One tradition my mother has carried on
since I was little is providing me with an awesome cake for each
birthday. Every year, she had me think about what I was most interested
in at the time, what described me best in that year, or any big
achievements I had come across. Those ideas would solidify into one
meaningful birthday cake.
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| So excited to get cake! At age one, my parents decided I liked horsies. That didn't stick. |
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| 2: The Disney cakes begin with Minnie Mouse. Digging in the whole cake with a fork, my love for cake started early. |
My
mother will never let me forget The Little Mermaid cake I had when I
was three. Every year, we laugh at the home video of me burning my nose
on the candles.
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| 4: Clearly, Aladdin was the new obsession |
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| 5: Two cakes! My first of three ballerina cakes. And my first bikini! |
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| 6: Continuing the Disney phase (I have never grown out of this phase) with "The Lion King" |
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| I was lucky enough to have 2 cakes on my sixth birthday! This was a pretty Barbie cake. Streator friends, can you tell who these girls in this photo are? |
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| 7: Ballet slippers - check out that awful hair cut! |
My
ninth birthday cake was the first to really stand out to me, and still
remains my favorite. Perhaps it was because Mom actually made it
herself. (I think this is the only one she made. Why she stopped there, I
have no idea. It was awesome!) Unfortunately, this is the only picture of all the years that I cannot find. My birthday party was
sunflower themed, and Mom made a sunflower cake. She made a round
chocolate cake with chocolate frosting topped with Hershey kisses.
Yellow-frosted Twinkies (bless their hearts) stuck out from the cake as
petals. My 9-year-old friends were awed.
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| 16: Driver's license |
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| 17: Ice cream cone |
|
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| 18: Princess crown |
I
threw everyone a curveball on my nineteenth and made a vegan birthday
cake. Disgusting decision. Thank goodness my friend Gwen made me a
Funfetti cake or I never would have made it through that birthday.
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| Thanks, Gwen! |
On
my twentieth, my friend Lauren, who had just graduated pastry school,
made me an elegant fondant cake.
The next year, Shirley hooked me up
with a margarita cake for my twenty-first. (Unfortunately, I don't
remember eating that cake. Good thing there's a photo!)
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| Daddy and me on my 21st, partying at Rookies in Davenport, IA. |
At
twenty-two, I had just earned my bachelor's degree in English, so my
cake was a giant book. Pretty cool.
When I lived in Disney World's back
yard at twenty-three, I flew home for Shirley's pink and purple castle
cake.
And now twenty-four, need I say more?
I
chose Cinderella for a number of reasons, the first being that I saw
this online and it looked awesome. The second being that I really feel
like Cinderella in this year and in this moment. I moved back from
Florida in bad shape and everything turned around, thanks to friends,
family, the community and the love of my life. It's been a fairytale
kind of year.
The
picture online had a caption with the cake that said “If the shoe fits,
wear it.” That's the kind of mood I have going into year 24. I'm making
another big move this summer because I know it's the perfect fit. I
don't have a job going into this move, but this cupcake business started
out of nowhere, and it seems to fit. Why not make it grow?
Not to mention, my feet are two different sizes. It is very hard to find heels that fit.
Here's to twenty-four, and the shoe fitting.
What are some of your favorite birthday cakes?
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