Research, research, reaserach....

Yes, I am still up. I drank some Pepsi with my dinner and I can not get to sleep. I am really going to feel it tomorrow. I have a busy day but there is no point in going to bed if I am just going to count the shadows on the wall.

I have been researching various restaurant supply stores to visit next week and creating a to do list. I know that things are going to start rolling really fast come next week, so I want to be really prepared. This is really fun and overwhelming at the same time. But hey, I am pursuing my bliss and chasing my dream.

Everyone is waiting for Harmony to move to the next level. I feel like Harmony is going to be so much bigger than I imagined.

Chaka and I were going over the final menu. I am completely torn about selling other mini treats in addition to cupcakes. On one hand I feel like cupcakes are enough and other moments I want to share my cookies, brownies and sweet potato cheesecake. After all, the mini treats are selling right now almost as well as the cupcakes. We shall see......

I have finalized my color scheme and am getting ready to move forward with getting the website professionally done. The whole Harmony concept is really coming together. I can't wait to see it all unfold.

Well, I guess I will try and go to bed or I am going to really feel it tomorrow.

I have also shared a photo of the cupcakes that I made for Charissa Mays b-day today. She is about to have that baby any day now. I can't wait to meet the new Riley.

Until tomorrow, Peace.

Girls just want to have fun.

Hung out with Sherrita and the babies today, well actually yesterday. It was really nice spending some quality time with her. We both needed to get out of the house even though if is hot (still in the upper 80's) which is CRAZY for this time of year. We went to Cookwares and did a little window shopping and then we visited a really awesome natural supermarket, had lunch and then walked off the calories at the mall. It was nice getting out of the area for the day. Back to the grind though, I have to find a way to cut down on Harmony's start- up costs.

Until Later, Peace.

The more they so NO, the more I keep on movin'...

The past 24 hours have been a bit tumultuous. The broker who is located in Harmony Cupcake's official spot called to say that he needs a definite yeh or ney by the end of next week. He assured us that it would be to his benefit to make it work out for Harmony b/c the other folks interested want to buy his business and move it across town. Then I received a rejection letter from one of the banks that was dated the same day that I applied for the loan 2 weeks ago. Saying that I was frustrated is an understatement, here is why:

1. The loan officer did not have the decency to even call me to tell me the news like he said he would
2. The bank made the decision the same day that I applied for the loan on 9/24 (this is the date that the letter had on it) but I did not receive the letter in the mail until yesterday (10/4) after I had made several follow up calls.
3. This is just a another example of the lack of integrity that exists in corporate America

So after a slight melt down last night, I am still plowing forward. I may have secured another investor that will enable Harmony Cupcake's to give our broker a yeh and take procession of our location no later than December 1st. So, to all of my cheerleaders, I still may be open for the holiday season, in time for you to experience my sweet potato cheesecake.

On a side note, I must say thank you to my sista Sherrita. She truly lifted my spirits today by talking to me more than 4 times. She also shared with me that her family is really cheering for me and her dad actually gave her a cupcake maker that he bought in the 70's to give to me. I can't wait to see if. We have decided to set up a work out routine together to get this baby weight off. By this time next year we both will be mistaken as the nanny........

I am turning in for now. Peace and Good night.

A Lovely Day

When I woke up this morning I could feel that today is going to be an awesome day. No worrying about the bank or when Harmony Cupcakes is going to open. Today is just going to be a day of creating and having some fun. I have a very special cupcake order this weekend for Mr. B's birthday. Mr. B and Ms. Felisha (his wife) were our first real friends when we moved to Mason in 2004. I am going to do a cupcake tree with chocolate cupcakes. I am also going to design a Buckeye cupcake since Mr. B is a alumni and hard core fan of the OSU Buckeyes. So today is planning day. Ms. Felisha has given me full creative freedom so the sky is the limit. I am also practicing for the Aker's fundraiser later this month. If you get a chance, go and check out www.akersangels.com . Harmony Cupcakes is one of the sponsors for the event. We are doing 200 cupcakes for this deserving family.
Anywho, I am headed out to find a backpack that I can carry Zuhri in. I can not seem to get anything done during the day b/c he likes to be held.

Until, later, Peace.

Le cake decorator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Move over all you Kroger cake decorators, it is official, I am a graduate of Cincinnati Cake and Candy's Basic Cake Decorating Class!!!!
I took the class to see if I hated cake decorating now as much as I did 10 years ago at the CIA. And the answer is..........not as much but I still don't really like it. While the class was really fun and I learned a couple of things that I can use to decorate some of my cupcakes, I do not see myself taking up cake decorating as a hobby. I proved to myself that I can do it and do it well, I might add. And like I said before, if for some catastrophic reason that Harmony Cupcakes does not open its doors, I can always make money decorating and selling cakes if Chaka can't bring in enough showing his legs down on Over the Rhine.
On a serious note, I really enjoyed learning the fundamentals from Linda. She is truly an inspiring entrepreneur who started selling cakes 30 years ago to support her family after her husband's death. She is the owner of Cincinnati Cake and Candy and teaches many classes from her store. She is proof of how strong and resilient women are-when given lemons, we use the zest and juice to make fabulous lemon cakes!
Until tomorrow, peace.
Oh, the picture above is my masterpiece, we are going to celebrate Zuhri's half birthday tomorrow with his godparents.

