WIAW (During My 18th Birthday Party)

"Whhhaaatt? You're how old?"

Okay. So no one else actually said that to me. But I was totally saying it to MYSELF!

If you read my last WIAW (When I Gave Blood), then you'd know that April 1st was my 18th birthday. To some of you, I may still seem like a baby, a child, a *shudder* "teenager." And I guess in your own way you would be right.

On the other hand... I'm officially an adult. Soon I'll be heading off to college, getting a real job, making money (and with that paying bills... ugghhh) and also having the opportunity to travel and gain new experiences.

First experience: 18th Birthday Party!

Now, for starters, some of you (oh so few but faithful) readers will know that I gave up sugar for this year's lent challenge, and as such I knew a birthday cake would be a little hard to come by. Here is my first chocolate birthday cake before I gave up sugar. Since then I have experimented and made probably a dozen cake recipes. Most of them were adaptions of other blogger's recipes. For note, I experimented with Chocolate Covered Katie's Healthier Chocolate Cake, Live Laugh Eat's Carrot Cake, Healthy Indulgence's Healthy Chocolate Cake and Kat's Chocolate Date Cake (just to name a few more successful attempts). My main method was to replace the sugar with natural sugars like dates and to replace the oil with bananas, applesauce, nut butters, etc. I also used almond milk in place of any dairy ingredients.

So... I don't actually have any recipes to share for this particular subject, but I will say that CCK's Healthier Chocolate Cake (with substitutions) came out the best, and Healthy Indulgence's came out brownie-like. All are great recipes as-is; I just can't leave anything alone!

Never fear though! (I realize now that I use this phrase A LOT!) I did bake a cake to enjoy with friends and family. It was not sugar free or all that healthy, and I didn't have a bite, BUT I do know that it turned out fabulous. So I'll share some pictures anyways :D

Looks just like a regular cake (albeit with lime green frosting) right?

Well, you would be wrong!

This cake is beautiful INSIDE and OUT! Taste the rainbow :)

I kept on dancing around like a little girl asking, "Can we cut the cake now?" And when all of my friends asked WHY? I simply replied, " You'll see.... IT'S AWESOME!" (Yes, a little egotistical on my part, but... Isn't it awesome?)

Blowing out candles. Make a wish!

Awkward smile.

Can I cut it NOW?

Directions on how to make this cake can be found here. I personally used two box cake mixes and liquid food dye. Pillsbury whipped vanilla frosting.

And at least for me, all of my parties have to have a theme. This year's theme was Scooby Doo.

Last year, it was Phineas and Ferb. We still have some napkins left over:

And no, I didn't eat those starbursts.... Sugar :(

For supper we had pizza from Dominoes (my favorite!). I did have a few squares of the thin crust pizza, minus the cheese and toppings as dairy is still bothering my stomach. That crust was awesome.

As you can see, this is not a Dominoes pizza.

It is actually a homemade Chicken and BBQ pizza. Maybe I'll share the recipe with you?

Then we made a craft, another essential part of a birthday party.

There were about seven of us sitting around this small little table!

This was the hit of the night. We made paper beads from this tutorial that I found on Pinterest. Great, right?

My mom had us "pose" for this picture. Too cute!

As you can see, one of my friends wasn't into the craft and only made a ring.

Since my party I have constructed 3 bracelets (2 for myself, 1 for my aunt) and a necklace.

*Note: Each bead is 1/2 inch wide, so the average person at my party needed 14 or 15 beads. We also used clear stretchy cord to make the bracelets. One of my friends also made a ring from six or so beads (she wasn't as enthused with the craft as the rest of us!)

Overall the party went swell. We chatted for a long time while making the craft, then we got ready for bed and watched an episode of Supernatural on Netflix. I don't watch this show very often, but it is interesting. Plus, one of my guests is addicted!

The next morning my mom woke me up at about 7:15 am because one of my friends had to leave for a physical (another beauty of housing applications in college). We sat down and talked for a few minutes while she ate one of our complimentary muffins from Buehler's.

After she left my mom and I sat down together at the table and made some more beads/bracelets. Finally some of my friends started waking up (I fell asleep first...as always... so I guess it makes since that I was one of the first to get up). They all got to pick their own ginormous muffin, as well as my brother, mom and dad.

As they ate, some of us started making more beads (those things are so much fun!). Slowly they began to leave in tapers. At about noon we dropped my last friend off and came home.

This is when I ate breakfast. To be honest, I didn't eat a muffin because it had tons of sugar. Last year it was kind of awkward when I made myself something separate, so I just waited. Not good, I know! But I was also too consumed in making beads to really notice or care.

Recycled pic, I know! But I eat this SOO.... often! Actually, this is what I ate five minutes ago too.

Thanks again Peas and Crayons!
So, that's all I have to share with you today! Next time maybe I'll post that delicious pizza recipe? I don't know...

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Tons of random Q and A's:

Do you make your own cake or buy it from the store? This cake was last minute, so I used a box mix. Normally we make an ice cream cake or buy a special "theme" cake from the store.

Phineas and Ferb or Scooby Doo? Pick just one. SCOOBY DOO ALL THE WAY!

What is your favorite tv show? Have you ever watched Supernatural?

Have you ever refrained from eating in front of your friends afraid of what they might think?