Cheers to 100!

It is not like everyday that we get to do a centenarian cake. A dear friend of mine ordered this for her grandfather's 100th birthday.

Let me try to list 100 material and immaterial things that I would wish for. And for the sake of humor, lets assume that money is not a question. Teehee!

1. Breakfast in Madagascar
2. Lifetime subscription of Elle Decor and Wedding Essentials
3. Goyard St. Louis
4. Semi-annual tickets to visit Ace's parents and my friends
5. Pocket money to go with those trips
6. Lifetime subscription of Elle Decor and Wedding Essentials
7. Cake boss software
8. Coupons for sugarcraft
9. Weekend in Maldives
10. My 20yr old body and metabolism

Gee! My mind is reeling with so much wants... what more if it is really really possible already. I shudder! I think it's best to stop at 10, again, it is best to live life each day and take it at a time- it's joys and what nots. Less stressful and mysterious in a way that you don't know what it has to offer for that day. And yeah, I'm going to whip myself for not writing at least one immaterial thing. Ha!ha!

Happy Sunday folks!

To sports and love!

This month has been a month of firsts for the little one. I guess in a few months, I might not be calling my little one, little one anymore. Sigh!

They had their first Million Volunteer Run by the Red Cross at 4 in the morning. Ava did 3k while Ace did 5k. I thought it would be futile to wake him up at that hour but I guess he had set his mind he was running, not too much prodding was needed. My boys were both finishers. I'm proud. The little one keeps on asking us when is the next run again and that he wants to do 5k with his dad. Yay!





His next sports thingy was joining City Hall Biker's 12th Breaking Away. It's a 30k bike race that had their gun start at 1pm. You can just imagine how long that race is for Ava and how hot would it be.


He was awarded youngest rider and finisher for this race. I'm reminded of our previous trip in Hawaii, he has been buying sports outfits and paraphernalia whenever he was given money. His gloves from Bike factory, clothing from Adidas in Waikele, and the shoes from Nordstrom Rack. He must have felt this calling. Ha!ha! What would I know!


The race route had lots of uphills (which injured some and made others quit) and it passed by at the back of our house. We waited for them to pit stop for water. When we saw them, Ace looked more tired than Ava. Teehee! I told the little one not to go through the mountains anymore with his dad and just take the shortcut. He answered me 'Mom, no cheating. I can do it!' No excuse for that on my part. Again, I say it again... I am quite happy that somewhere along the way we have instilled in him that value and that we finish what we've started.

It's as if our little one is no longer a 7 year old, doing things an adult does, his mind set to what a responsible adult should think of. And on my part, the gruesome part of this is the worry that I get if could he get through the races he has set his mind to. And yeah, the after part, because whenever he finishes one, he asks us if are we happy and proud, and when we affirm that, he asks us to get him something. Ha! Ha! Ace indulges because the stuff that he asks for are always something sports related like visors, new water bottles and so. I'm glad that Jhed Abadilla has on stock sports items which are not too heavy on the pocket.


And aside from sports, he was chosen to represent his class for the Mr. & Ms. Valentine's day affair of his school. When they asked him what is Valentines day, he answered "Valentines day is the time to love more my mommy, daddy, Lola Doc, granny, classmates, teachers and everyone". He was coached by my Lola Doc on that and I find that answer quite age appropriate for a 7year old. Nothing too fancy which he won't understand. Yay! Good job Lola Doc. Teehee!


To sum it up, my heart is filled with pride for my little one. I love you so and even if you're no longer a little one,you will always be my baby love, little one.

- kit m.

LOVE :: Khel + Crissy

If it did not come out as lovely as we envisioned, I'd be bumming big time about the ant bites I had when we styled this wedding. You see, your clumsy stylist stepped on an anthill of crazy red winged ants. The mere memory of the ants crawling to my knees? I shudder! I faint!

Since it is the love month, the wedding was a day after Valentines day even, we worked on LOVE, blues and violets. We used our sweetheart chair even. Yay for cheesiness this February! 

Sadly, I wasn't able to take a photo of the tables at night, when the candles were all lit up. Mother nature went too windy at the picturesque reception, the poolside of Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel.

We wanted the church to be minimally styled and let the raw beauty of Sta. Monica Church (Sarrat, Ilocos Norte) to pop out by itself. So we did just simple arrangements for the altar and at the last pew. We made nice swags for the aisle with my new lace cloths. So in love with them, I should have taken a closer shot. 

The couple Khel and Crissy look so good together. I remember the emcee, Brandy Howards, mentioning something like they are doppelgangers of Ben Chan and oh noooo... I don't remember that of Crissy. She is very very pretty though. Lest I forget, thank you to Paula Abadilla, the groom's sister for this project. If we all had sisters like her, who would arrange loveliness for our weddings, well... it would be really really nice. Teehee!

Congratulations to the newlyweds, Michael Paulo and Cressa Villaseran! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

- kit m.

Extra sweet for the 14th

It's been crazy for the past few days with the preparations of our wedding for the 15th and we weren't sure if we shall be offering something for Valentines day. But I felt bad that we won't be doing anything for tomorrow. So we decided on doing just cupcakes and minicakes for this year.


An arrowed cupcake. Isn't it cute?


I am so in love with doilies that we did it again for this holidays cupcakes.


Bear-y love. Bears with arms wide open, waiting to be hugged, err... devoured!