There's Hope

I started today off by listening to some India Arie. I love her but I have to be in the mood for her latest album. It is a mixture of positive preaching and her journey towards healing. I listened to her song, There's Hope as I cleaned up and prepared to care for my neighbor's son who injured his foot playing football yesterday. The song hits home every time I hear it. India is such a role model and an example of how "large" my generation truly is. We are breaking the mold and saying no to the way things have been in the past and paving a new way for the generations that follow. Honestly, this is the reason why I am so determined to open Harmony Cupcakes. I want my children and nieces to know that they do not have to work for corporate America because there will be a viable family business for them to come and contribute to. I will also encourage them to venture out and pursue their dreams, no matter how impossible they seem. I am inspired and driven by the creative freedom and balance that Harmony Cupcakes will provide me with. It will be hard work but the end result will be so sweet, perhaps as sweet as one of my cupcakes.

Peace.

Back up plan........

So, Chaka, the King, (aka my hubby - I will explain the king bit at a later date) was indulging me during a moment of self doubt. I was devising a back up plan in case Harmony Cupcakes is never a go (self doubt is normal, right?????). I proclaimed back in July that I would never work for corporate America again. I mean I am so serious when I say NEVER, EVER, EVER. Ok, of course when Harmony Cupcakes is so big that I have to have a corporate headquarters, I will have no choice but to work in corporate, but that is so different b/c I will be the President and CEO and I vow that I will never treat my team the way that I was treated during my time in corporate America.

Here is the back-up plan, I told Chaka that I would become a world renown cake decorator if Harmony does not fly. I mean I have been taking a cake decorating classes at Cincinnati Candy and Cakes over the past month to get out the house and do something other than plan to launch a business. My teacher, Linda told me that I have come along way in just 3 short weeks. Just look at the picture above, yes folks I made the clown. I know, I am gifted, right? I could win a Food Network Challenge tomorrow if I had to. I mean who wouldn't pay to have Rafiki the clown on their cake? I know you would. Go ahead, you better hurry and place your order for Rafiki before the holiday rush at. Ok, I will tell the truth, I suck at cake decorating. Actually, one of the reasons I dropped out of the CIA to go to OSU and study food science is b/c I am not very good at cake decorating or sugar and chocolate work. I just do not have the patience. I bow down to Duff of Ace of Cakes and even my teacher Linda b/c they have the patience and talent to decorate such intricate pieces of art that people are just going to shove in their mouths. That is why I love cupcakes, you can make them look pretty with out spending hours decorating them and people are still totally impressed.

As for my back-up plan, I don't need one b/c Harmony Cupcakes will open its doors, even if Chaka has to go down to Over the Rhine and show a little leg, just kidding, um kinda....

Peace and Blessings until tomorrow.

Dark N' Lovely

I forgot to tell you that I spent Thursday doing some experimenting with filled cupcakes. The above picture is of some of these filled delights. They are my new and improved Harmony Chocolate recipe, filled with cream cheese butter cream, topped with more cream cheese icing and chocolate. My hubby and Nalah loved them and Amari, my seven year old prince, actually ate one naked. Have you ever met a kid that hates icing? Well, my son does. Actually he does not really care for sweets except for popsicles and ice cream and of course my famous brownies and chocolate- chip cookies. Those that know me say, how can this be b/c I have the worse sweet tooth. Although, don't tell anyone, but icing is not really one of my favorite things. I love my butter cream but I really live for the cake. If the cake can't stand alone then it is not worth putting icing on.

So as of right now, this is a light order week until Friday. I am going to spend the week experimenting with some more new recipes that I have created. I would like to test out Green Tea, Vanilla Chai, Pomegranate Raspberry, and a Ginger Plum cupcakes. I also have a few top secret flavors that will not be unlocked from the family vault until I open my doors. I will see if any of them make the cut for the final menu. I am starting to see what items that folks are ordering all of the time so some of my current menu items may become seasonal or go to the graveyard before Harmony Cupcake's opens its doors. We shall see.

Until later Buckeyes............... Ooooooo, maybe I should do a Buckeye cupcake before football season is over.

Nalah-B, a food protégé?????

Yesterday I delivered the lemon and chocolate b-day cupcakes. They turned out surprisingly well. I mean, I was not entirely convinced that the 2 flavors would compliment one another. Actually, my hubby Chaka says that my lemon sunshine is luscious and it makes him want to do things that I can not discuss on this PG site, but I think that you get my drift. So I was not sure if it would be as luscious with chocolate butter cream on top. They turned out ok. Not my favorite but I hope that Mo's mom loves them. They did pass the Nalah-B stamp of approval. For a 6 year-old she is becoming a sensory queen, look out all you food scientist. This is how she described the cupcake: "tangy and sweet with a dark finish". I had to get her to explain the dark part b/c I was completely taken a back by her use of that world. She said that the chocolate butter cream made the cupcake dark and chocolaty, not like a Hershey bar but more like a chocolate chip. Folks, I am impressed. I have worked with many trained panelist during my days as a food scientist and I was never this lucky to get such a description. I guess I should start contacting the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), OSU and Cornell and let them know that we have a food protege on our hands..................

Anywho, Chaka is on his way back from teaching a seminar on diversity and HIV at OSU. After, the long drive, I know he will not go for having day old cupcakes for dinner so I better whip up something to put in his belly.

Later Gaters.

Oh, the picture above is of Mo's mom's b-day cupcakes, enjoy!