SPARKLE PLENTY: Earlier this month, we took on another Birthday Dreams cake. This time it was for a 16 year old. His theme request was interesting to us: Gold and white.
We thought the best way to accomplish that was by using hundreds of gold and white sprinkles, gold sparkler candles, and even a gold confetti cannon atop his cake.
Annabelle made a custom cake topper using her Cricut machine. We cut his name out of glittery gold cardstock, and it was held up by gold and white paper straws.
My photo isn't the best, but it looked pretty fancy in person! I'll bet it looked downright spectacular once the sparkler candles were lit and the cannon went off!
ENGAGING: Now that the holidays are over, Annabelle is back to her weekly art sessions at Gage Teen Art Studio on Friday nights. It's inconveniently located in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle, but she really enjoys the sessions, so it's definitely worth the drive.
Right next door to the art school is the enormous edifice, St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. It looms impressively over Interstate 5, on the east shore of Lake Union.
The church has an interesting history. Per its website, Saint Mark’s was founded in 1889. Its first iteration was at 5th Avenue and Stewart Street, in downtown Seattle, in 1890. In 1897, the parish moved to larger digs at Seneca and Broadway on First Hill. In 1923, land was purchased at its present location,
Tenth Avenue East, plans for a magnificent cathedral were made, and construction began in 1928. However, the stock market crash and Great Depression put the kibosh on the grand plans, and a smaller building was constructed, dedicated in 1931. Unfortunately, the parish struggled to pay their mortgage, and it was foreclosed upon in 1941. However, in 1944, Bishop Huston went to St. Louis to negotiate with the bank, and they were allowed to return to the building. By 1947, the parish was able to burn the mortgage.
BINGO: A few days ago, I saw an Instagram post about CJ's school hosting a bingo night. I gave him the info and he tuned in online at the appointed time.
About 40 minutes into the event, he was dismayed that in most every game, he was just one square away from Bingo! but someone beat him to it. Christian and I told him, "Welcome to the world of Bingo!" That's pretty much how that game always works.
We also told him this was a *perfect* example of how people gambling almost always lose. True, he didn't pay to play, but all across America there are bingo halls where people spend more money than they can afford to, chasing that exhilarating Bingo!
