My Man Langston

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly." - Langston Hughes



I leave you with my favorite quote by my favorite poet. My mom used to say this to me frequently and it always pops in my head when I am working overtime towards a dream.

Nite for real this time.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

These are the results of my 1st annual Holiday Crafts for Kids workshop. OK, it was completely impromptu b/c both my kids had play dates today so I came up with the brilliant idea of doing holiday crafts with them to keep them busy. We started the afternoon decorating wooden ornaments with markers and glitter glue (I bought a kit at Michael's that had everything in it for $5) then we decorated Xmas bulbs followed by my first attempt at candy making. I would say that the kids and I did a great job. My 7 year old son's friend even said, "this is better than playing video games". All in all the activities lasted @ 2 hours and the kids had a blast. They all were sent home with 3 wooden ornaments, 2 bulbs, 2 lollipops and 2 pieces of chocolate.

I think next month we may just do cupcake decorating. I will keep you posted.

These are the important memories that I truly cherish. I spent the last 3 years traveling for work, and working 50-60 hours a week and really missed creating memories with my little ones.

(thanx Chaka for supporting my 6 figure corporate dream)

I am grateful that my job brought us to this area after living in Columbus, OH, Buffalo, NY and Philadelphia, PA. I know that the moving, working and growing my career has lead me to this opportunity to pursue Harmony. I no longer live for the corporate high 5's and seeing my products on some other restaurant's menu. All my passion is now poured into every batch of cupcakes for my own menu. My kids motivated me to take this leap of faith b/c I missed being their mom. Harmony has brought me back into the home as the "head mamacita" who is creating a legacy for my children to follow.

This is getting a little heavy so I am going to head upstairs and kiss my babies goodnight.

Bring Harmony into your life.......

Nite

The cupcakes are attacking!!!!!!!!!!

Her are pictures of the cupcakes that I made for my old employer's Turkey day lunch and for Chaka's job. Thanks Mo for the order!

The cupcakes are listed in order:

76 Dalmatian

Over the Rainbow

Princess Nalah

Apple Cobbler (from our Autumn menu but they may become permanent based on all of the reviews)

Nalah-B also took cupcakes this morning to her teacher. She is the best marketing and PR person. She has been telling all of her teachers about Harmony Cupcakes. I will have to make some cupcakes for the Wyandot staff again.

Anywho, I am off to make a few calls. We got another bid last night and another one coming this afternoon. More news to come this weekend.....................

This is where the journey is all about patience and perseverance and I have both.

TGIF!

Dat...dat...dat...dat...dat don't kill me can only make me stronger

I received an e-mail from one of our prospective contractors after I followed up to see when we will have pricing for our space. I explained to him that our timeline is very tight and that by the end of the day we will have 2 bids and would like to make a decision before a new week starts.

His response to me was as follows:

"I did not realize that you had two other bidders. It would seem like you are covered with regards to bids. I have been waiting for our electrical price-the service size will need to be increased. I would not typically price against two other bidders for a project of this size. Please make your choice from the two bids you have in hand. I wish you suggest in your new venture."

I am completely baffled. Don't most people shop around for the best deal, products and service. I am sure that this company does great work but wouldn't we be fools to rely on one company. I know that we are not a multi-million dollar project but money is money right. I suppose this is another lesson learned during this part of my journey.

So it looks like we are going to have to make a decision with only 3 bids or its back to the drawing board. I have a good felling about our meeting tonight. The company has been very professional and attentive. I also got a warm and fuzzy feeling when I met with them 2 weeks ago. I hope that counts for something.

Anywho, my timer just went off.

Oh, the title is courtesy of Kanye West's song Stronger. I have been listening to this song all morning. Keep him in your thoughts, he lost his Mama last weekend.

Sometimes it snows in November...

I just saw our first snow flake of the season. Nothing stuck but it means that winter is officially here. I love this time of year. The air is cold and crisp, hot cocoa and tea become my drinks of choice and I get busy baking my holiday cookies and sweet potato cheesecake. I can not believe that Turkey day is next week. This year will be the true test b/c my mom is not coming for dinner so Chaka and I are on our own making all of the fixings and the turkey. I usually cover the desserts but this year I have to make all of the sides while Chaka covers the bird. It should be fun!

