Bake Me a Cake
Today is my birthday. I know at my age I should just sort of sweep birthdays under the rug and pretend they’re not happening, but they still make me happy. Anything that involves cake, in my book, is a good thing (dark chocolate cake with cream-cheese frosting, to be exact).
I’m lucky to have a Spring birthday because the weather almost always accommodates me. One of my favorite things is eating outdoors, so for my birthday dinner I chose a restaurant with “patio seating.” Unfortunately, we went from sunny in the 70s last week to rainy and low 50s today, so it looks like I won’t be eating alfresco after all.
Since I can’t have it in real life, I decided to post photos of the outdoor tables I wish I could sit at today, including the one above. I’m also going to go “off topic” a little, for a meme I was tagged for, and regale you with ”6 Uninteresting Things About Me.” Normally I wouldn’t bore you by talking about myself, but I am the Birthday Queen, and you will just have to suffer through.
To see more examples of alfresco dining, click “more” below:
Even when I eat breakfast out on my back deck, it never looks like this. Does anyone really take the time to pour the OJ out of the carton into a glass pitcher? Well, even if it’s not exactly realistic, it sure is pretty to look at. I’m pretending this is my breakfast this morning instead of the Power Bar I ate while working on the computer:
Here’s a dinner table set in an enclosed porch with votives everywhere. I love how they used a lot of bright colors, but the room still maintains a certain sophistication. I want to sit over there on that bench with all the pillows:
Here’s a closeup from that table. At my party, I’ll be serving real food, however, instead of flowers:
This elegant lunch was served on a back porch. You can get an idea of the views they have from that porch if you look closely at the reflection in the windows. I think they said this was in France, so let’s just imagine it is:
How festive does this deck look? I wish I could have my birthday party here, and that all of you would come and have a drink with me:
Weren’t those lovely? For a moment I almost forgot that it’s so rainy and cold outside.
As I mentioned, Tracey over at Make Room For tagged me for a meme called:
“6 Uninteresting Things About Me.”
Here are the rules of the meme, which I’m supposed to post with this. 1) Link back to the person who tagged you. 2) Post these rules on your blog. 3) Share six unimportant things about yourself. 4) Tag six random people at the end of your entry.
So here goes:
1. I hate talking on the phone. I think e-mail was invented just for me. If you wonder why I never call, now you know–it’s nothing personal!
2. I was born in a single-wide trailer that was probably no bigger than Dolly Parton’s childhood home in Tennessee. Maybe that trailer explains my obsession with houses? Hmmm.
3. I collected Nancy Drew books as a girl. I have one edition from the 1930s, but the rest are the yellow hardcovers from the 1970s. I paintakingly wrote my initials on the spines in red marker and inscribed the inside covers with my name in big, loopy handwriting, so no one would steal them. Or if they did, they’d feel shamed every time they opened it and saw my name staring back at them. Pretty clever, right?
I really love the 1930s cover of The Bungalow Mystery with Nancy peeking through the windows of the house (below). Maybe it should be my new logo, since I’m always trying to get a look inside houses, too. Even the word “bungalow” in the title made it a favorite of mine early on:
4. I can type 100 w.p.m. I represented my high school in a typing contest, but I got so nervous that I ended up with more typos on the paper than actual words (this was in the days before computers–anyone else remember what it was like to type on paper?).
5. I’ve read Jane Austen’s novels so many times that I named my first cat “Mr. Darcy.” (Fellow Janeites should check out the Jane Austen Today blog, which is one of my favorites.)
6. I should’ve been a ballerina. My promising career was tragically cut short, however, when I found out that real ballerinas don’t perform in their pajama bottoms.
Well, if you were bored by that, too bad. You were warned that it would be uninteresting.
Here’s who I’m tagging. Two of my friends from college now have blogs that I like to read: 1) Liz of Turtle Journals and 2) Cindy of The Amateur Tightwad.
The new friends I want to learn more about are: 3) Angela of The Painted House, 4) Lisa at Books on the Brain, 5) Manuela at The Feathered Nest, and 6) Rhoda at Southern Hospitality. (To all those I tagged, please don’t feel like you have to participate. It was just a fun excuse to link to some of my readers today. As for the rest of you, check their blogs out! These are some creative, smart, and funny women.)
Just in time for my birthday, Daisy over at A Daisy a Day has informed me that I won a turquoise “purse watch” as part of last week’s Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. How fun is that? Thanks, Daisy! I think this augurs good luck for the year ahead.
Well, I’m off to celebrate my birthday with my husband, who thoughtfully took the day off to be with me. I think I may drag him over to IKEA to look at dining room furniture (he can’t say no when I’m the Birthday Queen).
Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite kind of birthday cake is. Are there any more late April/early May birthdays out there? (I share a birthday with Jay Leno and Jessica Alba. I wonder if I’ll be mentioned with them on “Entertainment Tonight”?)
(Outdoor photos via Ideal Home.)
April 28th, 2008 at 8:36 am
A very happy birthday to you, Julia. Those were fun things to learn about you; not boring at all. I loved Nancy Drew too. If I ever unearth any from my cluttered attic, I’ll send them to you for your collection. It’s cold and rainy here too and I have herbs to plant, so I hope the weather improves quickly for both of us. Your chocolate cake with cream cheese icing sounds just about perfect to me. Enjoy it!
April 28th, 2008 at 8:37 am
What a lovely, lovely post! And I say that with complete sincerity, not because you mentioned me! I will think about the many uninteresting things about me today and try to come up with a post for later.
The tablescapes are particularly lovely. The color schemes are gorgeous and they make it seem so easy. It makes me want to throw a party just so I can set a festive table.
