I'll Have My Cake and Not Eat It...

I completed my first blog challenge! I wrote every day, and whether the topic was one I liked or not, I managed to put words to paper for 31 straight days. The point of the blog challenge was not to write something amazing, but rather to make my brain work on something other than work crap, and to remind myself that I always have time to write...even when I think that I don't.

I am going to continue my daily writing challenge by following a list of 100 Writing Prompts sent to me by my friend Rachael (who is about a month into said 100 writing prompts). Again, some seem silly and some seem fun, and others will likely envoke some deep creative or emotional response for me.

And so, off we go!

Day One: What's the best birthday cake you ever ate?

Well, I hate cake. So there's that.

I am - and have always been - a picky eater. And for whatever reason, cake is one of those foods that I very strangeley did not even like as a kid. As an adult, I find the texture of cake to be what I don't like. I also hate frosting, it is so sugary and sweet, and just so not my thing.

My cousin Karen and I share a birthday, and back when we were younger, we shared family birthday parties at Aunt Barbara's house. She always had a cake with candles in it, and at some point, the family started just putting my candles into the ice cream container, as that was the dessert I'd be eating anyway.

I love ice cream. Love it. Like, can't keep it in the house type love. My favorite is chocolate. Just plain old, Tillamook chocolate ice cream. No fudge, no chips, nothing fancy. I also love vanilla (I am very boring). When we were kids, Grandma Whitmore bought ice cream in a box, instead of in the half gallon rounds they have now. She would always cut me a square of vanilla and a square of chocolate, and I'd eat one bite of each flavor at a time, alternating. I realize this is one of my OCD triggers, yes. But that's how I always ate my ice cream, and that's how I still prefer it. Some vanilla, some chocolate, one bowl. Dee-lish!

Generally at parties, I have no problem declining cake. Baby shower cake, wedding cake, etc...I tend to just be honest about my dislike for all things cake. But last year, when my friend Tia died (on her birthday), a group of us from Old Chicago, where we all used to work together, got together and had a small birthday celebration for Tia. And there was cake. Chocolate with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, and a 32 candle in the center. And I ate a piece. I didn't like it, and it was a tiny piece, but I felt like if we were celebrating the birthday of someone we loved who was unable to be with us, I better eat her birthday cake. That tiny little piece of cake, was the best piece of birthday cake I ever had. Not because it tasted good, but because I was at a table with a group of old friends, sharing stories about how amazing Tia was and how much her life would continue to be celebrated even now that she was gone.