Sep28

About that launch party…

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About that launch party…

Allow me to take you back in time several weeks. Hop aboard.

This guy at a car show was a true Back to the Future devotee.

So, the launch party. For the most part, believe it or not, I had it all together for this party. I was organized. My checklist was long. Nothing would be left behind. Nothing could go wrong.

But baking was involved.

Baking Daughter made cupcakes the day before to avoid our usual last-minute travails. The next day was frosting day. But we had plenty of time, or so it seemed.

I texted Mrs. Sensei because she’s familiar with our baking fails:

“This will come as no surprise to you, but frosting is not going well.”

Later:

Later still:

It is incredibly rare for us to bake without Hubby having to dash to the store for something. He did. More frosting arrived.

However, we are not expert frosters. It’s harder than it looks. (Unless you’re into tapeworms.) But I hoped sprinkles would save the day.

On the whole, not bad, right? Not brilliant, but the sprinkles really did help, and, amazingly, we didn’t have those in short supply for the nearly 60 cupcakes we made.

We packed them up, drove to the brewery on this hot day, unloaded them, and…

Most of the white frosting slid off. Because, of course!

And here was the other thing. These were baked while I wasn’t home. Baking Daughter was so used to making zucchini muffins without paper wrappers that it didn’t occur to her to put the cupcakes in wrappers.

“Okay,” I said at the time, “So we’ll take tongs for serving and plenty of napkins.”

These were the best looking of the white frosting.

If you didn’t want white frosting, well, it was all over the tongs regardless, so, good luck avoiding it.

At the end of the night, here’s some of what we had left. Not sure how these didn’t get eaten.

One got flipped completely upside down. No idea how. But then 1. Tongs. 2. Us.

There were a lot left over, but they were too messy even for Hubby to unload at work. So we nibbled our way through them until about a week later when they got moldy, and I chucked the rest.

Eventually I’ll learn to just buy baked goods, but then, where would the adventure (and blog story) be?

BUT, as with all our baking adventures, they tasted better than they looked.

The Nurse, The Artist, Thoughtful One, me. Not pictured but also present: Pink and Andre the Giant.

Five of my Jiu-Jitsu friends came and each bought a copy of Wish I Was Here. I hadn’t seen these people in months. Pink came, had a drink, stayed for a song or two, chatted briefly with me, and said her goodbyes. I said, “You’re leaving already?” She said, “I really only came for the book.”

Later, when I joined the above cluster of friends, Thoughtful One said, “We were just saying how we don’t know what this book is about, so I read the back. It sounds good.”

The Nurse said, “We were wondering if it was another 50 Shades of Grey.“

“I would believe it,” The Artist said because she does not know me well.

A bunch of other people I know came. Not all of them bought a book, which is fine. I’m just so impressed by the level of support from my Jiu-Jitsu family, making a point to buy the book without having a clue what it was about. Wow.

Super savvy readers may notice someone is missing. Who could that be?

H!

R!

H!

Her Royal Highness had RSVP’d as, “Duh. Of course I’m coming,” months prior when the launch party was still in the theoretical phase.

But fever germs that cling to small children a day beforehand do not care about launch parties. (Such rude germs.)

Until you consider that they mean special one-on-one time with one of your favorite humans later. She read my mind the next day when she suggested we get together for coffee later in the week.

So the woman shows up at the appointed place and time with a friggin’ GIFT BAG.

The pretty purple pen was a part of the gift, too.
I’m amazed at the perfection of this card she picked out of for me. Also, I’m not 61. She’s joking. Quit scrolling back up to determine how I could look like that at 61.
Because they’re cute, appropriate, and, as she pointed out, “I like how the coffee is falling out like the cup is losing its mind.” Yep, she knows me well.
She has a mug like this, and I thought it was awesome. Now we get to be twinsies.
“How’d you know I like these?!” I said. “You talk about chocolate OFTEN,” she responded with a tone of, “You seriously need to ask?” I don’t know what she’s talking about. The fact that two of these were devoured immediately after the picture was taken has nothing to do with it. I’m not sure the third lasted the night.

She even attempted to buy my coffee. I told the barista, “She’s done. Ring her up,” before I gave my order. He looked at her and said, “Sorry. I have to listen to the birthday girl.”

HRH had already ordered my book online, but wanted a signed copy too. She handed me the gift bag with one hand and had a crumpled $20 in the other.

Isn’t she lovely? That book really brings out the color of her eyes and the Brazil in her Jiu-Jitsu shirt.

So let’s tally up the score, shall we?

HRH got me: two pairs of socks, an awesome mug, the perfect card, a precious pen, there might have been some chocolate but I deny everything, bought TWO of my books, and tried to buy my coffee.

She turns 30 in three months…

I’m so screwed. How am I supposed to compete with this? Gift giving is clearly her love language. Mine is works of service. I wonder if she’ll let me wash her dishes or detail her car or mow her lawn or something. Incredibly thoughtful friends are the worst. Can’t everyone just be cold and heartless like me?

Food for comment: Which cupcake would you want, or would you back away slowly? Which gift from HRH did you like the best? What’s your love language?

