The Question Of Cake

 

Our 4th and final tasting took place from the comfort of our own home.  We had a wagon wheel assortment of about 8 different cake flavors and 10 different fillings from bakery #4 to mix and match with along with our specially made sample of 3 layer white and chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse filling and a layer of fudge from bakery #3 and went to town.  Bakery #4 had decent cake, but was the 2nd most expensive and I felt their $150 charge for an extra sheet cake was exorbitant.  We both agreed that we wouldn't choose them and that bakery #2 although the cheapest of them all wasn't as tasty.  Much to my dismay After all those tastings Mj still favored the flavors from bakery #1, the very first place we went to which also happens to be the most expensive.  I on the other hand wanted to marry am in love with the special sample from bakery #3 and I really liked their Marble cake too.  I also prefer their prices-they were the next cheapest.  Mj liked them too.  Not as much as bakery #1 but even so I thought they might be a good compromise.  So, what to do? I liked bakery #1 as well and the only reason I continued the cake hunt is because I was hoping to find a more reasonable price-which we did-just  not quite up to Mj's standards.  I decided to go with bakery #1 that  Mj preferred and we will use the the pink with black ribbons around the bottom design that we both liked from bakery #3. 

We will not be freezing our top tier.  Out of all of the other places we went to bakery #1 was the only one who pushed that as standard.  They get more money that way because now the couple has to purchase extra cake to feed their guests if the whole top layer will be frozen and preserved for later.  I would rather get more out of the most expensive cake I will ever buy in my life on the day of especially since I don't even want year old freezer burned cake.  If we really want to, which we probably won't we can go back to the salon in a year and order the same flavors for much less money.  Tradition is just going to have to take a hike on this one.  They are also the only bakery to have a deposit for cake holders.

I feel like I've been had a little ill after booking it today because to me it is absolutely ridiculous insane to spend $431.25 on a cake.  We will be getting a 3 tier round with Peanut Butter Chocolate on the bottom and Pudding Chiffon on the top two layers with butter cream frosting.  There is a $40 delivery fee and a $50 refundable cake holder deposit for a grand total of $471.25 (not including the parts deposit).  If we need an extra sheet cake that feeds 25 it will be an additional $50.00.   Bakery #3 was only going to charge us $375 + $42 for an additional sheet cake.  If I truly had it my way I probably would have gone with least tasty but not bad bakery #2 which offered $275 for a 100 person cake and called it a day.  Admittedly, their cake wasn't as good as any of the others but at the end of the day it's really just cake and I'm not convinced that it matters all that much. 

This puts me about $71.25 over my planned cake budget which I'm not happy about and I can't help but wonder if the cake we ordered is really THAT much better then the cheapest one.  I tend to be extremely budget minded and will often settle or accept sub par at the expense of price.  This is OUR wedding so I have decided not to make a big hoopla about it and defer to the groom's more expensive tasty and less budget biased preference.  I have plenty of opportunities to be cheap frugal in other areas of my our life so I will just let this one go.

Overpriced wedding cake:  CHECK.

He's Gonna Look Hot In A Tux

We finally made it to Men's Wearhouse to choose tuxedos for Mj and the groomsmen.  Mj is pretty quick and easy to please when it comes to making decisions so we had the whole thing booked in about 45 minutes.  I already knew going in that the groom would be wearing a silver vest with a silver tie.  I have some silver beading in my dress and as much as I would love to see him in my fav color pink I decided to have him match me. We put Mj into a 2 button jacket that looks like the one pictured here.  There were really not too many pinks that were the exact shade we wanted so it didn't take too long to narrow that one down for the groomsmen.  We went for a 3 button for them so that the pink vest will just barely peak out from the jacket-so it won't be too much.  It takes a confident man to wear pink and I think the groomsmen are up to the task.  Mj has already broken the news to them that they will be wearing pink and no one seems too bothered by it. Not that it matters right?  I'm running the show here!

I told Mj if he pays for my dress then I will pay for his tux!  Let's just say he didn't agree to that one.  Not exactly a fair trade.  So much attention is paid to what the bride will wear but if I'm the star he is my co star and he's got to look good too.  I've never seen him in a tux and I have a feeling he is going to wear it well. We booked our party choices with a $40 deposit that will go towards Mj's rental which will total $124.00. They gave us an exact order by date and order number to give the groomsmen and the tux will be available for pick up 2 days prior to the event at whatever location they choose.

Just one more thing to check off my list.  Other then the cake that was the final thing we needed to get done. Speaking of the cake.  We picked up our last set of samples yesterday and will definitely taste them and make a final decision tomorrow.  We need to book it and put down our deposit, ideally before the utter chaos of packing up all of my worldly possessions into boxes and starting the moving process.

