Alice in Wonderland x 2 - October 15, 2011

A few months back I got to be part of a gorgeous family shoot with Lot116.  It happened to be with my cousin and his family, I may be a bit biased. ;)  They were going for the Alice in Wonderland theme and I was tasked in putting together the tea party table.

Lot116 photo shoot can be found here.  More pictures taken by me here.

Well, this past weekend was finally the birthday party and I had the pleasure of putting together the dessert table.  My cousin and his wife decided to combine their son and daughter's birthday party and so it was: A Mad Hatter Party to Celebrate Chase and Taylor's Unbirthdays.

A Sweet Affair put together the invites.  

My favorite part was the key in the front, so cute!

The mango mouse and the rest of the mini desserts was from Porto's Bakery in Los Angeles.  A family friend made a special delivery to bring the treats down to San Diego.  Now that's a friend!  Porto's also make a spinach feta pie that is out of this world!  Try them if you are ever in L.A.

I made mini pumpkin pies and cheesecakes. 

Hey There, Cupcake made the awesome smash cakes and cupcakes.  They were so perfect, we didn't want to ruin the fondant pieces.  Amazing detail, seriously!

I made the birthday banner using playing cards as my inspiration.

I happen to find some cool wooden mushrooms and a huge key at Target that I thought would look great on the table.

More pictures can be found on Facebook or the website.

Happy birthday Chase and Taylor!  Wishing you many blessed and happy more!

Hawaiian Wedding - October 8, 2011

This past Saturday was my first wedding, finally a wedding!  I was hired by my cousin and his wife.  The groom is my cousin's best friend and a dessert table was their wedding gift to them. 

I love to bake and I only really do it for friends and family.  My cousin asked me to bake cupcakes too for the table and of course I said yes and jumped at the opportunity!  I've never baked for this many people and  for that matter people I don't know.  It was exciting and scary.  I was really concerned about what people were going to think of the cupcakes.  Was I going to come back later that night with most of the cupcakes still there....untouched?  Or worst, I was going to find them in a trash can, piled high with only one bite taken!?  Oh, no!

Luckily, I recently went to Hawaii for a friend's wedding and found a lot of inspiration for the table and the cupcakes.  So for their special night, I made the following:

• chocolate with lilikoi (passion fruit) buttercream 
• vanilla bean with a whipped mango frosting 
• pineapple with whipped cream frosting with toasted coconut
• vanilla with vanilla buttercream and salted caramel 
• chocolate with vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache drizzle

My favorite was the lilikoi.  The sea inspired toppers I ordered through etsy at Two Sugar Babies.  You can also order directly through their website.

And so I came back later that night to tear down and found the table completely empty, except for a handful of popcorn and Sixlets.   The bride came to personally thank me and said everyone loved the table and the cupcakes.  I was elated and relieved!  

I took an after picture of the table when I came back to tear down.

I love weddings in general, it's a beautiful and memorable time in someones life.  I also love the beauty and creativity that comes out of them.  To be part of one on the vendor side is exciting and frightening.  You just want the bride and groom to be happy, since they selected you to help make their dreams come true.  I just didn't want to screw it up.

Congratulations Bernice and Arnold!  Here's to many years of wedded bliss!

A special thanks to Lyd, my BFF, for helping me and to John and Milady for hiring me and giving the gift of a dessert table to your dear friends.  Love you guys!

More pictures can be found on the website or Facebook page.

Steve Jobs

I couldn't have imagined how one man could have changed my life so much.  Thank you for making my life better.  Rest in peace.  "Stay hungry. Stay foolish..."

My First Post

Hi All!

Looking forward to sharing my thoughts, ideas and one of my favorite topics, food!