One of my daughter's Irish dancing instructors turned 21 this past weekend, and so did her boyfriend. Bailee asked if I might be willing to make a birthday cake for their joint 21st birthday party on Saturday. Of course! I absolutely love getting to make cakes for my friends and family. Besides, Bailee had just modeled for our Day of the Dead party for us:
I was eager to do something special for her to say thank you!
She asked if I could incorporate Irish step dancing (her passion) and skateboarding (her boyfriend's passion) into the cake design.
Umm...suuuure.
I struggled with this one. Couldn't come up with a design concept I liked. Sure, I could slap an Irish dancer and a skateboarder on any old cake. Call me silly, but I kind of wanted it to make sense and look good.
It was the night before the party and I finally realized that a common element, a connection between the two activities, was flight. Step dancing takes amazing athleticism and grace, and world-class dancers like Bailee make amazing acrobatic moves seem effortless. Similarly, I'm amazed (and rather terrified) by skateboarders, who hurtle themselves through the air doing death-defying stunts. And then land ON WHEELS.
I had just enough time to pull this off--and only then because I live in arid Arizona where I don't have to fight with humidity.
A simple, rather non-descript cake. With silhouettes of an Irish step dancer and a skateboarder in mid-flight, hovering above. Whew. Nothing like waiting until the last minute for inspiration to strike!
Happy birthday, Bailee and Joseph!