After that we went to the movies and watched Iron Man 2 (which was very good) while eating copious amounts of candy from Target which is infinitely cheaper then buying a thing from the Theatre.  We hadn't eaten much all day and were hungry starving.  We have some food in the house but if we need more ingredients to put a meal together we aren't getting them sine we'll be moving soon.  We're not cooking until we get set up in our new digs.  We went to a Mexican restaurant on the way home where they have happy hour all day on Sunday. Gotta love it!

Hmfff....I really enjoyed my beer but now it's time to get ready for Monday.

So Close To Closing

Our final walk through on the house is THIS THURSDAY.  During this time we will walk through the house with the builder and note anything that needs fixing up.  A lot of people don't hire independent inspections on new builds, but we are and he will be meeting us there.  Once we determine everything is A OK they should have our loan and closing documents ready for us.  Once the documents are signed that signifies closing.  The bank funds, the county records, and about two days after signing we get our keys making the house officially ours. 

The main changes from April 25th to now that I can see are that the sinks, toilets, carpets, and plumbing are all in and the garage door has been painted.  It appears to be pretty much done.  I was so worried that we made the wrong choice with the grayish flooring because it didn't seem to match our tan counter tops but once I saw it with the carpet next to it I could see how it all ties together.  We plan on re doing the counter tops and all downstairs flooring in hardwood later, but it's nice to be OK with how it looks now.

May 5th

We chose a nice sectional, beautiful King size bedroom set, and a comfy pillow top mattress on Saturday so we are already on track for furnishing the place.  The other must haves when we move in are refrigerator, washer, dryer, and window coverings.  We have already  decided on what colors we want the walls and I have all of these ideas about how I want to decorate.  It's so much FUN, but my oh my how everything adds up.  It's SO expensive to set up a house.  I am totally blown away by the amount of money we are spending this year.  It just dawned on me that we are literally planning to move NEXT WEEK.  It's no longer some far off possibility.  I need to schedule a moving truck and a carpet cleaner for my condo ASAP.  We will also need many, many boxes.

Not only are we getting closer to our new home but we are also getting closer to our wedding day. July 10th will be here before we know it.  It's ONLY TWO MONTHS AWAY!!  So much is happening and I'm so excited.

Cont'd:  Moving Marathon

Busy Fun Mom's Day

Of course we still had some business to take care of from Saturday so Mother's Day started with that.  We stopped at the new house to measure the great room area so we could determine if the sectional we ordered the day before was going to fit.  Good thing we did because apparently the 12' long sectional that Mj wanted was just a little ambitious.  We have room along the wall  to do it but we want it to extend from the wall and face where the TV is going to go and 12' extends too far into the walkway.  So, after stopping at a store to check out appliances we headed back to the furniture store to make an adjustment on our sectional order.  Less couch equals less money so we are actually spending a little less then we planned which is always fine by me.

We headed up to meet my mom at Paradise Grill for brunch.  The weather was not as warm and sunny as I had hoped but we did OK sitting outside.  Mj bought mom flowers and I gave her the Spa gift certificate that my sister and I went in on together.  She gets to pamper herself at the spa and she so deserves it.  It was a 3 course meal.  We each had a drink of our choosing, a starter, an entree and a dessert.  We were all stuffed by the end but the dessert was part of the package otherwise I would have never eaten it and who can resist Chocolate Molten Lava Cake? I never seem to be able to.  It's the same dessert I wanted demanded when we came here for my B Day a month ago.

All three of us chose it and it was DElicious.  I couldn't help but notice the way the fudge just oozed out so perfectly after I took my first bite.  We were all stuffed by the end of the meal and no one was hungry again for the rest of the day!  My mom really enjoyed it and was so appreciative that I picked out a nice spot.  I wish I could do so much more for my mom.  She is so kind, generous and just overall amazing.  We have always been close and I am so lucky to have her.

My mom showed me the three dresses she picked out for my wedding.  The black one was so cute but it's a July wedding so it won't work.  She's going to keep it anyways because it is so cute.  There was a maroon one in typical mother of the bride style with a little jacket to go with it.  I felt the color would compliment Pink nicely and it was OK but it had nothing on the Pink strapless one.  First of all it's a lovely pastel Pink.  Second of all it is stylish and hip and my mom is going to look just gorgeous in it.  She had a few reservations.  "Yes mom, I know you are fifty but you look great and can so pull this off."  And she will. 

