As of 8:09 p.m. this evening, July 30th, that’s (officially) how old I am.

Boy- did that shit go fast.

I know kids never believe it, and if they did they wouldn’t be kids. But jeez. It really flew by in the blink of an eye. Sometimes I wonder where exactly the past 15 years went, because there are literally times I wake up and can’t imagine how it can be possible that I’m not 16 anymore. But I’m not. Thankfully. Not that those weren’t good times. They were. And I loved being young & stupid. But I never want to see another Regents exam book again in my life.

Kids today- you have it easy. I’m sure my parents thought that when I was a kid, and their parents thought that about them, and so on. But you spoiled brats really do. You guys get cell phones when you’re like, 8 years old. And most of the time they’e smartphones. I didn’t get a smartphone until I was 30! I was thinking the other day about  various birthdays I’ve had. I thought of my 17th birthday, and how I desperately wanted to buy a particular CD (it was Pinhead Gunpowder, “Carry The Banner”, if you must know) and I could not find it anywhere. I had to call 4 different “Record Stores” and finally found a Tower Records that had it like 6 towns away. There was no iTunes. There was no Napster (not yet, anyway) and there certainly weren’t any Bit Torrents. I had to call stores (on a landline phone! No cell phone!) and then go and find the actual Compact Disc in that store, and buy it with cash, face to face with a salesperson. And then listen to it on my Discman! Is your mind blown yet, little one?

Not to mention the fact that I had to physically go to a library after school and read encyclopedias and microfiche to do research for projects. There wasn’t really internet like there is today until my sophomore year in High School. And even then, it was mainly dial-up, and it didn’t matter what website you were in the middle of printing or getting information from… when your aunt called, your ass got booted. “Goodbye!”

At any rate, 31 may be young, but I’ve seen enough changes in those 31 years to realize that life really moves at breakneck speed. And like Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss something.” I don’t plan on missing anything. Not one single crumb.

As I do every year, no matter what, I made myself some cupcakes. It’s just something I like to do. I make 4-6 cupcakes just for me (although I usually end up eating maybe two tops & inevitably sharing the rest), in flavors I like and in fancy liners with pretty candles or pretty toppers. No matter how many cakes or cupcakes other people get for me or make for me…. I always make myself some cupcakes. It’s just a little gift I give myself. I make things for other people all year long, why not make something just for me?

I made my favorite cupcakes: vanilla cupcakes with a thick, sweet vanilla buttercream that tastes just like old fashioned bakery buttercream. You know the kind. The kind that Carrie & Miranda talk about in Sex & the City when they’re talking about the cake at Brady’s Christening party. Fat, thick, sweet and white. Reminiscent of childhood birthday parties & cakes from your local family owned bakery. The beautiful black & white striped liners & the mini-quins are from sweet estelle’s baking supply and the black & white candles are just from my local supermarket. You know how much I love black & white… but I had to add a little color. It is my birthday, after all. Even if your heart is cold & black, on your birthday you have to have some colored sprinkles, amirite?

They were magnificent. The cupcake recipe is my new favorite vanilla cupcake, made with sour cream, however you’ll have to wait for that one, ’cause I’m evil. But here’s the frosting recipe.

THICK BAKERY “BUTTERCREAM”

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 1/4 – 1/2 pound confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 – 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and shortening in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in half the sugar, then add half the milk. Combine.
2. Add vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. If not thick enough, add more sugar. If too thick, add more milk.

I’ll be back in a few days with some new recipes. Until then, tide yourselves over with looking at those awesome cupcake photos above. And speaking of photos- I got a new camera for my birthday: a Canon EOS Rebel t4i. So after the next couple of posts (I have a bit of a recipe back-up issue; I’m desperately trying to write ’em all up!) you can expect my blog photo quality to go up exponentially. As soon as I figure out all the cool shit it can do *wink*

There’s an old poem, mainly used to teach children the days of the week, that lists characteristics of children born on each day. I was born on a Thursday, and according to the poem: “Thursday’s child has far to go.” I think it’s true- I do have far to go. Anyway, I hope that it’s true. I don’t mind the journey.