Thursday, December 23, 2010

We're Foster Parents!



Meet Hank! Or, "Hankadoodle, The Hankster, Hankaroni, Hankalicious..." don't judge me... I grew up being referred to as Beastfish:) And "Roo", and....

So let's chat about Hank, shall we? Hank is somewhere between a year and a year and a half old, so he's fully grown and I'd classify him as "a medium sized dog on the small end of the spectrum". He's 30lbsish. He's all muscle and cute.

Hank is a mix of Cattle Dog and something... that something I personally would swear is Jack Russell Terrier. His build, the shape of his head, his ears, his determination to catch the squirrels... So if I'm correct, this makes Hank a mix of two incredibly wonderful dogs! That's pretty awesome:) Being a mix of these two also puts Hank on the smart end of the spectrum. He is quick to learn new tricks and commands. He is also quite cunning and very much like the kid you see studying the playground equipment trying to figure out how to get on the roof at the top of the slide. Dogs are like kids in many ways (in my opinion), and Hank would be the one that takes apart the remote to see how it works.

Hank is very gentle and plays well with others. He is currently running amok with our two boneheads (the dogs, not the kids... we have four of those) in the back yard with one ginormous stick between them. It's an interesting game of tug-o-war going on. Hank even likes our cat. He's not sure what to do with her, but knows that she is soft and if he sits on her, she makes a soft seat.
Hank LOVES to just sit and cuddle with anyone who will pet him. He totally zens out; eyes closed as he leans into you. It is adorable:)

Hank will be an excellent hiking and camping dog as Cattle Dogs are bred to be on the move. He's great on a leash and loves to go for walks.

Hank is house-broken and crate-trained and only chews on things he's supposed to chew on. He does like to hide socks, though! He doesn't chew them... just moves them around.

If you'd like to know more about Hank or think he's the dog for you, contact me at kelleyinco@gmail.com

Hank is available for adoption through New Hope at http://www.nhcdrescuecolorado.com/
There is an easy application process to go through. Check out their site as they have a lot of really great dogs up for adoption! All of their dogs are in foster homes, which we think is great. No scary shelters, lots of love:)


Monday, November 29, 2010

Birdsong Photography.... cool and talented all rolled into one!


You're thinking about photographers for your wedding. This is good. Mull it over a great deal, because in the end, the cake is eaten, the flowers wilt, your guests go back home and you're left with two things: a ton of wrapping paper to dispose of and your photos.

Picking your photographer is one of those crucial decisions you make for your big day. Think about what your style is, your personalities, what you want photographed. Read up on your choices, read their blogs, check out their work, ask about them on local chat boards.

When you meet with them, ponder how you felt during the meeting... and after. Are you and your future spouse chatting excitedly in the car about how much fun that was? How incredible the pictures you just viewed were? How at ease you felt? Can you imagine spending an entire day with this person?

Your photographer doesn't have to be local. Most professional photographers travel and here's an advantage to that you might not have considered; A fresh set of eyes! We live in a beautiful state and how awesome would it be to see the wonderment of Colorado captured by someone who doesn't get up and stare out the window at the mountains every day? I think that sounds pretty cool!

Last year I had the pleasure of "meeting" this amazingly cool photographer on Twitter who tweeted a message to me (in 140 characters or less) regarding my website and it's catchy opening tune. He basically wanted to steal it for his own, and I, being of a sharing nature and happy that someone else found that goofy jazz song equally entertaining, sent him the file. Since then we've struck up a friendship and bonded over raising kids, relationships and the joys of having a job that truly fulfills us. This past August Brett visited our fine state, and my husband and I spent an evening dorking out in front of his camera where we got hitched. It was an absolute blast and as we chatted about it later we both felt energized and excited and we would have jumped right into the sack, but we had lunches to pack for the kids first:).

<----husband's fav shot



Brett Birdsong travels all over. He typically drives, as he likes to take in the sites and folks as he's headed towards his destination. Despite the travel, Brett is very fairly priced. I won't say cheap, because I hate that term and don't think anyone likes to be referred to as "cheap", especially when they work so hard. Brett loves Colorado and will be here in the spring to shoot a mountain wedding. Brett would like to make Colorado one of his frequent stops.



One of mine... I laugh so much with my husband! ---->






Read his blog, check out his pictures and mull him over. Imagine the pictures he'll take of you and your nearest and dearest in a setting that is still powerful and exciting to him.

http://birdsongphotography.com

Monday, November 15, 2010

Blogging about one of my favorite people!


