I am not a winner.
I enter contests all the time. Pretty much daily. I play the lottery about once a month, I enter clothing raffles, baby store give-aways, nursing bra contests, art-show random drawings, even at weddings with the sticker under your chair thing… I never win. Not ever.
So you can imagine how surprised I was to see a post on Facebook last week from a friend and fellow “Cautious Mom” saying she was jealous of me for winning something! I jumped over to the page I’d been tagged on and sure enough, my name was there and next to it was the word, “winner”!
The “Awesome Sweetness Bakery” of Lake Elsinore recently held a raffle and in a random drawing, I was chosen to receive a dozen cookies with a design of my choice. I was contacted by the owner, Nicole, who asked me what design I wanted and still in shock that I, the girl who never EVER wins… could possibly have been chosen at random to get free, designer cookies, I didn’t know what to tell her.
I am extremely passionate about art and others’ passions. I hold creativity in the highest esteem and refuse to trample on someone’s vision with my personal desires. This is how I am with anyone- my hair stylist, my nail lady, custom made bows, even tattoo designs have to, in my opinion, reflect the artistic abilities and creative spirit of their creators. I provide only an idea and allow these artists to do their work in whatever way they feel led. This is what I told Nicole when she asked me what I wanted on my cookies. I wanted to give her absolute freedom to create with abandon.
Well, my cookies arrived today and I was completely impressed!
They arrived in a very pretty bakery box with the company logo, all pristine and fancy.
When I opened the box, everything was so neatly placed, it was like opening a present on Christmas!
Each cookie was individually wrapped with a real, satin ribbon and tied in a bow. I took them out of the box and set them out on the counter.
I waited until both babies were asleep for their naps, made a pot of coffee and settled down to enjoy my fancy cookie. I chose the butterfly to try first, because it had glitter and if you know anything about me at all, you know I am a sucker for anything sparkly and glitter is one of God’s finest creations!
So, I unwrap my fancy cookie all ceremonious-like and I’ve got my coffee in one hand, cookie in the other and I hear a whimper.
Like a little dove, cooing from far away… it grows in its intensity until it has the ferocity of a howler monkey. It’s my two year old, Liam… awake early from a much needed nap that apparently isn’t happening and he’s clearly anything but happy.
He comes stomping down the hallway with a zombie moan that sounds both sad and annoyed and he gets to the doorway, sees me sitting there, coffee and cookie in hand and just stares.
For a good 35 seconds, he just looks at me, breathing heavily, moaning like a miniature zombie, half awake and still dreaming. His eyes seem to focus, he’s recognizing what has been going on in his absence and he’s clearly unhappy about it.
“Butterfly?” he says, ever so sweetly and genuinely curious… “purple blue butterfly?” (which sounds like; “poople, boo, buffly”
“Yes, it is” I reply, “mommy has a butterfly cookie”.
“Butterfly cookie?” (which sounds like; buffly tsetse?) he asks, stepping closer to my chair, peering down at my cookie and I know my moment is doomed, but I try to hold off a bit just in case he loses interest but by that point, all is lost as he is running around in circles in front of me yelling “Cookie!Cookie!Cookie!”
So I ask, “would you like a bite of my cookie?” Of COURSE he says “YES!” So, I let him have a bite. He takes the tiniest of bites to test, then takes it out of my hand and won’t give it back!
“mmmm….. taste good, butterfly cookie” he says with a mouthful of blue and purple frosting, spilling crumbs all over my couch.
“Do you love it?” I ask
“Mmmm blue, purple butterfly taste good” (insert cheesy grin here)
“May I have a bite?”
“No. No. Nooooo no no no no…..”
“Please, may I have a bite?”
(Gigggle) “No”
“Should I go get another cookie for mama?”
“Yes!”
So… I lost my cookie to the two year old and decided to try the flower cookie instead, which was awesome and a perfect compliment to my coffee. Later that night, I couldn’t resist and finally got to try the butterfly, which was awesome, of course.
I am happy to pass this little story along to showcase an artist and a baker who is also a Cautious Mom on our Facebook page. Her work is expert and delicious, she is kind with excellent customer service skills and was a joy to do business with.
I couldn’t be more happy to have the first time I win something, it was her excellently Awesome Sweetness!
… And Liam thanks you too!
Everyone should check out Nicole and her amazing “Awesome Sweetness” at the link below!
The Cautious Mom 
Love that you at least got some excellent photos of your cookie thief. That grin of his where you asked if you should go get another cookie for momma. 😀 Butterfly cookies, turns zombies into sweethearts. 😀