The Spotlight Is About To Shine On A Seminole Town Center Salon… Sweet!

Like a lot of people I know, I’ve scaled back on my expenditures this year. One of the things I reluctantly gave up is cable. I went through the typical withdrawal symptoms one might expect… the nervous, involuntary clenching of my remote control hand, the dazed, distant look in my eyes while I re-acclimated to network tv, and, of course, a sugar crash (brought on by the sudden absence of The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes).

As of today, I have recovered from the first two symptoms and I am now invested in the outcome of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. (I’m pulling for either cancer survivor and opera singer extraordinaire, Barbara Padilla, or the Fab Five, a group of Utah bred Moms/tap dance divas. I do, however, also have a soft spot in my heart for Jacksonville’s “Grandma Lee” and for the adorable siblings who make up The Voices of Glory.)

What is still vexing me in this new world without cable is my need for a Duff Goldman fix. Per their website, Charm City Cakes, the bakery owned by Goldman and the setting for the popular Ace of Cakes TV Show, “has grown to a staff of eleven friends who make cakes, listen to music, and eat a lot of sushi” That doesn’t begin to do it justice.

Ace of Cakes is a feast for the senses. The employees of the bakery, an eclectic group, comprised primarily of Duff’s friends, friends of his friends and his family, are all quirky, entertaining and extremely talented. In addition to making cakes that look like tubs of popcorn, favorite childhood pets, Viking ships and replicas of famous landmarks, members of the Ace of Cakes staff write poetry, play in rock bands and collect cat memorabilia.

I love cake (who doesn’t?) and the cakes produced by this Baltimore-based bakery are, indeed, a sight to behold. They are whimsical, outlandish and, on occasion, gravity defying. The cakes are not what I miss most about this show though. What I miss most are the people. There is just something about being in the company of smart, diverse, creative, hip, amusing, hardworking people that I find invigorating. (Let me take this occasion to give a shout out to my former co-workers: Alexis, Amy, Betsy, Carissa, Christine, Dahlia, Elianna, Ericka, Frances, Heidi, Janice, Jay, Jeff, Jessica, Jody, Jorge, JP, Karla Lee, Lee Ann, Liz, Noreen, Patty, Sharon, Shelley, Tammy & Tommy. To my knowledge, not a one of them can bake a cake that would fetch $1,000+ a pop, but, like the Ace of Cakes staff, they have all proven to me that you can have fun in the workplace.)

Anyway, since I am no longer working with the awesome group mentioned above and since reactivating cable just isn’t in my budget right at the moment, I’ve decided to do the next best thing. I’ve decided to create my own Ace of Cakes.

In this new blog, I will be your window into another hotbed of fun and creativity, the Hot Heads Salon, now located in the Seminole Towne Center. The Hot Heads staff has been kind enough to invite me into their world, a world of highly trained stylists and colorists, who in addition to being hair geniuses are every bit as likeable, entertaining and multi-faceted as the Ace of Cakes staff.

I will be telling you more about them, showing you some remarkable before and after shots, discussing fashion trends, passing along a few style tips (which believe me, will not have originated with me) and sharing a bit of my life and a few of my thoughts.

Hope you’ll be along for the ride and hope you’ll invite others to join us. It promises to be a hair raising adventure!