Meet Dawn Ackerman, owner of Hillside Consultants, Inc. based in Colorado Springs, CO. Dawn is an amazing artist using flowers as her medium. Dawn is also one of the coolest people I have ever met:)

Dawn has been bringing floral joy to folks for well over a decade, and loves every moment of doing so. I have met a lot of people in this biz, and Dawn never ceases to amaze me; not only with her flowers, but with her personality. You cannot help but grin and laugh around this woman.



(love these, Dawn!)






I got married last December and Dawn stepped in and took care of the flowers for us. She asked me a ton of questions about colors and favorite flowers and theme... and then kept it all a surprise! You brides out there, imagine this... not knowing what your bouquet is going to look like. I had no idea what she was going to do, but I can honestly say that there was not a single moment I was worried about it!

This is my reaction when I walked into the room------>


Because Dawn had done this on the tables!



And, oh my, our bouquets!!!


She had twisted wire all through them (and out of the centers of some!) and on these wires were lots of little Steampunk-ish elements! Our girls and I felt like princesses:)


You can find out all about Dawn and her company here:
www.hillside-consultants.com
In addition to savvy business owner and florist extraordinaire, Dawn is also the wedding flower expert for the Colorado Springs Examiner. You can read her tips here:
www.examiner.com/wedding-flowers-in-colorado-springs/dawn-ackerman

Fabulous photo of Dawn is courtesy of Real Photography: www.realphotography.com
My wedding photos are courtesy of JasonG Photography: www.jason-g.com

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

New Hope Cattle Dog Rescue of Colorado


I wanted to share with you all some info on New Hope, because they are truly an amazing group of people. New Hope rescues Australian Cattle Dogs (also known as heelers), fosters and rehabilitates them and finds them a forever home. We were blessed to come upon this organization when looking for a second dog earlier this year. I had adopted Rufus, a red heeler, a couple years prior. I had done a lot of research on this type of dog and recommend you do so the same if you're thinking about adopting a pal. Rufus is an absolute joy, but we felt he needed a furry buddy. We adopted Radar after filling out New Hope's application form (on their website) and receiving a phone call from PJ, the gal running the show. PJ works very hard to find the perfect home for their dogs. She thinks it's incredibly important to know your lifestyle and the home environment your new dog will be living in. We loved all of information she was able to give us about Radar's life - we felt like we knew him before we even met him.
After the phone interview it was time for Radar to meet us (and typically the dog stays with you from this moment). Radar's foster mom and her daughter, along with PJ, came to our home with Radar. We chose to do this when our own kids weren't home to not only keep the chaos level to a minimum, but just in case things didn't go well. Rufus greeted Radar with wagging tail and within minutes they were bounding around the back yard. While we watched the dogs play, Radar's foster family filled us in on his personality, his toys, his favorite activities, how he sleeps... again, this made the process so wonderful because we knew what to expect with Radar. We all stood out back watching these two furry goofballs get to know one another and were in agreement that Radar was going to stay. New Hope gives you time to make this decision permanent with a one month grace period of sorts. All dogs WILL change once they get settled in and feeling comfortable-this you can count on. This month of time allows everyone to make sure things are going well. If they don't, New Hope will take the dog back and try again. None of their dogs are destroyed. New Hope will keep trying until everyone is happy... dogs included in this, of course!
Our kids came home a few hours after everyone had left and Radar had time to sniff around and get to know the lay of the land a bit. Radar is an incredibly easy going pup and quickly found himself surrounded by four kids who all wanted to hug and kiss him at once. He loved it:) Radar was blessed with a fantastic foster family and loving and caring folks at New Hope and it shows in his personality and temperament. For us, the decision to make him a permanent family member was quick and easy. We fell in love with this little guy immediately:)
It's been about six months since Radar joined our family and we can't imagine life without him. Last weekend New Hope had a picnic to celebrate their 5th anniversary and placement of over five hundred dogs. We took our pups and kids to join in the fun. Radar's foster family was there and since this spring, they've fostered four other dogs.:) What wonderful people they are! We met dozens of other folks and we shared stories and laughs while watching all of our silly spotted dogs attempt to herd one another and bounce around with glee. It was great fun! Congrats to New Hope!

