It’s a time for new beginnings in every way. On September 7th I turned a new twenty-something age and on September 8th I officially registered Lemon Tree Patisserie and became the sole proprietor of a business. It’s very exciting to know that what I put into my business is what I’ll get out of it. Like having an infant, I’ll nurture it, watch it grow, and hopefully it will begin to be self-sufficient. I’m sure it will include many surprises on the way.

Speaking of newborns, to kick off the beginning of my entrepreneurial endeavours, I decided a beautiful cake for my sister’s baby shower this weekend would be the perfect debut. I also volunteered to provide take-home favours for guests and what’s more appropriate than sugar cookies cut in the shapes of sail boats and baby onesies?

I carefully mapped out the week’s schedule for prep, allowing myself space for the other food items to be made ready, gifts to be purchased & wrapped, and clever games to be planned. I was very pleased on Friday evening when I discovered I had finished everything ahead of schedule and Saturday morning I would only need to pack up the car.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny with a lovely, crisp breeze that more than hinted at a new season’s early arrival. I intended to sleep in, but my week of early morning prep had ruined me. JL and I sat down for a leisurely breakfast before he went off to work. I was just contemplating what to do with my extra time before the shower when the phone rang. It was a fateful call.

Lauren, whose house we were having the shower at, announced abruptly that the shower was cancelled! My mind flitted momentarily to the large cake taking up half the fridge and the many sailboat & baby onesie cookies occupying most of the freezer.

“Cancelled? Lauren, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but your sister is in labour. She’s having the baby right now!”

I must have screeched and then suddenly the “leisurely” morning was a flurry of activity. Calls were made (“yes, she’s having the baby... yes, it’s very early to be having the baby... no, we we’d better not move the shower to the hospital, I think she’ll have her hands full”). Bags were packed of everything I could think of in my flustered state. I made surprisingly logical choices, considering. My sister really hadn’t anticipated she’d be in labour 7 weeks early so when she left for the hospital, she brought only her purse, thinking she’d be in and out in an hour.

I arrived at the hospital expecting to follow my ears to the sounds of a labour wing (I’ve always imagined these types of events to be very loud) or at least travel with the flow of rushing doctors and nurses who would surely all be on alert to my sister. Instead I found myself navigating through a very quiet labyrinth (don’t people have emergencies on weekends?), an obstacle course designed especially to frustrate those rushing from leisurely mornings into frantic baby chaos.

Obstacle course included, it took me just about an hour from my house to the waiting room where my mom was already waiting and anxiously trying to dig any information out of my brother-in-law’s nervous looking younger brother. My mom turned her attention to me and he happily retreated across the room.

It was only moments later that a proud and dazed looking brand new father walked in and announced his unbelievable news. Within ten minutes of arriving I suddenly had a new title: Aunty Kelly!

Because the baby was so early he weighed a mere 3lbs 9oz. But what a baby he is! Every perfect finger and toe in just the right place, a beautiful little head of curly light hair (his father’s), and surprisingly long limbs (his mother’s). He may be extremely tiny, but he’s exquisite.

Because he needs to be so carefully monitored, none of us, including my sister, have been able to spend much time with him yet. But mommy and baby are on the road to recovery and we’re all praying for their health.

Later in the evening, as I drove toward home, the sun was low in the west and I felt certain that the spectacle of fiery colours it was radiating was at least in part a celebration of the days events.

As I settled onto the couch at home and retraced the events of the day, my mind landed a little regretfully on the cake that now remains in half of my refrigerator and the cookies that live indefinitely in most of my freezer. Since they never reached their full potential, I’m happy that my debut can at least be shared here with you. And, fittingly, it was my brand new nephew, not a cake, who stole the show.

We all have our carefully laid out plans and ideas, but sometimes the things we don’t plan for turn out to be the most life changing. How humbling. And on that note, so begins Lemon Tree Patisserie, in which I would be disappointed if it wasn’t the source of many life changing surprises.