Cooler Weather! Cake! And Another Kickass Horoscope!

Cooler weather - I will actually have to put a blanket at the foot of the bed tonight, in case it gets chilly around 3 a.m. I woke at 3 this morning and was a tad cool, but also not interested in hunting down a blanket. We finally hit slightly cooler weather - low-mid 60s at night, and 82ish at the hottest part of the day. The sky is impossibly clear and blue. I love the start of good sleeping weather - suddenly I have energy again, and want to Get Stuff Done.

And my horoscope says:

You're fit as a fiddle and simply humming with energy. Not only are you ready to tackle all of the tasks on your schedule, but you're ready to solve all the world's problems, too. Go ahead and tend your own garden first before moving on to anyone else's plot of land. In fact, make sure you wait for an express invitation before you give into any urge to meddle. It'll save you and your friends ever so much hassle.

Via Astrology.com.

And I DID tend my garden today - watered in the new sod where the pond used to be, and whacked away at the giant bougainvilla that wants to take over the world. I'm not knocking myself out to spruce up landscaping, but when Layla was here, she brought me a stick - a stick of deadfall off the bougainvilla. Bougainvillas have spikes - not thorns like roses, but big, badass spikey thorns 3/4 of an inch long. I impaled myself getting it away from her, and decided that the one thing I really should do before leaving is cutting that sucker back and cleaning up all the dead sticks beneath it.

CAKE! We have CAKE! Bride's high school friend got married a couple of weeks ago and suggested a wedding cake lady we hadn't known about, so we visited this cake lady yesterday. We were treated so nicely - a private tasting with 20 or so different cake samples and 15 fillings, and the cake lady's assistant gave us her unlimited attention. The cake lady herself sat down with a pencil and pad and sketched out the cake on the spot. And the cake is just drop-dead amazingly good - moist, flavorful, rich. We planned the flavors for the layers, from traditional to unusual. The cake is not huge, but will be squares of varying depths for visual interest, with buttercream frosting and a design of minimalist artsy swirls in burgundy and gold and a pale champagne gold. That will serve about 70. I felt we were coming in a bit short on cake servings, because right now our guest list is at 60-ish, so I talked them into considering a groom's cake as well.

At this, the groom's creativity kicked in - he asked if they could do a round cake with a design that will be really different and an inside joke of sorts. So, the cake is delicious, the cake lady is an artist, the price? The price was FAR cheaper than the place we visited last week, when we were quoted for a puny little cake and a stiff delivery charge. We are getting more and far better cake, and free delivery! I'm so thrilled!

And I finally did a try-on of the first dress selections from Macy's and Nordstrom. The shiny satin structured dresses are going back. I could wear them, but I don't want to spend my daughter's wedding sweating and fretting in two layers of stiff, heavy material (not counting the necessary "foundation" garments). I swear they gave me a hot flash just trying them on.

The winning dress was one of the more expensive ones (isn't it always?): Komorov flutter sleeve dress in navy It looked impossibly tiny and slinky on the hanger, but when I put it on I discovered that it's wonderfully stretchy, and it floated and felt as light as a feather. It is exactly the length I want - just flirting with covering the kneecap, but no longer - and floaty and fun. I'll throw on some sturdy Spanx like "foundation garment" and forget it. I'm dressed. I already have a pair of black patent slingback heels, and my feet aren't going to be the focus of anybody's attention. I'm done, unless I want to compare the blue flutter sleeve with the purple 3/4 sleeve version, just in case the weather is as freakishly cool in the evening as it is this week, and hell, right now I think I want both. Anyway, I put on this dress and fell in love - even if I find another, this dress is staying with me. Even if I lose 15 pounds, this stretchy, fun dress will still fit. (I can just lose the Spanx.) :-)