Happy Golden 8th Birthday Lily & 5th Leo!

Happy golden 8th birthday to Lily and happy milestone 5th birthday to Leo!! With everything going on in the world right now, I had to make sure I made extra special cakes for these two extra special kiddies!!  Lily has her golden birthday this year and I made her a display cake with all her favorite things at the moment.  Her favorite color is blue, she loves Animal Crossing New Horizon on the Nintendo Switch with Lily and Bianca being her favorite characters, and the game Arms with Dr. Coyle and Lola Pop.  Her favorite movie is Sonic the Hedgehog live action and she loves Sonic and Amy and the gold rings go perfect with her golden birthday theme!  Everything is made out of paper for simplicity for such a complex theme and the Sonic and Amy characters are toys.  The blue flowers are fake flowers and the cake is Styrofoam covered in fondant.

For Leo's cake, it's his  special milestone 5th birthday!!  I made a display cake with all his current favorite things and that's Chuck E Cheese, Stacking cups, Maui from Moana, Peppa Pig and Bao from the Pixar short Bao!  I made all the decorations out of paper and used fake leaves to tie everything together and covered the cake in fondant.  I made the stacking cups with mini plastic cups and made a label and glued it onto the cups.  Right when Leo saw the cake, he immediately shouted "Chuck E Cheese!!!" and kept pointing at and yelling out everything he saw!  It made me so happy to see how excited and fixated he was with his cake!  I kept the cake out for two weeks and everyday it was the highlight of his day, just staring at the cake and pointing everything out on it! 

Happy special birthday to both Lily and Leo, my light and joy and loves of my life!!  I wish you both an amazing birthday and celebration, safe at home, and virtually with all your loved ones!!  You make me the luckiest and happiest mama ever!  I love you both so much, more than you'll ever know!!

Happy Baby Shower Benjalina!

Happy Baby Shower to Alina and Ben on baby number 2!!  I had the honor of making their under the sea theme display cake that is gender neutral since their baby's gender is a surprise!  The cakes are covered in fondant and decorated with fondant pearls and bubbles that my sweet assistant, Lily, made and painted with pearl dust.  I made a fondant baby in the shell in a green swaddle and a lil mermaid with cute pigtails that represents the big sister to be, Aulani!  I made the pennant banner out of cardstock and skewers and got some pretty seashells that I painted some purple on to go with the color scheme Alina wanted.  Lily crushed up some graham crackers for the sand and that completes the display cake!  Thank you so much for letting us be part of your wonderful celebration.  I can't wait to meet, snuggle and spoil baby Santiago number 2!!  Congratulations Ben and Alina, you guys are so loved and blessed! (Photocredits of the cakes goes to Mieng, thank you so much! =))

Happy Baby Shower BenjAlina!

Congratulations to the wonderful parents to be Alina and Ben!  I got the honor and privilege of making BenjAlina's baby shower cake!  Their baby shower theme is Disney's Peter Pan Neverland theme that is gender neutral since they won't be revealing the gender of baby LeeSan until after birth!  So I made a simple silloutte Peter Pan gold with gold fairy dust and added some greenery for the woodsy theme!  I'm so excited for Alina and Ben and I can't wait to meet baby LeeSan!  I know they will be amazing parents, the love they have poured into their child's arrival preparations already shows you that!  They are so kind, generous, smart, and fun loving people, I know they will raise an amazing child and will definitely make this world a better place!  I love you guys, congratulations!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Lily!