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70 responses »

  1. I hate to say this, but I’d be scraping ALL the frosting off. Me and frosting, nahhhh. So I’d probably take a vanilla one 😉

    My love language is words. So I’d probably get somebody a card and write a letter inside of it 😀

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    • I didn’t ask questions about where the frosting came from. It was just, “Go! Frosting! Go!” And I don’t know what was in it, either, but I didn’t much care for it. The chocolate frosting was better, but the vanilla cupcakes were better still. We also had red velvet with cream cheese frosting. We were TRYING to do right by our guests, which is largely why we didn’t attempt to make our own frosting. (We have in the past. Mixed results. Tasty but not fluffy.)

      Your absence is excused. But when the next book comes out… I’m giving you a stern look from here, followed by a wink.

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  3. Congratulations on your book! Sounds like a great launch party! I can’t wait to snag a copy and read it once I can think a bit more coherently and absorb information. 😅

    My love language is acts of service. If anyone is really, really bored and wants to come finish up some projects at our house before this baby arrives, let me know! Ha!

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  10. Cupcake Massacre would be a great name for a punk band.

    And nice try deflecting attention away from the frosting with those sprinkles. Didn’t work, but admirable nonetheless.

    Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’m hoping for more foot talk.

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  12. I will eat cupcakes in any form so no problem at all for me! I can so identify with your cupcake snafu. I used to make cupcakes all the time, give most away , any flavor, color, etc. my good friend said , you’re so good at it could you make 50 chocolate with chocolate for my niece’s grad party? No problem, easy peasy. Well, I waited until the morning if , and cranked them out, missing some of this and that, I improv-ed and they were horrible and messy and stuck to the box. She even said they were horrible and didn’t fake it. From then on, I really didn’t try to rush through or make big batches .) happy birthday early and my love language is gift giving AND acts of service. Can you have two? Ps I thought the socks were a brain worm at first. )

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  14. Um, where was our Launch Party Invite. Tell me I missed it! Ha, ha, anyway, so happy for you Ilsa. And yes, to your comment about baked goods. “Eventually I’ll learn to just buy baked goods, but then, where would the adventure (and blog story) be?” Yes, yes, anything for a blog topic. Ha, ha. Congratulations.

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  17. Love your baking fails, because they look so familiar! 🤣 And because I am so familiar with baking fails I also know that looks don’t matter. I am sure they were all nice 😋

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  18. I wanted to compliment your frosting technique where the cupcakes look like bouquets of tiny flowers, but I just can’t get the carnage in the following pictures out of my mind. The one naked vanilla cupcake says it all. Having said that, I have no clue how to frost a cupcake (let alone a cake). Those perfect desserts you find in the bakery section at the market are a wonder to me.

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    • My daughter frosts stuff in a bakery, but she was at work during this!! And are you satisfied now, Dave? You wanted the cupcake carnage story. Here you go. I hope these images don’t haunt your dreams. 😛

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      • Haunting images indeed. I think this tragedy could inspire a blockbuster series of horror films ala Scream (starring cupcakes instead of humans). You have a whole kitchen full of nasty implements at your disposal so just think of the carnage you could unleash (topped off by the inevitable mold). Since you’ve already tackled a novel maybe screenwriting is your next challenge? Go for it, Ilsa! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • I’m definitely down for screenwriting.

        Years ago, I had two epic baking fails involving pies and the same ill-fated recipients both times. I was blogging about it in my mind as it was happening, but never paused to take pictures, so I never wrote the posts. Just so you know, the disasters extend beyond these blog pages. The other funny thing is, I seem to have inherited this trait from my mom. My sister is a fantastic cook, but she already knows she can’t bake and avoids it entirely. Clearly, I am not as smart as my wise older sister.

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  19. I’m so sorry I had to miss it (geez, I coulda been in one of your pictures!). If I had been there, I probably would have passed on the cupcakes… not a fan. Usually homemade baked good are so much better, but the plastic and chemies in store-bought tend to keep everything in one piece.

    HRH is a sweet and generous soul. I’ll keep your love language in mind when my birthday comes around. I could always use a car-detail.

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    • LOL, Janis, on the car detail. I know what your husband bakes you on your birthday, so if some of that is in the equation, I’m there!

      You would totally have been in a picture had you been able to make it. Alas! Hopefully I’ll do this again for the sequel. 🙂

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  20. The photos of the cupcakes at the end of the night have me laughing out loud. But it makes a great story! Congrats on your book launch and the strong showing of support from your loved ones and peers. You must just be so thrilled! 💕

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  21. Launch parties aren’t supposed to happen without a hitch. It’s bad luck if nothing goes wrong, so congrats to you for having a successful launch with yummy looking cupcakes. I have no favorites – I’d take them all. I love to bake, and I made a good buttercream frosting, but I’ve never learned how to make the frosting look fancy like yours. However, I do sprinkle for the fun of it. Much much success on your book.

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  22. Pingback: BOOK: Wish I Was Here | 😉 Author Ilsa Rey Mini Interview – priorhouse blog

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