StellaLand

Hey there cupcake...

Say hello to my new project: Buttercup Fairy Cakes.

One day, about a month ago, I was joking with my friend JenS about opening a cupcake shop. It just seemed like the perfect job to me. Who can be upset when cupcakes are around? She agreed and told me she would love to help.

Since that conversation, we've been on a non-stop cupcake excursion!
We visited the 2 local cupcake shops and taste tested cupcakes and together we brainstormed the name. We went to Home Goods to do a little non-cupcakce shopping and when we walked in the door, we were greeted witha  HUGE cupcake display. It was kismet! As we walked around the store we spotted  a brown metal sign with the word "Indulge" on it. I joked that the sign would be great over our cash register. Her eyes lit up and we bought it!

Then we decided on our color scheme: Tiffany blue, chocolate brown and buttercream yellow. It seemed like everything was falling into place. As we started to talk about it with our friends, everyone had an opinion about flavors of cupcakes, names we could call them and where we should market our business. It was like we had the support of everyone in a matter of seconds!

In the last 2 days, I designed the logo, bought the domain name and set up a splash page on the website. We also baked 2 dozen of 6 different types of cupcakes and held a cupcake tasting with 20 willing volunteers! I even created evaluation forms so our tasters could give their opinion anonymously! It was such a hit!

Last night, JenS and I attended the first Wilton Cake Decorating course at our local Michael's craft store. We've committed to taking all 3 courses plus the fondant/gumpaste class. We should be finished in about 3 months. By the time the class courses are finished we will be qualified to bake and decorate wedding cakes!

While we are learning the art of cake decorating and mastering our cupcake menu, we'll be taking orders and working out of our homes. Once we have some funds together we can start looking for a retail space to open an actual shop!  We keep looking at each other and saying: "THIS COULD ACTUALLY WORK!". Hey, it could!

So keep an eye on www.buttercupfairycakes.com
We're under construction now, but the kitchen will be open shortly.

Trust me, I'm a Doctor

Thank you BBC for producing quality TV. I spent the 2nd half of the weekend catching up on my Doctor Who Series 4 episodes so that I wouldn't get spoiled on the finale. The UK tv schedule is about 4 weeks ahead of the US (BBCamerica) schedule. What did we ever do before YouTube?

I won't post any spoilers, but if you are a fan, you won't be disappointed.

{yarn} SALE!!!

I did some stash cleaning! I have more yarn than I'll ever be able to knit in my lifetime, so I thought I would share the wealth.

All yarn comes from a smoke-free home. I do have a cat, but almost all of this yarn has been packaged in zippy-lock bags and stored in an a big cabinet.

I accept Paypal, but only cash-funded Paypal, no credit cards. You can also send me a check or money order. Postage will be exact postage, so when you email me, please include your zip code so I can calculate shipping.

I'll sell the yarn in the order the emails are received. I'll mark and item PENDING until I receive payment and then will mark it SOLD.

Modern Art- red
5- 50g balls with 50m each ball
50% wool/50% acrylic
bulky weight 13sts on 9mm needles (US13)
$20 for the lot

Patons Classic Wool- Olive Green
100% Merino Wool- Worsted
5 skeins- 223 yards each
20 sts - 26 rows = 4" (10 cm)  on 4.50 mm/US - 7 needles
enough for a sweater/great for felting
$30 for all

LANAS STOP (from Spain)
92% rayon/8% polyester
163 yards each ball
This yarn has a bit of stretch to it. I was going to knit the Chicknits Cami with it
2 light pink, 2 purple, 1 hot pink, 1 turquoise
$20

PT2 (from Norway)
100% wool
4 balls hot pink/165m each ball
$20

Crystal Palace Deco Ribbon
3 balls light pink verigated
5 balls hot pink
70% Acrylic 30% Nylon
Bulky weight: 12 spi on 10.5(6.50mm) needles
80 yards each
$25

Getting to know you (me)

I saw this on a blog I read and though I wasn't tagged per se, I thought it would be fun to do.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

