Baking a cupcake...what do I mean by the that?  Am I going to write a blog post about the ins and outs of baking a cupcake?? If you know me, or even if you've read the blog...you probably know that's not going to happen.  I'm just a bit protective of my recipes and methods....okay, a lot protective!  

So what I mean by baking a cupcake is....I'm baking one...in my belly!  The secret is out; I'm pregnant!   You probably know by now I'm very Type A and plan everything.  So of course, mother nature decided to teach me a major life lesson of needing to let go of control and showed me that some things just can't be perfectly planned....like a family; and timing doesn't always work out when you try to plan.  So instead of being due during the "slow" time of the year...I'm due smack dab in the middle of wedding season!  August 7th.  The hiccups along the way only make this a happier moment for us.

I stressed on how exactly to tell the couples who's weddings would be interfered with.  I went over all scenarios in my head....angry reactions, people bashing me online, losing customers because of it....but none of that happened.  In fact, I was brought to tears by how amazing and understanding both brides were when I told them about the situation (I had to inform two weddings that I would need to cancel) .  They both congratulated me, seemed genuinely excited for me instead of upset in any way, and gave me their well wishes!  I could not have asked for better reactions and I cannot say thank you enough to them for being so understanding!  

Now you may be wondering if Steph's Sweet Treats will change at all?  Some of the changes I foresee, are changes I have been meaning/needing to make before being pregnant.  

•  Pick-up times need to be more firm.  I make pickup times expecting people to show up at that time, unfortunately that doesn't always happen.  This can result in me running back and forth the shop or waiting for long periods of time in an effort to not run back and forth.  So please do your best to be on time.
• Last minute orders.  I will still do my absolute best to fit last minute orders in, but if I have a very full weekend or day of baking, I may just have to say no...as much as that pains me.  Please understand and try to give me as much notice as you can for orders.  I always say a week, but most of the time that doesn't happen; but if you can, please do!
• End of July and beginning of August orders. I plan on baking up until the end of my pregnancy (go ahead and call me crazy), but will be letting people know that if you order there's a chance it won't get filled because I could be in labor! 

These changes are too crazy, or really changes at all...I'll go ahead and call them guidelines instead. I hope you can all understand if I need to turn away an order or if I go into labor and an unable to finish an order. 

Before I sign off, here's a few fun facts about my pregnancy experience thus far:  (and I promise not to overrun the blog in the next months with all things pregnancy)

• I love cottage cheese....weird, I know. Okay, it's really all things cheese, but started with cottage cheese.
• I did NOT like red meat for awhile.  Ground beef is still a little sketchy, but steak is great!
• I get REALLY hot.
• I lucked out and did not have to deal with bad nausea.  So sorry for those of you who did/do!

Thanks again for all the support and for another week of orders!  Don't forget to visit the Valentine's Day event pages and place orders if you need to!

Whether you love it or hate, Valentine's Day will be here soon!  The good news....even if you don't like Valentine's Day, who says you can't enjoy some cupcakes?!  Valentine's Day is always a very busy time for Steph's Sweet Treats, so I hope this year is no different.  Since it's on a Sunday, I was a little concerned about how to do my open day. 

Ultimately, I decided to go big, and do two days (Friday and Saturday)!  So here's the scoop on the open days and for those of you wanting to place orders for Valentine's Day.

Each day has a separate event page.  If you plan on stopping by one of the days, please visit the appropriate event page and click "going."  I try to use these numbers to figure out how many cupcakes I will make, so please let me know you will be stopping..the more attendees, the more cupcakes I make!

Friday's hours will be normal open day hours- 6:30am-5pm (or until sold out).  I will have more cupcakes available Friday than I will for Saturday.  Once the allotted cupcakes are sold for Friday, I will close shop and reopen Saturday from 8am-3pm.  The flavors will be: decorated vanilla and chocolate, vanilla raspberry, red velvet, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate peanut butter, champagne, cookies n cream, chocolate covered strawberry, mint chocolate chip, GF birthday cake, and death by chocolate. There will also be cutout cookies and brookies.

