Birthday Luau

My mother has been looking forward to throwing my sister and father a birthday party for months. My sister’s 40th and my Dad’s 70th are, after all, big milestones. I signed on for the planning fun and it almost swept me away. Luckily, I’m on my summer break. The big day went off without a hitch! Here are the colorful highlights.

I make a really mean Blue Hawaiian.

I used the slew of cut fruit hanging out in the fridge for some sangria. I didn’t eat much but this bruschetta was divine.

Of course, I had to make cupcakes.

I subbed canola oil for coconut oil to add a little bit of tropical flavor. But I feel like it also improved their texture!

Those of cool blue waves of vanilla buttercream and a strawberry surfboard stuck in the cake crumb sand.

Pancake was dog-tired at the end of the party. She said, “Get these weirdos out of here.”