From Dad: It’s all about market research. Look around and see what people are buying, pay attention to see who stops at your table. Learn about your target demographic.

What I learned from my analysis; I’ve got the same tastes as an 11-year old girl.

The hottest selling item this weekend in Arizona was one of my favorite offerings, the Cupcake metal dog tags: You can get them either as a cupcake necklace or key chain/charm.

One of my other goals was to meet my neighbors at the marketplace and get tips/scoop/insight on how to be successful at one of these things.

Michelle at The Pink Armadillo is a busy bee and she creates beautiful jewelry out of metal and beads that she hand crochets. I had no idea you could crochet metal. Her store is still under construction, but you can order anything via email.

Lisa was the show stopper in our row and was always busy with her Cookie Lee jewelry counter.

Mike at mepavlik@yahoo.com builds lathart and shared a whole list of free festivals I could participate in around Arizona.

Hey Steph! Guess what…You’ve won your very own set of Cupcake Cabana Roswell Series stationary! Thank you all so much for your comments.

Steph hosts the blog Cupcake Project and if you haven’t had a chance to check it out…get over there! Her blog started off as a semi-challenge to help her friends find the perfect cupcake for their wedding. She baked and baked, each week taste testing for the perfect cake.

A year later, the perfect cupcakes were selected and now she’s decided to do it for yet ANOTHER friend. Man!

She also has products with a cute “Save the Cupcake” theme. I love the t-shirts.

I’m off to Washington DC this week. I’ve got the TomTom loaded with all the coolest cupcake bakeries and I can’t wait to report back on what I’ve found!

Anxiety. Have you ever hosted a party and been so nervous that nobody was going to show up? And when the doorbell rings and the first few people start to trickle through the door, that anxiousness melts away and you start to have fun.

That’s been me this week with CupcakeCabana.net. Anxious that while I think a lot of our designs are fun and knowing what’s in the pipeline, I was worried that I wouldn’t have anybody come to my party.

I’ve had my first customer since going live. A real customer that wasn’t my Dad or my friend over at DollarHotDog. I mean, I know the guy, but he did really buy something online all by himself.

Funny side notes: I don’t typically wear Hawaiian shirts to work and see the little piece of paper taped to the wall. That was a “Tidy Up” sign Superwife made and hang around the office. What a major contributor she was. A year later and the signs have lasted.

So, now I’ve got to *do* something with this order. Mail it out? Holy cow! I’ve got a real customer! What did he get? The Cupcakes, Yo! Magnet.

Just a note…I’m going to close submissions to the Roswell series drawing this evening. So, if you’ve been reading and not commenting…Go ahead and write something!