Here is the event page for Friday- Friday's open day  
Here is the event page for Saturday- Saturday's open day

A lot of times people like to order ahead for Valentine's Day.  I am limiting what you can pre-order...mostly for my own sanity and because of the amount of time it takes to get all the orders ready in the midst of getting everything else done. (There's not enough hours in the day!) If you are ordering for Valentine's Day you can get:
-Cupcake bouquet (7 cupcakes) in vanilla, chocolate or red velvet
-Pre-pack #1:  2 decorated vanilla, 2 decorated chocolate, 2 red velvet, 3 vanilla raspberry and 3 chocolate peanut butter
-Pre-pack #2: 3 chocolate chip cookie dough, 3 chocolate covered strawberry, 3 champagne, and 3 mint chocolate chip
-Cut-out cookies

Cutoff for pre-orders is February 5

If you want 4-packs, 6-packs, or 12-packs mixed with different flavors and quantities, you must come in to do so; you cannot pre-order anything other than the four items listed above. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it gets way too crazy and time consuming to pull all sorts of custom mixed 4, 6, and 12 packs, especially for Valentine's Day since there are even more orders and so many flavors.

So please click "going" in the day you plan on attending; pre-order by February 5 if you plan on doing so; only pre-order from the list above; and don't forget to share the events with your friends on Facebook and by word-of-mouth!

Thanks again for another week of orders and for making last week's open day a huge success!

Hey everyone!  I need your thoughts!  Please take a moment to take this quick (very quick) poll for me.  It would help me a lot! Thanks again for another week of orders and I hope to see you all at the open day Friday!!

Stitch fix time!!  I haven't had a Stitch Fix box to review since November.  I skipped December because of the holidays and all the presents I had to buy.  But boy oh boy did I miss not getting my box!  So I not so patiently waited for this box.  Before I reveal what I got....

What you need to know about Stitch Fix:
-You fill out a detailed style profile of your likes, dislikes, sizes, how much money you prefer to spend, etc. 
- You choose how often you'd like to receive a fix.  Each time you can ask for specifics if you have something specific you want, or if have an upcoming event to attend.  
-A stylist chooses and sends you five items based on your wants, style profile, fashion pinterest boards, etc.  Items can include clothing and accessories.  
-You pay a $20 styling fee for the fix, BUT if you keep something from you Stitch Fix the $20 is credited towards your total.  So the only time you "lose" $20 is if you send everything back.  Bonus: If you keep all five items you get 25% off everything!
-You get three days to try on your items and decide, then you checkout online and send back what you don't want in the prepaid shipping bag you get with your box.

If you want to give it a shot, click here to get started.

So here's what I got!  Again, my stylist listened to everything I said/asked for and pulled straight from my Pinterest board.  I asked for colored skinny jeans, the exact funnel neck sweatshirt, another urban expressions bag, told her I was lacking purple in my wardrobe, and she knows from previous fixes that I like plaid.  As you can see, I got what I wanted!  However, even though they were all things I really wanted and thought I would love....they turned out not to look so great on me...

I think a lot of it had to do with my overall feeling that day.  I was tired and didn't look that great, so my initial reaction was that nothing looked good on me.  A few hours later I looked at the pictures I had taken and I really liked some of the pieces, so I decided to try everything on again the next day and make more of an effort to style the pieces the way I would wear them, instead of just throwing them on.  

1. Urban Expressions Andover Bowler Bag in burgundy:
Initial reaction: I like the color, but the bag felt too big for me.  Don't get me wrong, I love a big bag, but this one felt "slouchy" when I sat it down and looked too big on my arm.
Next day: My feelings towards the bag didn't change.  It just wasn't for me.  I like a little more structure, like my first Urban Expression bag.  RETURN
2. Just Black Winslette Skinny Jeans in burgundy:
Initial reaction: A bit snug in the hips, too long in the legs and too long in the crotch.  I love the color and love them paired with the flannel and riding boots so I emailed customer service to see if the would be available in a size up and in petite.
Next day: Turns out I don't know what I was doing the first time I put these on.  They have a high waist....so if I just pulled them up to wear they were supposed to sit, it solved the fit in the hips and crotch.  However, I felt like they wrinkled weird at my knees...but if wear them with boots will people really stare at my knees?!  Still completely undecided as to whether or not I want to keep these.
3. Market & Spruce Colibri Plaid Tab-Sleeve Shirt:
Initial reaction: I love plaid and don't have anything in these colors, so I liked it.  It's also very soft, but thinner.  I can't decide if being thinner is a positive or negative.  I'm leaning towards positive because I could probably layer it with a vest if I wanted to. It's also a little long so I could possibly wear it with leggings.
Next day:  I still really liked this top, especially with the burgundy jeans.  UNDECIDED
4. Loveappella Evie Draw String Funnel Neck Sweatshirt in navy:
Initial reaction: I wanted this sweatshirt soooo bad...and I got it!  Then I put it on....  I didn't do much for me that's for sure.  I felt slouchy and unkempt.  But the neck part was cute.