Pro Procrastinator

there's my ugly feet chillaxing :)

So it's been another few weeks gone by... and there was suppose to be wedding cake samples made and mock-ups of the real thing for the bride and groom (and for myself), except I have been doing what normal people do on the weekends - catching up on housework, catching up with friends, going to the beach, to the park and making sure I get 8 hours sleep each night.

First sunny day in months!

Anyway, I do feel quite bad that I took forever to get my ass back into the kitchen. But it's not like I haven't been thinking about the wedding cake. It's been on my mind. I've been searching for a suitable cake stand, ordered numerous books on the topic, purchased a heap load of equipment (for my own pleasure), going through tonnes of images for inspiration, visiting craft stores and even hardware stores to source stuff.

The stress is coming back. The wedding is right around the corner. The bride and groom decided to trust me with their cake, I apologised for not having anything to show but I promise to show up with a wedding cake on the day! lol......

I tested the chocolate fudge cake recipe and baked the red velvet cake for the first time (I finally know what it tastes like!)... except they were both extremely sweet, and after talking to the baking supplies shop lady, I realised being in Australia has its disadvantages. We are pretty much limited to using ganache as filling for the cake unlike in the UK or US where people are more worried that their cake might freeze. Here, everything is melting, on a daily basis.... so my tester cake, the one that I filled with cream cheese frosting/buttercream and covered in fondant didn't really work out. I was also surprised by how intense powdered food colouring is (I had grape purple from 1/2 tsp of that stuff! so had to really dilute it back down )...

I seem to blabbering, does anyone even care?! (I'm only updating coz I saw I'm still getting a few stray visitors in the past two weeks)........

first attempt at fondant icing... all a bit wonky and mushy

I didn't take photos of stuff with my sticky hands, just these mediocre fondant iced midget tester pieces which was applied under humid/hot conditions (damn summer) so everything was just difficult to handle..... luckily I did try it out with the cream cheese filling, now I know not to use it as the cake will be out in the sun... ganache is going to have to do it on its own. I also found out what fondant is like....

Hopefully... all goes well (jesse/annie if you're reading this DON'T WORRY! it won't look like this on the day!), I'm going to have to dramatically decrease the sugar ratio of these cake recipes for the asian crowd, although they did say it doesn't matter how it taste but it needs to look good...... don't think I'll be sleeping much the night before the wedding....

Going to test out white chocolate fondant and flower pastes in the nights to come... :))))

Lots of Sugar, Flour & Butter later...

a random almond pear tart photo I forgot to post up...

The Belated Campaign Finale Post
I really wanted to go back and review the amount of SUGAR, BUTTER and FLOUR I've used up in the three months of baking just so I can have a cool title to the finale post... but being disorganised as I am it didn't happen obviously, time wise I'd rather spend it on.... more sleep!







Unfortunately, all good things come to an end
I have finally made it to the end of the longest-bake-sale-ever... it certainly feels like it's been going on forever to me! Some of you may be wondering, what next? At the moment, I'm just really enjoying time off baking, and looking forward to making my first wedding cake order in a month's time which requires planning and research and testing and testing... coz I've never made one before!!! and it's suppose to be the one cake you're not suppose to stuff up in your life... so I'm quite nervous about it. I'm also constantly reminding myself to go into sugar/baking rehab soon in the hope to one day be able to fit into my clothes again... the constant rainy weather is not helping :(

But before everyone goes on with their lives and forget about me...
Let's have a quick recap on what happened in July, August and September 2010!

In 90 days, the total amount raised was, drum roll please...
roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll roll ......

US$5022 in just over a month and an extra A$2635 after I stopped baking everyday.

Hip-Hip Hooooray! 

that's nearly one and a half wells that will potentially serve 375 people for the next 20 years! Sweet sweet numbers! Yeah, and I did it just by baking everyday, how I've proved all the skeptics wrong! (including myself).

another random pic of carrot cake just to prettify this post

Not only did I exceeded my initial goal in record time, I raised another $2635 which will go towards building a second well with Well Wishers. That's coz I don't want to risk losing any more cash donations to the black hole of foreign exchange and international transaction fees!  (Hello charity:water if you're reading this, you might want to consider setting up in Australia?) I even had to turn down a few cake orders in order to stay alive. Or else, I guess it would've been possible to raise enough to build 2 wells! I've learnt to know my limits...