Mom and I went and got pedicures after brunch.  It's been a ridiculously long time since I had a pedicure and it felt nice.  Unfortunately due to the gloomy weather I am still wearing closed toed shoes today but at least I know I have pretty toes under there.  We stopped at my aunt's house to say hi on the way back to the house and before we knew it it was about time to go home.  I finished up the laundry.  Yes, I still bring laundry to mom's house from time to time because she doesn't require $2.25 in hard to round up quarters like our ridiculous laundry room does.  I collapsed into bed around 10:30 pm.

Sunday was also my big sister's B day.  Poor thing is alone and in the middle of a very difficult pregnancy.  Her hubby is actually out here on the West Coast for training.  I wished her a Happy B Day and sent her some Mac items she wanted.  Yes, I'm about broke.  I have Mj's B day, Mom's day and Big Sis B day all within one week of each other.  Oh, and car registration too.  It's so worth it though when I find just the right thing and can make them happy.

Cake Tasting Part Dos

The weekend came and went in the blink of an eye for me.  Every day was filled from beginning to end with non stop activity.  Sometimes it's nice to be busy, but normally, that is not my thing.  I like to enjoy at least half a day or even more doing nothing on the weekends so I can feel rested but it was not in the cards.  Friday night after work we drove about 1 1/2 hours to visit Mj's friend who just bought a new house.  We didn't get home until about midnight.

Saturday we started off with our 3rd tasting at Bakery #3.  Still trying to nail down that cake.  This place offered us 3 huge full size pieces of cake of our choosing.  We chose Tiramisu, Red Velvet and White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse.  We both liked Tiramisu the best.  It was moist and had a really nice flavor.  The Red Velvet wasn't very red and it was just OK.  The White Chocolate was pretty good but I'm not all that crazy about berry fillings.

I am Peanut Butter nut so the baker is going to make us a special sample.  Mj requested Chocolate cake, with a layer of fudge and Peanut Butter Mousse filling.  He'll call us when it's ready and if we love it then we will probably choose that along with the Tiramisu.  The prices here run $375 for 75 and then $42 for a sheet cake if we need to feed more people.   We still have left over cake to eat today!

We found a cake design that we both love.  I'm so glad I picked my favorite color for our wedding.  Oh, how I love Pink!!!  It's so pretty and elegant with the black ribbons around it.  Mj is still kind of stuck on Flour Power, the very first place we went to so we'll see.  I was trying to fit in a tasting at one more place but I think there is too much going on to fit it in next weekend and their appointments fill up fast so I don't know when we'd be able to go back.  We REALLY need to make a decision soon.  My plan was to have this done last month so I am lagging and we STILL need to pick out tuxedo's for Mj and his groomsmen.  There simply aren't enough hours in the weekend.

The rest of the day was spent furniture and appliance shopping.  Yep, it's fun and exciting but it can take so long.  We found a great bedroom set, mattress, and sectional that we like at some random store that I kept getting flyer's for in the mail. They gave us a few discounts and I think we got a pretty good deal for all of it.  The refrigerator, washer and dryer are still pending.

We went home to change real quick and then went straight back out to meet Mj's friends for dinner at 7:30pm.  It was about 10 of us in honor of Mj and another guy's Birthday.  The food at this place is always really good and it did not disappoint that night.  I had filet mignon kabobs and Mj had crab stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon.  All the wine by the bottle was half off too.  We all sat around the fire pit they have outside while the guys smoked cigars and a good time was had by all.  Needless to say that I was exhausted after getting home at around 11:00am and still had a full Mother's Day planned for the next day.

That Model Chick

It’s been about 3 months since I told my OC agency to put me on indefinite hold status and way longer since I last did any work.  It stirred up of this odd mixture of desire, sadness and stress every time they'd call and ask if I could go to a casting and I'd have to say no. I could tell they were irritated but it was simply too difficult to make myself available. I’d have to get out of work for the casting which is typically 1-2 hours away and then if by some miracle I somehow managed to book the job then I’d have to figure out how to get out of work again. Logistically, it was next to impossible to juggle it so getting those calls and saying no every time was just a source of stress. Although I was a little sad at the same time it’s been a relief to put an end to the phone calls. The nail was already sitting in the coffin of my acting and modeling but this basically drove it in with a resounding thud. I still have a local agent but there isn't much work to be had down here.  I am OK with it though because it's time to move on.   I prefer to GO for it or not go at all and with a full time job I had to shift my priorities.

When I look through my modeling portfolio it’s almost like a different girl staring back at me. She had long hair streaked with brownish red and stars in her eyes.

From my first portfolio shoot

She loved the fun and the challenge of acting classes. As reserved as she was in her real life she thrived on memorizing lines and getting in front of the camera to perform or pose.  She got paid work doing random industrial video's. She really enjoyed the fun of hanging out on sets for hours getting to know new people all the time and checking out the craft services junk food table that was a fixture on every set. 

