the cupcake tree bakery blog

The Cupcake Tree Celebrate's Christmas!

2009-12-10T23:18:00.001-08:00

We're In the Spirit!!Small Christmas Gift Box to go~

The SCV Mom's Club came in for a visit with about 10 Moms and all their little kiddos!

Some Pictures of Opening Day

2009-11-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

My cute little cupcake artists working hard in the back

Jason the sign guy hard at work

Grand Opening Night - the line was like this for 2 hours solid!! Thanks Again Everyone!

That's some Serious Cupcake Dedication!

Grand Opening!!

2009-11-21T02:45:00.001-08:00

I would regret it if I didn't publicly thank everyone for all of the love and support we received on our opening night. We sold 450 cupcakes in the 2 1/2 hours we were open. The line was crazy and it was so great to all of our friends and have family supporting us from near and far. It was crazy hectic but all worth it....

THANK YOU EVERYONE - WE'RE OFFICIALLY IN BUSINESS!!!

I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance to breathe~

Here Goes Nothin' ....

2009-11-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

So as of last Thursday all permits were signed off and the LA County Health inspector gave us the go ahead to start moving in ingredients. As of Thursday November 19, 2009 at 6 PM...
we are officially open for business. Hope to see you sometime throughout the weekend!

~ Grand Opening Update ~

2009-11-09T14:56:00.001-08:00

So, my handy husband and I put together the cabinets over the weekend and he was able to salvage the flooring too! This has really helped on costs! This morning I had the city inspector out to go over our progress and hopefully we'll be all signed off by Wednesday.

All fingers crossed, once the city and fire sign off, I have to get the LA County Health Dept to sign off too.... then I can get ingredients in and start moving!!

Over the weekend we were able to pick up our glass door refrigerator for drinks and some other things. It's all coming together and we're HOPING to have a GRAND OPENING next Thursday Night at 6pm. It will then continue for a 'Grand Opening Weekend'... I really want it next week, because being by the movie theater the same weekend New Moon comes out could be VERY HELPFUL for our sales... My fingers are crossed!

We've got a Markee Sign!

2009-11-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Now to just finalize the sign above the store front!!! It's taking forever!

Progress, Progress, Progress....

2009-11-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

More progress with the indoor Scenery...

My friend stopped by to lend a hand painting...

Thank You Craigslist!

2009-10-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

I've designed a new counter which I'll be doing a bit of the construction and a glass shop will have a part of it too. (Some of you may be thinking, why would she do some of the construction, isn't she a baker? and to that inquiry I answer, I got my bachelor's in art with an emphasis in furniture design, so I feel fine coming up with a basic retail counter. And as for the baking, I've done that too, in wedding cake form for 15 years or so) ~ So, back to the shop. As for this old 'Posh' counter - it was time to say goodbye.
My husband and I were planning on ripping it out this weekend, but I figured I'd try my luck with Craigslist first. I hate throwing perfectly good things away if there's someone who can put them to use!
Low and behold I had 3 people wanting it immediately! I even had a little drama from one lady telling me her story of why she needed it more than the other 2. But I sold it to the guy who showed up and paid first!He was there the next day with another helper. I'm so stoked that not only did I get it out of there, but I got paid to have someone come and take it out! They also dismantled some of the shelves on the back wall! Thanks Craigslist!!

Spic and Span!

2009-10-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

So, I guess if your neighbor's going to have a fire, (heaven forbid) it's better that it happens a week before you sign the lease and plan to get inside to clean the place out. My mom, brother, husband and myself headed over to clean it out the day I signed the lease and found out that because of the fire, it would all be taken care of for us.
So last weekend, there was a small crew paid to come in and clean every ceiling tile in the kitchen and replace every tile in the retail section. They also wiped down every wall from top to bottom, cleaned the bathroom, etc...

Smells a bit like cleaning chemicals but so much easier than having to do it on our own!

The Lease is Signed

2009-10-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well here we go!!!!!!!!
As most of you know I've been making wedding cakes and occasion cakes here and there for years. I have always thought of someday opening my own wedding cake boutique but felt with the commitments to Saturdays and Sundays, it was never very appealing, mostly because of our young family.

While up in Utah last April for a good friends wedding, I was staying with another close friend. She and I got to talking about the businesses we would like to start someday. Come to find out cupcake shops are a big thing up there and as I soon found out they're popular in CA too.
As I milled over the possibility of having a cupcake shop instead of a wedding cake shop, I realized my window for opportunity is now. Our valley of over 160,000 people doesn't have one specialty cupcake shop... until now! I've been working on this for only the last 5-6 months or so and have only realized the existence of cupcake stores like Sprinkles, Famous Cupcakes, and the likes,within the last 5 months also.

It's been a pretty fast turn around from dream to reality. I've leased a location next to the Canyon Country Edwards Cinemas just this week. This blog will allow everyone to see our progress as we make what was 'Posh Pastries' into

the cupcake tree

Please feel free to peek in and lend your support as our family takes this time in our lives to fulfill one of my dreams. Thanks to all of our family and friends for their well wishes and support already! We're SO excited to get moving!!

existing storefront

existing retail space

You can kind of see the soot on the floor from our footprints tracking through itexisting kitchen, my cute baby girl and my cute brother if anyone wants his number;)

Proof of our work, we cleaned the old stuff out

So the tenant before us walked away from her business about 10 months ago. She has left EVERYTHING behind, from almonds to Christmas decorations, to paper supplies. Due to the current bankruptcy, I cannot throw anything out until the Trustee decides if it's trash, if she gets anything back, or if they want to sell any of it to pay off debt.

Last week, the hair salon next door suffered an arson fire. As we entered the space yesterday, we found the smell of smoke and soot lingering on everything in our space as well. The property managers will have a cleaning company come in tomorrow to clean it from top to bottom. To make it an easier and more efficient process for them and for us to get renovating once they're done, my mom, brother, and I got cleaning today. They were were a great help to me!! We cleaned the entire store room out and the shelves and the tables, which had lots of miscellaneous junk piled everywhere. Everything is piled in a manner so the previous tenant or the courts can get it if they allow. It also allows me to move in my supplies and ingredients in an orderly fashion without having to work around her stuff.

It's exciting to start moving forward finally since there's been a few delays. I'll keep you updated and be sure to post pictures of the renovation as it takes place over the next few weeks.