Game, Set, Cake!!

Strawberries and cream, grass stains and Rafael Nadal (sorry, Andy Murray) – yes, it’s that’s fabulous time of year again. The time for pulling consecutive sickies to stay home and watch the top seeds serving up a sport-tastic treat on the BBC to the tune of Sue Barker’s customary curatorship; the time for reaffirming your patriotism in the blind hope that a British player might actually make it to the final; the time for kicking back with a pitcher of Pimms and watching the time-honoured summer tradition, Wimbledon.

And this year, to go with your usual refreshments, innovative bakery completelycakes.co.uk have a mouth-watering range of delights to see you through those nail-biting weeks. From tennis rackets to tennis whites, however you envision your sporty sweets the team at Completely Cakes will serve it up on a gleaming platter!!

Here are their top ten tips for surviving Wimbledon:

- Schedule time off work for those all-important matches you don’t want to miss

- Install Adobe Flash Player to get the most out of BBC iPlayer

- Accept that Murray, and any other British hopeful, will probably just scrape the quarters

- Stock up on sun-cream if planning a trip to Murray Mount/Henman Hill

- Similarly, stock up on Pimms and yummy treats to enhance your viewing pleasure

- Purchase a TV Times to keep up to date with match schedules

- Read up on the competition on the official Wimbledon site (www.wimbledon.com)

- Download the Wimbledon iPhone App to get the best of the event on the go

- Free up space on your TV recordings library – just in case you’re worried about missing any of the action

- Sink your teeth into a delicious cake/cupcake instead of your nails as you watch Murray fight it out for that all-important victory!!

To sample their tennis-inspired range, visit www.completelycakes.co.uk, and place your order now!! They are also taking orders on graduation goodies and of course treats for Father’s Day this Saturday 19 June…


Follow them at twitter/@completelycakes
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Daddy's Girl

The time for honouring our parents always springs at the start of the year, while New Year’s resolutions and good intentions are still somewhat present in our ever-harried minds. Case in point, Father’s Day approaching with quickening pace on 19 June and for all of you who feel your Daddy is worthy of some appreciation, why not find out what Heather, owner of blooming London cake company CompletelyCakes.co.uk, has in store…

1)What does Father’s Day mean to you?
Father’s day for me is a great opportunity to show my father that I care and appreciate all he does for me. Since we are all so busy with our everyday lives, it’s great to be able to take some time out and remember those important to us.

2)What ideas have you had for celebrating this day in true baking style?
At Completely Cakes, we like to come up with something new and original for every season and event. Since cupcakes, and especially novelty cupcakes, have become so popular, our Father’s Day cupcake range this year features gorgeous ‘shirt and tie’ cupcakes, alongside other hobbies and more traditional ‘Happy Father’s Day’ cupcakes.

3)You offer personal and bespoke designs across your ranges – can you give us some idea of the requests you’ve had in advance of Father’s Day?
People often tend to be stuck for new ideas for times such as Mothers and Father’s Day, when they really want to come up with something special. We find that a lot of inspiration comes from seeing our unique designs on our website. In view of this, we always aim to have new and exciting ideas on our website well in advance of every season/event to keep our customers inspired!

4)What’s the most bizarre request you’ve received so far?
I would have to say that the most bizarre request we have had so far was from someone wanting to order a ‘saucy’ cake, carved to exact specifications…….!!

5)How will you be treating your Daddy this year?
I always struggle for something to buy my own father, as he has had plenty of ‘Best Father’ mugs and socks over the years! This year, instead of this, my sisters and I will be taking him out for a lovely Father’s Day lunch, which we are all really looking forward to. He will also be receiving some of our new ‘Shirt and Tie’ cupcakes!

6)Looking ahead, what treats will you be serving up next…?
There is always something new and exciting coming up at Completely Cakes. The next main event is Wimbledon, so stay tuned for our tennis-themed range!



If you would like to order a bakelicious treat for your Dad this Father’s Day, you can place your order with Heather at www.completelycakes.co.uk and discover what other delicious surprises she has to offer.

Follow her on Twitter at @completelycakes or join the facebook group facebook.com/completelycakes.

Good on Paper

I’ve read and heard a lot recently about tricks and techniques to generate creativity in writing. In a copy meeting the other day my editor suggested getting up early and writing 3 pages of absolutely anything every morning just to release that writing genie for the rest of the day. This works if you are a morning person, otherwise perhaps you could give the following a try…

Some tips:

1) Treat your writing like you would an exercise regime. I have a personal trainer with whom I have a session every Saturday and each week I have to provide him with diaries of what I’ve eaten since he last saw me. Try this with your writing – find someone to who you can be accountable because as soon as you start having to answer to someone you’ll find your motivation increase tendfold.

2) Mentor somebody. Speaking to a colleague of mine recently he expressed a hidden love of writing and asked if I’d read something he’d written and critique it. So over lattes and hot chocolates in Costa one evening after work I read over a piece of his work. He clearly has a talent but it is in those early stages of development, and through brainstorming ideas with him for how to turn what was a description into a story I found myself generating ideas I didn’t even know were in my head!

3) Join a Writing Group: These are excellent for providing you a safe platform to have your work critiqued by like-minded individuals and learn from other’s feedback on their own work. Plus, the more writers you know the more likely you will be to hear about worthwhile events, conferences and website links to helpful information to help you improve your writing and expose you to invaluable workshops and opportunities to meet agents and editors face to face.

