After this cake, I got alot of attention/business at work :).
I didn't really think people would start to place orders, but little did I know I am starting up a mini cake business on the side...completely untrained and self-taught...very scary with lots of pressure. I mean this is detailed, time-consuming stuff, especially for a beginner. I'm thinking about signing up for a hobby lobby Wilton course on cake decorating. I mean my mom taught me a little bit about decorating and ALOT about baking. Well anyway, a few weeks ago, a co-worker asked me a few weeks ago if I could make a Hello Kitty cake for her daughter's first birthday. After searching through images/ideas online, I told her I thought I could. 
So last Wednesday I started out making 2 12 inch round "strawberry swirl cakes". I made vanilla cakes and then took out 1/4-1/3 of the batter and mixed in some strawberry jello mix, then swirled that mixture into the vanilla cake. The first cake ended up being a flop because I couldn't get it out of the pan in one piece, that was pretty frustrating, but I learned that instead of just greasing and flouring the pan, you can grease it (with shortnening) and lay a sheet of waxed parer on the bottom...worked wonders. I was able to still use the first cake to carve the ears (Tim did the carving!) After freezing the two layers of cake, we carved them into ovals instead of circles. I got "Texas sized jellybeans" for the eyes and nose at the galleria. The eyes looked funny with the jellybeans, so I whipped up some fondant and made the bow and eyes out of fondant (and dyed the fondant)...didn't quite get the bow as red as I wanted, but it worked. The whiskers were licorice, the nose jellybean. 
I made EIGHT CUPS of vanilla buttercream icing, stacked the cakes after leveling them, with a layer of frosting between, then did a crumb coat on the outside. Tim had never heard of Hello Kitty and couldn't quite figure out why she was famous, but he kept calling her "Miss Kitty" and I thought it was amusing :). He survived his first week at DTS by the way and is reallllly studying alot and enjoying it greatly!
So last Wednesday I started out making 2 12 inch round "strawberry swirl cakes". I made vanilla cakes and then took out 1/4-1/3 of the batter and mixed in some strawberry jello mix, then swirled that mixture into the vanilla cake. The first cake ended up being a flop because I couldn't get it out of the pan in one piece, that was pretty frustrating, but I learned that instead of just greasing and flouring the pan, you can grease it (with shortnening) and lay a sheet of waxed parer on the bottom...worked wonders. I was able to still use the first cake to carve the ears (Tim did the carving!) After freezing the two layers of cake, we carved them into ovals instead of circles. I got "Texas sized jellybeans" for the eyes and nose at the galleria. The eyes looked funny with the jellybeans, so I whipped up some fondant and made the bow and eyes out of fondant (and dyed the fondant)...didn't quite get the bow as red as I wanted, but it worked. The whiskers were licorice, the nose jellybean. 
I made EIGHT CUPS of vanilla buttercream icing, stacked the cakes after leveling them, with a layer of frosting between, then did a crumb coat on the outside. Tim had never heard of Hello Kitty and couldn't quite figure out why she was famous, but he kept calling her "Miss Kitty" and I thought it was amusing :). He survived his first week at DTS by the way and is reallllly studying alot and enjoying it greatly!Then yesterday (Monday) several co-workers approached me about making a cake for today (Tuesday) for our colleagues' last day of work...so needless to say, I committed to do it against all exhaustion and sanity. It was a bit of late night and very tiring day full of work. I wasn't real happy with how it turned out; homemade fondant is a beast. However, it did taste great, gots lots of compliments, and was good practice! It was two layers of 9 inch round yellow cake with chocolate marbled inside, chocolate buttercream icing and homemade/home dyed fondant. I already have another order in for a co-workers mom's 60th bday and that one is really intimidating, not sure if I should commit to it yet! I am definitely charging more this time :).
For a while there, we weren't sure what to do with our day since we had never before had total study-free minds when together! We started off the afternoon just like true Texans, with BBQ- Thanks Jimmy, Maggie and Lady! 
We got a tour of the older nice homes on Austin Ave and got to see St. Alban's and Maggie's cool workplace. 
We went to see Step Up in 3D, which I think is now our favorite movie and then ate at 1424, all to celebrate Maggie's bday!!! 
Laura, Morgan and Rachel spent the night at the home of the world's sweetest grandpa- 
I periodically check her website to see where she is touring and it's almost always up north as she's from Minnesota. Last Saturday, I happened to look at her tour dates/locations and the very next day she was playing in Lewisville! Tim got up early Sunday morning and bought tickets online (only $10 each). It was at a newer church that seated probably about 300, not huge, but very nice. They were celebrating the arts this month and had paintings, photography, sculptures, quilts, woodwork, metal art, etc. all on display. Tim and I showed up an hour early and were the third couple in line :). I kept rehearsing what I would say to her if I got to talk to her about how she's impacted me and others in my life through her life. 
We sat in the very front row, the best seats in the house and I was literally shaking I was so nervous and excited. I've never experienced that before over a "famous person", not that she's a superstar or that I've been around many celebrity types, but she's just had a huge impact in my life with her music, so it was extremely humbling and surreal to be near her. Her music just simply feeds my soul and leaves so much peace and hope. The concert was so intimate and cozy. 
She is so humble and down to earth. She talked in between songs about her daily home struggles and tough times in marriage as well as trips to Rwanda and her experience with the International Justice Mission 
After the concert, we waited in line to meet her and I got her autograph and a photo, I didn't care so much about the autograph, but it's still cool to have! She looks different in person- very beautiful. We both look funny in this picture anyway. She also got stuck in traffic on an 8 hour drive to Dallas that morning so she was apologizing about her "daniel boone squirrel tail hair".