So what did I get out of it all?
I decided it was just easier to donate all baking related costs even after I reached my initial US$5000 goal, cos it makes sense, the return from my input is worth it. This is probably the best value for money birthday gift I can buy for myself anyway. I have everything I need already and money is something I can make up for in due time while some things can't wait! (okay, so the electricity bills were shockingly high, and my holiday has to postpone...) still, you know, it's just money, and I'm usually not this kind of a person, but I placed myself at the point of no return. Besides, PEOPLE ARE DYING FROM THIRST! 

The experiences I've gained through this campaign has all been positive, .................okay I lied, the unwanted 5+ kgs of body mass gained in all the wrong places is a negative achievement. But even the late night struggles, having to juggle work with baking, lack of social life and personal time, and dealing with the negative sides of human nature... looking back, I really didn't anticipate all the extra drama when I first started out and have managed to surpass - it's been awesome! I'm happy with the amount of money I have raised in the set time but I'm most proud of being able to inspire and excite others into giving through my campaign.

I must admit, at times I have felt really burnt out physically and emotionally, but luckily for me baking is therapeutic to a degree. Although my health has suffered from the lack of sleep and stress, I still feel energised when I know there are people out there that care and support the cause that I believe in. Plus, I essentially killed three birds with one stone?!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Got myself a well for my upcoming 27th birthday!! 
2. Had the opportunity to bake to my hearts content, cleared off a few items from my to-bake's list
3. Successfully spread the word about the global water crisis around the globe

... and made friends along the way...

A few things I proved and learnt through my experience...

• Eating cake everyday will make you FAT
• Lack of sleep everyday will make you FAT and GRUMPY
• A new habit can be developed with a little persistence
• There are nice people around
• God doesn't exist
• Sugar is addictive

Someone asked me how many marriage proposals have I received since I started this charity work... I can't believe there hasn't been one either! (God doesn't exist)Well, the lines are still open hot-men-of-the-universe, please send your applications titled "will you marry me?" with a photo attached and name your favourite cake to sugar4water@gmail.com ...... jokes aside, seriously, I'd like to thank you all for being so kind and supportive, you know who you are :)

About Blog Action Day 2010
I saw a Charity:Water notice on facebook just before and found out about Blog Action Day 2010 which is held annually on the 15th October where bloggers from everywhere unite and blog about the same issue to bring global awareness. This year's issue is WATER! So it made sense for me to mention about it here... if you're reading this and you blog, please go enlighten your readers about stuff outside their little bubble!

I'm so over preaching about how giving is way more rewarding than receiving (it's true though!) and I've been pleasantly surprised along the way at how infectious and "magnetic" the act of giving is. I encourage everyone to do something like this simply because you can and you get to feel fuzzily empowered. If someone as disorganised as me, someone who really only has four reliable friends can do it, anything is possible! So next time you're feeling generous or lost or can't decide what to splurge on for your own birthday - go buy yourself a well!

I'm both happy and sad, mixed feelings about the end of Sugar4Water, maybe it's just the beginning to something bigger (it has crossed my mind)... but for the time being, I'm focusing on getting my health back on track before I dive into the next random stint. Oh, I should get some tax benefits from the donation I send off to Well Wishers, that's a little "gift" for my efforts from you and the tax man.

Thank you for helping me make a little difference in the global water crisis. It's simple to start your own campaign and you can really do anything to raise money or just awareness, you never know, you might inspire someone out there who's got the cash and generosity!

Okay, I'll finish off now...
Hopefully I'll get notified like they promised when my well gets built, then I can show it off to everyone here :P so y'all can see where your money went! So, check back once in a while...

Meanwhile, stay fuzzy, and remember giving IS receiving.

With lots of sugar and rainbows,
xxx. amy :))))

Grand Finale @ Work

30 September 2010
A final sugar high at work today... well technically yesterday now that it's past midnight...

To be honest, I was secretly hoping to celebrate the end of the campaign by NOT baking! but a few colleagues have asked about what I was going to do for the last day, I guess people were expecting something special to finish off perhaps... so I thought a last boost and squeeze and push of my wonderful colleagues wouldn't hurt, more funds = more safe drinking water, so I sent out an email asking for volunteer helpers for my grand finale.

Thanks to my baking comrades - Naomi, Natalie, Heidi, Judi, Lucinda and Geoff, we raised $170.80 on the day!!! I was able to finish baking at 10.30pm!!!!!! that is considered very early for me, normal time is around midnight to late torturous hours around 2am... so I really appreciated the help I got and the stuff we managed to put together. Just look at the photos :)

geoff's impressive tart - made from scratch!!!

