Oh, Martha!

Martha Stewart, how do you make everything seem so easy?  I have dreams of becoming just like you, but this time I most certainly didn't measure up.  :(

Dane's birthday was yesterday, and I was so excited.  I had an entire day of little surprise planned out, and one by one, each idea somehow went awry.

1.  Dane was going to wake up to a room full of balloons!  Cute, right?!  Well, some of our apartment neighbors were partying at like 5:00 this morning, so Dane woke up with them.  My 6:00 alarm went off, giving me plenty of time to get everything in order before Dane's typical wake-up time came around, but Dane was already awake. NOOO!  (Well, I used the balloons later to decorate the entire living room instead.  Good, but not great.)

2.  Dane's real birthday present is going to an Oregon Ducks game this weekend with some of his buddies.  Well, I wanted to get him a gift on his birthday, so I picked up a pair of jeans that he wanted.  Of course, I couldn't find his size in some of the washes, but I was certain that he had wanted the pair I went home with.  Again, foiled--he wanted a different wash in the denim.  My poor gift-giving ability strikes again.  (In my own defense, my love language isn't gifts.)  He tried to take them back, but no luck last night.

3.  I told Dane that he could have anything he wanted for dinner--homemade or at a restaurant.  He chose this Cafe Rio copycat soup that is killer good and just a little work intensive.  Only problem, I totally ran out of energy after I finished his cake and annihilated our kitchen with an onslaught of dirty dishes.

4.  Dane came home from work an hour earlier than expected.  What a nasty surprise (usually pleasant, but in this case nasty)!  The cake wasn't finished, and Enzo hadn't yet colored his birthday card.  (I had made a white card and was going to have Enzo "color" it--cute idea again, right?)

I am telling you, Martha makes it seem like planning a little birthday celebration would be a cinch.  Truly.  Well, I am here to tell you that I have at least a little more work to do before I can truly emulate that woman (maybe even the rest of my life, sheesh).

However, Dane did say that this birthday was great--and that he will never forget the cake (recipe courtesy of Martha too).  At least we both got a good giggle about the cake as we ate "ladies night" nachos from Mama Inez on the couch last night.

One note before I show you the final disaster of the day:  I only had one breakdown (just sat on the kitchen floor and almost cried) before I realized that at least I could laugh about all of this.

Actually, one other note:  Martha really should have noted to beat the egg whites and sugar until peaks formed, not just saying to beat for a specific amount of time.   (I am trying to assign blame to someone other than myself for something, okay.)

5.  The cake (Do I dare even show it? -- pictures speak louder than words)

For my own insecurity, I will probably post a picture of a rockstar meal that I made sometime soon--you know, I am supposed to be taking this domestic role very seriously now!  :)