Happy Birthday, Leah!

Little Miss Leah Davis just turned two, so to celebrate, her mother and daddy threw her a beautiful, bright pink, polka-dotted, Minnie Mouse themed birthday party! But what kind of party would it be without the cake to match the plates and napkins?

This cake is literally screaming pink from the inside out! The top tier is a vanilla cake dyed pink, iced in hot-pink classic buttercream. The bottom tier is a delicious fudge chocolate recipe, also iced in classic buttercream. This cake is only complete with its whimsical, Minnie Mouse fondant decor! It was a really fun cake to make, but even more fun was the designing process with Leah's mom, Kristina!

Happy Birthday, Leah! I hope you enjoyed squealing at the top of your lungs with all of your favorite gals. :)

Live Sweetly!

Chara

Family Update: Hello, 2011!

May 2010... seriously? Is that really my last entry? Wow! Where do I start?

In June 2010, we bought our home in Virginia Beach. It was the most ridiculous home-buying experience EVER! We made the big offer on our home in April, but then waited 6 weeks for a closing date to be established, causing not only countless moments of frustration, but SIX moves from rental to rental during those six long weeks. It was insane! But, well worth it all. :)

(Photo taken during the Christmas 2010 Blizzard)

We didn't wait very long to bring in a new addition to our new home... Judah Levi! Our baby boy was born December 23, 2010 at a whopping 9 lbs., 3.5 oz. and 23.5" long. He is now 2.5 months and weighs 13 lbs. and over 2' long!

(Judah at 4 weeks. Photo taken by Leslie Woodruff of Woodruff Photography, Virginia Beach)

Josiah has grown 8" taller since our March 2010 move to Virginia, and is a solid 40 lbs., 40" and will be 4 years old in just THREE months! He enjoys swinging on his swingset, riding his new bicycle, taking extremely long bubble baths and singing to his baby brother. He recently began gardening with his daddy and enjoys that very much! I am working with him at home to get a headstart on the PreSchool stuff, using different books and teaching methods to make sure we're having fun and taking it slow, while building a nice foundation for when his school years begin. He is LOVING tracing his letters and numbers every morning, learning to write his name and doing hands-on activities to learn basic, "little boy" stuff.

(Josiah, Age 3, February 2011)

Now that our family update is complete, I'll get back to the ol' cake thing. ;)

Live Sweetly!

XO,

Chara & Her Gents'

My Wedding Cake!

So, I told you I made my own wedding & groom's cake, so here is a picture of the first cake! This is a sneak peek from our wedding photographer, so I don't have further pictures of either cakes. This will have to do for now. :)

Live sweetly!

My First Cakes!

Hello, all!

I decided I cannot wait any longer to post something sweet. My tools are still in storage while we are living in a temporary beach condo in Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach. The condo is fun and the beach is beautiful, but we're very excited to move into our new home next month (1st time homeowners!) and I am SO excited to have all of my tools returnd to me! My inspiration has been flowing and I have so many fun ideas to try!

I made our wedding cake and Josh's groom's cake at our "vow wedding" last weekend, so I am patiently waiting for the photographer to deliver the beautiful photographs of every detail. :)

For now, please enjoy laughing at my very first cakes! I was so proud of myself at the time, but looking back at these pictures I cannot help but criticize every flaw in each picture. But, despite any flaws, they sure did taste great! ;)

Live Sweetly!

Chara

Hitched in Vegas!

We got married in Las Vegas, February 20, 2010!

More pictures & details coming soon... Stay tuned & live sweetly!

Two Tickets for California Sunshine!

Tomorrow morning, very early, Josiah and I will be venturing off into the sunrise to arrive in San Diego where we will visit our long lost loved ones! We are happily anticipating our time spent with my brother, Josh, his wife, Chrissy, and their three children, Blaine, Tessa & Jackson (with one on the way!). Josiah is gearing up for some amazing adventures with his cousins, and thankfully he is jumbled in with all of their ages just perfectly! I cannot wait to experience the 6.5 hour flight with my very curious, adventurous & sometimes cranky, toddler. :)

While we're in California, we'll also be spending a lot of time with Josh (Stevenson) who is there for training during the entire month of February. We miss him bunches & cannot wait to see him! Josiah has asked every evening, "Where did Daddy go?" For the first few days, he insisted, "Daddy went to the Doctor." Hmmm...?

I'll post pictures & notes soon of the most recent Sweet Contemporary designs & updates. Stay tuned & Live Sweetly!

Aahhh... and the truffles!

Chocolate is Nature's way of apologizing for Mondays.

Sitting up late into the night waiting for a 4-tier cake to finish baking, I finally found some time to begin researching something I've been very anxious to try: Modeling Chocolate! It looks so fun & interesting, and some of the most beautiful cakes I've seen have been designed with modeling chocolate.

It might be a while, as everything else going on will detain me from doing anything with it for the moment, but that's my new challenge! Stay tuned... Live Sweetly :)