#BakeAwayDBA Campaign

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An old classmate of mine, Monique, owns a bakery in Pittsburg, California called, “Sassy Sweets & Eats.” She has been featured on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” (season 9) and in 2014 was chosen for the  “Bay Area A-List” for best Cupcakes! Now she has reached out to me because she is doing a #BakeAwayDBA campaign.

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This is how she came up with the idea:

I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a video of a 6-year old girl named Audrey. She has Diamond Blackfan Anemia, which is a rare bone marrow disorder. She just melted my heart. Her parents post videos of her singing Taylor Swift karaoke, doing Zumba and just being downright adorable. I started following her page and also started reading up on her condition. I instantly felt the need to help out her cause.

I contacted her parents, with an idea and I asked if Audrey wanted to create a cupcake and I would bring it to life and sell it at my shop and donate all proceeds to the DBA foundation… And she did! I revealed her creation and started taking orders and been shipping them across the country in mason jars! It’s been a hit so far!

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Monique’s goal is to spread awareness of DBA and raise money to be donated to the DBA Foundation, to fund research toward finding a cure. Every week she is coming up with new creations to fund the cause andin July she will travel to Kentucky to personally deliver the donation check to Audrey and her parents over the 4th of July weekend…I’m sure she’l be bringing her Sassy Sweets cupcakes too!

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So, whether you’re in the Bay Area or some other corner of the country, please consider supporting Monique through the #BakeAwayDBA campaign.

You can visit the Sassy Sweets website at http://www.sassysweetsbymonique.com

FIRST Birthday

I recently planned a FIRST Birthday bash for my son…so I thought I’d share some of the fun stuff I did with a “Stars and Stripes” theme! He was born on July 3 at 11pm, so he was just one hour shy of being born on the 4th of July! 🙂 At any rate, the nice thing about this theme is that there’s lots of “Americana” and “Patriotic” party stuff available out there! These days with pinterest and etsy, generic is NOT the way to go! hehe

In the photos above, you can see my firecracker clapping it up in his homemade #1 birthday hat. I bought plain red and blue (cone) birthday hats and adorned them with red, white and blue “star” themed stickers and cutouts. In the background you can also see (sort of) his custom Happy Birthday bunting, made with an assortment of patterned pennants strung together. And, what’s a party these days without a cupcake tower!?! I had to get one of those and filled it with mini-cupcakes decked out with red and blue sprinkles!

Then I also found some fun “stars and stripes” candy… swirl lollipops with birthday tags, and red, white & blue sour gummy stars. I also made centerpieces (not pictured) with cylinder vases and filled them with the gummy stars and stuck matching pinwheels and small #1 mylar balloons..but the wind kinda didn’t work with me and so they didn’t photograph too well! grr!!

However, the big face cut outs were a BIG hit! I was looking for something different using his photos…and the faces were FUN!! They provided good photo ops and also doubled as a fan on a hot day in July. The babies also got a kick out of seeing a BIG baby face on a stick! LOL!! Then I ordered a first birthday “chalkboard” off Etsy. A cute, keepsake idea as it lists his size, favorites and memorable “firsts” for baby’s 1st!

Then there’s always the food, which I could keep entirely red, white and blue…BUT I managed to have fun with this fruit salad, complete with “star” shaped watermelon. Another themed food item were the white and blue (corn) tortilla chips and “red” salsa!

Finally, I also ordered a pull-apart cake made up of cupcakes…nothing too fancy, but it still made a “cool” impression. So those are some of the highlights from the first birthday party. For future reference though, when having a party at the park, opt for heavy table covers, as my flimsy plastic ones couldn’t withstand the wind…and tape wasn’t the answer! Also, I had a stand for my chalkboard poster (BTW…had it printed and mounted at Walgreens), but that also couldn’t hold up with the strong ocean breeze! ha! Foodwise, I think we did a good job, stuck to hot dogs and hamburgers and chose salads, fruits and sides that didn’t perish too quickly in the heat.

Weekend LOVE

A great weekend in the Bay with some of my favorite folks! Friday my baby sister Alison graduated with her ABSN (Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing) from Samuel Merritt University!! It had been a grueling year with lots of sacrifice, but now she’s an RN!! Here I am placing a (graduation) lei on her before the ceremony!

Following her “pinning we had a dinner at Kincaid’s in Jack London Square – their crab and artichoke dip is our FAV!! Check out this photo of Alison giving a speech..she gets “emotional! hehe

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Here she is with her crew..they’ve been her close friends since she her age was a single digit! 🙂

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What’s a celebration without some sweets? Ordered these “nurse” themed cupcakes from Marley’s Treats…

Alison’s proud fan club – Ade, me, T and my Dad!

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Saturday was the “We Believe vs. Dubs” charity reunion game (aka GS Warriors game) at SJSU…

Look out for EXCLUSIVE footage On The Flipside…coming soon… 😉

Then after the game, it was a trip to V Bar at Santana Row to hang out with the homies!!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

This is the “prom couples” picture! haha

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Then Sunday…a day at the Coliseum!!! Viva Los Raiders – was not happy about the L! grrr

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For my 2010 Thanksgiving Holiday I stayed in Miami and my friend Cat made the trek down from Jacksonville to spend it with me…and I whipped up a little somethin’ somethin’…nothing too fancy!

Then, I took Cat to the American Airlines Arena…

…where we watched the Miami HEAT take on the 76ers.

Then we had a Saturday “food adventure!” It started off with a ladies brunch for Dara’s (early) birthday at Balans in Brickell!!

We of course had to bring the bday girl cupcakes for the special occassion!

Now, I have to bust Cat out because she wanted to order TWO DOZEN for the 5 of us…I know Mischa’s cupcakes are YUMMY, but please, practice restraint!! lol

After brunch we gathered around the Christmas tree for a photo… notice we all have open-toed shoes to get in the “holiday” spirit! ONLY IN MIAMI!
(l-r) that’s Kimi, Rene, Dara, me and Cat

And somehow Me, Kimi and Cat kept the “eating party going because we met up with our friend Phil and stuffed ourselves a little more!

We headed back to Brickell and Sushi Siam, where it started with some Sake…

SUSHI…

and this deep-fried banana dessert with a “chocolate fence” … 🙂

Moral of the weekend..I am ever SO THANKFUL for great friends and good food!!

P.S. Cat and I ended the weekend with a Sunday brunch too before she drove back north..but we did not document that food!