Geoff kindly sacrificed his time in the kitchen to make this fancy looking and tasty tart from scratch!! especially with a new born at home, I was quite impressed, he's known to be handy around the kitchen I'm glad I included him on the team :)))))) thanks geoff!

Camera shy Judi stuck to her specialty and made scones with berry jam and cream while Heidi was mumbling about her lindt choc tarts not being pretty enough, so I gave them some magic PS-dusting :))) much better?!

naomi wouldn't let me take a photo of her and these :(((

my quick happy looking jaffa cupcakes :P

and my fail safe cake with a little too much white choc 

easy to make and tastes like a cheesecake without the guilt!!!!

i didn't have all ingredients for hedgehogs, and had marshmallows so this was a new creation :)

sugar addicts 

and we had to use another table... spring rolls also made a last appearance, gone fast as usual

too many options to choose from, everyone was pretty stuffed

We had enough food to take up to level 3, and enough for afternoon tea as well as left-overs for the next day!!! THANK YOU all, everyone at work for being great guinea pigs for the last three months, for all the volunteers who helped bake, for the people who donated and supported without eating cake, for putting up with my frequent emails and giving in to sugar for a great cause! It really has been an awesome three months, time does fly. 

I was afraid Bruce was going to make me do a speech which I've been avoiding for so long, luckily he only called me over to congratulate me on prolonging through the whole three month that I had set myself, he said normally people would've given up after a week and everyone's impressed with my persistence. I guess I never expected the return and I just did what I could and the directors and colleagues have all been super supportive from the start - I'm grateful to be working in such an office.

Anyway, too much blabbering.... (got a couple more posts to catch up on!)

THANK YOU CGA!

Getting ripped off

Man... I feel totally ripped off by the strong aussie dollar......!!!!!!!!!!!

like TOTALLY!!

Since my first big donation upload, the economy went down a bit below $0.91, then it came back up again after the election... to a bit over $0.91. More than one person told me it wouldn't get much higher, if lucky maybe 92cents... so I uploaded another big chunk of the remaining donations to my US based charity:water campaign site... who would've known..... a few days later $0.955!!!!!!! 


I'm still upset.....
:(((((((


US$90 to go.. 7 days left, is someone going to top it up?! 


meanwhile, i still have to write a post about the picnic thing that happened over the weekend....there's just a big heap of photos to go through... but keep posted :P

I'm not sure what's going to happen after 7 days, I still have a few cake orders to clear, can't wait!!!!!!

I see the end of the tunnel...

First of all sorry to my loyal fans of this campaign/blog... I've been caught up, you know going out on the weekends, catching up on a few movies, sleeping a little more than usual, and still clearing cake orders... but haven't had the energy to update this blog yet, there are a few posts lined up... be patient :)

Anyway, I just wanted to quickly announce and remind everyone.. coz I haven't been very organised (nor had the actual time to do this), some may be confused about the "cost of attendance" since changes have been made in response to the unresponsiveness ... about the PICNIC that's coming up this SATURDAY!

I'm really not too fussed about it anymore, it came a bit too quickly, stressing over not having time to bake/cook/make water bombs is just too stressing, so it's going to be a casual day out, a picnic coz I like them and water bombs coz they can be cool. Invite anyone you wish, but I'd like to know numbers to cater for. Donations are now optional, but it's still a charity event, I would be pissed off if everyone takes advantage of the free food. But if you have nothing better to do on the day I hope to see you there, I just want everyone to have some fun, some cake, some sun, chuck a few water bombs around or at each other or at annie, eat some more cake and help spread the word about the global water crisis, if you can, it'll make you feel fuzzy.

There'll be an anonymous donation jar for anyone who wishes to donate on the day.
Let me know before Friday, whenever, actually I don't care.

That's all from me, for now.
Be fuzzy.

x. amy

Goal # 2 - a piece of cake!

Just a quick one..... I think I've already reached my second goal! (not deducting ingredient expenditure ofcourse). I haven't been monitoring closely everyday like I was with my first goal... but I knew when I started Goal #2 that it would be reached without too much trouble with the cake orders I had lined up. But most of the donations this time came from baking outside of my office.

Just adding the numbers up quickly but there's too many coins to count, I'll have to do a proper count over the weekend... but today was a massive muffin day which made a big difference :)
I'll write more detailed posts and post up pretty photos about the support outside of work when I get some sleep first!

