My obsession with hearts:)

4 years ago when I was at my lowest point in my life, I was confused, burned out, stressed and had no direction of where I was going to be next.

I needed to make some changes and find my passion again. My passion for baking has never gone away, but the monotony got to be too much and I need a change from my job, a mental reset, therapy and a new start.

I needed something to focus on that was positive because truth is, running a business alone is crazy. I remember working at Lola Bistro and the Pastry Chef, Summer would (and still does) see smiley faces in random places. It seemed like a fun, cool thing to see and I remember looking for them all the time. It brought a smile to everyone and you forgot about everything else, if only for a minute.

I remember thinking how I needed something positive to focus on, but was not sure what I would want it to be, hearts came to mind. They are universally happy, cheerful, and represent so much positivity and love.

4 years ago, I was going to do a photo shoot for my desserts, my first food photo shoot and I had been making my lavender cookie into a flower shape since it had the lavender in it and that reminded me of something floral.

The night before the photo shoot, I went to roll out my cookies and bake them and my flower cutter was nowhere in sight. I panicked and tore up my apartment. I had to make do with what was left in the kitchen and all I could find was a heart cookie cutter. I strive to be unique and I was thinking the hearts would be too common. I had no choice and I am so glad that I switched it to the heart. This was the start of my new obsession with hearts.

About 3 1/2 years ago, I started seeing hearts everywhere I went. I have seen them in parking lots, in my brown sugar, in my food, people have been sending them to me whenever they see them. I have seen some heart shaped potatoes (several), some heart shaped scars and burn marks, in potato chips, a heart shaped leaf on a car window in my soap suds, in tea leaves, in rocks on family vacations, in my pecans, and it helps me remember the love I have for baking has never gone away. It also has connected me with so many people. It is such a compliment to know that someone is thinking of me when they see a random heart.

I have also gotten quite obsessed with hearts lol. I now own several pairs of heart glasses, a heart robe, heart planners, the list goes on.

I hope that you find something positive to focus on even in the toughest of times that makes you smile. We all need some extra love and positivity in our life.

Wishing you an amazing rest of your week. If you see something often or collect something that makes you smile, I would love to hear about it. Send me a message or tag me in a post.

xoxo

Annie