I was VERY generously asked to contribute a wedding cake and some petit fours to a photo shoot a few months ago for a new site launching with Sarasota Magazine, in their new Wedding Section. If you have not yet seen it, its phenomenal. Done with all the elegance and style that is our local media extraordinaire, this new addition showcases local wedding editorials, inspiration articles and some of the best planning advice from Sarasota's (and the country's) TOP wedding and event specialists. 
    The shoot captures an elegant yet refined seaside ceremony and reception, filled with the natural splendor that only Sarasota's beaches have to offer. My cake is a watercolor inspired piece, accompanied by a simple flower and rustic tablescape. Sarah Tucker Events styled the day, Naomi Chokr Photography captured the spectacular images, Styles by Kelly Anne provided hair and makeup on our gorgeous models, our bridesmaid's attire was designed by Camilyn Beth, flowers by Victoria Blooms, and the gorgeous jewels were provided from The Diamond Vault.
    I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did, and I feel so blessed to have been a part of such an amazing article!

Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh

    My last post was in August.......AUGUST!. Turns out, this blogging thing is actually harder to keep up with than I thought. Probably because in the few moments of free time that I have now, I prefer to do other things like....oh, sleep. Maybe eat, sometimes. Every other moment, however, is consumed with orders, client meetings, baking, events, planning, permitting, updating, responding......phew, just got tired again.
    A LOT has happened since that last post in August, and the title of this post, "Time is Precious" has a multitude of meanings for me. First and foremost, as you can tell from the picture, I lost someone very dear to me, my sweet Grandad. My Grandy passed away a few years ago, and he was never the same. afterwards They were 55 year partners, and it became apparent very quickly that Grandad would never, and could never be the same without Grandy. After just a few short years of declining health, we lost him just a few weeks ago. Right in the midst of my crazy, hectic schedule with this flourishing business, my whole reality came crashing down, forcing me to stop, take a breath, and deal with a loss that I had not mentally prepared myself for. I have loved this man for 25 years, and he has been the epitome of the perfect male role model in my life. He supported every decision I ever made, and he cared for me, his only Grandaughter, more deeply than I could have ever imagined. It has made me feel that even on those days when I am covered in flour, crying at 3am and just wanting to give up, I cant. And I won't. I will love and miss him terribly, and use him as yet another inspiration to move forward and continue to (God-willing) be prosperous with my business.
    Time is also precious to me in a WHOLE different way, now that I am OFFICIALLY opening up a retail storefront bakery at the beginning of December! Thats right, the little bakery that I said would happen 17 million years down the road is actually happening in JUST. ONE. MONTH. Time is precious alright, and so are permits, applications, lease agreements, renovations and menu preparation. My little bakery, which will be located at 1247 1st Street, right in the heart of downtown Sarasota, is going to be an everyday retail space for my mini treats, including coffee and some other unique concoctions! I cannot WAIT to open my doors to the city of Sarasota and meet my customers on a daily basis! Let the (quick) planning begin!
    Lastly, time has been precious to me in simply trying to manage my large volume of orders and events that I have on a daily and weekly basis. Instead of trying to rundown (and probably bore you) with a list of every event and order that I have done in the past two months, I have decided instead to delight your visual palate with a photo display of some things I have done so far this Fall! I hope you enjoy, and I promise, it will NOT be two more months until you hear from me again (I hope......).

Lots of Sweet Love!
xo
Leigh

    I had the distinct pleasure of being asked to be a part of a beautiful Summer Photo Shoot for The Everygirl in August. The amazing Sarah Tucker OF COURSE, pulled together another amazing team and styled the shoot to perfection. My favorite gal Naomi Chokr brought the best of the best in photography, once again! Take a peak here, and give a last little farewell to Summertime! Its beautiful!

    For those of you that know the GORGEOUS wedding site "Style My Pretty," you will be just as thrilled to know that they have an equally adorable site called "On to Baby!" You know, for all of those gorgeous brides who have now decided to nest and want to show off their equally gorgeous babies and styles a few years later?
    If you read my previous post, "A Ball of a Baby Shower," then you got to see the photos from the gender-neutral themed shower that my friend Naomi Chokr hosted for her dear friend and shot for Naomi Chokr Photography! Well GUESS WHAT? She submitted that lovely little shoot and it was accepted AND FEATURED in "On to Baby" this week! Its so stinkin' adorable I can't even help it, and yet another amazing opportunity to be featured! Thank you Naomi!!

Take a look at our feature here!

Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh 

    I woke up to a WONDERFUL thing on Monday morning this week- my VERY OWN feature on the BEST women's lifestyle site, The Everygirl! I have been contributing to various features that the lovely ladies of The Everygirl have put together for some time now, and a few months ago when they offered ME my own chance to be featured, I was over the moon!
    Since we already had so many great photo's to use from my previous shoots with my favorite girl, Naomi Chokr, my biggest task was to answer the series of interview questions for my feature! The Everygirl founders Danielle Moss and Alaina Kaczmarski are interview goddesses and had the perfect, in-depth and interesting questions to ask. Reading about their stories and the birth of their now flourishing website and respective business's was even more inspiration for me. I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity- thank you girls, from the bottom of my heart!
    This has been quite a journey from me, and frankly, a rather stressful one at times! To see it all in front of me, in black and white, makes it all seem so much more real. Its hard to see what you're doing, many times, when you're in the thick of it. To realize how much of an honor it is to have these women, and this site, recognize ME, little 'ole baking ME, for what I am doing.......well.....its a little more emotion than I can describe in this particular post tonight.
    I hope you all enjoy reading my feature here. I am very proud, and I am more than grateful and humbled to everyone who has helped me. I am also SO excited that my website, my Blog and all of my beautiful work is being showcased nationally for everyone to see, and it was ALL done by my wonderful site designer and love of my life, my boyfriend! He has an amazing IT company called THiNKERNET (pretty great name, huh?) and he is the one who sits up with me late at night, making every little change that I want. He also sends me sweet little texts throughout the day with my analytics updates, just because he loves me :)
    
Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh  

    Are you ready for another too-cute-for-words Smash Cake shoot from the talented Rebecca Turgeon Photography?!  Well then here you go, eye-candy galore! Miss Cami, whose Mom just happens to own popular Lakewood Ranch children's gym The Kids Activity Center, is so dainty in her pictures! I am loving the pearls! Enjoy!

Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh

    Months and months ago Naomi asked me to make the mini treats for her friend, Alyssa's baby shower. The assignment: gender-neutral, grey and yellow, and "Ball Jar" themed (the mommy-to-be's last name is Ball. Cute, right?). I of course was THRILLED that the colors for this shower were grey and yellow- the OFFICIAL colors of The Short Giraffe! But also, I know Naomi, I have gotten to know some of her friends, and therefore I knew the style she had in mind, which I also love. Cute but modern, fun, bright and just a touch of nostalgia that I always love! It was perfect! The adorable bunting you'll see is by the very talented Katie of Katie Sue's Keepsakes. Alyssa loved all of her treats, and from the sounds of things the party was a great success! So here are the awesome photo's, which in my opinion are totally magazine-worthy thanks to the endless skill that Naomi Chokr Photography brings to the table. Enjoy!

Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh 

    As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I became a member of a local group, The Designing Daughters, and was asked to be the dessert sponsor for their upcoming Summer Event, "A Fashionable Gala.." And what a gala it was! Some of Sarasota's finest were a part of this amazing evening at the beautiful Sarasota Yacht Club!. Food, fashion, fun and drinks-a-flowing make for quite an evening!

    My "theme" I was given to work with was "Nautical Chic-" tons of hot pinks, nautical blue's and white, with a touch of summer and citrus thrown in between! The result was a SCRUMPTIOUS dessert display put on by Yours Truly, that included Raspberry Zest and White Chocolate Blueberry Mini Cupcakes, White Chocolate Lime Cake Truffles and Zesty Lemon Shortbread Cookies. They were a hit! If you take a look at one of my photo's, you'll see a young gentleman, Eduardo Anaya, who blogs over at Preen and Chic. He was literally my #1 Fan for the evening, and I swear ate a dozen Raspberry Zest cupcakes by himself! He was already hired as my official PR Director by the time the night was over- thank you, Eduardo, for your kind words and major sweet tooth!

    As usual, because she is SO fabulous, my friend Naomi Chokr was asked to come and photograph the event- stunning (but what else is knew with her, right!?) My other gal pal, Mrs. Ashley Grueters of SRQtee's Events, a fellow Designing Daughter, was the Design Committee Chair for the event and did a fabulous job! 

    Take a peak at the photo's, they're pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself :)

Lots of sweet love!

xo
Leigh 

    When I first set out on my mini-baking adventure and launched The Short Giraffe, I had glamours fantasies of grand charity events, elegant weddings and parties galore for my treats. All of that has happened, and its been WONDERFUL! What I did NOT envision, however, was a huge chunk of my business to come from kids! Birthday parties, preschool graduations, mommys-night-out events- they've all become such a huge staple in my weekly orders, and I absolutely love it! Baking for kids has allowed my creativity in decoration to run wild! It has also opened up my being repertoire to a variety of allergy sensitive baking options for many of these kids. Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and so many more have become regular menu items for me now, and they taste GREAT!
    
    I do have to give a shout-out and a HUGE thank-you to one of my first supporters and best customers, the amazing team at The Kids Activity Center in Lakewood Ranch. Owner Christen Wolfinger and her staff have put in order after order for everything from their regular birthday parties in-house, to their specialty classes and parent groups. They're awesome at what they do, and the center is a great place for children of all ages and events of all kinds! Thank you guys so much for all of your support from the very beginning!

    Check out some of my photo's over the past few months of these cool creations for kids and events of all types!

Lots of sweet love to you!

xo
Leigh

Can you say holy cuteness??!!!

I have recently teamed up with Rebecca Turgeon Photography to make "Smash Cakes" for her ADORABLE 1st Birthday baby sessions. My first reaction, to be honest, was "What the heck is a Smash Cake?" However, my surprise turned into a total starry-eyed love fest when I saw her work and these adorable little babies, smashing up their birthday delights. Rebecca is an amazing photographer, and she manages to capture those special moments with these little one's that every parent wants, but can never seem to get on their own. 

Take a look at the photos from our recent shoot together and this cute little charmer!