My great friend Mrs Kerry Vincent, our favourite cake challenge judge and tv personality, queen of the cake world invited me across to the United States as a guest presenter, whilst I was there I thought I would make the most of the trip and enter a cake into the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition. Little did I know that upon landing I would go out to a restaurant not far from my hotel and have a late dinner that night I arrived. Come the following morning and I couldn’t move my head off the pillow, dizzy and a head which felt like bursting, I was so tired and jetlagged and I though it was that from a very big harrowing flight, I stood up and began to become more and more ill, and I only had three days to complete my entry for the wedding cake competition, I thought there and then I would be best to just pull out and apologise, I was becoming more and more ill, I sat in the shower with the water running thinking, what have I done, I am going to die, thousands of miles away from home and never realising a long held dream of competing in the best wedding cake competition in the world, I felt terrible , like I had let myself, my family and my friends down. I decided to suck it up and just stay as motivated as I could have when I felt at my weakest. I ordered litres of water up to the room and just purged trying to flush the food poisoning out of me, in retrospect if I had have went to the doctor my entries would never have been completed. Nor would the demonstration preparation been completed, there is no way I wanted to pull out. If it wasn’t for Kerry supporting me and staying in contact making sure I was ok, I would have just pulled the pin. I am so glad I never did. The Friday come around in a blur and then the day all of the Grand National Wedding cakes had to be brought in for final assembly and displayed on their own individual table. I was able to get a glimpse into an amazing world at the River Spirit Expo Centre and Fairground Tulsa Oklahoma, what a wonderful City with kind and generous, welcoming people. I met people who come from all walks of life, from all over the USA and the world, especially for this event and I couldn’t miss it for the world. I was blessed, even though I was sick and felt bad, it is the people and the support I received made everything completely worth while and brought everything in to perspective, you see I met the most amazing wonderful people who had hardship I could never have imagined and they fought the battle and won because here they were travelled thousands of mile with a cake just to show their skill , their love and their passion, and share it with everyone, I learned that in fact it was not even about competing against someone else for the best cake, it was all about your own personal journey and personal achievements, being able to defy hardship, time travel, breakages along the way , sure the cakes were all amazing and beautiful and magical and astounding pieces of sugar art, but without the astounding and wonderful eclectic people with their wonderful journeys, yes these are the ones who make OSSAS the Superbowl of cake with the wonderful Kerry Vincent at the helm.
check out some of the photos which I shall continue to add to over the next few weeks, there are an exceptional amount .
Shayne Greenman 
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