Sweet Little Cookie

We had attended a beautiful wedding in October and found the delicious bagged cookie favors to be homemade locally by a company called Sweet Little Cookie.  So I contacted her a couple weeks later to ask a few basic questions to post on our blog site. 


Photo Courtesy of SweetLittleCookie.com


From baking to a stay at home mom and wife, Doreen Huezo shares her story and advice on how she started her own cookie business. 

When did you first know that baking was not only a hobby for you but a business you wanted to take to a higher level? 

Well, I've been baking for several years and I've always loved it.  I would bake for friends and family and they always thought I should sell them. But I had a 9 to 5 job, had been working at the same title company for 10 years so the thought was never taken seriously, until I was laid off in February of 2008. The real estate market turned on me and I was devastated, not knowing how we were going to pay our bills. But that's when the thought of selling my cookies became a reality and starting my own cookie baking company became my new venture.  What better time to give it a try, right?  I launched SweetLittleCookie.com in May 2008 and couldn't be happier that I did.

What is your favorite cookie?

That's tough...it changes from day to day.  I guess it depends on what mood I'm in.  But lately, it's been the White Chocolate Macadamia....so yummy! :)

What is the biggest order you’ve ever had? 

A Staples Office Supply in Northern California ordered 50 dozen cookies for a grand opening/customer appreciation event they were having.  It took me all day (literally) to complete the order, but it felt great to know I could do it.

What is your most popular cookie? 

My Perfectly Sweet Chocolate Chip, without a doubt. 


Photo Courtesy of SweetLittleCookie.com

Where is the farthest you’ve ever had to mail cookies to?

To Afghanistan, a couple of times actually.  I receive orders from women who have husbands stationed out there and want to send them a little bit of home :)

What do you like to do when you have some free time from baking? 

Spend quality time with my husband and three kids.  We have a 15 year old son, a 4 year old daughter and a baby boy who's turning 1 in December.  Needless to say, there's never a dull moment.  We have a ton of fun together. 

What have you learned about having your own business? 

Honestly, it's tougher than I thought it would be.  It's extremely rewarding, yet very time consuming.  Some times I feel like the business owns me, not the other way around.  I guess it's because I thrive on customer service and the only way I'm going to offer an awesome product with exceptional service is to give it my all, which in turn means giving up much of my personal time.  But again, it's so rewarding and I LOVE what I do.  When I send out cookies to a soldier overseas or to a mother who just had a baby or to an 8 year old who just had knee surgery and is stuck in bed, I feel like my cookies are making that sweet little difference in their lives. And that makes it SO worth it.

What is one advice you can give others who wish to start their own business? 

Do your homework before getting started.  Find out if there's local competition, if your business would thrive in your area and if you're able to commit full time.  Having this knowledge before getting started can save you a tremendous amount of heartache and frustration.  It can also help make you the best business owner ever.

Accessorize Me Part II: Hair Accessories

For my second segment of the "Accessorize Me" posts, I wanted to go further more into the hair piece selection(s) for a wedding.  Since the 1st segment touched up on Veils, here are some wonderful inputs on other hair accessory selections from some of my girlfriends.

As we all know and can agree on, aside from the jewelry that's chosen, a bride's hair piece is one of the finishing touches to add hints of glamour and unique taste to the full ensemble of the wedding day look. There are so many choices, but keep in mind that you also want to make sure your hair accessory will go with your hairstyle.  So usually, selecting the right hair accessory is no easy task. 

You can as bold with your selection

 

Photo Courtesy from www.etsy.com (seller: Pegasusmaiden) 

...or as clean and priceless as a beautiful, fresh flower.

 

Photo Courtesy from Steve Maller Photography

Take my BFF Lileth for instance.  To match her tropical Costa Rican wedding, she went with a white stargazer lily that matched perfectly with  her bird cage veil. Not only is it one of her most loved flowers, but it matched her white color theme they had chosen. She quoted, "The smell of the flower is sweet and dreamy. It's simple but beautiful."  And she's totally right. According to my online resource, the stargazer lilies are young, delicate bold, beautiful and fragrant all at once, bringing a meaning of wealth and prosperity. 

Some people may be allergic to fresh flowers (poor things) and must go the alternate "fake" route.  Thankfully not allergic to flowers, Arvie chose to wear a simple ivory faux flower from a seller on Etsy.

It was hand cut and made with silk dupioni and silk organza, swarovski crystals, coque feathers, and glass beads. It just added such an elegant touch to this already beautiful bride.

Now if you want to save some money and create something straight from the heart, do what my cousin-in-law Myrene did.  She took a pearl button (which matched her jewelry), and bought white silk flowers from Michael's Crafts.   

She wrapped the comb clip using floral tape and glued it on the back of the flower, attached the pearl button and presto, her very own handmade flower hair piece.  And to my surprise she also made the girls' hair piece too but used different buttons.

Perhaps flowers aren't your thing and you'd prefer to leave them as your centerpeice or as your hand bouquet.  Some brides will opt for a hair pin(s) instead. My friend Karen decided to wear these Tinsel Topper Hair Pins she found at Anthropologie as her "something blue".

 

The petals were white while the center was blue crystals. 

Below, Aimee chose the butterfly tiara purchased on Bridal People.  Her tiara definitely tied in the butterfly theme they had going from their wedding invitations, wedding programs and wedding cake.  It was small and simple.

And speaking of tiaras, I can't complete this post without mentioning what I used for my hair accessory.  I always knew I wanted to have a princess look for my special day. So the very first thing I bought soon right after I got engaged was my tiara.  With my MOH's right beside me, I purchased a Rhinestone and Pearl Filigree Bridal Tiara from the Jessica McClintock Outlet store in SF.  It has an open back, featuring a silver frame covered with clear Swarovski rhinestones and pearls. 

 

I'm hoping to pass this down and have it be used as a family heirloom for generations to come. 

One last addition I didn't want to forget were these super incredible Head Vines.

 

Photo Courtesy of Tiger Lilly Jewelry     

Their adaptibility lets you create your own style and can be placed anywhere around your bridal hairstyle. I guess you can say it's a cross between a flexible tiara, headband, and a pin. Check out Tiger Lilly Jewelry's one-of-a-kind selection.  

 

Photo Courtesy of Tiger Lilly Jewelry   

Here are a few other websites I found to be helpful in providing high-quality and modern hair accessories:  

Hair Comes The Bride: Location: Southern California / Providing exceptional service (hair and make-up), while giving brides-to-be different ideas and tips. If you don't want to overwhelm yourself with too many options, definitely visit this site.  

Perfect Details: Location: Burlingame, CA / "From Demure to dramatic, this season's bridal hair accessories add sparkle and shine to any hairstyle and wedding day look."

Etsy:  Anything you find on here is a great find.  The selections can go on and on…                

 

Good luck ladies!

"The Wedding Lane"

Tina here... Check us out as we are featured in the lastest blog post of

The Wedding Lane. 

Thanks Eileen for the kudos! Looking forward to reading more of your posting.