Where is Blog-Grammama? HERE I AM!

Olivia and her birthday piano- Future Piano-girl

The Holidays have been hectic and lots of fun!  We have been in Florida with friends and family and as I write this, I have my first moment alone.  Olivia left at 6:00 a.m. and I am missing her sweet baby smiles and baby tricks.

Olivia's first birthday was on Dec. 30 and we celebrated all month long.  First, in New York with all her baby friends.   The celebration was held about 2 weeks early because it was impossible to gather her baby friends and family on December 30^th.  No child would ask for a birthday in between Christmas and New Years, but it really means that she will have multiple celebrations; with her California grandparents and cousins over Christmas, in Florida on her actual birth date and of course the First Birthday extravaganza in New York.

The birthday party was a grand affair!  They rented out a restaurant and moved all the tables to created a large empty space for babies and the adults had the bar area.  They invited all their friends, those with children and without to share the occasion.  Drinks and Hors D’oeuvres were passed and Broadway Babies came dressed as Simba and Nala from the Lion King and performed for the little ones.  Everyone had a lot of fun; everyone except Olivia who was a bit overwhelmed by all of the attention.  Our normally independent, active baby clung to us the whole time.  

Simba and Nala in Africa- Pretty scarey!

Simba and Nala at Olivia's party-  Scarier!

To illustrate how crazy I was about this occasion, I volunteered to bring a Party Favors cake from Boston.  We love Party Favors cakes!  They made Alexis and James’ wedding cake and we like to have them for every special occasion.  They have made buttercream frosting into an art form.  This required me to make a trip to the bakery to customize the cake.  I picked colors and described exactly what I wanted.  I told them that the duck in their catalogue was sinister looking and I wanted a mommy duck, a daddy duck and sweet little baby ducks. Just to be clear, I told them that I wanted the cake that they would want to put on the cover of their next catalogue. When I went to pick up the cake it was all wrong!    The wrong color!  The wrong design!  The wrong ducks!  They had given no regard at all to my careful instruction.  “I am sorry,” the manager said, “I don’t know why they didn’t check with me before they made the cake.”  She whisked it away and about 30 minutes later they presented me with a re-worked rush-job that fit my requirements but didn't have the thick buttercream decoration that they are known for.   

But the craziest part of the whole thing was that when I got it home, I couldn’t make it fit in either refrigerator; not the  empty refrigerator in the basement or the one in my kitchen. No matter how many shelves I removed or adjusted, it just wouldn’t fit!Thankfully, the temperature outside was 50 degrees and we left it in the garage overnight, then carefully packed it in the car and drove to New York, wincing every time we stopped short or rounded a curve!  Crazy, you say!  Absolutely!  Next time we will get an amazing cake in NYC and have it delivered!   

Not the amazing cake I hoped for; but not terrible!