Back in June my sweet amazing Lily pad turned 5 years old!!  Happy 5th Birthday to my princess Lily, Happy 2nd birthday to my sweet amazing Leo too!!!  I threw her (and Leo) a birthday party at home and made it a unicorn theme since she loves unicorns and rainbows right now. I went all out for her milestone celebration and got a bounce house, balloon twister/face painter, and a photobooth! She had such a blast and gave all the guests a big hug when they showed up and a big hug good bye! She saw me working on the cake for a few days, and she was so excited and really wanted to eat it! She was majorly bummed when I told her she couldn’t and that it’s not real…She didn’t quite understand but she eventually got over it haha.  I also made chocolate cupcakes and fruity pebble macarons in the shape of unicorns!  I’m so grateful and humbled by the person she’s becoming and my heart is overflowed with love for her. She is very generous, thoughtful, silly, funny, and oh so happy! She is also very clumsy and tends to fall and hurt herself (and others by accident) a lot, but I’m afraid that’s my quality that got passed down to her…haha. She’s just so excited about everything that she can’t contain it in her tiny little body haha. I’m so happy to have such a beautiful little girl both inside and out as my daughter. I love you so much my Lily pad, happy 5th birthday!!! Can’t wait for more adventures and memories to come! (PS: Thanks Phong for some of these dessert photos!)

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Fujita!

Congratulations to Kristin and Hisami on their beautiful wedding day back in May!  I had the honor of making the happy couple's wedding cake, but I also got the privilege of being a bridesmaid for my sweet friend Kristin!  She is one of the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful people that I know!  Hisami is the perfect partner for Kristin as well and I am so lucky to witness their new chapter in their lives!  I wish you guys so many many many years of love and happiness and I'm so excited to see you grow your life together!  I'm so happy for you guys, you guys are seriously such great people!! Congratulations!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!  I had the honor and privilege of making Chloe's 1st birthday cake for display! It's a topsy turvy cake that is winter theme with snow, snowballs, snowflakes, and a cute little penguin on top.  All the decorations are made of fondant and accented with silver dust for some extra wintery magic!  Chloe is so cute and adorable and so calm too.  Her party was very cutely decorated and her mommy did such a great job with all the decorations and making the festivities fun and happy for the birthday girl!  I can't wait to see you grow up into an amazing little lady, happy happy 1st birthday sweet little Chloe!!  We all love you so much!!

Congratulations Newlyweds Lennie & Danny!

Congratulations to the newlyweds Lennie and Danny Ngo! I had the honor and privilege in making the happy couple's wedding cake for their beautiful wedding a couple month ago in June!  The top tier is a mixed berry cake from Givral Bakery that I decorated, and the botom two tiers are dummy cakes that I frosted and covered in fondant and decorated as well.  The modular square tile design is very unique and modern and I'm glad I got to play with new styles!  Lennie brought me the pretty flowers to decorate the cake with and an elegant acrylic "love" calligraphy cake topper to put on top of the cake.  All colors are work very beautifully together and the lavender really matched the theme color of their wedding as well.  Also, being the proud mommy that I am, I must brag that my beautiful baby girl, Lily, was also one of the flower girls for their wedding!! hehe.  But anyways, congratulations Lennie and Danny and your special big day!!  I'm so glad you guys were happy with your cake and thank you so much for letting me be a part of your wedding celebration!!  I wish you guys so much love and happiness and I hope you guys continue to have many many wonderful memories and adventures together!  Congratulations to two wonderful, kind, awesome people!!

Happy 1st Birthday Prince Leo!

Happy 1st Birthday to my dearest le petit Leo!  I baked vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and orange blossom macarons, bavarian cream fruit custard, and Haupia cupcakes with a coconut filling.  I also made a nice big 3 tier display cake in the theme of the book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.  I hired a very talented balloon artist and face painter, and Khoa’s coworker, Vinh, generously set up a photobooth for us as well.  I got catering from Newport Rib Company and had a lot of yummy BBQ as well.  It was a very fun party and this 1st birthday means so much to me.

