Hi, my name is Alana and I am addicted to cute sweets. I have been sweet free for less than a minute. Cookies, chocolate, cake, cupcakes, cake pops, eating, baking, decorating, photographing, so long as it's sweet and it's cute count me in! All kidding aside, let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am addicted to cute sweets but there's more to me than just my addiction. Outside of the baking world I am a wife, a big sister, a daughter, a learning enthusiast, avid book reader, collector of friends that I can adopt into my family, a teacher to many especially the youth, and a lover of children. There's a lot more but you'll get to know me more if you stick around!
I am the girl behind Sweets Occasions. My journey to becoming a dessert artist began, I'm sure, like many others. I wanted to try to make a dessert that was photo worthy. One experiment led to another, which led to research and shopping for proper tools (or MacGyvering them since we rarely get any good stuff here in Hawaii). It didn't take many attempts to realize that I was hooked!
Another thing about me, I'm kind of a perfectionist and I'm not afraid of putting in some work to improve myself. If I wanted to practice I'd need something to practice on. Let's face it, no one likes throwing out a perfectly edible dessert. So I found some willing participants to allow me to borrow their taste buds and sacrifice their diets.
It started out with just family and some close friends, then people from church, and eventually handfuls of strangers. In order to learn new skills or improve my abilities I'd volunteer to bake and make desserts and treats for anything and everything that I could afford. Baby showers, church activities, dinner parties, holiday events, birthdays, my seminary class, bridal showers, weddings, or just gifts for a neighbor or friend, you name it. If I had the money and the time for it, I'd bake up something and decorate it!
In time people started requesting my desserts and making reservations for my skills for months or even a year in advance. And almost all were insistent that I let them pay me. I was honestly shocked. I didn't think my experiments were anything too spectacular and really they were doing me a favor by allowing their parties and events to be my guinea pigs! I mean I am self taught and got my decorating degree by attending what I like to call PinU (Pinterest University) and the University of Youtube! I was no official...or so I thought.
It took me a while to realize that making cute sweets had become a part of my identity. It's kind of funny in hindsight because friends and family would introduce me as "the dessert queen" or with phrases like, "she makes the best cupcakes" or "she's the one who made ______ for so and so". And then there were the gifts. They came in place of payments I'd refuse, for my birthday, Christmas, or just because they saw it and thought of me. These gifts ranged from cute rubber spatulas, to cupcake carriers, baking pans, recipe books, and even a kitchen aid mixer! There were requests for business cards and volunteers to help promote my business that did not yet exist. I even had a couple of requests to teach a class or take on an apprentice! My "experiments" and skills had value, were actually having a positive effect on people and brought a special spirit to each occasion. They were making special occasions sweeter and turning ordinary occasions into special ones.
It's a new year and my husband and I are moving to the west coast. It seems like the perfect time to take my hobby to the next level. It's a little risky but mostly exciting! I hope you'll get whisked away with me! When you do, you'll be able to get a bit of inspiration on things to bake through the recipes I'll share, learn some tips on how to improve your baking and decorating skills, and you'll even get to take a little peek into my mind. You'll never see sweets the same way again!
Are you on a journey of sweets discovery? How did yours begin? Are you a PinU or University of Youtube alumni too? Are you a blogger? What inspired you to start blogging?