A bit about Cattle Dogs, if after reading this you're thinking you might want one of your own (which I am hoping you will!). The Australian Cattle Dog originates, of course, from Australia, and is the result of cross breeding between dogs including, Australian Kelpies, Scottish Highland collies, dalmatians, and wild dingo. Developed in the early nineteenth century, this dog, as the name suggests, was bred for herding cattle, often over long distances. Cattle Dogs thus have a natural herding instinct and you can pretty much count on them nipping or licking your heels and finger tips as they attempt to herd you! We personally don't mind this because our dogs are gentle about it, but if this bothers you then it is your job to establish that you are the alpha in the pack.
Cattle Dogs are incredibly intelligent and eager to learn. They need jobs, they need to stay physically and mentally active beyond just throwing a ball for them in the yard. Long walks, teaching them tricks and commands, taking them jogging, hiking and backpacking are wonderful activities to do with Cattle Dogs. They LOVE dog parks and if you're lucky you'll get to see them herd the other dogs by running in circles around them to close them in.
Cattle Dogs are very loyal and protective and do well with older children and outgoing owners. Meek owners, apartment dwellers, those that work long hours.. skip this breed. Cattle Dogs LOVE to chew, and when frustrated or bored they WILL chew things you probably don't want chewed. I lost a fabulous pair of Oxford pumps to Rufus when he was a puppy. Our dogs mulch branches we cut from the trees in mere hours and go through raw-hides like they were going out of style.
Generally Cattle Dogs are very loving and affectionate. Our dogs will sit in your lap, curl up against you on the couch (or on you, really), beg for hugs and belly rubs and follow you from room to room to stay close by. Radar drags his pillow into whichever room I'm in. Rufus likes to sleep on the kids' beds when they're at school. Radar will also spoon you when sleeping... yes, we let the dogs on the bed. Don't judge us, they're irresistible!
Cattle Dogs are medium weight and height, very muscular and shed like mad a couple of times a year. They have a double coat of hair since they're bred to be outdoors in extreme temp changes. They like to be brushed, though:)

Please take the time to look at New Hope's website and read about this fabulous organization. They're looking for foster parents and volunteers as well:)
(picture at top: Radar McGrowl, with pack on, and Rufus McRuff on a backpacking excursion. Picture below: Rufus McRuff working the cute while camping. He REALLY likes MRE's!


www.nhcdrescuecolorado.com

Monday, August 16, 2010

Bishop's Castle



If you haven't been to Bishop's Castle, you're missing out! Right here in our very lovely state we have this amazing castle that one man has been building for over 40 years. By hand. Stone by stone. And... he lets you just wander wherever you please free of charge.
Now, Jim Bishop...he's fascinating. He's a welder and master of iron work. The railings and beams and stairways are incredible and so delicate looking. Watching him climb with ease up his homemade scaffolding to work on some upper windows is incredible. As you make your way up and around the different floors and balconies, you can't help but touch the rocks and wonder just how in the world he got all of those in place... by himself.
Jim is not a fan of the government. At times he can be heard bellowing his contempt for all things mandated. Over the years special folks have tried to charge him for the rocks he's collected on the mountainsides, among other things. Very ridiculous and Jim will let you know he thinks so, too. More people should make a small donation, or purchase one of the lovely handmade necklaces a sweet gal sells on site. Perhaps bring Jim some cookies and congratulate him on his achievement. I think more people should do this.
This is Ames... aka the Hot Husband of DOOM... clambering out onto an unfinished bridge...because he just HAD to:
Bishop's Castle is in Rye, CO... gorgeous area. Take a little road trip and go check out Jim and his castle.

Bishop's Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Castle

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Custom Cake Toppers... are so fun!

I'm having such a blast this year creating custom cake toppers for my clients:) I LOVE to sculpt! Typically I use Sculpey clay and then hand paint them once I've baked it all. The result is a lightweight cute and quirky memento from your wedding day!
My toppers are simple-- no realistic faces, nor tiny fingernails... honestly those toppers that look just like you kinda freak me out.



























(this one I love... I get to see it every day and it reminds me of how very lucky I am!)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Inspiration For Your Wedding Cake


Wedding cakes... oh so many wonderful options when it comes to designing your wedding cake:) I love it! No more must they be all white with swags of flowers!! No more! Of course, this is entirely acceptable if that's your thing...:)
With the advances in products available to we cake artistes and the plethora of cake shows to inspire on t.v., there really is no limit to what your wedding cake can look like.

