My Summer Experience.

 This summer was hectic. My cousin Lany got married this summer. She is a pinterest-aholic. She decided that she wanted 30 cakes (one for each table at the reception as the center piece). She asked me to help make them. In my family that translates to someone will bake them and I will decorate them. (I have gotten pretty good at it!) In order to understand why everyone in my family asks me to decorate and make them cakes, you need to know it’s because when my mom was younger she used to do it for everyone and I inherited the know-how, so now everyone in my extended family asks me. However, having to make 30 cakes in a week is no small task so my family helped me. My grandma, my mom, and two of my aunts baked the cakes the day before I decorated them. So the Thursday before Lany’s wedding we all got together at my house and filled and decorated 32 cakes (my grandma made extra just in case). At this point in the wedding chaos my grandma was driving my Aunt Tracy (mother of the bride) crazy, because she just showed up at her house everyday to “help.” No one asked her, she just showed up. So, it was Thursday about 24 hours before the wedding and my entire family shows up at my house. It was 3 of my aunts, my sister (from out of town), my mom, my grandma, my great aunt, my second cousin, my twin cousins, Lany, Lany’s maid of honor and me. Needless to say, my house was packed! After about an hour we got a system going, my great aunt and second cousin mixed up the frosting, my Aunts leveled the cake layers, my grandma and mom stacked and filled, I decorated, and my other aunt put the cakes in the boxes. This system worked really well, we had all of the cakes done in about 4 hours.

 

The next morning we reconvened and delivered the cakes to the reception hall. Have you ever driven a car with 30 cakes in the back that had to be perfect when you got to where you were going? Let me tell you, it is difficult and nerve racking. After a slow and steady drive to the reception hall we all met up again and carried in the cakes. Now my grandma announced that she was going to hold the door open for everyone as they carried in the cakes. I thought this part was going to be boring and tedious but it was actually entertaining. It was entertaining because it was suggested that we take one at a time to keep the cakes from sliding in their boxes; however, my youngest aunt felt that doing it that way would take too long, so she took two at a time. Needless to say when she carried them she leaned the boxes together and they made a v-shape. Grandma was not happy with her. Then when she was taking in the last two cakes she lost her grip on them and they fell to the ground. The box exploded and there was frosting everywhere,  and grandma lost it. It was a good thing she made to extra cakes because my Aunt had just ruined 2 whole cakes! It was a mess to clean up and my grandma started yelling. This was the only time in my entire life I have heard my grandma yell, she was angry. Her face turned such a deep red it was almost purple she yelled, “Brook, I told you to take one at a time! Why are you being so stubborn today did you leave your brain at home?”

 

 Then the hardest part… was taking the cakes out of the boxes placing them perfectly in the center of the round tables and not denting the frosting with your fingers or the side of the box. Finally, after all of the hectic was done the reception area was set up beautifully. Most importantly Lany and Mason got married and got their happily ever after. In conclusion, the whole stressful situation was worth it and an experience I will never forget.