ROOM FOR NINE(+): last friday I opened up a bakery.

and closed the doors the same day.

yep, cakes and I just can't seem to get along. (and you're probably thinking, yeah Jessica, you told us that a long time ago. why are you attempting this again? doh!)

it was Rowan's 2nd birthday and I wanted blog material to make him a cake.

and this time I even had a tried and true high elevation recipe: Aunt Lil's killer chocolate cake; guaran-darn-teed not to sink in the middle.

so what was the problem, you ask?

well, actually, it wasn't the cake itself-- that turned out beautifully. and I should have just quit while I was ahead. but I couldn't. I just had to go one step further by attempting to make this "snake cake", which involved carving and frosting and everything that was mostly beyond the realm of my capability. (why do I torture myself like this?)

so, short story long: when I went to flip the cake out of the pan, the entire bottom half (of the cake) stuck to the pan. what?! I've had chunks of cake stick to the pan before, but never half of a cake. where did I go wrong?

my heart sunk. all that work now lay in a heap of crumbs on my counter. so much for Aunt Lil's killer cake. in the end, it hadn't killed me. I had killed it. I wanted to cry... or scream. why-oh-why?

at this point it was already going on 3 o'clock. I wanted to be at the park by 6 for Rowan's party, so it would still be light enough for pictures. we still had to sneak dinner in as well. since the house and all its inhabitants were in complete chaos, heading to the grocery store didn't seem a likely option. plus I was still in my pj's. not that anyone would care here in Flagstaff, but still. and I was NOT about to make another cake from scratch.

I pondered the situation for about 2.2 seconds and decided it was indeed an emergency. I dialed up my Wingman.

he answered on the second ring, "hello?" "uh, yeah, we have an emergency situation around here," I said frantically.

knowing full well my obnoxious habit of over-exaggerating these kind of situations, he sighed and asked, "now what?"

"nothing is going right," I lamented. "the cake flopped and the frosting looks like the color of green Extra gum." in the best helpless voice I could muster, I went on, "do you think you could leave work early (like now) and stop by the grocery store on your way home? pleeeease? I don't have time to run there. I need a box cake mix, some dark green food coloring... oh, and while you're there, could you pick up something for dinner." heh.

there was a long pause. I held the phone up to Scarlett, who was now wailing, so he could get a better listen to the pressing situation at hand. "I suppose," he finally said. have I mentioned before how much I love this guy?

so, long story short: the second cake turned out, we made it to the park by 6, had cake, got rained out at 7:30 and then moved the party to our house.

well, at least I got a few pictures before the storm blew in.