Somehow, the Birthday Weather Santa – you know, the one who keeps the list of kids who are naughty and nice and then provides them with correspondingly good or bad weather for the day of their birthday party – must have been in an awfully generous mood this year because we were blessed with some serious sunshine for Stella’s 2nd birthday party. It was one of those freakishly nice days where everyone was incredulous, and it became one of the recurring topics of conversation throughout the party. Not to worry though, 2-year-old’s don’t really care what adults are saying as long as they are staying out of the way of the gummy bears and jelly beans. So the adults were free to discuss whatever boring adult topics they wanted – as long as they didn’t interfere with the kid’s ability to consume massive quantities of artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners.

Speaking of unspeakably yummy sugar – a couple of weeks before her birthday, I started asking Stella what kind of cake she wanted. From the first to the twenty-first time I asked her, the answer was the same: strawberry. No discussion, no reason, no negotiation – plain and simple: strawberry. I kept thinking that I would mock up something that looked like strawberry, but didn’t actually taste like a pixy stick. Something that incorporated actual strawberries as decoration, giving the illusion of strawberry without actually having to stoop to the second lowest artificial flavor on the food chain (the lowest being grape). In the end I was able to meet everyone’s needs and came up with a decent cake that used real strawberries, and a cream cheese frosting that used real strawberries, then topped each cupcake with – GASP! – another real strawberry.

I got away with it this year, but know that it may be the last.