Attention is a state that I constantly struggle with. The giving of attention is not a problem, but the receiving of attention is troublesome. Being an eternal pessimist means that my first conclusion is to assume that any attention is due to a negative reality. I shy away from being the subject of photos though I am working on this, birthday parties with myself as the guest of honor make me clam up, and all activities that result in going out in public where I may or may not receive stares pose an invitation for stress. Contrary to my nature, I accepted an invitation to speak as a Pinterest expert for the Social Media Alliance of Chattanooga. If having over 10,000 followers makes me an expert then I will gratefully concede. However, I rehearsed the line "I don't know what I am doing here" in front of the mirror a few times before heading out that morning. Even though I was a basket of nerves, it really wasn't all that bad and I think my expertise was pertinent. So I somewhat conquered my fear of attention, but that still doesn't mean I want to be the subject of a birthday party. This is precisely why I was grateful to shift my attention toward another's upcoming birthday.
Last week was Eric's birthday. I had purchased tickets to a big concert in Nashville, but the artist cancelled the tour. In a panic to figure out another birthday gift, I resolved upon making a birthday cake from scratch. I've never made a cake from pure ingredients. I asked him what type of cake he would most like to consume. His single word reply..."CHOCOLATE." After giving him a few icing options he decided upon raspberry. Perhaps he didn't know that this meant his cake would be pink, but he is seemingly sure of his identity so I went ahead with the combination of Chocolate and Raspberry.
Friday was the birthday and we planned on having his family over for cake that evening, therefore I had to bake this cake Thursday night. I was up until 1:30 am finishing off the icing, which I admit I am not the least bit talented at decorating a cake with icing. However, I am talented at eating the icing with a spoon. Both the recipe for the cake and icing came from The Vanilla Bean Blog. Now I must admit to my buttercream icing addiction and I will conclude this post with the adverse of all anti-drug campaigns... "Just say YES...to Buttercream."
You got to speak at a conference? That's so cool! I have terrible stage fright; I could never do that!
ReplyDeleteit was an experience. my sweat glands were over working to cope with the anxiety. i am quite surprised i went through with it.
Delete