Update - The amount raised is now up to date! (the exchange rate seems better after the election!) I've indeed reached my 2nd goal.. a few advance cake order payments for upcoming cakes, but still, good achievement... and powering on!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR BEING APART OF THIS JOURNEY!

Meanwhile, I think spitting out my muffin in front of me (a little too dramatic maybe?) and making the comments you made is mega rude. YOU probably wouldn't be reading this, but I still need an outlet so I'm going to write it anyway. If you want to eat muffin break muffins or ultra sugary muffins with thick frosting, go buy it elsewhere. I am not customizing my muffin to suit your taste buds, it may be a truthful criticism I'm happy to accept but rudeness is not tolerated. Some people don't seem to remember the reason why I'm sacrificing sleep, time and giving up my birthday and probably a nice holiday as well. I'm not baking for myself nor for people who are just taking advantage of the whole charity campaign and the honesty system! It's really not worth my effort donating all ingredients and barely recovering the costs to go towards building wells - I might as well donate directly as some have mentioned. So why am I still baking? I'm baking for the people I like and who actually genuinely support my campaign. Seriously, if you don't like what I bake, if you can't afford the price I set for my cakes ($2.70!!!) it's pretty easy just DON'T EAT IT!. Go downstairs and pay $4 for something you'd like. Don't say you'll eat it coz you're hungry when you've already cringed and said how awful or "not to standards" it tastes. I'm not sure who's doing who a favour here, the cake eater or the baker?! I never intended to make cakes inedible and spit-out quality, but if you really want a refund go take it out of the box that's cool. I really think those ingredients I have invested for that particular muffin was wasted on you, something that was intended for the mud drinking kids.


I wish I could swear here..... but I guess I need to keep this family rated lol.... but no, I was not happy today with one particular rude person. That is all. I don't stay angry for too long, I'm over it. It's all part of the experience :)

It's not easy to please everyone's palette with the same batch of muffins!

Update - I've become a caaaaaalmer person today hence the massive crossing out of last night's rant. It's difficult to like some people, but I'm getting more out of this whole experience than I had anticipated, which is great :) It is just one person out of the many positive responses I get, I'm not going to stress over the details.

A carroty weekend and burning out

I managed to get a few cake orders out this weekend... thanks to the food processor Jess has lent me, it was a breeze to grate the two bags of carrots all in one go :)

I made a super tall three layered carrot cake for J.C and delivered it to her at the restaurant where she was eating, apparently the restaurant manager had a piece and took my contact details off her... hmm I would consider trading one of these with his mud crabs.

Made another carrot cake with banana without nuts for Elise's aunty, that was half a disaster as I was again in a mad rush, for the first time, I actually wish there were more hours in a day... at least for weekends anyway!! I didn't take a photo of it (mad rush) and the cream cheese icing didn't get a chance to set before I dashed out... getting lost on my way there and the bumpy ride didn't do the already fragile cake any good... I felt horrible that it cracked and was a bit lopped sided when I finally got there... I was feeling really crappy about it until I received Amanda's text message in the afternoon which was all nice saying the crack didn't affect its taste or popularity with the guests. Thank you Amanda (and Elise) for your support!

So it was another baking oriented weekend, I still didn't get as much baked as I had hoped to...but I had a whole body remedial massage, a much needed one, extremely painful as my body has been feeling strained for the last two months from lack of sleep and intensive use of otherwise under utilised muscle groups - knots everywhere! It was a bit torturous during the massage but afterwards, I felt better... I'm also now taking chinese herbal medicine, the really bitter black stuff that mum's preparing for me twice everyday now... I think my body has finally burnt out!

Thus, I've decided not to take anymore cake orders, I got to learn to say no lol... and will just focus on the orders I've got now that is manageable. Although, I'd love to have the time to make all the requested cakes for special occasions, but I simply can't keep up with the demand (with working back late etc...), and it's pretty draining not having time to do anything else. I feel like crap everyday physically, and health should come first. I hope I'll be able to recover slowly, adjust back to a normal sleeping routine, one that I actually get enough sleep!

Just finished making another opera cake, a last minute order from Jess to please her colleagues lol...
It's 2am now...... eeek!!! I'll update the numbers when I get a chance, there were a few donations collected this weekend for cake orders :))

Please, donate for yourselves coz it feels good to give, don't do it for me or the cakes (that would be silly)!!

