We birthdayed. A lot.

Charlotte turned 14 on July 17th. We had a little family party to celebrate before Russ left for that weekend’s concerts, and then Char also made plans to have two of her best friends from grade school, Bethany and Jess (aka “jd2008″ when he comments on here!) come over for a little party last Friday night.

The original idea was to head to Watertown and go to the Stardust Drive-in, which is one of our favorite things to do– however, we failed to factor in two important issues: 1) they CHANGE the movies on Friday, so the one we had planned on seeing was no longer showing and 2) it was about a frillion stinkin’ degrees that day, with about a 1000% humidity and the heat index of… hell. Not the optimum conditions for watching a movie while sitting in your car OUTSIDE.

I briefly scrambled around trying to quickly come up with a Plan B, and then I realized that the three amigos were actually perfectly happy just hanging out here. So I made a quick grocery run and loaded up on a staggeringly ridiculous array of snack food, picked up some take-out food from Charlotte’s favorite place, Pei Wei, and got them all settled in for the evening. No outdoor movie. Bullet dodged.

They had so much fun! It’s been a while since they have been together because they are all going to different schools now, but back at good ol’ St. Paul Christian Academy they were inseparable. It was great to watch them — after just a couple of minutes of understandably age-appropriate awkwardness, they basically took up where they left off.

Here’s a couple of shots from Hour #1:

Hour #2 involved a lot of eating. Loads of lo mein and then a virtual avalanche of rice krispie treats, white cheddar popcorn, sparkling grape juice, chex mix and… well, I kinda lost count at that point. Teenagers can flat put it away.

But here’s the best part: Why hello there, CUPCAKES!!!

Prepare yourself for the glory that is Naticakes…

And yes, they were TOTALLY as good as they look!

(This is a great bakery– it’s located in the heart of historic downtown Franklin, Tn, which is only about 15 minutes from my house, and there’s a real heartwarming story behind the name “naticakes.” Check it out, it’s worth it.)

10 Responses

  1. meb

    Happy belated Birthday to Charlotte. What a great way to celebrate with friends, food and especially the Naticakes!! I make it a point to stop there whenever we are in the area. The Salted Carmel is one I really wanted to try last time, but they weren’t ready yet. But I would have to say that any of their flavors are absolutely wonderful.

  2. MostlySunny

    Happy Birthday, Char!!! It’s so nice to have best friends and be able to pick up with each other right where you left off. Friends just to hang out with at the house and talk and munch on snacky stuff.

    Tori – Those were some of the best times for me as a Mom – listening to the kids and their friends talk and laugh and just have a good time together…under my roof!

    Those cupcakes are mouth-watering! There’s something about cupcakes…it’s not like eating a piece of pie or cake or even a donut…they’re smaller and “seem” more guilt-free (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!). I was in San Francisco in March for 3 weeks and found a wonderful little cupcake shop right off of Union Square. I would go there every afternoon around 2:30 and get 2 mini carrot cake cupcakes. Made my day!

    The heat wave has finally abated some here in Pittsburgh; you described it well. Enjoy the rest of the summer; it’s going fast!

  3. MostlySunny

    Ok, so I just read the story about Naticakes. I’m in tears…

  4. tori

    meb– The salted caramel one is Madi’s absolute favorite! And possibly mine.

    MostlySunny– Ooh, I love carrot cake ones! And you’re right, the story is really touching. Makes me feel very virtuous about eating a crapload of Naticakes…

  5. Gramma Jac

    Back from Tahoe,…leaving Wed. for New York. Next I need to eat my way through the South I think!!!!! (Meat and 3s, Naticakes,…stop!!!!!) LOL!

  6. LindaB

    Well, looks like Char had a terrific party! Good for her!

    What’s not to like about cupcakes! And we all know why we love them——you get perhaps 3-4 times more frosting on one than you do on a regular slice of cake! Yay for frosting! And we don’t feel bad about eating two because “they’re small”!

    As a result of looking at those beautiful decadent-looking cupcakes, I have to go dig out one of the Hostess Devil’s Food cupcakes with the cream filling in the center that I hid behind the toaster in the pantry for an “emergency”! It won’t even approach the lusciousness of those you had, but it will have to do, since I live a far stretch from Franklin, Tn.

  7. DELIVEREDJEPARKER63

    well, NOW I KNOW WHERE I WANT TO GET MARRIED!!!! THAT CUPCAKE SHOP!!!HOW AWESOME, THO YOU HAVE NOW TRIGGERED A CHOCOLATE CRAVING THAT I HAD BEEN IGNORING FOR 4 DAYS!!!!!!!! Isnt Jess cute as a button!!!!

  8. pj

    We’ve been talking about these cupcakes over on the David Phelps board. A bunch of us have added this to our must-see (eat) list when we’re in Franklin for David’s Labor Day Barn Bash! Are we going to see you there???

  9. jonny

    yes, you did!

  10. Barbara M. Lloyd

    Have Char’s special day on my calendar….but slipped up again. I need a secretary! Those cupcakes look yummy. Oh my goodness, but Char is catching up to Madi. Well, doggone if it doesn’t seem that way.

    Belated Happy Birthday, pretty Char!

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