Thank You Craigslist!

I've designed a new counter which I'll be doing a bit of the construction and a glass shop will have a part of it too. (Some of you may be thinking, why would she do some of the construction, isn't she a baker? and to that inquiry I answer, I got my bachelor's in art with an emphasis in furniture design, so I feel fine coming up with a basic retail counter. And as for the baking, I've done that too, in wedding cake form for 15 years or so) ~ So, back to the shop. As for this old 'Posh' counter - it was time to say goodbye.
My husband and I were planning on ripping it out this weekend, but I figured I'd try my luck with Craigslist first. I hate throwing perfectly good things away if there's someone who can put them to use!
Low and behold I had 3 people wanting it immediately! I even had a little drama from one lady telling me her story of why she needed it more than the other 2. But I sold it to the guy who showed up and paid first!He was there the next day with another helper. I'm so stoked that not only did I get it out of there, but I got paid to have someone come and take it out! They also dismantled some of the shelves on the back wall! Thanks Craigslist!!

Spic and Span!

So, I guess if your neighbor's going to have a fire, (heaven forbid) it's better that it happens a week before you sign the lease and plan to get inside to clean the place out. My mom, brother, husband and myself headed over to clean it out the day I signed the lease and found out that because of the fire, it would all be taken care of for us.
So last weekend, there was a small crew paid to come in and clean every ceiling tile in the kitchen and replace every tile in the retail section. They also wiped down every wall from top to bottom, cleaned the bathroom, etc...

Smells a bit like cleaning chemicals but so much easier than having to do it on our own!

The Lease is Signed

Well here we go!!!!!!!!
As most of you know I've been making wedding cakes and occasion cakes here and there for years. I have always thought of someday opening my own wedding cake boutique but felt with the commitments to Saturdays and Sundays, it was never very appealing, mostly because of our young family.

While up in Utah last April for a good friends wedding, I was staying with another close friend. She and I got to talking about the businesses we would like to start someday. Come to find out cupcake shops are a big thing up there and as I soon found out they're popular in CA too.
As I milled over the possibility of having a cupcake shop instead of a wedding cake shop, I realized my window for opportunity is now. Our valley of over 160,000 people doesn't have one specialty cupcake shop... until now! I've been working on this for only the last 5-6 months or so and have only realized the existence of cupcake stores like Sprinkles, Famous Cupcakes, and the likes,within the last 5 months also.

It's been a pretty fast turn around from dream to reality. I've leased a location next to the Canyon Country Edwards Cinemas just this week. This blog will allow everyone to see our progress as we make what was 'Posh Pastries' into

the cupcake tree

Please feel free to peek in and lend your support as our family takes this time in our lives to fulfill one of my dreams. Thanks to all of our family and friends for their well wishes and support already! We're SO excited to get moving!!

existing storefront

existing retail space

You can kind of see the soot on the floor from our footprints tracking through itexisting kitchen, my cute baby girl and my cute brother if anyone wants his number;)

Proof of our work, we cleaned the old stuff out

So the tenant before us walked away from her business about 10 months ago. She has left EVERYTHING behind, from almonds to Christmas decorations, to paper supplies. Due to the current bankruptcy, I cannot throw anything out until the Trustee decides if it's trash, if she gets anything back, or if they want to sell any of it to pay off debt.

Last week, the hair salon next door suffered an arson fire. As we entered the space yesterday, we found the smell of smoke and soot lingering on everything in our space as well. The property managers will have a cleaning company come in tomorrow to clean it from top to bottom. To make it an easier and more efficient process for them and for us to get renovating once they're done, my mom, brother, and I got cleaning today. They were were a great help to me!! We cleaned the entire store room out and the shelves and the tables, which had lots of miscellaneous junk piled everywhere. Everything is piled in a manner so the previous tenant or the courts can get it if they allow. It also allows me to move in my supplies and ingredients in an orderly fashion without having to work around her stuff.

It's exciting to start moving forward finally since there's been a few delays. I'll keep you updated and be sure to post pictures of the renovation as it takes place over the next few weeks.