A check-in, a recap, & a slight addendum.

well, i'm knee-deep in party-planning [CLEANING] mode for this little cutie's 'backyard-picnic' party.  her actual birthday was such a perfect 'hailey-day'... a mellow, but full day with just ryan, jacob, my mom and her husband...

it all started with a donut - not just any donut- the best donut, then onward and upward to farrell's and next, just a few doors down, to color me mine... a big ol' sundae, a quiet ceramic-painting session with her and jacob, in which we chatted and admired their heavy focus and artistic talent... topped off with the long-awaited-totally-giddy present opening, and of course- the remainder of summer strawberry cake.  yep.  a pretty happy birthday it was.

although the day is done, we still have a party to throw, one a little less quiet... one that will include a few more family members, a handful of friends... lots of little picnic baskets, of course- a slip n' slide and every other "pool"-related item we own (our feeble attempt to make them forget about the reality that there is in fact, no pool), {i realize i'm going a little link-crazy here, but as of late- instagram seems to be the only 'account' that i can somewhat maintain :)}, & most definitely some type of summery strawberry treat to officially mark the occasion.

{speaking of 'summer strawberry treats' i decided to link the aforementioned strawberry cake up as last week's tried & true recipe.  i realized that it is the 4th time i've made it, the third time i've mentioned it, but have yet to write anything about it... and although it's super easy, there's one important point  for those of you who are interested in trying it out for yourself- which i highly recommend.  i updated the post with the following note...}

*not a recipe i'm trying for the first time, i'm still using it as this week's 'tried & true', because it is so incredibly good (and easy- & perfect for summer), and i wanted it to be officially represented on THE LIST. 

a quick *cook's note... if you want the strawberries to stay on top, as opposed to sinking into the cake (making them invisible until sliced & consumed), then the barley flour that she recommends using along with the white flour is key.  last summer, i made this cake a few times- the first with white only, then the second with white only, but higher-stacked strawberries (thinking this might've been the issue)... sunken strawberries on both occasions.  i finally purchased barley flour and low & behold- those babies stayed *afloat*.
   
...which for me, was in fact key, since it just makes the cake so darn pretty :).
  
{i'm assuming another dense flour would also work, but i've yet to try}