New goal...again.

I realize that I tend to jump from goal to goal, and that this is not a desirable trait in life, but.....bear with me. 

I struggle, along with 90% of all women in Amercia, with my body image.  Sorry, boys...this is a kind of girly one...but you may be able to benefit.  This struggle is due to Victoria Secret models and their impossible proportions, Hollywood women who do not age (its not magic, its plastic surgery), and clothing designers who only design clothes meant to fit on a 6 foot tall, bulimic, 16 year olds.  This puts pressure on the average, real, American woman, to somehow fit into this super model image, which is just not a reality for 99% of us. 

God has made us all unique.  Some of us were born with hips that refuse to fit into jeans, hair that just will not cooperate when there is the slightest humidity in the air, our grandmothers knees, skin that belongs on a greasy 14 year old's face, but is for some reason stuck on yours.  Maybe you think your neck too long, or your nose is too big, or you have too many freckles, you don't have enough freckles, your hair color is ugly, your feet are grotesque, your legs look like tree trunks, your butt is all dimply, there is a muffin top bulging over your jeans, your boobs are too small or too big, your arms are flabby, blablablablaBLA! 

Maybe we haven't been as healthy as we should be, maybe we haven't made the time to exercise, maybe we have given our children or our careers, or husbands or boyfriends or whatever, every bit of ourselves, and have completely let ourselves go.  No matter what your life is like, I pray that you will realized just HOW important you are.  I implore you to make time for yourself.  Do not lose YOURSELF in your life!  You are amazing and you must take care of the body God has given you.  You will feel better...I will feel better... and more fulfilled.      

Listen, ladies.  Why are we constantly comparing ourselves to other women??  What is the point of that? Who cares how we "measure up" to these women against the shallow values of this plummeting society?  God made us who we are just the way we are on purpose.  Most of us are never going to fit into those size 00 jeans, which for some reason exist, and that's okay!  My goal is to be MY best.  Not anyone else's.

GET TO THE POINT.

Okay, basically my point is that I'm tired of feeling badly about myself.  There is not point in picking apart every little detail of my body and hating every bit of it.  I want to be comfortable in my own skin, not wish I was in someone else's.  My goal is to be healthy.  To exercise regularly.  I feel better when I am healthier.  But really the point is...accept yourself.  Be your best you, and be thankful for what you have.  Do not compare yourself.  Be you.  That's all.

congrats grads.

This weekend I made another cake for my friend Lindsey!  It was really fun because I had already made a cake for her, but last time it sort of had to match a couple of other people's cakes, but this time it was more personalized...still school colors and everything...just a little more HER.

My little brother Erik also graduated this weekend!  Woohoo!!  We had a big party at our house to celebrate.  His school colors are black and white but he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting...so this is how I made that happen...we also needed some cupcakes because there were so many people coming...it was really fun, actually, despite the small frosting catastrophe I had at 2 o'clock in the morning. 

Love you Erik!   So proud of you!

Okay, that is IT for the graduation cakes...though I do have another one in August...but for now, we'll take a break.  Whew.

Farmers' Market!!

PiperBellies started Farmers' Markets this week and here are some photos taken by my lovely taste tester/market assistant/photographer, Tracy!  It has been going quite well so far!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings!

                                                                                              

 

                                                    

                                                      

   

                                                                    

            

Well, that's all for now!  There is more to come!  Hope to see you at the markets!  

Laconia on Main Street on Thursdays from 3-7 and 

Farmington on Saturdays on Route 11 at Cardinal's Farmhouse Sampler from 10-2

Happy Summer!

Ian and Nick

My friend Nick, whom I have known since he was 3, has also graduated from high school this year, and I was asked to make the cake for him and his friend.  Nick and Ian's school colors are silver and blue, and wanted a vanilla cake....so here it is!  Congratulations, guys!

Flower Cake

I was asked to make a cake for a 50th anniversary celebration...50 years!  What an honor to make a cake for such an event!  This cake was a blast to make because it was only for 10 people, so the bottom is 8 inches and the top is a little 6 incher!    Its a vanilla cake with apricot filling and swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  Yum.  I was told that the flower for the 50th anniversary is the violet and the color is gold.  SO I made little fondant violets and put them all over the cake like they were spilling over from the top.  I also put a gold ribbon around the bottom of each tier.  I really enjoyed making the cake!

There it is!

Jungle Cake!

A friend of mind had a baby shower today and I was asked to make this cake!  A jungle themed cake to welcome little Evan Robert into the world!  I had so much fun making this cake.  It was the most fondant work I've done on my own and I just had a blast.  I didn't get a picture of the inside of the cake but when you cut into it, each tier is cut into three layers and the frosting between the layers was colored too.  One yellow and one green, and chocolate cake.  This made it not so hard to take apart and cut into after all my hard work, because I knew the inside was pretty too (and delicious, if I do say so myself).  So I took a bunch of pictures so you could see all of the elements and details.  Here they are, and congratulations, Cassie!

The CAKE!

 The BACK of the cake

The TOP of the cake, snake and all

 Mr. Giraffe

Monkey!

They call him the King of the Jungle.

The elephant is my favorite.

The tree on the back of the cake.

And the whole thing one more time...just for fun.

Isn't it fun!?!?

many cakes.

hello!  these are a bunch of cakes....some from class, some from orders.  i'm a little behind on uploading, so...prepare yourself.

This is a Chocolate Caramel Cake from class.  

Terrible writing..it was one of my first.

 Lemon Meringue Cake from Class

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

from Class

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Fondant Carrots

from Class

Vanilla Apricot Cake for a Baby Christening Order

3 Cakes for a Graduation Order

Diana and Lindsey's cakes are Chocolate and have blue frosting in the middle

and Nick's cake is vanilla with yellow frosting in the middle.

The graduation caps are made out of fondant!

Dummy Cake from Class

Fondant Airbrushed Flowers!

SO fun!

k i guess that's everything!  sorry for the backup!  these cakes have been keeping me busy!