Mini's Takes the (Cup) Cake!

Late the other night, I received an email from my wonderful Boss (Not sarcastic, I really adore her!) and judging by the subject line, she  was in a bind.

"Hellllp Meeee!"

A few weeks ago, we attended Charter School day at the Capitol and were privileged to have a private audience with Governor Herbert and Senator Dayton in The Gold Room.  It was OH SO COOL!  What had my boss so frantic was the fact that the Thank You  had not yet been sent from our group to the Governor or Senator Dayton. 

Oops!

She suggested I send some cookie gift baskets and gave me a great tip on some cookies that are "To die for!" Although I had never heard of this particular brand before, I immediately noticed that they were picked up by several florist chains and could be ordered on the web... for an extra $30 in shipping... from Ohio.  o.O

Something about sending Ohio cookies to our Utah Governor felt a bit like asking a fish to wear pajamas.  Awkward!  So I did what I always do in a pinch - I called Mom for some expert advice.

Let me tell you how wonderful my mother is.  She has been the head secretary at a big high school for 20+ years now. There's nothing and no one that she does not know!  Having witnessed the power of her brilliance and uber connections, I'm absolutely certain of this. I called her up and explained my situation. Do you want to know what she suggested to me?

Cupcakes! 

Oh boy..  anyone who knows me has heard that I absolutely do NOT understand the current cupcake frenzy that is the hottest trend since Starbucks hit the scene in Seattle. I could go on and on about how this is because the current generation in charge of the cupcake craze somehow failed to mature and are forever locked in some sort of pre-pubescent, sugar-coated, life is happiness and sunshine world! (ahem! back on track please!)


Right, where was I?  Oh yeah.. my mom told me about Mini's Cupcakes in SLC. She was going on about how Casey Scott, of local news fame, was there a while ago and it was a fabulous segment.  I googled them and saw:

When you buy a Mini's Cupcake your money stays local. 

Your money also goes to support:

Lehi Roller Mills-We buy their unbleached flour

Meadow Gold Dairy-We use products from Utah Dairy Farmers, who needs California cows.

Oakdell Egg Farm-We buy their eggs from happy chickens.

The Amalgamated Sugar Company, a grower owned Cooperative based in Idaho-We buy their granulated and powdered sugars, better than cane sugars on our environment.

I could not think of anything better to send to the Governor.  Salt Lake's finest cupcakes, supporting local business. Sign me up! 

I followed the email link, sent a quick message about how I wanted to showcase a local business with our Thank You to the Senator and Governor and asked for suggestions.  I then fired off a similar email to a Layton cupcake business, Cutsie Cakes,  because I like to have options. Imagine how pleased I was when the OWNER of Mini's Cupcakes, Leslie, contacted me and said they would love to put together something special for us and that she wholeheartedly supported my sentiment about supporting local business. She is a true gem! I told her that I would have to get approval from my boss first and would call her soon.

When the reply of an enthusiastic "YES!" came from my boss, I was also informed that it would need to be delivered the very next day, not the following Monday as I had originally planned. YIKES! It was 6pm... I needed a miracle.  I called Leslie's number, hoping she would check her voice mail the next morning in time to help me out.  Imagine how shocked I was when she answered! Leslie had given me her personal cell phone number and she was more than happy to agree to help me out with the delivery the next day. She asked me to email her what I would like her to hand write on the cards she offered to include.  Personal touch is a lost art in today's fast food, chain store, mass marketing world... but Leslie of Mini's Cupcakes has got it going on!

About an hour ago, Leslie called me to report that the Governor was blown away (not literally) by the 2 dozen cupcakes which Leslie HAND DELIVERED to him personally.  Please join me in a "Whoa!"  She told me that he had declared them "too beautiful and exquisite to eat" but when he finally did get down to the business of eating one, he was in a sugary heaven.

Let me ask you this...  When was the last time you ordered something and the OWNER called you to tell you they had hand delivered it AND gave you a play by play of your recipient's reaction?  Uh...never?  Yup, that was me too, until today!

I then called my boss and gushed about our success! I am certain that she will also call her boss to gush.  We knocked this one out of the park.  And I have my wonderful Mom, and Leslie of Mini's Cupcakes to thank for it!

Leslie, you can expect to see me in your shop soon because I am planning to serve your adorable box lunches at our next faculty meeting and I would like to buy some cupcakes for my family. You just might be the one to help me understand the cupcake craze!

Thank you!


**UPDATE
(Cutsie Cakes of Layton just emailed me back. Although it is now Monday and our gift went to the Gov last Thursday, the owner of Cutsie Cakes was so apologetic about missing my email. Amberlynn Rasmussen is the owner and she gave me her personal email for future use. Thank you, Amberlynn! I will definitely keep you in mind next time I have a cupcake need!)