We are proud to announce a contest for the Cutest “Chickie” on the Block. Submit your little ones wearing Simply Chickie designs (on Facebook or via email) and on June 30, 2010 we will crown the winner.
Our Cutest “Chickie” will receive a basket of Simply Chickie and organic skin care products valued at $500 and will be profiled on our website wearing Gwen’s latest designs! There’s no time to waste so get your camera and your cutie and start submitting today!
Frosting is the perfect, sweet mix of butter, sugar, and milk. A white butter cream slopped in gobs on top of a deep chocolate cupcake is enough to send any toddler screaming with delight, and her mother too for that matter.
The process of creating frosting is pure fun.
On one particular day, my little one became the frosting.
She unwrapped the butter quarters, plopped them into the mixer, and watched as the wire whip cut and creamed the hard butter into yellow fluff. She helped measure the sugar?well, she poured it into a measuring cup and purposefully made it overflow onto the counter. He eyes increased in size as she stuck her finger deep in the middle.
?Yum.? Can I do that again, Mommy? She grinned.
?We need to make sure we have enough for the frosting,? I said.
?Oh, okay.? She momentarily understood. Though, the overflowing sugar part of the process was especially wonderful, the final product would be ecstasy?if she could wait that long.
The butter, sugar, dash of vanilla, and milk spun in a dizzy dance. She leaned over the mixer and reported several times, ?I think it?s done.?
Each time I checked, her level of anticipation increased; she leaned into the mixer more, her knees dug into the counter, and her feet tapped the stool.
At last, the creamy treat was ready.
?MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!? She was frenetic. Heaven was within her grasp?inside a shiny, aluminum bowl. ?Can I please lick the bowl??
?Of course!? While I spread the frosting on top of the warm cupcakes, she sat on the stool with the bowl between her legs. Frosting covered her hair, her cheeks, her shirt, both legs, and some became toenail polish.
She officially became my cupcake.
To save this event for posterity I created the Simply Chickie t-shirt design?I am the frosting.
She is the frosting on my life.
Go ahead look at your shadow. The shadow knows.
Lurking shadows can slow your business down.
What are you avoiding? What or who is following you around that you don?t want to deal with? Do you have a problem shadow?
Frank Asch in the children?s book, Bear Shadow, reminds us about business problems we need to confront in order to move forward.
Bear went down to the pond to fish one afternoon. Bear saw a big fish. ?I?m going to catch that fish, thought Bear to himself.?
Something scared the big fish away?his shadow. ? ? Go away, Shadow!? cried Bear. But Bear?s shadow would not go away.?
Is there something you keep avoiding doing in your business? What?s nagging you? Do you have a problem client? A legal issue? Have you not dealt with public relations? Or, getting your product submissions out to magazines in time for the holidays?
Bear?s shadow does not leave him alone. Bear tries many ways to eradicate his shadow. ?He ran through a field of flowers, jumped over the brook and hid behind a tree?But when he stepped from behind the tree the first thing he saw was Shadow.? Shadow is in capital letters!
A small problem that is avoided can become a big one.
Bear sees a cliff. ?Bear walked over to the cliff and looked up. I?ll climb so high Shadow won?t be able to follow me, thought Bear. Bear climbed higher and higher until at last he pulled himself up to the top. Huffing and puffing, he smiled with pride. Then he looked down and saw Shadow.?
Problems have a terrible way of taking up so much of our time. We obsess over not dealing with ?a problem.?
Bear tries to hammer the Shadow to the ground, but that doesn?t work. He digs a hole, but his shadow does not fall into the hole.
When he finishes filling the hole??the sun was high in the sky and Shadow was no where to be seen. ? At last! sighed Bear. ?No more shadow.? ?
Bear is tired, so he goes to bed. The next morning when bear opens his door—his shadow greets him again! ?He slammed the door, hoping to lock Shadow inside. But Shadow was too quick.?
So, sit down and make of list of stuff you are avoiding?the stuff you will do after you get to x, y, and z. Reverse your list. Put that ?stuff? at the top. Deal with the issue one phone call at a time, one thought at a time, one letter at a time.
Bear talks to Shadow. ?How about this?if you let me catch a fish, I?ll let you catch one too. Nod your head like this if it?s a deal.? When Bear nodded his head, Shadow nodded too?.By this time the sun was in a different part of the sky, which made it easy for Shadow to keep his part of the deal. And when Bear caught that big fish, Shadow caught one too.?
So, make yourself do the tough stuff in the morning?when your shadow hasn?t had a change to take full, sharp form!
Cheers,
Gwen
