A wedding, A birthday, and a great time in Maryland!

Last week, I made a"special appearance" in Maryland for my friend Jannet's wedding. It was a super quick visit, but I had a blast!

Jannet, being the sweetheart she always is, did not want me to make her wedding cake so that I could just relax and have a good time at the wedding... In her own words: "I'd rather settle for a simple cake than to have one of your gourmet masterpieces at my wedding, so that we can spend some time with you." ...Isn't she the cutest?

But by knowing that I am blessed with the best friends in the world, I knew I'd be able to pull something off, even on a short period of time. Jannet and Doug's baby, Kylie, had just turned 1 the week before, so with the help of my good friends Lucia and Robert Byers of Cakes in Style, who opened up their time, kitchen, ingredients (and as always, all their love and attention) I made my "Kyles Smiles" a cute little birthday cake, and she looked like she really loved it!

The wedding was a lot of fun, and so was the rehearsal dinner (a big, huge "THANK YOU" goes here to Marc Randolph of Pastries by Randolph for "sponsoring" the rehearsal dinner desserts--I love you, Chef!).

And, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, I am back home in Florida, missing everybody like crazy already. But with so many memories of a great time!

Here are some of the pictures of my weekend adventure...

We made all the flower arrangements for the wedding, including our bouquets.
Can you spot little Jannet hiding behind all these flowers?

Here's Rob of Cakes in Style. He's my friend Lucia's multi-talented husband, who bakes all their cakes, makes buttercream, and takes the best cake pictures on Earth. I'm thinking about sending my Scott up there for an internship with him :-)

Lucia and Karen were working on an M&M's cake that afternoon. It looked amazing when it was all done.

Here's the cake I made for Kylie's birthday.

They did it! Nothing like an ice cold beer to celebrate (especially when it was 105° outside).

Kylie wouldn't stop looking at her cake...
I wanted to make her a cake that is as cute as she is, but that would be just impossible.

Hangin' 10 in 2010

For those of you who love cake decorating, this year's ICES (International Cake Exploration Societé) convention is coming up… Their 35th Annual Convention and Show, "Hangin' 10 in 2010" is taking place in beautiful San Diego from August 12th—15th and will be featuring vendors and sugar artists from around the world.

The 2009 Convention featured a 10 ft. tall cake representing the city of Chicago

I have been an ICES member for a couple of years now, and needless to say, I'm SO upset I can't go this year. Last year's convention, in Chicago, was amazing and I had the best time ever. I got to meet to many famous cake decorators and I took a whopping 15 classes in 3 days… I was exhausted, but completely in cake heaven.

Mike McCarey of Mike's Amazing Cakes... Such a sweetheart... He even autographed my "Cakenology" DVD for me

Me and my friends Lucia and Karen, of Cakes in Style in Maryland, went nuts at the vendor area, and had to make several trips to the car to drop off our bags. I think we bought so much cake decorating equipment that we haven't had a chance to use everything yet ☺.

Me & my Fairy Godmother Lucia, of Cakes in Style


Lucia & Karen...ready to shop!

The convention also featured an exhibit of cakes made by many talented ICES members. Here's my favorite one... A Halloween cake, of course.


If you'll be in San Diego around that time, you should definitely check it out. Anyone who loves cakes and the art of cake decorating will surely have a blast!