Happy Birthday, Sally Woo!

Last week one of my best friends Sarah (a.k.a. Sally Woo, Peanit, Poo & McP) turned 35.  I would've loved to have given her something in a little blue box from my favorite store, but instead I did the next best thing...I made her a cake. 

I am by no means a baker and, while I'll gladly use a boxed cake mix, I refuse to eat store-bought frosting.  So I found the perfect cream cheese icing recipe for her spice cake.  6 drops of blue food coloring & 2 drops of green & Voila...Tiffany blue!!! Then I decided to make a teeny-weeny Happy Birthday banner in lieu of traditional candles (another etsy-inspired idea).  In the end, I added sparklers found in the cake aisle (and for an extra bonus she had to blow them out like 50 times...tee hee.)

If I had really thought ahead, I'd have been smart enough to use one of these lovely cake stands my adorbable cousin put together, but the super excited & jittery birthday girl (who wiggled & squirmed in the other room the whole time I was putting the presentation together) would never have stood for another trip to the car to bring in the stand.  It was all I could do to take pictures without the cake vein popping out of her forehead.

Despite my pathetic attempt at frosting a beautiful cake for my girl, I think it turned out so cute.  And she was giddy & giggly once I finally let her in the kitchen, so it was totally worth it.  (p.s....this 3-layered gem was FANTASTIC with late night coffee.)

Side note:  I hoard paper...in a borderline unhealthy way, so wrapping her gifts in my Paper Source treasures was something I had to think on for a couple days.  But sweet as she is, and without me even asking, (because how tacky is that?) she let me bring her discarded gift-wrap home again!! (Was it the way I was peeling the tape off with surgeon-like precision?  Or perhaps that I was obsessively smoothing out the creases & wrinkles?  Maybe it was the fact that I wouldn't even let the paper touch the floor?)  It's a friend this good to me who deserves her own cake with banners & sparklers.  Happy Birthday, Poo.  Love you. 

p.s. for the love of God, put away the snowmen, Woo.
shark