Cupcake Dreaming

Dreams...the mysterious thoughts that drift around in our head as we sleep have been the subject on analysis for years. Well, this one I'm about to share with you is probably far beyond analysis but if you're brave, then give it a shot.

A few nights ago when I drifted off to sleep with nothing but good thoughts in my head, my sweet dream turned into a crazy nightmare.

I was walking down the street at night when I witnessed a crime happening but I don't recall what crime it was. The criminals saw me witness the crime and proceeded to chase me down the street. I got away from them and hid at my friend's house whose oldest daughter was home for the weekend.

The plan was for me to hide out in her dogs' house (which is pretty much a guest house for people, no lie!) until around midnight and sneak out through the woods to go get weapons to go get the bad guys before they got me! I decided I'd sneak out the back so that no one would see me leave her house and so no one would harm her family to get to me.

The back door was jammed so I couldn't get out. I decided to go through the front door since it was pitch black outside. She told me earlier that her daughter's boyfriend would be coming over but I decided I could sneak past all of them and it didn't matter because he didn't know who I was.

Just as I was sneaking out, I heard the boyfriend yelling at his girlfriend, "You were cheating on me with..." as he turned around just in time to see me and say, "her!"

He was one of the men I saw committing the crime earlier. Before I knew it, he pulled a gun on me and I dropped to my knees and while crying uncontrollably I said, "Dear God! No! Please don't kill me! All I do is make cup-cake sooooaps!"

And that's just how crazy my dreams can get at night!

A Cupcake Light Memorial for Michael Jackson

Rest In Peace Michael Jackson
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

June 20th - After watching Harper's Island, I called a friend to discuss the show and I sang Michael Jackson's Who Is It?

June 23rd - A lady was explaining something to me and she was using her hands and I told her that she was moving her hands like she was auditioning for Michael Jackson's Remember the Time video which led to a conversation of us talking about our favorite Michael Jackson songs.

June 24th - A friend told me that he just felt like watching the Thriller video because he hadn't watched it in a while so he watched it that night on his iPod.

June 25th - The unfortunate news broke out across the globe that Michael Jackson is no longer with us.

When my ears heard the news, for a second, I felt that my heart stopped. How could it be that the day two of my friends and I went to get a health check and I celebrated my health, Michael Jackson was taken from us so suddenly.

Despite everything that has happened with Michael in the last 15 years, I will remember and cherish what an amazing performer, inspiration, and icon he was.

My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to the Jackson family. Michael Jackson will ALWAYS and FOREVER be remembered.

A Customer's Perspective

When I prepare for craft shows, I am always trying to think of ways to create an inviting and unique experience for patrons. Therefore, I change things to create a specific atmosphere for them. It's rare that at a craft show I am able to talk in detail with my customers to get feedback on their experience.

However, one of my customers, Reina, who visited my booth at Unique Los Angeles wrote a blog post from her perspective as a patron of craft shows and festivals. Her experience at Unique LA provided me with great insight into the things a customer expects of vendors and it also gave me confirmation that I have been doing right by my customers.

I'd like to share her blog post with other vendors in hopes that if you are interested in vending at craft shows, festivals, or other events, you will also gain invaluable knowledge from a customer's point of view that you can apply to your booth to make an unique experience for your customers.

I'd also like to share her experience with my current and future customers. This will give you a glimpse into the experience you will have when you visit Serah's at our upcoming events with a vendor who creates an atmosphere with you in mind.

Click HERE to read about Reina's experience.

A special thanks to Reina for sharing her opinion and allowing me to share it with others.

Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soap

Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soap
Originally uploaded by serahsonline

In anticipation of the April 2009 LA Baby & Tween Celebration that I was supposed to attend, I created the Baby Girl Pink and Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soaps. These soaps were unveiled at Unique Los Angeles in May 2009.

The Baby Girl Pink & Baby Boy Blue Cupcake Soaps are mode of the same goodness as my other soaps...glycerin and shea butter. They are scented with the Baby Powder fragrance. The large 7.0 oz cupcakes are shown and they are also available in the mini 2.0 cupcake soaps as well.

They are great for baby showers or birthday parties or as a gift to an expecting mother. You can purchase them at http://www.serahsonline.com or http://serahs.etsy.com.

One of my friends has a sister that is pregnant. Next month, she will find out if she's having a girl or a boy!!! Why do I have three exclamation marks behind that question, you ask? It's because my friend's boyfriend made a bet with my friend that her sister would have a boy and if he wins, my friend has to buy her boyfriend dinner. And the best part...he included ME in the bet and told her out of the blue she'd have to take me to dinner too!

So here's hoping for Baby Boy Blue!

I've Been Plagiarized!

I remember my first experience with plagiarism. When I was in the 5th grade, our class had to write an essay for the D.A.R.E program and as I began writing my first essay, I felt like I couldn’t find the right words to say what I wanted to express. Therefore, I tore up that essay, threw it in the trash, and wrote another one. A week later, the D.A.R.E. coordinator announced the winner of the essay contest and everyone in the class expected to me to be the first place winner but I was actually 2nd place – beat out by one of my closest guy friends.

The D.A.R.E coordinator said that the essay was so good that he wanted my friend to read the essay to the class. My friend was very reluctant to get up in front of the class but eventually there he stood, knees buckling and hands shaking reading the essay in front of everyone. As he began, I felt a peculiar familiarity with his essay like I had heard the words before in my own head before they were on his paper.

A few hours later when my friend should have been extremely happy for winning the contest, he was actually crying uncontrollably. I went to him to comfort him and to ask him what was bothering him. Imagine my shock when he mumbled through all of the crying, “Lisa, I am so sorry! You should’ve won the contest. I went and took your first essay out of the trash can and rewrote it in my own hand writing. I’m so sorry! You can have my movie tickets.”

I was floored but very forgiving especially since my friend had learned his lesson and I was very impressed with his honesty.

Recently, I’ve run into another plagiarism experience. Someone by the name of Rick Amorey has ripped off one of my blog posts titled My First Craft Show http://blog.serahsonline.com/2009/02/my-first-craft-show.html and posted it to several article submission blogs and directories. By doing a Google search on “Rick Amorey cupcake soaps”, you’ll see the multiple sites where he/she has submitted my post as his/her own work.

As I do research to find ways to detect and combat plagiarism, I’ll share my research with you in a series of blog posts in hopes that it will help other bloggers as well.