4) Join a Book Group: Reading and discussing books in and out of your genre will increase your market awareness as well as inspire you in your own writing. Understanding what works and what doesn’t; what people like and dislike; and how things sound in other writers’ words will help you to pinpoint your own areas of weakness, and of course strength!

5) Make a date with yourself to write. I have found that by writing into my diary times when I have to go take out the laptop and type away and by setting myself realistic word goals; I have actually accomplished a great deal in a short space of time. That little bit of forward planning, seeing it earmarked there in black and white means you will be far more inclined to turn on that laptop/take out that notepad and just write. Either fulfilling your preassigned word goal or in some cases exceeding it.

6) This is a bit of a silly one but it works all the same. Go to Rymans/WH Smiths/Paperchase (or another stationary alternative) and treat yourself to a gorgeous new notepad and pen for all your chapter planning and inspiration notes. I even go one step further and stop in at Accessorize to buy cute little stickers to earmark various stages of my writing. Just the idea of opening up something that inspires you (in my case a white notepad with glittery cupcakes all over it!!) can really boost your creativity.

Pretty in Pink

My awful week forgotten and my back significantly remedied by a combined sauna-steam room-jacuzzi-pool session at the gym on Saturday morning; I had my party, and there were no tears, just 25 cupcakes, 20 girls and one mega birthday cake...


Caption: Lovingly prepared by Completely Cakes

They came from north, west, the Midlands and Milton Keynes to celebrate with me in style!!

From funny (and slightly naughty) stories and traditional girlie gossiping spurred on by the Sex and the City trivia game, to cups of tea while watching the SATC movie and opening pressies - it was a party to remember (even if I say so myself).

The dining table was adorned with a pink tablecloth and laden down with an assortment of finger sandwiches on vintage cake stands, pink cupcakes, chocolate brownies, scones with jam and cream and strawberries. Milk and white maltesers and a selection of crisps were also on offer, served with pink lemonade and pink champagne in neon pink martini glasses!!



And of course an occasion of mine would not be complete without a rendition of Billie Jean from my younger brother who feels the need to entertain when there are more than two people in a room at any one time.

Party bags were doled out at the day's end, containing nail polish, a balloon, beauty sachet and SATC badge for each girl's enjoyment.

And the pleasure was of course, 'Ever thine, Ever mine, Ever Ours'...

Sparkle all the way...

Sex and the City 2



What a fantastic follow-up to movie number one!!! The fabulous foursome are back (and then some)!! Beautiful clothes, beautiful men and beautiful shoes!!!! Liza Minelli officiating a "gay wedding" [quoting Mr Big], Carrie in a tux, Samantha back to her maneating form, Charlotte having a case of the Jude Laws and Miranda looking hot hot hot...



The sequel to Sex and the City: The Movie is better than I could have dared to imagine!! It radiates with glamour and luxury, vibrant colour, brilliant comedy and of course, sparkle!! Mr Big and Carrie are stumbling their way through 'the terrible twos' trying to avoid falling into the rut of being "Mr & Mrs Married", Carrie wants the zsa zsa zu to remain at its height but there's a couch in the way... Charlotte is also feeling her way blindly through the terrible twos as the family she always dreamt of becomes rather overwhelming and she realises it's not possible to do it all - but she does have a wonderful (if bra-less) young nanny to help her out... Miranda has recaptured her relationship with hubby Steve but must recapture what she once loved about law and the fun person she used to be... and Samantha, well, she's back!! Using every herbal (and nutritional) tactic to stay young despite her 52 years, she's the same Samantha we all know and love taking her pick of the gorgeous straight men available - and in one instance even getting arrested for it!! She undoubtedly puts the 'sex' in Sex and the City 2!!!! It's just fabulous...



I love the eighties snapshots at the start of the movie also as Carrie recounts how she remembers each of her best friends when they first met...







...and of course when she herself first arrived in New York City in 1986...



I have seen it twice so far since it was released last Friday... the first time on Friday with my hubby at a special VIP screening at The Tricycle Cinema in Kilburn followed by a Q&A with Kim Cattrall (aka Samantha Jones) - see pics:



It was quite incredible to see her right there sitting just millimetres away from me (I was in the front row, of course!!)



And I asked my question - I asked how the women, particularly 'Samantha' had dealt with the middle-eastern restrictions imposed on women in Abu Dabi (actual filming location was Morocco because Abu Dabi actually wouldn't allow them to film the movie there, wanted numerous changes to the script and even wanted to remove the word 'Sex' from the title). She said she 'Kim' found it interesting to experience such a different culture and commented on the fact that so many Americans don't even have passports or travel anywhere outside of the United States.



I went again last night to a Cocktails and Cupcakes gala evening with my girlfriend Ariella... Standing outside the cinema drinking and catching up and admiring our pink iced cupcakes the two of us were approached by a guy - straight and a fan of SATC - who proceeded to direct all his conversation towards me despite my frequent mentioning of my husband. It was only when said husband showed up en route from the station that the guy instantly redirected his attention to Ariella and then made a swift departure into the cinema!!! Hilarious!! Anyway, needless to say it was equally fabulous the second time around - cannot wait for the DVD!!!!

Sparkle sparkle sparkle...