You Came. You Saw. You Cupcaked.

You know what’s a good combination?  Fried chicken and cupcakes.

You know what else is a good combination?  Me and you.  You and me.

Thank you for bringing your smiling, shining faces downtown on Sunday.  I don’t know exactly how to tell you how much this picnic meant to me.  Let’s see…. how can I relate this to you?

About a year and a half ago I cried… sometimes.  Not a sad cry.  Oooh no.  It’s just that I was working two tragically minimum wage jobs as a barista and as a baker, finishing up college, driving a car that was worth less than my camera, running from job to job to class to study group, writing papers in a daze and falling asleep in the library weekly.  I would cry just because I was so dang tired.  Do you ever get the tired cries?  Yea… it happens.

In the midst of all that, I started this here blog.  It’s turned into the thing that I can’t wait to sit down and do every night.  You all have become the people that I look forward to connecting with everyday.  It’s just so much a part of me… and now you are too!

So… this picnic.  Well, it was the opposite of the tired cries.  You all made me so happy.  It was so fantastic of all of you to come out to share the love.  Thank you to each and every one of you who came to share the day with me.

Adrianna and Caroline are the darlings behind A Cozy Kitchen.  They’re super sweet.  Seriously.  Ladies.  I like you.

Deanna!  Ooooh dearest Deanna!  Deanna and her friend Sandi drove all the way down from Oregon for the picnic.  Drove…. from Oregon!  Deanna, your dress was super cute.  For reals.

Katie and kids had their own rooftop picnic on Vancouver Island, BC with a dozen cupcakes and… do I see a Cabbage Patch Kid down there!?  Awesome.  Doin’ it up right.  Well played.

Lynne threw an indoor picnic in Ottawa.   They baked the Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake and wore super cute dresses.  What more could you want!?

It was just the most lovely afternoon ever, and then…..

You know what’s not exactly an awesome combination?  Hay bales and AstroTurf that doesn’t belong to you.  That means a lot of cleaning.

I suppose now would be a good time to thank you… Simon, for literally picking up hay in a sea of hay.  I couldn’t have pulled this picnic off without the help of Michael (the behind the scenes man with the plan), Rachel (cole slaw maven), my Mom and Dad and sister (for late night cupcake baking and chicken runnin’), Whitney (for the best 5 minute makeup job ever), Simon (for all the hay you got in your face… i’m sorry), and Carsen and company (for graciously letting me boss you around).  Seriously you guys.  Thank you from deep down inside my heart.

The next Joy the Baker shindig will have a hired clean up crew.  No joke. We are doing this again.