Happy 1st Birthday my dearest prince Leo.  You are such an amazing little inspiration.  There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t even be able to hold him in my arms, to see his beautiful smile, or hear his sweet laugh. Yet here we are, it’s been a crazy long journey, from the moment you existed, and now, we celebrate you. My little prince Leo, you are such an amazing little fighter, inspiration, and miracle.  I look at your sweet face, your cute sweet smile, and your innocent pure eyes, and I just can’t help get emotional and overwhelmed with feelings of love and gratitude.  I love how I can just hold your hand, with your tiny fingers wrapped around mine, and you just feel safe and at ease with me.  You feel like home and the ultimate sensation of comfort when you are in my arms, and I never want to let you go (except maybe when I have to pee…).  I can stare at you  explore this world of all it’s wonders, and listen to your sweet little voice all day!  You are truly the definition of hope.  You are beating all the odds, and I can’t wait to see what adventures we will continue to go on together. Keep shining bright, keep fighting, keep being my ray of hope. I love you to pieces Leo!

Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!

Happy 1st Birthday Ryan!  I had the wonderful privilege of making Ryan's 1st birthday cake display along with some sweet treats for his big celebration this past weekend!  I made some vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes with swiss meringue frosting, along with some vanilla and matcha green tea macarons, and some white chocolate dipped rice krispies treats, all with the help of my friend Sarah, who also happens to be the birthday boy's mommy! It was a very fun birthday celebration and I'm so glad I got to be a part of Ryan's special day.  He's such a little cutie and loves to eat and has a super cute big sister, Charlotte, too! =)  You are so loved Ryan, your parents threw you such a perfect intimate party. I can't wait to watch you grow up into an amazing little man, happy 1st birthday Ryan, I wish you many many more celebrations to come!!

Happy 1st Birthday Carter!

Happy 1st Birthday Carter! I had the honor and privilege of making a three tier display cake for Carter's 1st Birthday celebration.  I was lucky enough to make the wedding cake for Carter's lovely parents a few years ago, and now it's such a blessing to be making their son's first birthday cake!  I decorated three foam cakes using fondant and used skewers that I painted white for the poles for the pennant banners.  The pennants are made out of paper that are stitched together with white thread.  This is a circus theme cake for a super fun birthday celebration.  I'm sure Carter had an amazing time and I'm sure he was showered with so many warm wishes and tons of love!  Here's to many more birthdays to come and wonderful new adventures!  Happy 1st Birthday Carter!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily!

Happy 2nd birthday to my sweet baby girl Lily (back on June 8th, sorry Lily for the late post)!  Since her birthday is in the summer and we were having her celebration outdoors, I didn't want to have a cake that would be sitting out for a couple hours and possibly melting.  So I made her another display cake for her dessert table!  Her birthday theme is an enchanted fairy garden theme and so I wanted to make a charming, simple yet elegant cake.  All the decorations are made of fondant and I used some gold pearls for accents.  This is also the first time I made a nice big peony flower, and I'm very excited with how it came out!  It's the fullest flower I've made so far and it excites me more to expand my knowledge and skills in cake decorating!  I'll also be entering this cake to the OC fair for the formal fondant decorated cake category, so wish me luck everyone!

***UPDATE:***  Lily's cake won 3rd place at the OC Fair!!  Woohoo!!

Don't be afraid to try new things and leave your comfort zone when trying to develop your craft, that's what this cake adventure is all about for me!  Without that extra push to learn, you will never improve and grow.  It's only been 2 years of being a mom to my sweet Lily pad, but I've learned that each new day as a parent is a new adventure, and you're constantly learning, growing and adapting to life.  I've watched my Lily pad grow so much in the past 2 years and she's growing into such a beautiful being, I just love her so much, she is my everything.  She inspires me everyday she is my world.  Happy 2nd birthday my precious Lily!!  Here's to many many more birthdays to come!  Also, special thanks to my friend Mieng for capturing the beautiful photos of her below! =)

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Yang!

Congratulations to the newlyweds Jina and Jesse!!  I had the privilege of making a display cake for Jina and Jesse's wedding back in March last year!  She wanted a simple elegant ivory 3-tier display cake, but with a real edible piece of cake made into the bottom tier of the cake for their cake cutting!  The whole cake is covered in fondant and embroidered some icing on the bottom tier for a more vintage look.  The pearls on the first and last tier are also made of fondant with some pearl dust for an extra touch of detail.  The flowers on the cake are real, same goes for the ribbon on the second tier.  Congratulations to Jina and Jesse on your beautiful wedding, and I wish you many many years of love and happiness and I hope your life is sweeter than ever now that you guys are united as one!

