Sweet Escapes by Jenn

Archive for the ‘Girly Girl’ Category

Send Me Some SUGAR!

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

There’s nothing I love more than receiving a hand-written note/card “just because”. I have kept every note in a special box on my shelf and on those days that I’m feeling down and “not myself”, I would read those notes and my heart would be filled up again. From my parents writing me notes that say, “Will be home late — cook dinner for us?” to one of my Sunday school kids thanking me for the “healthy snacks” (which is a total lie… I’m starting to wonder if that was suppose to be a sarcastic remark… ?!), these are the moments I cherish the most. My mantra is that these moments may seem small and insignificant now but in the future when I’m married, living in Hong Kong with my super buff husband** and well-behaved 4 children, I will read those notes of memories past and be reminded of my blessed life. These little moments will one day grow to be big moments.

This was one of the shots from yesterday’s quickie photo shoot for my new website. This will be going on the “contact me” page. I really shouldn’t be telling you this. I wanted to keep all the details under wraps until the big launch in the summer but I JUST CAN’T HOLD IT IN!! I MUST BLOG ABOUT IT AND SHOW YOU ALL MY SECRETS. Horrible. I will not make a good spy. UNLESS this whole charade is just to disguise something else… ? Hmm. Okay, I’m not THAT good

I cannot wait to reveal the rest of the site! It is slowly coming together

But until then… enjoy this pic!

**PS. I was just joking about the super-buff-husband part. I don’t like buff guys. Weird, huh?

Posted in Cupcakes, Girly Girl, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Just to See That Smile

Sunday, March 24th, 2013

It’s 1:36am on Sunday morning and my sponge cakes just came out of the oven and are cooling upside down now. Every Sunday evening a bunch of us meet at my friend’s house to watch The Bible Series on the History Channel (party animals, huh? ). Is anyone following that series? I’m loving it so far! Last Sunday I attended a business seminar so I didn’t have time to bake anything. I ended up going to T&T to buy a loaf of thick slice bread and a can of condensed milk. I made a traditional Hong Kong-style favourite — condensed milk on toast. Before you gag or think “YUM!”, you have to try it first! It is absolutely DELICIOUS! We also had a jar of Nutella. Mmm!!! And had popsicles. We’re a weird bunch

Now that I had a little time to bake, I made sponge cakes for tonight. I cannot wait to have the first slice all warm and soft and sunshine yellow. Wish you were here! I’m also preparing for a photo shoot for my new site. I had to ice, examine it from afar with my squinty eyes, scrape off the icing and re-ice until it was perfect. Let’s just say, I had to re-ice many, many times! So looking forward to the shoot!!

Until I post the pictures up (hopefully Monday), enjoy this sweet snapshot of Anson and Naomi’s birthday party last week at a bowling place. Making cakes is not ALWAYS fun/enjoyable. It is 99% of the time but sometimes that 1% sneaks up on you and you want to quit. Or no matter how late you stay up, that ‘character’ you’re working on just doesn’t seem to look right. Little moments like these kids’ sweet smiles remind me why I still love to do what I do. Naomi loves Hello Kitty and Anson loves basketball and somehow those themes worked together

I’m so blessed to have been a part of their birthday celebration!

Happy #6, you two!

Posted in Boys will be Boys, Cupcakes, Girly Girl, Hello Kitty, Uncategorized | No Comments »

My Minnie and I

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Happy Friday, everyone!

I had a pretty eventful March Break prepping for an upcoming conference, chasing my boys around and of course, baking!! Lots of birthday parties are going to be happening this weekend. I’m so excited for upcoming designs! The one that will be picked up tomorrow is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and I’m glad I finally get to cross it off my “bucket list”

In the meantime, check out one of my latest Minnie Mouse cakes. I rarely get to take a photo with my cakes because I’m either short on time or I don’t want to put make-up on

This was really early on a Saturday morning… it was definitely worth it for the pic! Have an amazing (sunshiney) weekend, everyone!

Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Girly Girl, Minnie Mouse | No Comments »

Happy Love Day!

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

Will write more later

Posted in Animals, Cakes, Girly Girl, Hearts, Valentine's & LOVE | No Comments »

Hermes Birkin Bag

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Remember the ninja cake (my 2nd video post) I wrote a few months ago? My friends from Buffalo came over to Toronto to celebrate two special birthdays at one of my favourite Japanese restaurants — Takara Bune. And not only did they come alone, they brought THEIR friends from NYC! All this for cake and sushi! I am so honoured

Winnie ordered her good friend Anna’s cake and she told me that she loved shopping, money and handbags. And lots of money. She kept emphasizing that So I made her a cake with a red hot Birkin bag with lots of money flowing around it.

I really love the red + purple combo. It screams bold and SEXY and I love how it looks. I also wanted to try out a pearl lace texture on the cake and although it was time-consuming, I enjoyed cutting the flowers out and sticking them together like a puzzle.

At the restaurant they were sitting at the end of the table and the white gold sparkles on both their cakes glistened in the subtle lighting and I felt like a proud parent watching her kids perform at a school concert. Weird comparison, I know… but that’s how I felt!

