 5:00 right?"

Me: "No ma'am, we actually close at 6:30 during the week".

Lovely Mature Lady looking at her grandchildren and giggling a little: "Are you serious? We literally ran 3 red lights to make it here in time."

Me laughing: "Well, thank you for putting your car in jeopardy to have our cupcakes and I am sure your grandchildren loved the adventure."

You gotta love cupcake mania. The runner's up were as follows:

"The pink lemonade cupcake seriously changed my life."
"I have been avoiding you, so that I could lose a few pounds, but I missed you too much."
"I did some research and you can carry-on cakes and pies, so I need your cupcakes to fly to Chicago with me."

I soooo love you guys! You absolutely brighten my day and my laughter has filled this shoppe all day long!

Peace & Love,
T

You Know You Want One!

Lyla says come and get some yummy cupcakes. How can you resist that adorable face?!

Peace & Love,
T

Blessing Number 999

I slept like a baby girl on a pillow of fluffy goodness last night. Why you may ask? Well the Cupcake household was blessed with a brand new, fluffy, soft, mattress from heaven. To some people, this would seem like a very routine purchase; your old mattress is dead, so you need a new one. For me, it was blessing number 999. I can remember in the not so distant past, days when I wasn't sure how I was going to provide the very basic of necessities for myself. There was one night in particular, in the winter, when the heat had been shutoff and I had no hot water. I was unbelievably sick with a temperature so high that I could not stop my body from shaking violently, but there was no way that I could afford a trip to the emergency room. I had never felt so alone and quite honestly, scared. So as I lay there, crying, I said to a higher power with all honesty and conviction, "I can't do this anymore. I cannot carry this load. My life is yours". Even today, 11 years later, when I close my eyes, I can smell every smell, see myself pitiful and broken, like it was yesterday. This was a huge point for me; I always strived to be very independent, make people see that I could handle any situation, everything was perfectly fine in my little world; basically I didn't want to burden anyone. Pride is such a powerful thing. So, the next morning I did not wake to my heat magically turned on, hot water flowing, food stocked in my fridge and birds singing at my window, but I did wake. To be perfectly honest, my life proved to be even more challenging over the next 8 years, but the difference was that my path was placed in front of my eyes. It was my duty to make the choices that would honor my promise. I believe that when you pray, meditate, beg; your higher power gives you the ability to fulfill your own request. If you ask for strength, you get the opportunity to be strong, if you ask for love, you get the opportunity to learn how. I asked for a new life and my higher power steered me as long as I did not question. So, when a huge decision came up, instead of stressing or over thinking, my mind settled and somehow I knew the choice would make itself. That's how I ended up in Lexington, ultimately, meeting my husband and being blessed with the love that I needed. Every member of my most cherished extended family has come into my life through the most routine, daily occurrences. Like we were just waiting for our time to meet. Even reconnecting with family members has happened, I believe, when we could truly appreciate one another. People ask me, "How did you come up with the idea for the cupcake shoppe?" and I answer very honestly, "I don't know." They look at me like I am a little crazy, but it is a completely honest answer. I woke up one morning and just knew this was supposed to happen. That was blessing number 998 and it was a huge one because through the shoppe, I have met some of the most amazing, creative, loving people. It happens everyday when someone new walks through the door looking for their sugar fix.

So as I laid my head down last night, surrounded by pillowy-goodness, I said two words, "Thank you." The same two words that I have said every night for the last 11 years. Blessing number 999.

Peace & Love,
T

Could you please pass me a slice of tomato cake with extra lard?

I have been sloshing new cupcake ideas around in my head lately and I am feeling the retro vibe. I can remember certain cake flavors that were a stable around my grandmother's house when I was a small tike and I think it would be fun to put a new twist on old standbys. So, in my search for 1940/1950/1960's bake goods, I have come across some crazy grossness. I'm not sure if people just didn't have access to amazing ingredients or if they actually enjoyed these items, but I had to share them with you readers.

Item one, Maids of Honour. Now by the name you would think that these little delicacies would be yummy, light and wonderful; invoking ideas of romance and love. Oh dear friends, let me just say two words....mashed potatoes. Actually the recipe said a 'heaped tablespoon of mashed potatoes', in addition to puff pastry, lemon, nutmeg, cottage cheese and ground almonds. Seriously, I want to get sick just typing it. Item two, Tomato Soup Cake. Not only is a can of tomato soup added, but also lard, just for good measure, plus cloves, nutmeg, raisins and walnuts. Item three, Mayonnaise Cake. Now I realize that mayonnaise is used for everything under the sun and most of the time it is wonderful. Now is not one of those times. The recipe calls for mayonnaise and cold coffee. I'll repeat that ....mayonnaise and cold coffee. Baked. Together. I even found a cure for pneumonia which used lard and turpentine; let's all pause for a moment of silence to remember all of the poor pneumonia suffers of bygone years. It has become clear to me why Duncan Hines made a fortune back in the day and I truly believe that he may have saved a ton of people from food poisoning.

Suffice to say, the previous gems won't make it into BabyCakes Cupcakes lineup, but I do plan on having some cool flavors that will make you sigh and say "I remember when..". I would also like to apologize if anyone happened to be eating while reading this post.

Peace & Love,
T