In June of 1998, I was living in Norristown, PA (just outside Philadelphia). I had just moved here from Florida and was working at Brookstone. I was probably trying to make friends and doing a lot of shopping at IKEA. I am pretty sure I spent most nights IMing Cathy and terrorizing people in XFiles chat rooms on AOL with phony spoilers.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1. Mail receipts to MINIusa for reimbursement
2. Vacation Laundry
3. Fix EZ pass issues
4. BBQ @ Karen's
5. Evaluation form for cupcake tasting (more on this later)

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Popcorn made on the stove, edamame, ice cream sandwiches, chips & salsa, grapes

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire (in no particular order):

Buy a house, hire a personal trainer, enroll in culinary school, buy a classic Mini, open a cupcake shop, pay for my nephews' college educations, pay my parents' mortgage, travel, travel, travel, travel

5) Places I have lived:

Seminole, FL
Largo, FL
Tampa, FL
Dunedin, FL
Norristown, PA
Philadelphia, PA

6) Jobs I have had (I feel like I'm forgetting some, as long as the list is):

Janitor with my grandfather's business
Pizza/Hoagie maker
Waitress @ a french restaurant
Cashier @ Kash N Karry Grocery Store
Receptionist @ USF
Project Mgr @ USF
Literary Magazine Editor @ USF
Catering server
Clerk @ Victoria's Secret
Plastics Factory worker
6th & 9th Grade English Teacher
Manager @ Brookstone
Manager @ Bed Bath & Beyond
Temp @ GMAC Mortgage
Yarn Ho @ Tangled Web
Admin Assistant @ GMAC Mortgage
Training Director @ GMAC Mortgage
Communications & Events Manager @ GMAC Mortgage
Motoring Advisor @ Otto's MINI

President of PhillyMINI (i don't get paid, but it's as much work as a real job)

Happy 4th of July

Favorite {Photo} Friday will be back next week!

Flicker Fever: Slideshow part 2

So here is the 2nd half of my vacation... more Maine and Vermont with lots of MINIs sprinkled in.

Day 6:

Free day in Bar Harbor so we took advantage of Acadia National Park and had lunch at the Jordan Tea House. Popovers! Dinner that night was at the Burning Tree restaurant. One of the highlights of the trip for me! The food is organic and flavorful. The veggies are grown in the garden behind the restaurant and they look forward to hosting us as much as we do eating there! You can tell by the bill just how much we enjoyed ourselves!
Click here to see photos from Day 6

Flickr Fever!

Holy photos. I spent most of last night uploading my photos from vacation. All 10 day's worth!

So, if you are so inclined, join me on vacation! I've edited out the fuzzy shots and most of the duplicates, so hopefully it is not as boring as the usual vacation slideshow!

Someone get the lights!

Day 1:

Departing Philadelphia and heading for Mt. Snow, VT. We had 7 MINIs with us for the drive up to the Kitzhoff Inn.  H planned the route to include only back roads and parkways so we could enjoy the sights and not worry about ginormous tractor trailers trying to smush us. We made multiple stops (Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Pedrin's Dairy Bar for lunch) and finally the Kitzhoff Inn for an Italian Job Weekend. Dinner was an Italian Feast and a screening of the original Italian Job movie.
Click here to see the slideshow of Day 1

25th of every month | June

I was on vacation this 25th of the month! I spent the day in Camden, Maine and ended the evening in Bar Harbor, Maine. This month's prompt was to take a different look around the world and to be sure to look up and look down.

You can see the rest of my Flickr slideshow for the 25th of the month (June) by clicking the badge below!

www.flickr.com

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Reminder: 25th Photo Day!

I'll be on my way from Camden, ME to Bar Harbor, ME, so I am not sure how spotty my internet will be. If I cannot connect, I'll upload my photos when we get back from our trip! Take lots of pics!

Get yer Kitzhof...

We're at the Kitzhof Inn near Mt. Snow, VT for a MINI Cooper Italian Job weekend.
We drove from Philly yesterday and arrived at about 4:30pm. Today was spent driving a huge loop around southern Vermont stopping at places of interest and of course food and shopping.

Tomorrow we'll be heading to my favorite place in VT: Woodstock! If I can get internet access I'll post another photo!