Late August Birthday

*I baked and decorated the cake at home and brought it to the club to be served for dessert. As it was a short drive, I held it on my lap on its cake stand in the car’s front passenger seat.*

*We did our regular Eden loop the morning of her dinner-out* celebration, *incorporating intervals before driving into the city to bake and pack. She was* *preparing* to move to London to attend graduate school at Sotheby’s.

*After our run, I made her poached eggs on toast and served them with the night before’s leftove*r *green salad, one of our favorite party tricks.*

Our youngest daughter was home with us to celebrate her birthday for the first time since she left for college six years ago, and it was sublime.

We wanted to do something unique and celebratory, so I made a reservation for rooftop dining at our local club. There were just ten family members for this dinner—we were missing a few.

*This dress has a brilliant silk bodice and skirt and velvet ribbons.*

*Who doesn’t love a dress with movement that twirls?*

She wore one of my dresses. She loves wearing my clothes, and I’m happy to share the clothing love with her. She researched this dress and told me it was from Christian Dior’s Pre-Spring 2004 Collection. I bought it for our niece’s wedding. Beautiful clothing can stand the test of time. How great that this dress has been in rotation for twenty years!

*Chilling in the fridge with the crumb coat on.*

*I wore a Lafayette 148 white linen skirt and cotton blouse, both with hand-embroidered detail, and my go-to easy-to-wear, walk-in slip-on Valentino sandals.*

*Booie told me she would handle the piping detail next time. I was in a bit of a hurry.*

*I haven’t mastered buttercream flowers yet, so I cut the kitchen roses short right up at the collar and stuck them on the cake. They were then removed for serving.*

While I didn’t have to cook or plan the meal, I did want to bake the cake. I called ahead to ensure we could bring the cake, and the answer was yes. I used the Perfect White Cake recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, one of my favorite online resources. Her recipes and techniques always deliver excellent results. Everyone loved it.

*Her handsome brothers. They don’t show up that often here on the blog.*

*She takes great care of her skin. She is glowing.*

*This special cake plate was a Mother’s Day gift from Maxwell and Lexi. I love it.*

*One of our favorite mirror selfie spots. 🙂*

The Club dinner was on Thursday night, and her birthday was on Friday. Of course, we celebrated twice. On our drive out to the country, I picked up some shrimp for a shrimp cocktail and an ice cream cake. Peanut and I decided to spend the day in Eden by the pool, and we declared it our little national holiday. I’ve always encouraged regular exercise, and that day, I coached her on turning upside down into a yoga headstand. She is outstandingly fit; she only needed a little prompt and encouragement.