Some of my clients this year are going all out; one couple is embracing their love of four-wheeling with a topsy turvy cake featuring desert colors and their Jeep on top. Another couple loves to snowmobile with their dogs and their cake will be shaped like a mountain, with chocolate trees and glittery icing snow. Another is taken with the gorgeous gate back-drop in the theater room at the Oxford Hotel and I'll pipe some details from it onto their cake. There's the couple that loves to travel and for them I'll make a stack of suitcases with edible travel stickers to represent their favorite places. And, I cannot leave out the groom who is known for his queso dip, and for him a groom's cake shaped like a crock pot of cheesy goodness. I'll make chips out of colored white chocolate!

So when you're thinking about your cake, it's okay to think outside of the white cake box. Do your invitations feature aspen leaves? Why not have some made out of sugar for your cake to tie in the theme?
Love, love, love the color combination of teal blue and royal purple? How about big loopy swirls and polka dots in those colors? Having a luau? Chocolate palm trees and sugar coral it is! Dig art deco? How about taking the patterns from the Chrysler building's lobby?


Your wedding cake should be an extension of your personality and taste, so don't be afraid to express yourself!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Jane and Erin.... a love story:)

Where to begin? I've started this blog a few times and it just sounded weird, so I deleted it... but their story is so darned wonderful I have to post something about it!
Jane and Erin are getting married soon! Jane and Erin have known each other since 7th grade, though didn't start dating until our 20th high school reunion in 2007. I've known them just as long as we all went to the same schools. Jane and Erin were alphabetically next to one another in all of the yearbooks... this story just went up a notch on the cute meter, didn't it:)
I knew Erin well in high school as we ran with the same crowd of oddballs. We were theater and music folks, and one of my most favorite memories of Erin was when he and my boyfriend would trade one Converse shoe and wear ties around their heads. I loved how silly they were! I didn't know Jane as well back then--- she was gorgeous (still is!), popular, athletic and very sweet.
Jane and Erin are all grown up now, with children from previous marriages and careers they love. Jane is an interior designer and founded Snob Interior Design in Colorado Springs, CO. She works out of What's In Store with her sister on Tejon St.
Erin is a jack of all trades... I recently blogged about his page-a-day novel (which you should all be checking out!). Alongside the writing, Erin paints, develops websites, created "The Dating Code" blog and wrote "Emotion: The Energy of Romance."
Recently Erin asked me to make a cake for their combined birthday party, but wanted me to focus on Jane, so we decided on an edible Chanel purse. Jane LOVES all things Chanel. Chanel, if you're listening, you should seek out Jane:) I wanted to add a special element to their cake and thought of the yearbook pictures... and this is where the story gets a little crazy for me....
I burned my junior high yearbooks back in 88 in a bonfire my roommates and I set on the sidewalk out in front of the house we were renting. At the time it seemed like a good idea, though I regret it now, as I think my kids would get a big kick out of how dorky I was.
I needed to find pictures, though, and after running into dead ends with old friends, I wrote to the junior high (Horace Mann... aka HELL)librarian. I told her about Erin and Jane and how I'd set my own books ablaze and asked if there was any way she could scan and email their pictures to me. She wrote back promptly and was more than happy to help out! Yay! Then she wrote me again and said she found something odd... MY 1984 yearbook on their shelf! MINE? No way... it's a cinder. She says, "No, I am positive it's yours and she emails me a scan of the inner front cover." Jaw drops here... how can this be?? I SET IT ON FIRE! Crazy! Unfortunately my odd luck did not carry over to a winning lotto ticket, but hey...
Back to Erin and Jane-- I made a black forest cake and turned it into a quilted Chanel bag, then added a little edible charm bracelet with their yearbook pictures in the charms. It was so darned cute, if I do say so myself!
Their birthday party was a lovely gathering of old friends and new: Kellee (my best pal since age 11)and her fabulous girlfriend, Kim, Leslie and Rob (high school sweethearts who have been married for 22 years)and Pete (one of Erin's good pals from h.s.). For me, it was such a treat to introduce the hot husband to some wonderful people I've known since the days of button down Levi's and big feathered hair. For all of us, seeing Erin and Jane together and so blissfully happy was the best part of the evening. We all wish you a plethora of delightful years together. Erin, you need to hurry up and lock that down already! Jane, you're just fantastic, and it has been such a pleasure getting to know you:)!!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Fun and fancy wedding and groom's cake for a Breckenridge wedding!