After we had lunch, we unanimously decided that we were too full for cake so they would bring the cakes back to the states. Andy was driving and when he hit a bump, Anna yelled, “Hey careful! My Birkin bag is in the back!” Haha… so silly

These are the moments I cherish the most–my friends (and some new friends) driving 9 hours from NYC and 2 hours from Buffalo just to have cake. It doesn’t get much better than that!

And after they got home, I got a text message that said that both cakes made it back in one piece and they both didn’t want to cut it. Ooh, they travel well too! I was so proud of them

Posted in A Few of My Favourite Things, Birthdays, Boys will be Boys, Cakes, Girly Girl | No Comments »

The “SWEETEST” Cake (my first video post)

Monday, September 17th, 2012

Yesterday marked the LAST WEDDING order for the late summer/early autumn wedding streak. I’m relieved and a little sad that it’s over. Can’t wait to post the pictures!

I received an e-mail last week from a friend of mine who lives in Buffalo. I met him at a conference in Miami back in February and saw him again in Greensboro. He wanted to get a cake for his girlfriend (whom I’m also friends with) and drove ALL the way from Buffalo to Markham just for the cake. Crazy!! And flattering at the same time

I made a dessert-inspired theme with a turtle and caterpillar on top. I will explain what they mean another time.

But for now… enjoy my first video post! It was so nerve-racking recording it and trying to get it in one shot and most importantly, trying not to sound stupid. I know I have to work on the “backdrop” of the cake. I brought it outside on the patio, set up a faux white studio-esque background and shot the cake. You can see by my AWESOME handiwork that I didn’t keep the background “in the shot” (you’ll know what I mean when you watch it). I need to work on that. But it’s okay, this is just my first one. I foresee many more video posts to come in the future because a) you can see the cake in its entirety, 360-degree view b) I can explain each element and what I intended on doing and c) it’s SO much easier than writing up a post and you all know how often I blog… ha ha ha (laugh, it’s a joke!)

Happy Monday, everyone!
I have the day off and heading to IKEA to browse for furniture for my new classroom! HOORAY!

Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Girly Girl, Video Posts | No Comments »

Hello Kitty Princess Cake

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

I did it again. Sigh. I refused to give away yet another one of my cakes. I should really seek help.

Remember how I mentioned that every cake had a story?
This is the story:

When I was growing up in Sunday school, there were a bunch of teachers who really cared for us particularly a few of them who were siblings. All my great childhood memories at church involved them somehow–either attending summer camp, or putting on a play at church or having someone to chat on the phone with–they were always there. We’ve lost touch in recent years but started chatting again in the past few weeks and they ordered a Hello Kitty Princess cake for their niece who was turning 2. I was SO excited for this because I always wanted to make a castle cake and how fitting that the theme colour was PINK, my favourite.

side note ***
I’m horrible at this time management thing because in the middle of writing this post, I stopped to take a phone call and now I have to get ready to head out to North Carolina. I still have so much to write about though. I hope you guys enjoy your week! Will chat more when I get back xo

Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Girly Girl | No Comments »

I LOVE This Day! =)

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

My job is birthday-centric. How FUN and AWESOME does that sound? I’m thinking about birthdays all the time… either from clients or friends/family. May 17th comes once a year and I’m excited that I finally get to celebrate my own. I feel like a kid again. And guess how I’m going to celebrate? With… WORK! (I kid you not). My actual celebration is on Monday… Victoria Day… starting off with an early morning HIKE in Hamilton (trail is 850km!) and a celebratory dinner with 70 of my closest friends. Then watch fireworks afterwards. I LOVE fireworks! It’s going to be a wonderful day spent with loved ones, given that I survive the hike and actually make it to dinner!

Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Girly Girl | No Comments »

Another One of These Blue Boxes

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

Hmm… the title of this post makes it seem like I made a cake in the shape of a recycling box. Let me rephrase it — Another One of These TIFFANY Blue Boxes! Better?

First things first… HI! How are you? My blog and I have been in a love/hate relationship lately. I have so many things to write about, so many stories and adventures to share but whenever I open my account to write, I blank out. Is that normal? Probably not. I find that the BEST time for me to blog is at night when I have consumed at least two cups of delicious delicious caffeine. But now, all I have is a cup of hot water and a an opened bag of mini Oreos. That’ll have to do for now!

I made this for a guy on my team and I must say, my second Tiffany’s cake was a lot easier than the first one. Besides having a love/hate relationship with my blog, I now have one with SQUARE cakes as well. Eesh! Those corners took about an hour to perfect. Why… WHY are corners 90degrees? Okay, that’s a dumb question. I love round cakes the most, still. So dear clients, please keep in mind to order more round cakes in the future. Many thanks in advance!

One thing I like about REPEAT designs is that I don’t have to think when putting it together. But one thing I don’t like about it is that it doesn’t allow my creativity to flow. I know the birthday girl pointed to a photo in my album and said, “I WANT THAT ONE!” so “that one” is the one she gets! I still love the femininity and delicacy of this cake and the colours.

My heart is in the details, still

Posted in Birthdays, Cakes, Girly Girl | No Comments »

First Communion Cake

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Posted in Cakes, Girly Girl | No Comments »