Let Them Eat Cake

So I like to pretend that I'm a cake decorator. But even someone as naturally talented (and beautiful) (and athletic) as I am occasionally might have something to learn about the business. Lately, it seems like all I do is learn from my mistakes. Here are some of the things I've come to realize lately:

• I stick to only my recipes, unless they have Grandma's really awesome cake recipe. It's so awesome, in fact, that it doesn't need any sort of leavening agent and is more like a pudding than a cake. Not so good when trying to unmold it from the pan.
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• Telling people that I don't do wedding cakes apparently doesn't mean that I won't do theirs. I have made three wedding cakes in eleven years and each time, I am reminded of why I don't make them. Recently, I had a referral from an old friend who told the bride-to-be that I was great with fondant. Yeah, not so much. At least, not until recently, and I've still got a long way to go.
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• Making deals with strangers while out shopping is a good idea. Even if she has the last dress in your daughter's size that you desperately need for your family's first photo shoot since the youngest child was born, it will bring nothing but stress, frustration, and more stress. I felt like I signed away a part of my soul with that cake. But hey, Baby looked adorable in the dress!
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• Price doesn't matter. No matter how much I jack up the price on that cake I don't want to make for the super prissy lady, she's still going to order it. Is it too late to claim that I'm having a baby* that weekend?
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• Getting only a delivery date is fine. I don't need more specifics, like a time frame or an actual address. Nope. Got nothing better to do than sit by the phone and wait for you to return my numerous calls and let me know you're home.

Hopefully, I'll get my act together. It helps talking to the real professionals, like my buddy Amber, who was shocked (and maybe a little horrified) that I don't ask for full payment in advance. And while I was once paid in quarters, I've never been stiffed for a cake. I really don't want to add that one to the list.

* Before I get emails and "Congrats!" comments, I AM NOT PREGNANT. Seriously. Totally not. I mean it. Not even joking here, folks.