Happy birthday! Enjoy your special day. Spring is a great time for a birthday. Mine is May 11th, which this year is also Mother’s Day.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a super great day! The birthday cakes I remember most are the ones Mom made us kids back in the day. Angel food cake with a buttercream frosting and loving decorated with an old fashioned decorating tube. And yes, I remember typewriters! I learned about “qwertyuiop” on a MANUAL typewriter!!! Oh, I love your ballerina pose…sweet!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I am a Nancy Drew fanatic too! I have a box full of my “old” books in the garage. I still read them sometimes. :o)
Have a wondeful day with your husband! Oh…and I can ALWAYS be talked into a slice of yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting. That’s my fave.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Happy Birthday, Julia!
It’s rainy and cold here, but those pictures of alfresco dining warmed me right up! Thanks.
Loved the ballering picture, too. My favorite little golden record when I was a kid was “Tina the Ballerina,” which I played and danced to over and over (I still know it practically all by heart.)
April 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Happy birthday, Julia!
I had that same The Hidden Staircase book - and lots and lots more (The Spider Sapphire Mystery was my favorite).
Have a wonderful day.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Whats wrong with you?! Saying you should sweep birthdays
under the rug. You should be walking the streets yelling
“IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!” your birthday is the only day a year
that people get to freely express how truly wonderful you
are. If you were not here all of our lives would be much different. I know I am new to this site, but you are still a
part of my life, thus you affect it. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
even if it is yuckie outside. Plus, here are some quotes for
you…(just adjust them to fit you)
I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am.
Francis Bacon
A woman’s always younger than a man of equal years.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.
George Burns
April 28th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a fabulous day with your husband (how neat that he took the day off to be with you today!). Maybe you can go to one of those restaurants that have the outdoor heaters so you can still sit outside? It’s a thought.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am
HAPPY B-DAY!!!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I love those tables… and I hate to eat outdoors.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Happy Bday !
CHOCOLATE & lots of it ….
April 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Happy birthday! Thanks for sharing all these lovely spring photos - they’re beautiful!
April 28th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Oh you’re a doll….Happy Birthday Julia…I hope you get that chocolate cake and a IKEA surprise. My fav cake is chocolate with chocolate frosting, I loved Nancy Drew,,..asdf jkl; I too remember those days. I took tap dancing and jazz….. thought I was going to be a Solid Gold dancer…..remember them ??? LOL
Have a wonderful day, I know I’ve said it be before but I LOVE your blog…
Kathy
April 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Happy Birthday Julia. I loved Nancy Drew too and I am afraid they didn’t have the “new” versions when I read them. I always love the words “frock” and “roadster”. My favorite Birthday Cake is Devil’s Food ( no relation) with Seven Minute Frosting. Remember that…kind of like meringue? I haven’t had it in years…maybe I should make one for someone else’s birthday. Enjoy your day and let’s hope the al fresco weather returns quickly.
Janet
April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Happy Happy Birthday! I hope you had lots of cake and other fun things!
Manuela
April 28th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Happy Birthday! You share your day with my sweet daughter, Kayla, who turns 9 today! Hope the weather betters soon!
April 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
It was so much fun to come home tonight and find all these happy birthday wishes waiting for me here! Thanks, you guys! You truly made my day happier.
Now I’m off to have just one more piece of birthday cake…
-Julia
April 28th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I just realized you have the same birthday as my father-in-law!! I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Happy Birthday Julia! JLB’s right - you have the same birthday as my dad. That makes you extra special methinks.
You know, I’ve never read the Nancy Drews. But I do have almost all of the copies of what I believe are the original Hardy Boys that belonged to my father and his brothers in the late 40’s and 50’s. I could never bear to part with them.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Happy birthday Julia!!! I love the tablescapes. I often wish I could entertain like that but then I wake up to reality
April 28th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Happy birthday! I hope you have fun at IKEA!
I will post my UNinteresting tidbits tomorrow.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:34 am
Happy,Birthday. I pray the Lord gave you a wonderful day.
I’m with you, I love to eat outside. We can’t do that too well here in Alaska. From Sept.-April, it’s too cold. May -August, we have mosquitoes that will eat you alive. It’s still beautiful here in the summer. I LOVE Alaskan summers. Unless you’ve been here in the summer, you’ve never seen such beauty. Bright blue skies, and everything is a dark, lush green. God was looking down on this state when he created it.
Anyway, again, happy birthday.
Lynn
John 15
April 29th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Happy Birthday Julia! Hope it was a wonderful day.
Love that ballerina photo. Too cute
April 29th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Happy birthday! I completely spaced that it was the 28th. I have been off the computer for a couple days (everyone in the house is sick), and just caught up with your posts. Hope it was a good one. I’ll think through the meme and post something soon — thanks for posting yours. I had no idea you collected Nancy Drew books or were a typing representative for your school.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Happy, happy birthday Julia! I wish I could come to Ohio and have a drink with you to celebrate!
As far as cake, I hardly know a cake flavor I don’t like. But I do love wedding type cake, white cake with butter cream frosting…now I want to make one.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Happy Belated Birthday Julia!!!
I enjoyed all the happy colors of this post , you brightened my day!
April 30th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Julia! I have fallen shamelessly behind on my HH reading and therefore am embarrassingly late to wish you a Happy Birthday! But, it is no less sincere for my lateness. I love your blog…loved these pics too…even that adorable little ballerina.
Hope your day was fab…hope your trip to Ikea went a little better than the first time (I totally laughed reading your account of that in the archives!). I have yet to meet a cake that I didn’t like. AND I was a HUGE fan of Nancy Drew when I was a kid, too. I had quite an extensive collection of her books myself…but my own personal mystery is: what happened to them? I have no idea. Very sad.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Julia, so sorry I missed your birthday. Hope it was a happy one and that you had your cake and ate it too!
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Oh, so sorry to have missed the big day! Hope it was a happy one!