Happy Sweet 16 Emily !!

So, my daughter's friend's sister's friend (whew!) is turning 16, and her mom called me and asked me to make a cake for Emily's party. What a cool mom!!!! I hope I am a "cool" mom when my daughter turns 16 too!

She wanted a New York themed cake, and so I added cutouts of New York buildings and "spotlights" coming from the top of the buildings, to celebrate Emily's special day. The tiers were cut so they were crooked, which is easier said than done, and I think it adds a cool touch! And what sweet 16 cake is complete without little silver dangly balls??
Happy Birthday Emily!!!

Na zdrowie (to your health! - in Polish)

My hubby's family had a great big family reunion yesterday. It was so much fun, to hang out with cousins and uncles and grandmas and "great" relatives (great grandma, great uncle, great great uncle, etc.) Yes, our kids have all four great grandmas, lucky ducks!
Our Grandma Hedy, the Matriarch of the family, is Polish, and therefore I decided to make a cake to honor her heritage. Grandpa Jess, rest his soul, was Portuguese so I decorated the "platter" in a design I found online for a Portuguese pottery piece.

Happy 50th to John and Mary !!!

So, I met Yvonne at the party that was thrown for Dave (Jazz cake). She's so nice! She emailed me and asked me to make some cakes for her inlaws' wedding anniversary. One of the cakes was the 'wedding cake', which was stacked presents with flowers in between, and the other cake was the 'grooms cake', which had a golf theme. They came out really cute, and it was the first time I ever made a carrot cake (bottom tier of the golf cake). I made the golf balls out of gumpaste and painted their names on them. So cute!
~Congrats John and Mary! ~

Sushi

So, when I look at other people's cake blogs, I always see a "sushi cake". I decided that it was something I should make, like a rite of passage to the world of cake blogging.
I made this cake for no special reason, and so my family was all surprised when I showed up for dinner with this cake.
The round cake is actually a brownie, and the square is cake. The sushi is all little pieces of cake, covered in fondant, and the "rice" nigiri is rice krispie treats covered in fondant.
My daughter claimed the shrimp one as soon as it was finished, it's her favorite.
It was so funny too, my dad had one of the "tuna" nigiri's, and he held in between his two fingers and ate it like a real piece of sushi.

Go Irvine Anteaters!!!

So, our baby brother is in college now. He goes to UC Irvine. Seeing him graduate from high school made me feel so old. Even older than when I had my second child. I swear, my brother will always be 15 years old in my mind. So when people ask me how old he is, I really have to think hard.
I made this cake for my brother, he loves video games. But I think this must be a few years old, because he doesn't play his playstation anymore, mostly he's on his laptop doing his gaming.
This playstation cake has an anteater on top of it, because it's UC Irvine's mascot.
I kept calling it an aardvark, and he kept patiently reminding me that it is an anteater.
We love you Eric !!!

Congratulations Kari and Tom !!!

I have this great friend, Kari, who I have known since seventh grade. She is one of the most sweet, patient, kind, people I have ever met. We have been through a ton of stuff together, and now she's marrying a wonderful guy named Tom. They are getting married in Hawaii, and last weekend she had a bridal shower. I made her this tropical themed cake and mini cakes to go with it.
It was much easier to make the mini cakes that I had expected. But it also took twice, if not more, time than I had expected.
I also transported the cakes for a three hour drive to the shower location! Now I know how the guys on Ace of Cakes feel when they deliver cakes hours away. It's crazy, and thank goodness for air conditioning, that's all I can say about that.
This was also the first time I had used fresh flowers. I didn't have floral tape, and don't really know how to put them in, so I wrapped the stems with tiny pieces of saran wrap before I poked them into the cakes. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Cupcake Hat

So, I mentioned in my profile that I have oodles of yarn stashed away. I love to knit in my free time, it's so relaxing and you really get that sense of accomplishment when you look down and see the beautiful product you've made.
On a sillier note, I knit this cupcake hat for the kitty. She was not very happy to try it on, though she did stay still long enough to take a picture.

tee hee hee !!!

And, since I'm talking about the kitty now, here's her halloween picture.
The kids kept laughing because the chicken hat looks like a pair of underwear!

Oh, and here's another one, with my mom in law's puppy. They look so adorable in their pink crocheted sweaters! hee hee
And, no, they're not friends hanging out together. They were taking a rest from their many chases and fights around the house. My hubby called it "the battle of the pink sweaters". so funny!

See the yarn stash in the corner ? :)