Shomir's b'day (and cake adventure)

Yes, someone special had a big birthday on Saturday, which prompted a whole "schedule" of events! Enjoy the many pictures!

11 a.m. Dim Sum at New Canton (here is Arash with his favorite dessert-- don't ask me what it was-- while Din Hai looks on! A new food for me was chicken feet. Not sure I'm a huge fan, but they were interesting).

1 p.m. The crew then went rock climbing, but I stayed behind to make a cake which took me the better part of the afternoon! (Amy and I were going to go climbing on Friday, but were turned off by an extremely rude employee [who will, from henceforth, be called the "knot nazi"] who wouldn't let us "refresh" or "go over" our knot-tying before trying to test out of the long class we took back in Nov. We left without climbing and then were then sort of holding a grudge and boycotting for the rest of the weekend.)

You can see pics of the cake if you scroll down below. Let's just say that God gave me a few talents, but cake-baking (or baking/cooking in general) is not one of them and so this was a bit stressful (I wish I had taken pics of my kitchen amidst the process!) and I will only volunteer this for very special and deserving (or perhaps very unlucky) people. I tried out some new cake pans on a 3-layered cake from scratch (1st and 3rd "chocolate shadow" with 2nd a vanilla-pecan), frosted with emergently-store-bought vanilla icing because my homemade icing did not fluff without an electric beater. The intra-layer filling was a marshmallow-coconut. Very nervous, I also bought an apple pie and ice cream for "back-up desserts" in case the thing tasted awful, but I think it was okay (comments, guys?).

5 p.m. Hanging out at Brew it Up

(from left: Arash, Trish, Tu, Marcel, Elham, Shomir, and me) (I love the tank top in Feb.)

8 p.m. Presents and dessert at Arash's



This mini ping-pong table from Sonia was awesome! Here is Darina on one end.

Shomir and Elham playing while Marcel looks on
Sonia and me
Phi and Anika (interns representing!!)

Arash, Darina, Trish, Shomir
(Trying not to drop) The cake (in general, it's not such a good idea to let klutzy girls carry desserts intended to feed lots of people but, no worries, there were no accidents)!!

looks homemade (with all the wilting, mess, etc.), doesn't it? :)

I wish I'd gotten a better cross-section shot (can you see the plate?). Notice the "backup pie" to the right :)

10 p.m. Dancing at Parlare, a nearby lounge.

Alvin groovin'
Shomir and Trish

Fun times! I know you can probably tell that the cake dominated my day, but I had a great time at all the "activities," too :)

And then, after such a fun-filled Saturday, there was still Sunday (filled with more norcal winter rain, taxes, etc.) to enjoy.... I adore weekends! Let the block-time continue!