She had three agents and spent many a days running off to auditions where she saw the same familiar faces all doing the same thing.  She'd spend 5 hours on the road there and back in traffic for print castings where all the girls there look like her and someone snaps a pic with a digital camera in 2 minutes.  She went to LA for commercial and film auditions too.  She walked in fashion shows. That girl was not afraid of walking into a room full of people to be stared at and judged or to strip down to a bikini for a fashion show or photo shoot.

Fashion show

Beyonce Concert Promo 2007

Submitting for work and checking her inbox for responses was a daily part of her routine. She was brave enough to finally quit her much hated 9-5 job of 8 years and work part time for a while. She did all kinds of promo model work too. They were sometimes fun, and sometimes long and exhausting but the money was good and it helped her keep the bills paid.

Promo Job

She was passionate about what she was doing and kept hustling in the face of rejection. She didn’t let her age or height stop her from giving it a shot which is really all she ever really wanted. The awkward nerdy girl she once was was gone and in her place was a woman confident enough to put herself out there and try something she never in a million years though she could ever do.

I will always associate that time in my life with the joy and freedom of getting to work just 24 hours a week. For 1 1/2 years my schedule was flexible and I felt like my own boss.  Getting to LIVE and enjoy life again without being chained to a desk for 40 hours a week was liberating. It was ultimately what allowed me the opportunity to be available for auditions and shoots. I was recently divorced, I was on my own and It was scary to leave the security of full time work but it felt so good that I was finally putting my myself and my dreams first. 

It was so much fun to be a part of that world in even the small way that I was. Rejection was never fun but there are a lot of great moments that stand out.  I was so happy when I finally booked my first job and got my very first paycheck from my agency for a Babies R Us catalog. I couldn't believe that I was actually getting paid to have someone take my picture. I didn't believe it for a long time but it meant that I was actually a real model and it was pretty cool to be able to say that.

1st agency booked gig.  Babies R Us Catalog.

I got booked as an "Under 5" for a short lived soap opera that was broadcast around the world and got to actually see myself on network TV. Under 5 is basically a nice way of saying you have no lines but I was happy just to be involved and got paid more for 2 days then I probably ever will again in my life for the same amount of work!

I LOVED photo shoots. Believe it or not modeling is hard work. Sometimes the shoots are physically demanding. I've been freezing my butt off, forced to hold awkward positions that hurt, ride a bike, or go up and down stairs for hours among other things. Outdoor shoots could be particularly draining.  Either too hot, too cold or dirty but you always have to make it look effortless and natural.  No matter what it was, I just loved being in front of the camera and felt lucky to be able to do it at all.

I was a Commercial model. Not being 5'8" or taller and over the hill in my late 20's I couldn't really expect to be a high fashion model or travel to exotic locations for shoots. You couldn’t find me in fashion magazines or billboards but it was still pretty exciting that my face was on a book cover in Wal-Mart’s and other book stores across the U.S. When I went to the store to buy it myself it was bizarre and so awesome.

Book Cover

It was fun how friends and family got such a kick out of it when they randomly saw me in an add. I was spotted in a Hilton add at a Florida airport and of all places in a little bit piece in The National Enquirer.

Hilton Add

Me in the National Enquirer

Black Singles Add

I was even spotted canoodling with my "boyfriend" on an internet dating website.

I remember how excited I was when I FINALLY managed to get an L.A. Agent. I got to do commercial and print auditions for Old Navy, Target and other such big name brands. Had I been able to keep going who knows, maybe I eventually would have booked a really big one!  Among the catalog shoots I got to do one of my absolute favorites was for a cheerleading company. As a former cheerleader I had a ball playing dress up in these adorable uniforms all day. I did the shoot alongside a bunch of teenagers and thought it was hilarious that no one even knew that I was so much older then the other girls.

Broadway Cheerleading Catalog

Best of all is that I will always have that beautiful moment when I found out that I was a top five finalist in the Joe’s Next Model Contest. It is a feeling I will never ever forget as long as I live and I will always have the fondest memories of that entire experience.  It was just a contest but for me it was my last chance to do anything like that.  What a thrill it was to find out after each cut that I was still in the running.  It was a dream come true to make it so far out of so many people.  It was a HUGE deal for me and I had such an amazing time in LA.  They treated us so well and I got all of that great Joe's Jeans merchandise.  It is so fitting that it was to be my last photo shoot.

Joe's Next Model Shoot

I must say it was fun while it lasted.  I may not have made it to the pot at the proverbial end of the rainbow but most important is the wonderful experience that I had reaching for it.