I am off to make Apple cobbler cupcakes, I can't wait to fill the house with the smell of apples, honey and cinnamon, mmmmmmmm.

Oh, I almost forgot, we got one bid in yesterday and all I can say is it was higher than we expected. We have another meeting set for this evening. I will have more news later tonight.

Enjoy the day.

Nothing but Bids..............

Today we meet with 2 contractors to receive bids for Harmony. I am excited, anxious and nervous but mostly excited. I will let you know tonight what the deal is.

Short and sweet this AM, I have tons to get done before my 1st meeting at noon.

Peace.

No one no one can get in the way of what I am feellin'............

My title not only speaks to how excited I fell today but I am also paying tribute to Alicia Keys album coming out today, yeh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to stop and pick it up. I have not heard the entire album but I love her first song, No One and the title As I am speaks to where I am in this part of my journey. Her song Superwoman is also da bomb and oh so empowering. Check out her album at

http://www.mtv.com/music/the_leak/alicia_keys/as_i_am/#

then go and buy it. Alicia is a TRUE musician. She writes her own music and tickles the old ivory like no bodies business.

While I have encountered tons of support during this journey thus far, I have also experienced my share of folks that think I am super crazy to be following my dream. Do they matter, not really, but it does hurt a bit to know that folks have called me weak for not wanting to deal with corporate any longer. But hey, folks are always going to what they want, but no one can take away the joy that I feel right now.

Harmony is coming together and I am pretty sure that we are going to be signing our lease before Turkey Day hits. I am also super excited b/c my Dad is flying in for Thanksgiving. He has not met Z-man yet. The kids are also counting the days until we pick up Pop-Pop from the airport.

It is hard at time being 10 hours away from family but this is the path that we have chosen. Besides, Philly and I just do not agree.

Anywho, I need to run to a meeting.

Have a peaceful day!

More Equipment Shopping

Today turned out to be a day of shopping restaurant supply places. It seems like once I think I have my equipment figured out, someone comes along and tells me something more. Chaka and I visited 2 more equipment places and I think that I have settled on my convection oven. I also met Jon at Cincinnati Restaurant Supply and he was so helpful. His prices were also really competitive for small wares. I also liked the customer service that we received. We may just have a winner. We still have to see where our contractors come in. We asked all of the "one stop shop" construction and design firms to include bids with and without equipment. I can not wait to see where we stand when all the bids come in. I am hoping by this time next week we will have our lease signed and a contractor selected. I will keep praying.

All in all it was a productive day. Tomorrow I am off to talk to the folks at the Greater Cincy Microenterprise Initiative about extra funding. You can never have enough. They were so helpful last week and asked me to come in for a quick meeting.

Anywho, I need to get din din figured out.

Later Buckeyes.

Just another Rainy Sunday........

It's raining, damp and cold.........

We spent some quality time as a family. We went to a b-day party yesterday but today was pretty mellow. I cleaned out the kids toy boxes (boy did they have a lot of junk) and got lots ready for a Goodwill drop. I also headed out to find the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Van and 5 Scooby Doo figurines for my 7 year old. We only allow our kids to put 3 things on their wish list for the holidays so usually they really want what they ask for. I can not find this anywhere. I have hit every toy and discount store in the Cincy/ Dayton area. I also looked last weekend when we were in Columbus. I spent this past week looking online but every place is out of stock. As a last resort I checked e-bay and folks are selling this item for $49.00 + S&H and it only costs $19.00 for the van and $14.00 for the figurines. My son may have to add something else to his wish list. I give it one more week, because I do not shop after Turkey day, the crowds are tooooo crazy. I am sure I will come up with something.

Chaka is home tomorrow so we will be hitting the phones hard. I am hoping to find a local dairy to buy from. I hope we can steal a moment away and spend some time together since the kiddies have school.

Cupcakes to come this week : Apple Cobbler, Apricot Brandy, Over the Rainbow and Southern Sweet Pot.

I am out for tonight. It is the perfect night to get the kids in the bed, make some ginger peach tea (hmmmmmm that may make a good cupcake) and curl up with a good book.

I will leave you with a quote from Buddah to start the week....
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”

Bring Harmony into your life......... until tomorrow, peace.