Winning the lottery...

I'd like to run through a conversation I had with Boyfriend last night.. 

Boyfriend: "Babe.. question."

Me: "Alriiight."

B: "Would you still bake as a hobby if you didn't have to do it to make a living?" 

Me: (think for one second) "Yeah, I would. Why?"

B: "Seriously?"

Me: "Yes. I love it and I don't know why I would ever stop doing it. Why?" 

B: "Well after I win the Powerball tonight, you won't have to."

Me: "Oh. Right. So you already know that you're going to win? Yup... That totally makes sense." 

Needless to say, we didn't win the lottery last night. I heard some lucky bastard in California did, but that's not the point of me telling this story. I'm telling it because I honestly cannot imagine my life without doing some sort of baking. Every single day I thank my lucky stars that I am able to make a living doing what I absolutely love. Can you say the same for yourself? Would you stay in your job or the same field of work if you won the lottery? 

Here's the thing... because I'm so passionate about my work, I have finally realized one of the biggest downfalls of pouring my entire life, energy, money, and soul into my job... rejection. I've been doing consultations for my 2014 weddings and I had my first couple turn me down for their cake. This will be my second wedding season and it was bound to happen eventually, but the whole thing left me shaken. I wanted to call the perspective bride and ask for a more specific reason other than, "We decided to go with another bakery." Was it me? Were my prices too high? Did they not like the cake I brought to their tasting? I had so many questions but after a few tears and some positive reasoning, I told myself, "Oh well. I have 29 other couples to worry about and I'll make sure each and every one of them is thrilled that they picked me to do their wedding cake." 

My family and friends know that I have two qualities that make AND break me... I'm a perfectionist and I'm ridiculously sensitive. They make me because I will do everything in my power to make a client's vision come to life. If that means spending 6 hours working on one aspect of their cake, then so be it. I sacrifice A LOT to make sure my clients get what they pay for, and if that means I can't go to the gym or visit my friends, then so be it. I also get emotionally invested with just about every single client I have... not in a creepy way, GOSH, get your head outta the gutter! I just mean that I feel like I make a connection with them because they are trusting me to be a part of a very special occasion. I cannot explain the emotions I feel when I experience a bride seeing her wedding cake for the first time. Or when I get to surprise a 3 year old with a birthday cake that makes her squeal with excitement. I'm tearing up right now even thinking about it. See... Miss Sensitivity. Oy vey! 

But like I said, these two qualities can break me at the same time. Facebook is my best friend and worst enemy. Anyone that has a Facebook Business Page knows that you can see your page's insight, which includes site traffic, visits/views, audience stats, and "Likes." I monitor my "Likes" on a daily basis and whenever it shows that someone "Unliked" my page, I immediately say, "Well, what the f**k?!" I again go into defense mode wondering what I did to make someone say, "OMG, I can't stand seeing one more cake from this wack job so (clicks "Unlike") TAKE THAT YOU CRAZY CAKE LADY!!!" Ok.. I'm sure that's not what they all say but you get the picture. I wish I knew who the person was because I want to know what I did wrong and how I can fix the situation. Did I offend them (uhhhh I warned you guys in my first blog post that I have an R-rated vocabulary!)? Do I post too often? Do I not give away cakes enough... relax, Flavor Spotlight Friday will be back. Don't even get me started on my page's star rating feature. I cried for about an hour when I discovered that four people gave me 1 star and two people gave me 2 stars. Again, I wanted to know what I did wrong because 63 people that gave me a 5 star rating would disagree with your shenanigans in giving me a poor rating. 

Here's how this whooooole post comes together... ready for it....okay...  because I'm so passionate, because I get emotionally invested, because I'm a perfectionist, because I would still bake even if I won the lottery... because of all of that... I know I'm doing what I was placed on this world to do. Again, I ask you... can you say the same? Boom! (Drops the mic and walks away) Hahahaha I've always wanted to do that! Thanks for reading and I'll try to get my act together and spend some more time blogging about actual cakes but until theeeeen :) 

Always, 

Sarah