designs, ideas, finds, cool stuff

Filed under: life

Recycled Wood Pallets Home Designed By Schnetzer Andreas Claus and Pils Gregor

now this is pretty darn cool.

Filed under: home improvement

yard work. day two and three.

progress days 2 and 3

here are some pics that show the progress from day one to day three. as you can see we cleaned up and took out the plants, all but the cactus, in the front planter area. we also trimmed the magnolia and cut back the banana plant (it is a beast). we also took out some odd flower plants here and there with hopes of having a ‘blank canvas’ to work with. here are more pics.

another view of Stumpy McStump

 

Stumpy McStump

Filed under: life

yard work

i fucking hate yard work. maybe that intense feeling comes from being dragged around as a kid by both my mom and my dad to tend to properties that were owned or MGD by my family. there has never been a “joy” inside when it comes to planting something and watching it grow. its not like an “i dont want to be responsible” thing, its more of i just have NO interest. none whatsoever. and now things may be changing and I am not sure how i feel about that. i dont know if i am just getting older now and have more of a peace that would allow for this type of simple joy, or just that i’m too cheap to pay someone to do something that i know that i can do myself. either way here i am and until i figure it out, you are more than welcome to hitch a ride and see what may come …

BEFORE

another view of the before

and ... another view of the before

this is the "before" shot ...

Filed under: home improvement, landscape, life, los angeles, yard , garden, hard work, home, ideas, improvement, landscape, los angeles, sustainable, yard

double chocolate cookies

Filed under: life

going forward

the calendar has been cleared and we are having a bit of a reevaluation time for the truck. today part of that process is watching Millionaire Matchmaker. but here’s the truth. I’d love to say that I am just a bit burnt out, but I am just not sure that is the case. maybe, i am so far past that point of being ‘burnt out’ that I can not even recognize it any more. well, to follow is a diary of finding our wheels again …

Filed under: life, TheSweetsTruck

truth

you know, i am not going to “OUT” anyone but i have some BEEF! we had gotten a lot of crap about sourcing our sweets on The Sweets Truck. a model that is now being applied to small businesses and markets around the country. a model that many people are now “sweet on.” with that said, there ARE businesses and FOOD TRUCKS that claim to make their own and they do not. but you know. i would rather be honest about who we are and what we do than be dishonest. that is all i will say about that. goodnight. m

Filed under: life

the business end of yelp

KELLY V YELP REVIEW:

I’ve been to the sweets truck on 2 different occasions. Once at a huge food truck festival, and one during “Ladies Night” in Burbank this past Friday. To start off, I’m a HUGE red velvet fan and the Sweets Truck website makes the red velvet look amazing, so I hoped to go to the truck and get a nice cupcake or whoopie pie or something. Well, the first time I went to the truck near the end of the festival and the only thing red velvet they had was the cake bite, which I bought, wasn’t very impressive. I figured I’d give them another shot because it was my fault I waited so long to visit the truck.

I went back to the truck for Ladies Night and was sure to be there near opening to get a cupcake. It opened at 6 and I got there around 6:15 and the display was pretty bare. Carrot cake whoopie pie, one cookie, some cupcakes in a cup thing, ding dongs, and the bites. For just opening, that’s pretty pathetic. I tried the carrot cake whoopie pie as well as the raspberry red velvet ding dong. The carrot cake was alright, I can personally make better at home, and the ding dong was disgusting.

To say the least, both times I was looking forward to a regular red velvet cupcake and neither time did they have them, and what I had both times was not very good. Needless to say I’d much rather go to Porto’s or Yummy Cupcakes for some red velvet because they actually have it there. I’m not going to waste my time on this truck again.

MY OWNER “private” REPLY:

Hi Kelly,

Thank you for making two trips to The Sweets Truck. I am sorry that you did not have a good experience. I am reading your review and it’s pretty intense!

I worked the truck at Ladies night and we did have red velvet “cup cakes” on the truck and sold them throughout the night. In addition we had a TON of cookie sammys, cake bites, Cake Monkey Cakewiches, whoopie pies and ice cream sammys.