Happy 1st Birthday Lily!

Happy 1st birthday to our sweet and precious Lily!!!  I cannot believe it's already been 1 year since our little dragon baby was born!  For her birthday, I wanted to be extra special so I made sure I made almost everything myself!  I made French Vanilla Mini Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Frosting, Oreo Truffles (thanks Natalia for dipping them!!), Cheesecake Brownies, and 6 types of Macarons (rose, mango, lemon, macha green tea, vanilla, and raspberry)!  Since her party was held at the pavilion in front of our house, I made her a display cake instead of a real cake because I didn't want it to melt in the heat.  The display cake is decorated with royal icing piped along the outside so that when it dries, it hardens.  The rest of the decorations are made of fondant.  We ordered a mixed berry cake from Givral, that wasn't decorated since we were just going to cut it up and serve it!  

Lily had a special Smash Cake session a few days before her birthday so we can capture her first time eating cake!  Also, this is convenient because not only do we get super nice photos from it, but it allows Lily to get all frosted up and covered with cake goodness, and then we can hose her down and not worry about time or keeping her party guests waiting while we do so!   I made her cake myself, it's French Vanilla with swiss meringue frosting.  The inside of the cake is 6 layers, with each layer being one color of the rainbow!  I embellished her cupcake cake with some fondant flowers and a butterfly on top.  I added gold trimming to the flowers and butterfly for some added elegance!  We actually did a second smash cake session because we wanted a more white and brighter background, so her second cake that I made her had normal buttercream frosting since it was softer by nature and we hope it'll stick to her face better =P. When we first put her in front of the cake, she literally just ignored it and kept crawling right past it and towards us!  haha.  It's so funny but it made sense since she has NO idea what sweet deliciousness sat right in front of her!  So we had to help her along and took and frosting and put it in her mouth.  She loved it!  However, she didn't "smash" the cake or grab it herself.  She's quite a diva and we ended up having to break apart the cake ourselves and then feed it to her haha.  A few times she did seem quite excited and waved her arms in the air and rubbed the cake all over her arms...Overall, it was a lot of fun memories to watch her enjoy her first birthday cake!!  Thank you SO MUCH to our photographers Drexelle at D. Park Photography, Janet from Purely Capitvating Photography and to Mieng Saetia for taking these beautiful cake smash photos!!!  The turnaround on these photos were amazingly fast and we appreciate all the hard work and accommodations you've made just for our Lily pad!!!  Thank you!!!

Words cannot describe how I feel about our little angel being 1 years old.  She is the joy of our lives and she deserves the very best in everything.  All our hard work, late nights, exhaustion, and stress is all worth it to see our baby have a great time and have a huge smile on her face the whole time!  She also already watched her first Disney movie, only 1/3 of it, and it's The Little Mermaid.  She loves to sit on my lap with and watch while chomping away at cheerios from her snack catcher!  I just watch her in amazing at how she's slowly becoming a little toddler, and I just can't get enough of how cute she does every little thing!  I love that her forehead crinkles every time she takes a bite of her cheerios, more like stuff her mouth with 3-4 cheerios, and how she gives me sweet kisses on the cheek, and how she knows to say "mom" every time she wants something!!  This first year has flown by and so much has happened with so many memories.  She's even has a career as a baby model and has made a good amount towards her college fund already!  We can't wait to see what other adventures Lily has in store for us.  Each day is a blessing with her and we cannot ask for a better life than this!  Happy 1st Birthday our sweet baby Lily!  We love you to pieces, forever and a half times double infinity!!!

UPDATE:  Thank you to D. Park Photography for capturing Lily's 1st Birthday, our party got featured on Hostess with the Mostess, check out the article HERE!