Last year my good friend Holly from Glamour Mash
wrote an incredible blog entitled “An Open Love Letter to Clinton” to her now fiancé,
Clint. Needless to say, it was breathtakingly beautiful! If you know Holly like
I do, then you can’t help but love every inch of her and to see her so happy
and in so much love just makes me so happy!
Her blog spoke to me for a number of reasons. I admired
her courage to share her true feelings with the world and a year later I just
can’t seem to get the title out of my head. Hold tight, you’ll understand why
in the next paragraphs.
If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I recently
passed the 2,000 followers mark. It was a pretty cool and slightly awkward
feeling to know that that many people actually care what I have to say about
cakes and glitter. I work hard for my followers, I don’t buy my followers and I
block spam accounts.
So, here’s how Holly’s blog and my milestone come
together….I want to share my own ‘love’ letter with you, my followers, my
family. Sometimes I think we get lost in what we perceive to be true about
someone based on the posts, likes and dislikes. I want to be completely
transparent with you, so here goes, a few things you may not already know about
me…
1 – I have no formal pastry training. I spent one
semester in high school in Home Economics which is where I learned how to
properly fold a batter, separate an egg white from its yolk and that I generally
dislike ‘cooking’. Is that weird? I can make one hell of a salad but a full
meal is just out of the question.
I’m sharing this with you because I want you to
know that it doesn’t always take a degree or hundreds hours of training with
the top chefs in the industry; it takes passion, dedication, love and loyalty
to your craft. I spend countless hours in my kitchen experimenting with new
flavors and sometimes I fail miserably. Don’t even get me started on the
meringue fail of 2014. (LOL!)
2 – I’m the daughter of the strongest woman on the
planet. My mom had me when she was just 21 years old and from day one it was me
and her against the world! We had nothing but each other and that’s all we
needed. I shared my mama’s bed for my first few years on this planet and we
spent most nights at restaurants where kids ate free and my mama would have a
side salad and water; just to make sure I was getting enough to eat before bed
at night. Deedee Romanello is and always will be my hero!
I’m sharing this because I want you to know that
you don’t have to be rich or have a famous family to achieve greatness. My
mother achieved greatness by working her ass off day in and day out and never
taking ‘No’ for an answer! Also, the woman ties one hell of a bow, makes the
best mashed potatoes ever and should be the poster woman for loyalty. I will
share a quick quote from this fine woman “If I love you or if you’re my family,
I will F*ck someone up for you” Get em Deeds!
3 – I hate cake…I LOVE Funyuns! I feel like this
one explains itself.
I’m sharing this because I want you to know that
there’s much more to my craft than just the cake or cupcakes. Just to start
there’s cupcake toppers design, topper creation, choosing the perfect liners,
the cake plates, designing the stands, the glitter, the menu…I could go on for
hours! So, please don’t roll your eyes when you hear prices from an at home
baker or a small business owner, we take a lot of time to make each order
perfect and sometimes we don’t profit more than $10.
Side note, for those of you who wonder how I stay
thin while baking cupcakes and cake, now you know…I don’t eat any of it! My dad
and my sister Gabby are the designated tasters for MBC so you can thank them
for my menu.
I hear one more person say “I thought you weren’t supposed
to trust a skinny baker?” and I’m going to scream. Let’s really think about
this…are you honestly going to trust the fat dude who can’t seem to put the
cupcakes down? At least when I deliver you know they will all make it to their
destinations. <--- Lawyered! (that was dumb, huh?)
4 – I was never popular, never had a ton of
friends and didn’t get asked to prom. I was the girl in the back of the class
wearing overalls (when they weren’t cool) and chewing on my hair. Not my best
moments, but they shaped the person I’ve grown into so I guess that’s a plus. I
lived in 6 different states by the time I was 12 years old (CA, AZ, OK, WA, NV
& OR) and I was made fun of a lot because I’ve been 5’9” since I was in the
6th grade. I was the skinny/gangly/awkward girl that had no idea how
to use a hair straightener and what to do with a bottle of mascara. Here’s what
I did know; I knew I wanted to build something to make my parents proud and to
leave to my future kids someday. The things that I hope my little girl someday
thinks about…
To this day I’m still insecure in my own skin but I’m
learning, with the help of a few close friends, that no one is perfect and no one
has all of life’s answers. All we can do is try to be the best versions of
ourselves.
I’m sharing this because I know that I have a lot
of young girls that follow me, I know because I read all of their sweet
messages and emails. I want every one of you girls to know that you don’t need
to be the popular girl, the captain of the basketball team or the prom queen to
make a difference in your life or the lives of those around you. Remember to
smile big, stand tall and hold your pretty heads up high because you never know
who is watching.
5 – I read every message or email I get and look
at the profile of every single person that follows me or supports me and my
work on Instagram. I may not be able to reply to each of you personally and it
may take a few days for my response but please know that I see them and they
keep me strong.
I’m sharing this because I want you to know that
you mean the world to me! You, the person reading this blog, mean more to me
than you will ever know. The fact that you took the time to read this entire
blog and to follow me on my road to cupcake greatness makes me feel like a
million bucks. It keeps me going when I haven’t slept in 2 days and it keeps me
going when I think I’ll never get another order.
So, to all of you, THANK YOU from the bottom of my
heart. You are the reason I get to continue to do what I love.