Last Saturday I had the honor of making Jenny and George's wedding and groom's cakes. What an absolute joy they were to work with! Jenny and George were planning their wedding long distance, and there was a whole lotta emailing going on. Jenny sent me some fabric samples and sketches she created and I got to let my imagination run wild. She wanted a "watercolory" look with a mountain theme for the wedding cake. This is what we came up with:) (the flower girl was keeping an eye on the progress)


The groom's cake was a surprise for George-- it's his favorite red truck and all of their pets and was entirely edible. Jupiter is the pup on top, who recently died.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Announcing the Winner of the Kelley Kakes wedding cake giveaway....

First, I want to thank everyone who sent in their "love story," their "how we met" story, their "wow how the heck did we manage to pull this one off" story. We received so many wonderful emails, thank you, thank you, thank you! It was quite difficult to choose just one, so we've decided to add a 2nd and 3rd place and those folks will be emailed today.

We have chosen Christen Simon and Mark Marabate to receive a wedding cake for their September 4th wedding at the lovely Villa Parker in Parker, CO! What a truly wonderful couple these two are! This is their story:


It was the fall of 2007 and a little independent musical called "Boy in the Bathroom" was all the rage in New York City. Mark's best friend, childhood chum, and soon-to-be Best Man, Michael Lluberes, was hosting a party in honor of his successful show, at an upscale restaurant near 42nd Street. It was here that Mark and Christen first crossed paths.
Mark, the guy from Los Angeles who wrote "movies," was the odd one out in a room full of theater artists, so he was happy when Christen happened to sit down across from him and introduced herself as a close friend of Michael Lluberes. What Mark didn't know was that Christen was actually Michael's closest female friend and someone whom he had spent a great deal of time with as actors while touring around the country. Both Christen and Mark had heard about each other from Michael for over four years but never met nor saw a picture of each other. So although they had a close friend in common, Mark and Christen meeting was fairly coincidental (or maybe a bit of fate).
Due to Micheal's success he had very little time to spend with his friend Mark so he pawned Mark off onto his other friend, Christen. This selfless act by Michael allowed his two best friends to become friends on their own. As Christen and Mark spent the next three days walking through New York City talking, laughing, and trying to avoid angry New York taxi drivers it was clear something was blossoming. And by the end of Mark's trip it was also clear that having a relationship would be difficult when one lived in New York and the other Los Angeles. There could almost be no greater distance in the United States. They soon found out that they had quite a few differences to overcome. Mark was a young, caucasian, Jewish man who was raised in Michigan. Christen was African American, Catholic and was raised across the country as an Air Force Brat.
But fate dealt a lucky hand when Mark was hired to do Travel Channel work, thus often bringing him to New York, where he was able to have time to visit Christen. But whether they were together, or utilizing Skype phone services on the internet, they began a very untraditional form of dating. They found that no matter how many seemingly differences they had or someone else may have noticed they had they never saw nor felt that way. Those "differences" are the perfect formula to their happiness! Those differences have never come close to what the deep love and instant connection that they felt since night one. Then, after a year of several dozen flights, Christen made a big choice to move to Los Angeles so that Mark and she could be closer together and see where their relationship could go. She hasn't looked back. And a year and a half later they were engaged!

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Christen and Mark recently during their whirlwind visit to Denver to get some wedding tasks done. Despite the pressure of trying to cram so much into a few short days, they were so at ease and seemed to truly enjoy being able to do this together. They have overcome some serious hurdles to be together and their joy is contagious. I am so thankful to them for sharing their story with me and allowing me to share it with you.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Why does wedding cake cost what it does?!


.
As wedding season gears up for 2010, so do the articles on how to save money on your wedding. Now some of these actually offer legitimate advice, however there are more than a few that are so beyond ridiculous I want to call up the editor and ask them if they did ANY research. I figured I'd attempt to explain why wedding cake costs more than a grocery store sheet cake.
Wedding cake should be fresh, baked with the very best ingredients and stunning enough in appearance to have your guests oohing and aaaahing. Right now, this moment… forget that nonsense about how you say the word “Wedding” and we vendors triple the cost. Not true. In fact, that’s insulting!! You probably would think nothing of paying $5 to $7 to a yummy slice of chocolate molten lava cake at the restaurant, correct? But why would you expect fresh baked cake laden with high quality ingredients, delivered and set up at your location to stun and entice 100 plus of your nearest and dearest without a worry to you to cost any less? A cake your baker spent anywhere between 8 and 40 hours on? For real! It takes a lot to make a cake that deserves a top spot at your reception!
Let me explain how much time and how much stuff goes into a typical wedding cake:
Look at the cake pictured. Before any baking and prettifying happens, there is a free tasting. A tasting involves several kinds of cake (about $35.00 worth of ingredients in your samples) and sometimes up to three hours of time... and, if you're familiar with how I do meetings, I'm driving to you. After the meeting, sketching happens. This particular cake was a little easier and took about an hour.