On reaching $5K

My starting point was quite simple minded, perhaps even a little selfish. I just thought it would be mega-cool to build a well for a village of people who need it - because I can!

Having not done any solo fundraising before, I'm still amazed at how quickly everything fell into place once I got into it. I still remember the day after I started this campaign, I had butterflies in my stomach waking up worried about what I had gotten myself in to... where was I going to find US$5000 in three months?!! I really didn't have that many friends!!!! and how was I going to handle baking everyday?!! Will people be responsive at all?!! Am I going to be buying the well myself?!! Fears of uncertainty took over as I didn't plan anything properly, it was really a spontaneous decision one night after I stumbled through some links and got inspired by the videos on charity:water that I felt I needed to start straight away!

I wasn't the only skeptical one, nearly all the friends I told were saying I was crazy and baking everyday was impractical. At first I doubted my sanity as well, but my mind was constantly thinking about all the different ways I can spread the word about the cause. If I didn't know about the global water crisis, chances are people around me wouldn't be either.

After a couple of weeks of sticking to the plan and focusing on baking for colleagues, people around me started to take me seriously and I myself began to believe I might just be able to make the goal I had set. It wasn't easy business either, but bit by bit it all added up. I felt there was nothing to lose, and everything to gain if I just keep at it.

To my surprise, nice things started happening, nice people started appearing, everything just worked out! I was able to attract and sieve out the people who I'd love to be associated with not just within my social circle but also strangers :) I am glad I was able to inspire and share with others what I find meaningful and worthwhile.

Also, my blog analytic device tells me that in the last month, I had 2056 views of which 919 of them were unique views (eeeks, sorry I'm not that great of a writer)... the reason for setting up the blog was to let my loyal supporters follow my progress and so I don't spam people emails every morning, but it also served well as a great vehicle for spreading the word across the globe. Got to love technology!

so many Serbian visitors! (thanks to ksenja I think!)

I never anticipated the impact running this campaign would have to friends and family and I didn't tell my parents about it until they found out through a friend recently. I was planning to use family as a last resource if I wasn't able to reach my goal at the end lol.... but I can see now they are proud of what I'm doing she even stayed up to help me with Jess's muffin orders now she's visiting me.

To be honest, I'm not feeling as excited as I imagined I would be, the US$5k goal was just a number to me. I'm grateful I am able to give that amount away with a little sacrifice that I can make up for in time. I can't believe it all happened and I'm only half way through the three month campaign. Maybe I'm a little disappointed at a few people or friends I thought I had lol, or maybe humanity in general... this is something I'll have to try and get over. It has certainly been an eye-opening if not life changing experience?! What am I going to do next?!!

I know there are a lot of worthwhile charities out there, but somehow I related to this cause at a more personal level. Perhaps I died of thirst in my past life or something?! It's such a simple idea though, and 100% of all the money raise will go towards these water projects.

There were probably things I could have done better, but I'm very happy with how things have panned out naturally. So now that I've reached my initial goal, I have decided to run with the campaign until the end of September. There's still much work to be done! a second well is probably achievable in the time frame, except it might be a bit greedy (Confucious advises against greediness!) so I've decided what ever extra amount I raise I will put towards a second well. For now, I've set myself another US$1000 goal to help me stay on track.

Thank you for your encouragements it means a lot to me and I hope this whole multitasking business will continue to flourish until the end :) I'm flattered people seem to like what I bake, but I hope everyone is able to see past the sugar and realise the difference they are actually making by helping me out and contributing to my campaign. X.

Give because you can!

Day 28 - [Guest Baker] Elise the Superstar!

raspberry and coconut white chocolate mud cake!

It's Ekka public holiday today, and I took a REAL day off as prescribed by Elise - the girl I met only once at a friend's wedding!

A month ago, after finding out about my campaign she already generously donated US$44 towards sugar4water but that wasn't the end of it! I received another email from her shortly after about her wanting to bake her own birthday cake for her family and donate another $50 towards my campaign so I could have a day off - HOW NICE IS THAT?!

Seriously, how nice is that?!!!!!! 

I nearly forgot about it until Monday morning when I got her email which cheered me up immensely with delicious photos attached of her birthday picnic!! Here's a cut-and-paste of her email:

Hey Amy!

How are you? Hope you had a great weekend.

I made cake for my picnic as promised…. Photos are attached.

The cake is an adaptation of a few women weekly recipes… it is a Raspberry and Coconut White Chocolate Mud Cake. It was yummy and as you can see, people at the picnic gave it a pretty good go!!