Minicakes in pink, and tiny cutesy hearts. Everything's reeking with sweetness. And not to be outdone, the mister did his own interpretation of Valentines day, his "censored" cupcakes!




The left photo is the funniest for me. Darn! Too hot to handle. Teehee! The right one says success. Ha!ha!





So he did different making love positions in jest. Yay!

Upon my posting of these cutesies, it didn't take long before everything was sold. And I am again very grateful for the love and support we get every time. As I've said, the best gift for tomorrow is LOVE, the next best thing in this part of the universe is an Ava's cakes goodie. Yay!

Happy hearts day folks! And as cray as it may be, I won't be grinch tomorrow. May tomorrow then be filled with cheesiness and loveliness that will be overflowing, it shall spill the next day, the day after next and so on. Oh except for the reds and pinks... Too much of those causes sore eyes. Teehee!

Seven questions and answers on our 7th year!

As we turn 7 this month, I am sharing with you seven business related questions I was tasked to answer. It's a little off tangent for an anniversary post but nonetheless I'm sharing it. And let me thank you now for supporting us all these years and the years to come, for I am already lost on how I am going to end this post. Teehee!

Here goes...

What inspired or motivated you to become a baker?
I actually wanted to skip the first part of cake making, which is that to become a baker first then a cake artist. But going back, the reason for all these loveliness is because of our little one Ava. I wanted pretty monthly cakes for him. Since I took a few days of cake decorating workshops a few years before we had him, it was an opportunity to put it into practice.

Tell us the day in the life of a baker?
A normal day would start with me and Ace readying Ava for school then dropping him off. In between everything, we talk about design concepts for future projects and the cakes need be done that day. We bake in the morning, then decorate after. If by chance that we don't have a cake schedule for that day, we laze within the confines of our room. And right, still in between everything, we talk about design concepts. It is very challenging to think of concepts, new or spin offs.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of working for yourself?
It is actually a love hate relationship working for yourself. Loving how we get to work at our own pace, hating how even after supposed to be work hours, my brain is still in work mode.

What has been your greatest challenge so far?
I think the greatest challenge we've ever undertaken as a team was when we had 7 wedding cakes in a day, then another 8 the following day. The challenge there was not only the quantity but to make sure it was all equally lovely and delicious. It was quite nerve wrecking to schedule baking and decorating times. Did I mention that aside from cakes we also do event styling? Right, we shudder together!

What advice would you give to someone starting a business?
Seven years is not quite that long for me to have so much wisdom on this. In everything, start something for the right reasons and not just because. And a little something we live by every time, is that we try, super try to give more than what is expected and to be honest in every dealing that we do.

What is your ultimate goal and has this changed since you started?
When we we're starting, the only goal I had set was to be able to make cakes, lovely cakes, that once people see lovely cakes in this part of the universe, they'll know that it came from Ava's cakes. Again, I am thankful that we are blessed, we were gifted with that and more.

How big a role does social media have in your business?
I believe we are maximizing the benefits of Facebook and Instagram quite well. It spreads the word much quickly. It is a media where you could post your projects and get real time feed backs from clients. And it also serves as our control, making sure that we try to make everything satisfactory so we avoid unsatisfied clients dissing us through this mediums too. It's a cheap yet very effective way of advertising what we have to offer.

Probinsyana thoughts on going international

I woke up this morning with an email with photos of the wedding venue we shall style in August. It is quite very charming in a quaint, rustic kind of way. It has to be... it wouldn't be called Casa Romantica for nothing. Like every project that we do, I truly find it quite an honor to be considered to be a part of the event. And when we are chosen, along with other suppliers remarkable in their fields, it feels like I am in cloud 9. Sigh!

The bride and the groom are family to us. And if others may smirk that our international projects are often for family and friends, I really don't mind. I still feel honored. It doesn't lessen the feeling that as their pockets could afford for bigger than world suppliers in there, they would still choose to have us. And that gives us more reason to do better, come up with something lovelier. Be at par with the other suppliers. So you can just imagine the pressure that has to us.

 So as I tell Ace about this news, he asks me "are you not worried the least?" I tell him honestly, if I would do it in percentages, its so minute, it is almost negligible. Yay! I have so much faith in us and of the talent the heavens has lent us. I know that what worries him most if the lack of staff. I'm sure we will manage though. Faith, planning and all will get us through. Teehee!

And another that keeps me going, which I rub off to the staff and Ace, are the compliments I receive from the various projects that we do. A too much email went like this, "we are also bakers, and when we visit Laoag City, we plan to drop by and see you and maybe get an autograph from you" - something to that context. Ayayay! That is seriously too much, but still brought me to cloud 9 (again!). Come to think of it, if cloud 9 was real, I could have earned serious mileage by now. 

I find it amusing too, that we shall be trotting the globe again for a wedding. And if it was like the old times, I imagine us, probinsya-ish and all, to be going there with a bayong... and if it was permissible, with a live chicken in it, utong (string beans), tarong (eggplant) ,parya (bitter melon) and tabungaw (bottle gourd). Ha!ha! And of course, how can I forget the tupig my Lola Doc will surely insist on letting us bring.

So yeah, did I say I was in cloud 9? I still am. Your little probinsyana cake artist and event stylist couple are going somewhere lovely in August this year. And from now till then, time to time I shall be talking about my excitement here or at our Facebook page or thru our Instagram account @avascakes... Be sure then that you are with us in this little step of prettifying the world. Much love folks!