Three birthdays and the end of barbecue season

Yesterday involved a celebration of Conor, Candace, and Danny's birthdays. I actually thought the party was today, so it's a good thing I checked my calendar early in the day since I was the designated cake baker. Bobby and I went to the creepo cake store (which is the only cake store in town, so I will endure the creepo atmosphere long enough to obtain wacky things to stick on cakes), and decided on a desert island theme for the cake. We made an island out of sparkly tan and green sprinkles, and surrounded it with blue sprinkles. The island was populated by a moose and a cat hiding under the palm trees. Everything was going fine until I realized that I'd neglected to add the baking soda. Fortunately it was only five minutes into the baking process, so I stirred it in and hoped for the best. I'd say it turned out well.



Here are the three September birthday folks blowing out the candles:



I made lots of new friends and rather enjoyed myself:





We were introduced to Breylan's new gentlemanfriend, who brought delicious pasta and was generally awesome:



I also met Danny's new ladyfriend, Katie, who bought my bike last weekend. She was delightful as well, of course.



Bobby and Conor managed the grill:



Taco-dog was very tolerant of my decision to pick her up:



And everybody had a marvelous time. Brey and Candace are excellent hosts!



Once the sun set, a good group of us headed off to Rotture for some dancing and fun times. It was muggy and hot as usual, but the DJs have improved significantly since my last visit. The crowd was a manageable size, too, which made it possible to travel between the two floors with ease. I wish they'd had the back parking lot open for dancing. The temperature outside was perfect. Ah well. Bobby and I headed home around 1:00 so we could get up for breakfast at Genie's this morning with Jonathan and Conor. A lovely weekend indeed.

Today I'm taking it easy, prepping my office for photos of my new bookshelves, and generally laying low. Office rearrangement photos forthcoming!