Am yet to add my donation from this to your blog links, but I will do today or tomorrow. Also got some extra contributions from picnic attendees. And my Mum wants to order a cake when she is down in a few weeks! We are all big fans of your project.

Don’t forget to take your day off!

Ciao

Elise

Elise the superstar  :D!

I just came back from my day off on the coast, came online to update Day 26 and added up my latest numbers.... Elise helped me raise another US$82 from her birthday picnic with extra donation money from picnic attendees!!!!!

I am so proud to have a fan base at her household!

So after some adding up with all the money I've recorded - OMFG! the goal... THE GOAL that seemed impossible 6 weeks ago has been reached already!!!!!!!!!!!!! (even with today's shitty exchange rate!!!! taking into account bank fees. I added in the ingredient donations people had given me so I could get to the US$5000 on OANDA). And I have 50 more days until my campaign deadline!!!!!!!!!!! I considered going for a second well, but decided not to be greedy I've decided to keep on raising funds to go towards a second well with Well Wishers. But it's definitely time to get fit... I think after one month of cake eating, I see double chin.....amongst other things like breakouts all over my face from lack of sleep and stress... That said, I am going to continue with the baking theme and still hope the people who wanted to host events and high-teas etc are still excited about the campaign, we never know how much we can potentially raise by the end of September!! not to mention the other mission of spreading the word about the cause! I think I'll need to do an official post with this big milestone. OMG! OMG! OMG!

I'm lost for words..... 

Let's look at a couple more pretty cake photos from the picnic shall we?.....

half eaten cakes by happy picnic-ers mmmmm

pretty cross section of the layered cake - looks real yum!

Thank you so much Elise for doing what you did (original idea!) and campaign promoting for me (I didn't even have to do anything!).

I'm able to write about Day 28 even before the day coz Day 28 tomorrow is DAY OFF DAY :)

So, soon when the currency rate gets back up a little, I'll be uploading the rest of the AU$ donations onto my campaign page.... exciting!!!

Happy Month - Thank you!!!

Baked NY Cheesecake for Debby

It's been one month since I started the campaign, and I've been overwhelmed by the support from my colleagues, directors, friends, family and even "strangers"! I'm now confident that I can reach my goal in time, way ahead of schedule!!!!! It's been a crazy month for me, but I feel so extremely content and blessed :))))))


On Friday night, I was exhausted from another week, especially my last horror charcoal cake experience. I went to sleep early despite having to produce a cake order for Debby (a girl who found out about my baking through facebook!). Instead I woke up early on Saturday and made the New York Cheesecake which I was pretty happy with now that I've tweaked it to my liking - no cracks!!! Except it always takes longer to make something than you think. Cheesecakes take a long time to cool down due to the density and needs 4+ hours in the fridge before serving. So I was really pressed with time, but the pressure was to make the cake "nice" for a stranger and her guests. Glad she and her guests liked the cake.. I made the sides extra high! Thanks again Debby for supporting Sugar4Water!!


I also went and met up with Duncan who heard about my campaign through another friend. I don't even know him personally but he is keen to help me expand my territory into his office!!!! Hopefully we can get things off the ground in a week's time :) It's all a bit surreal how nice things keeps happening!!


Meanwhile, Mum is here to visit me! and today she said I should take a day off from the kitchen - so I did just that, no baking for a day. I also chatted with Koiti in Brazil online, and it was really good to catch up with him. I guess he liked what I am doing and without hesitation transferred US$50 through PayPal (thanks to him, I decided to add a paypal donation button on the side bar for people who are uncomfortable with putting credit card details online, donations will be in Aussie dollars). Thank you Koiti!!!!!!!!! Tanti baci ;)


And tonight, just an hour ago, I received another donation through PayPal... a generous AU$1000 donation from Phyliss - Jenny and Jame's mum. Nearly made me cry!!!!! So I seem to have reached 4/5 of the way and I still have two more months till my campaign deadline! I must bake a cake for them when this is over!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!


To top things off... tomorrow and Tuesday I have two colleagues volunteer to bake for me at work. It is true, when you do nice things, nice things/people come to you. This has been a great experience so far!


I'm going to keep going, still looking forward to the Sugar4Water event planned for September. Still looking forward to spreading the word into other offices. Busy week ahead with muffins! 


But going to sleep now at 10.30pm!!!!!!!!!!! with a BIG smile :D
Gooooooooood night!


Luv,
Amy