Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Fumes

Hiya, readers. The baby shower was a success, but the cake was not as pretty as I would have liked it to be. My neice Harley (7 years old) decided she was going to be my sous chef and refused to let me decorate without her by my side every single minute I was in front of the cake. I gave her a few things to try and keep her busy so I could concentrate on making the cake as awesome as I would have envisioned but trying to tell a 7 year old to keep her hands off fondant is like putting a rainbow of playdough in front of a child and telling them they can't touch it. Not gonna happen.

Despite the fact that my cake tasted fantastic, as I was told by everyone except my douchebag relatives who were the subject of my scathing post not too long ago, it still looked like a cake that a 7 year old decorated. Balls. =( I'll see if someone has a pic I can put up later.

I did talk a little business, and I have been contracted to do 200 baked pieces (of my choice) for a grand. Imagine? A thousand friggin' dollars for my own product!!! And I get to travel to DC every other week. I couldn't be more happy. I'll be out of debt and on my own in no time! Granted, these are going to be a lot more sophisticated and larger than my normal ware, but it will be bigger than anything I have done thus far. Packaging will be key, and I'll be investing in some new equipment. I did a quick search and luckily it won't cost that much. Big things are in the works, and I never thought I would ever get to this point where people will actually, truly respect what I do as a professional and be willing to pay me accordingly. I'm still in disbelief how much better things are getting. I guess when you're at the bottom, there's no where to go but UP!

The Hunger Games luncheon I hosted today at my work book club was a big success. I made little "parachute packs" like in the book with a mini banana loaf cake inside, like the one District 9 sent down to Katniss after Rue's fate. I know it was multigrain bread, but who wants to eat a mini loaf of multigrain bread when you can have a mini banana cake?  I also came in with 3 different kinds of goat cheese, basil leaves, dried cranberries, blackberries and raspberries. I also brought in a side of mini toasts and chocolate chips (from the Melark Bakery, of course).  It was received really well, and I set the bar as high as it would go as far as hosting on the day your book is going to be discussed. As can be anticipated, there were one or two negative nelly's who thought I went overboard and didn't think it was fair to the other people who don't want to do all that. Whatever- I do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and I'm not going to dumb myself down to make someone else feel comfortable.

My friend took footage of my cake deco skills last night at my buddy Jeff's apartment in Forest Hills. He has one of those swanky apartments in the "Blue Light" building, as I like to refer to it. I call it that because every single balcony is illuminated with blue lights. It's one of the most expensive buildings in Forest Hills. The lobby has some grand and gaudy chandelier hanging in there. It looks like you're walking into the Four Seasons instead of an apartment building. We ended up there because our friend ended up flaking on us when it came time to shoot. The climate at my house made it unfit for filming. We were going to drive all the way out to Suffolk to film when she called and hedged. We dropped her like a bad habit and I scrambled to find another kitchen to use. Jeff was awesome enough to allow us to use his space- albeit a tiny kitchen. It was squeaky clean and we were wrapped in about 2 hours. Since he does film work and CGI stuff himself, he was able to help out my friend who was having problems with the equipment. All in all, every shot she took, ever soundbite, and every interview will be whittled down to 2 minutes. I wonder what will be left when it's all said and done?

Up this Saturday is TWO big cakes. I have a baby shower half sheet cake with a penguin made out of cake up top that I have to drive to Wantagh, and I have a 10" hat cake, fashioned in the style of the KY Derby. We'll see how my hat making skills fair.

Between now and then there's the midnight release of the Avengers that a huge group of us will be attending, and I have Joe Rogan on Friday night with another group of people. It doesn't look like I'll be getting any sleep till I get home Saturday afternoon. No biggie. I'll just cancel the date I had planned.

You know you've prioritized your business when making cakes trumps dating. Speaking of which, I did have a little hole inside because I hadn't seen my Doctor before he left for PA. However, he did call me on Friday, asking for one more night out before he left for good on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was already on my way to VA. Ah....life; you fickle bitch. 

I was going to see a movie tonight, but it looks like I will be baking all my cakes in prep for Saturday. The lack of rest is certainly catching up to me, but I don't have time for a nap.At least the long train ride let's me get in a few Z's. Can't ask for much more than that!


2 comments:

  1. I knew you had squishy feelings for that doctor fella...don't deny!!! It only makes you look more guilty.

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    1. Squishy feelings? Do you know you're beginning to sound more and more like me? I don't expect anything more from the Doctor other than what we already did. It would've been nice to hang out with him some more, but circumstances aren't aligned in order for that to happen. Such is life.

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