Welcome 27!

Well, I am now officially 27! I really can't believe it. It really seems like only yesterday that I was 23 and just loved the fact that I was so young. Everyone was older than me at work and when I was with Bubba's friends. And now...not so much. I am no longer the youngest one in my department. I am the old married lady. But that's ok because with age comes knowledge. For example, in the Birthday Extravaganza photos below, you'll notice there are no pictures after we ate cake... because that is when things turned a wee bit more crazy and I can guarantee that no one really needs to see photos of an old married lady dancing to '90s music under the neon glow of dance club light shows.

The afternoon started with decorations a la Bubba and Rae. The living room was filled with 27 pink, purple and turquoise balloons... so awesome.
While they did all the hard work, Sophie (the dog) and I lounged on the couch looking pretty.

Soon, the guests arrived (I swear there were more than 4 people... but for some reason we weren't too camera obsessed for once) and we hung out and drank pink cocktails.

My brother lives in LA now and he joined us and shook his little bootie all night long on the dance floor!

Before the dancing could begin though we had to celebrate with a little cake, of course. The cake was the most beautiful shade of purple-fuchsia and tasted like a little slice of heaven.


I stuffed my face until it was time to hit the dance floor...

Yummy

So far, being 27 has been fun. I'm 2 days in and so far, so good.

A Diaper Cake!

My friend and I spent the past two evenings crafting the most lovely Baby Shower centerpiece/gift I've ever seen! She's throwing a Baby Shower for her sister-in-law this weekend and had not even begun to plan the decorations. I had seen the idea online numerous times and shared some inspirational photos with her. She loved the idea but wanted some help from the queen of crafty...(that is me, by the way).

After one full evening of gathering the materials, including a second stop at Target because the first box of diapers had Elmo all over them, we set in on Wednesday night to actually construct the Diaper Cake. It was rather simple for such a cool final product, in my opinion.

Of course, we had to accompany it with a glass of wine and some well-earned candy corn. We were both super happy with the results and I would gladly make another one when one of my friends has a baby.

Tada!

VIP

This week is quite a doozy in the Cake and Wine household. We've put on our VIP caps, apparently. Every night (except Tuesday- unless you count a game of Uno as an event) is/was filled with an event of some kind.

We started the week with a charity dinner for which Bubba produced a special reel that was shown during the presentation. He did an awesome job... I know it brought people to tears because it was so heart warming.

Last evening was spent in a luxury suite at Dodger Stadium. The view of the field was amazing...the change in perspective makes such a difference in my viewing enjoyment. Yet, I was still more enraptured in watching the people int he stands than the actual game. As a male friend of my noticed, the view from above is great for check out ladies in low cut tops. Ha. Keep that in mind next time you wear a sexy ensemble to a baseball game (why you would, I am not quite sure).

Tonight is a premiere party for one of our shows. I love parties like this because there's free food and drinks but I have not really had the pleasure of meeting many people who work on the show so I won't know many of the other attendees. Lucky for me, I was able to finagle a "plus one" so Bubba could join me. Should be a fun evening...and we are taking the subway which makes it even cooler. I should also note: don't be too impressed because no one from the cast will be there as this show shoots out of town so it certainly won't be a star-studded Hollywood bash.

We'll finish off the week with a fancy dinner at Bastide to properly celebrate Bubba's new job! I love getting dressed up and going out for 7 course dinners w/ wine pairings. Life is good.

Now I'm off for a glass of wine and a piece of cake, if I am lucky!

2 Months Later...

Why hello! I am back...Life has settled down a little bit and I have a little bit of blogging inspiration. What a two months it's been!

The big news around our house this week is that Mr. Bubba is soon-to-be a fancy pants studio executive or, more precisely, a Director of Creative Advertising. I am just so proud of his accomplishments. A client of his appreciated his hard work and talent so much that he recommended Bubba for a job opening at his studio and Bubba landed the job! CONGRATS!!!

Mom is feeling pretty good. Chemo wasn't as hard or horrific as we imagined it could be. She has her last treatment for a while on Monday. Her spirits have remained positive and hopeful, for the most part. I am proud of the brave face she continues to put on and that she is looking forward to putting this all behind us. She'll have surgery in a month or so and then another round of chemo and radiation. Still a long way to go but we are definitely taking steps in the right direction!

Our house is becoming more and more like a home. We had our housewarming party on September 3 and it really felt great to have everyone over to see all of the work we've put into the house to make it ours.

My birthday is in two weeks...wooo 27! I was re-reading last year's posts right around my birthday and I am happy to say that I am feeling so much more confident and content this year. We've had so many life changes in the past year... almost all for the better and life is really great right now.

For my birthday, I am planning on a cake and cocktails party at our house and then a night of dancing at a bar nearby. In the grand tradition of Lauren's birthday celebrations, we've been out cake tasting trying to decide where the cake should come from this year. So far, there is not a clear winner. I have a vision of a fun cake/dessert I'd like to try to make but I don't really know that I want to experiment for my party. However, it does still remain a possibility. And, oh how fun my idea is!!! Just gotta wait and see if my vision can become a reality.

Hi.

Despite the lack of posts, there has not been a lack of excitement in my life! My mom is doing well... she is surprisingly positive about her cancer. She has inflammatory breast cancer, which is the most aggressive form of breast cancer. If you've never heard of it, please do a little research because it was only because she was informed that a red flag was even raised in her mind when she started noticing signs. Thankfully, she was aware enough to mention it to a nurse friend who sent her to the doctor the following day.

Monday, I went with her to her second chemo treatment. The cancer center is state of the art and everyone who works there is extremely friendly and positive. Being able to see where she'll be having her chemo and radiation was comforting to me but I totally had to look away when they brought out the needles! I have a feeling she'll be used to seeing needles in no time.

Mom's motto is "Bring it on!" It's pretty cute when she says it as she pumps her fist in the air. I am so proud of her courage. I find it inspiring and helpful to my acceptance of all that is going on. In anticipation of losing her hair, she chopped it off really short and kinda spiky... very sassy. She then got a fantastic wig that looks exactly like her hair! I was in awe that she found the perfect wig on her first try.

All in all, we are feeling very positive and hopeful that this will be an enlightening journey toward recovery. Thanks for well wishes. It really means a lot.

xo

Cancer.

My mom called last night to tell me that she has breast cancer.

I think I am in shock a bit... I really don't know what I am supposed to be doing or how I can help now that she'll be battling this ugly thing.

I'd love any ideas on what I can start doing to support her while I am an hour and a half away. I'm thinking of care packages and visting as often as I can... what else?

Basketball Blues

Last night, Bubba and I were driving and cars in front of us started swerving to avoid something. We soon saw a basketball rolling across the lanes and Bubba jokingly said "Run it over!" which is something I would never do! What if I flipped our truck just because I ran over a basketball? Or what if it made me jerk to the left while I ran it over and I hit someone? Ah!!!...too scary.

Well, guess what... I ran it over after all (totally on accident) and it popped under the weight of the truck. Oops.