In preparation for the cake, there's the shopping for ingredients. More driving and usually a trip to three locations. One for the bulk stuff, one for the fresh stuff and one for the supplies needed to support the cake upon stacking. At least three hours here. Sometimes it really is like Ace of Cakes and so toss in a trip to Home Depot as well. Back to the kitchen (rent and possibly an assistant or two to pay)...

This cake served 150 and each layer was a different shape and a different flavor. The different layers (the layers are made up of either two thick layers or three thinner ones) took roughly 8 hours to bake and had (I'm going to round out here) 35 pounds of sugar, flour, butter, eggs (oh my lord the amount of eggs used!), cream, vanilla, fresh lemon juice and zest, dark chocolate, fresh raspberries and blackberries, white chocolate mousse and half a bottle of Bailey's Irish Whiskey. After the layers are baked, they need to cool and settle. We’re at a high altitude here and the cakes need time to compress so you don’t end up with that very unprofessional looking bulge around the middle of your layers. I let mine do their thing overnight while wrapped tightly in plastic wrap to keep moisture in.

Fresh icing is made, and this cake took eight batches of it. That's more butter (1 lb per batch), more sugar (2 pounds per batch), vanilla bean and cream and a good hour or two of listening to the mixers whir as each batch takes 15 solid minutes of mixing to get it to the right consistency. Sometimes, I swear, I hear that noise in my sleep! Icing it smooth and all of the detailing took roughly four hours. Each pristine layer is placed upon its own cake board and the last thing I do is cut the supports that go into each layer. These keep your cake from doing a Poltergeist house on you. We've all seen videos of it... pretty funny when it's someone else, but imagine the horror if it was your cake imploding!! Not cool.

So the cake is finally ready to go! The cake was delivered to an outdoor venue in late summer and was set up on site, whereupon I also added the flowers provided by the florist. This particular delivery was pushed to the last possible moment because it was pushing 95 degrees out and was humid to top it off. The bride was actually walking down the aisle when I started doing my thing. We quickly unloaded all of the layers, stacked them and then the last little border was added. We placed the flowers on and took a few quick pictures and were out of there as their guests were clapping and cheering the end of the ceremony. Phew! Yes, there was a little high-fiving in the parking lot... this was one that tested the typical time line of things, however delivering earlier was simply not an option in order to keep that cake from melting!
I hope this helps explain all that goes into the creating of your wedding cake. The cake has become such an important and expected part of a wedding. Sharing a piece with your newly beloved symbolizes the beginning of great things to come. Imagine the smile the photos of this magical moment will induce when you and your sweetie are reminiscing. And how fabulous does a piece of lavender infused lemon cake filled with layers of fluffy white chocolate mousse and fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries sound after dancing your tush off all night? Yeah, it sounds fabulous!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Kelley Kakes is giving away a wedding cake in 2011!!!


That's right... we're giving away a wedding cake! I'm in search of a couple out there with a fantastic love story to tell. Did you meet in a really "this never should have happened" way? What odds did your relationship overcome to get to the point of saying "I do"? Maybe you've got children from a previous relationship and (like me) you just find yourself wandering around in a daze over the realization that you've found someone who accepts you as a package deal? Whatever it is, if you think you've got a story to tell, then email me at kelleykakes@comcast.net and lay it on me!

Now the rules- I'm keeping these at a minimum because rules are no fun....

*Your wedding can take place any time during 2010.

*Your reception must take place within 30 miles of metro Denver to qualify for free delivery (you can certainly enter if you're outside of this area, but a delivery fee will be necessary)

*The cake can serve up to 100 guests. I'm pretty willing to fudge the numbers on this one if there is a fantastic design that requires a little more cake. Additional servings can be added at a very discounted rate.

*The cake can be more than one flavor and will be iced in buttercream. No limit to colors used, detailing and whatnot. Free cake does not have to be boring cake! Although I have nothing against the classic white wedding cake:)

That's about it, folks! Again, email me personally at kelleykakes@comcast.net your fabulous tale. The contest ends February 12th. The winner will be picked, emailed, blogged and raved about on Valentine's Day.