Shopping---I hate it! I went on a date yesterday with a new guy, another set up type. This guy was 40. Egads! I feel like that is a little too old for me. He is my older brothers age---I mean my oldest brother's age. You know the guy who helped change my diapers and stuff...With that said, he was ok, it wasn't the best date, but also wasn't the worst. (Much better than my last set up a few weeks ago where it was hard to carry a conversation.) He asked me if I liked shopping and the answer I told him was NO! He asked if I liked it in Jr. High and High School where girls go hang out in the mall and talk and have girl time, the answer is still no. I don't like shopping. I hate looking around for things and as for girl time, I would rather just hang out at someones house and chat, or do it on the phone or go to lunch or something. That being said, I do like new things, like every good consumer does. I like new clothes, I like new options of food to make and eat, I like new electronics. I just don't like going to the store to get it. I hate trying on clothes, I hate looking at all the options, I just hate it. Often clothes don't fit the way you want, or they don't have the product you want or any of that. It actually is worse if it is in a "Tupperwear party" format. Those are so much worse. I hate the scrap booking, pampered chef, Mary Kay, jewelry parties. ALL OF THEM! You get invited, you feel like you have to attend, and then you feel pressured to buy something. I am not saying these products are bad, I just hate the format. It is the same for me in shopping for a husband. I hate dating! Loathe it actually. I am not saying I will hate the end product, I just hate the process. So shopping for a husband, I hate trying on different guys for size. They often don't fit. I hate looking and the product or guy I want is out of stock. Even when you think you find something, it doesn't always pan out.
More...Well the more in this case is the cake fiasco of 2011. I was making my birthday cake and as we have already established in this blog, I like making cakes. I decided to be just a little different this year and make an "adult" cake. Not like my giraffe cake from a few years ago, or the pirate cake for my 28th, but a real adult round two layer cake with some flowers. Nothing too big, but something adultesque. I was going to even go for a new taste. So I made my chocolate cake. I baked it into two round pans and waited for it to cool. While this was happening, I made some marshmallow fondant to cover the cake with. I also made some new frosting--ie the new taste. I made strawberry buttercream, using real berries. When the time came to take the cake out, the bottom stuck a little. I did grease the pan and put flour on it, but alas it wasn't enough. I finally go it out with little problems. I started frosting the cake with the buttercream(FYI all fondant covered cakes need buttercream first before you cover it with fondant). Now here is where the monumental cake disaster happened. The top layer started falling off the bottom layer and broke in half. It was unrepairable. I put all of the cake into a bowl and had little options. I couldn't just serve a bowl full of crumbs, right? So I called my mom and she suggested a trifle. So I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a trifle bowl and more strawberries and cream and whipped up something, that turned out looking ok, and tasted ok, but was still a little disappointing. Good thing fondant keeps for a little while.
So all in all my birthday was ok--good even--I just happened to be a little emotional starting with the cake. I had some good friends at dinner who ordered for me when I had a mini breakdown and couldn't decide what to get.
Strawberry Buttercream
Falling Cake
Crumbly Mess
Trifle From Top
Trifle From Side