I read every review, because every guest of TST is important to me. I do have to say that calling our case “pathetic” on a night when we were stocked up and did not sell out not only stings, but it’s just not accurate. Our case holds 1000 + servings,and for a night in Burbank we can not expect to sell nearly that much. With that said, we did have quite a bit on the truck!

Further, I have never had anyone say that a Cake Monkey ding-dong was “disgusting” before and am wondering what it was that you did not like about it?

Best,
Molly Taylor

REPLY FROM Kelly V.

I actually was there at 6:15 and the case was very empty looking and I particularly asked what was there and what was told to me wasn’t very much at all. I have a very good memory and there was ONLY carrot cake whoopie pies, ONE crispy cookie, some disassembled cupcakes [not red velvet, it was carrot and some other type], there were several ding dongs as well as cake bites but I am not fond if the cake bites at your truck.

I ordered the raspberry red velvet ding dong and first of all, I did not taste one bit of red velvet, which I was obviously hoping for. It was a very rich chocolate, and I know red velvet is majority of chocolate, but not like the rich chocolate I tasted. Also, the artificial raspberry was way too sweet [which is weird to say because I have quite a sweet tooth]. The cream filling was not at al complimentary with the flavors either. Overall, not good.

MY REPLY

Kelly,

I am sorry that you recall our case looking so bare. It’s odd to say the least since I sold the last red velvet cup-cake around 8:15pm and stayed until well after 9:30 due to people visiting the truck. Our case was stocked w/ cookies, cookie sandwiches, Lil Rae Cakes, and cup-cakes from doors up until we drove away …

As a small business owner, I always do the best I can to give everyone a great experience. I think your review is quite harsh, words like “pathetic” and “disgusting.” If you own a small business someday, or at the receiving end of a scathing public review I think you will understand where I am coming from in contacting you.

I realize you will probably not return, but just for your information: If you had your heart set on something, we welcome special orders via email, twitter, and facebook. If we had what you were expecting to find, I would have been happy to set them aside for you, it happens all the time. I am very accessible through twitter and facebook and our fans know that once we sell out, we sell out. We like to offer that option when we can.

Last, Cake Monkey: I can assure you that all of the ingredients are premium quality and there are no artificial ingredients. Here is their website: http://www.cakemonkey.com/

If there is anything I can do to make your experience a better one, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Best,
Molly Taylor

REPLY FROM Kelly V.

I actually did tweet at the truck asking if red velvet cupcakes would be there that night [my twitter name is kellyvoo if you want to look it up] and I did not recieve a responce and I find it quite upsetting that you guys did in fact have red velvet cupcakes when I specifically asked what you had for sale incause they weren’t put out or something yet and cupcakes were not mentioned to me at all.

And in regards to the case, the lady behind the counter [I'm not sure if it was your or not] even said “one lone krispy cookie” when I asked what everything was. It would have been hard to say that if the case was “stocked”

FROM ME: Molly T.

Thanks again for taking the time to review and correspond. At the very least, we can learn from your experience, although I am sorry that you did not have a better experience.

Best,
Molly Taylor

FROM Kelly V.

You’re welcome for taking the time to respond. You said earlier I might be able to relate if I am ever at the receiving end of a poor review and I’d like to let you know I have worked for two small food businesses. One being frozen yogurt and now an ice cream shop. I check the yelp pages for where I work regularly to make sure my customer service is up to par, I also pay attention to the poor reviews, as do the owners.
Whenever a poor review is given, especially at the ice cream shop I work at, the boss comments back and makes sure the customer will get the experience they originally hoped for a second [or third time] around. My boss offers to send out gift cards, worth more than the original purchase, to give customers the best service possible.

When I received a message from you, initially I was shocked but after reading what you said and sending messages back and forth with you, I almost became irritated. I was with my boyfriend this past Ladies Night [yes, i broke the "Ladies" rule] and asked him what the case looked like without even telling him about this whole conversation. He said it was pretty empty and reminded me about the “one lone krispy cookie” comment. So I know I’m not crazy as you seem to think I am. Also, you said you offered particular reservation services, which I tried to do, and I did not receive a reply. Not only do you refuse to believe what I have said, but you did not once offer any service in order to help me change my mind. As you probably can tell by my original review, I live in Burbank. It would have been very courteous of you to tell me you were in Burbank this past Friday at the Nickelodeon studios [I believe it was] and that you would be willing to put a red velvet cupcake aside for me. Something as simple as that could have made me happy, but it was not even offered. I just wanted to write this because this whole thread has been bothering me the past few days and I felt the need to say something.

Best of luck with your business, I sincerely hope other customers have a much better experience than I had.

FROM Molly T.

Kelly -

I am happy to set aside a red velvet cupcake or “cup cake” for you the next time we are out.

I double checked twitter and your account is locked. Therefore, we can not see your tweets. Probably the reason that I did not see your tweet OR reply.

We were NOT in Burbank or out for service last Friday, or this weekend due to truck repairs.

Have a great weekend and please, send me an email next time you plan to visit The Sweets Truck and I will happily give you a free cupcake.

M

Filed under: life

back to england

well, we spent a moment thinking about France but now we are back to England. we will see where it goes from here ..

Filed under: life

reply to swork vs food trucks

“And no matter how considerate their owners might be, food trucks do more often than not leech off of existing businesses, a lot of which are struggling as it is. They do it with a tiny fraction of the overhead and zero commitment to the neighborhood. So I don’t get how a lot of folks here can’t be a little bit more sympathetic with Swork’s owner. That’s all.”

I guess it’s time for me to chime in again since we are off stoners and massage parlors and back to food trucks?

I had replied above, and also personally to Patricia Neale Vuagniaux. I am a resident of Glassell Park, a former customer of Swork and also own a food truck. Now that I have re-introduced myself:

The Sweets Truck was not voted Los Angeles Small Philanthropic Business of the Year because we make it a policy to leech off other small business, and take-take-take from our community.. If you want to educate yourself about my business and what it takes to be acknowledged by the people of LA as their philanthropic business of the year, you can visit our ABOUT page on the website, TheSweetsTruck.com

I am tired of this idea that we are less a part of the community because we are mobile. I have seen both sides of the fence here, my family has owned a B&M restaurant and the money that we spent on improvements at the restaurant was no different than the hundreds of thousands of dollars that we spent to build our truck.

Further, the money that we pay and paid in city fees, taxes, licenses, as well as federal taxes and LLC/ Incorporation fees are all in US currency; Just the same as a B&M establishment. Here’s one major difference, when we were a B&M we only had to worry about one city, whereas with the truck we juggle multiple cities. The Sweets Truck for example has business licenses in: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena (also a separate health department). In addition we pay for regular special event permits / health department permits in: Long Beach, Ventura County, and Orange County.

On top of all the city licenses, taxes and fees that we navigate every year we also REGULARLY donate % of sales back to locations and event … If we are parked on the street, we pay city parking meters. If we are parked and hosted by a local business we often pay a % of sales or a lot fee to park there.

Further, we pay rent at the commissary where we park the truck.

We pay our insurance agent for their services to cover the truck, our drivers and the support staff to produce COI’s for events. Again a small business person and their support staff.

We also support gas stations, tire repair and replacement, generator repairs, etc throughout LA – many of which are also small businesses.

From there, we buy our baked goods and coffee. All of which are small business that we support through our wholesale relationships and cross promotion. One of our main partners is Auntie Em’s in Eagle Rock. We also support businesses in Pasadena, Burbank, South Bay, San Diego and Los Angeles…

The Sweets Truck is just one example of how a small, albeit mobile business is an active member of it’s community. The reality is that we are not alone, I know of many trucks in Los Angeles that source from local businesses and make it a habit to make community minded business decisions.

Speaking of community, we’d also like to introduce you to our community event in Pasadena called Wheel Food Wednesday. We paired with Jones Coffee Roasters in Pasadena to host food trucks. We offer a great event for the community, drive business to Jones Coffee and also raise money for a cause that is very dear to Jones Coffee Roasters…

Filed under: life, TheSweetsTruck