25

I have entered the final days of my life as a 25-year-old.

One week from today I will be entering the uncharted territory of 26. Luckily, having an April Birthday, a good number of my friends have hit the 26-mark ahead of me. They have said, as with most other birthdays, you do not feel any differently. I can only recall one or two specific birthdays that made me feel older. {Perhaps when I turned thirteen (officially a teenager!) and the infamous 21 (which I spent with my now-husband at Comedy off Broadway drinking my first drink...for serious...a margarita).}

A throwback to the eighties. My first Birthday: April 6, 1986.

In my life, getting older has been marked by moments or situations, not necessarily by specific years. For instance, I truly felt like I had hit adulthood when our new bedroom furniture arrived. Not necessarily when I started my "first real job" the summer after I graduated from college or even when I got married last fall. Sure, they both contributed immensely, but that bedroom furniture hit the nail on the head for me.

In many ways, I still feel like a teenager. I remember what it feels like to be madly in love with a Backstreet Boy (I guess it was not meant to be, Nick Carter) and how it felt to first sit behind the wheel of a car (ah, the days of the forest green Taurus...). To go even further back, I can remember what it feels like to be a kid. The hours I spent playing Barbies with my sisters and best friend Trisha and just the complete sense of freedom that comes with having zero responsibility.

Through most every stage of my life, I have often wished time away. Along the way, I would think, "if only I was 10. Or 16. Or 18. Or out of high school. Or out of college. Or married." And time, moving as quick as it does, would fly by me before I could even recognize (or appreciate) what I had. It is never until after those times are over that you realize what you had.

If I could go back, I would tell younger Kristin to relish each moment, each phase and each chapter. You only have one life. Don't wish it all away! I think that is something most people realize once they hit a certain age. I'm just glad it hit me now...while I am still in my mid-20s and not when I am nearing retirement age. A very merry Birthday realization to me!

Why use a box when you can make homemade?

My youngest sister Kimberly turned 23 today. In an instant, my sisters and I became true stairsteps: ages 23, 24 and 25...well, until early April anyway. To this day, I still question my parents' sanity. 

I took the opportunity to make a cake for today's celebration. Kim's favorite kind of cake is funfetti. You know, the pre-made Pillsbury cake mix. It is basically white cake, but the "funfetti" part is a bunch of colored sprinkles that bake into the dough and form a confetti like appearance inside the cake. It's basically a party in a box. 

As for icing, she likes white. I prefer chocolate myself, but if the girl wanted white on white, she was going to get white on white.

Instead of simply using a cake mix and can of frosting, I decided to kick it up a notch. I tried two new (well, new to me anyway) recipes from my Joy of Cooking cookbook: White Cake and Seven Minute White Icing. I followed the basic cake recipe but added quite a few rainbow sprinkles to the batter to give it that Funfetti appearance.

All in all, the cake turned out pretty delish, despite not being as moist as I typically like my cakes. It had a heavier texture and reminded me more of a wedding cake. Not that there's anything wrong with that! 


The icing was really sweet; kind of had a marshmallow creme kind of consistency. Maybe I didn't beat it as long as I should have. But it tasted great just the same!

Cakes are not one of my favorites when it comes to baking and sweet making, but it was nice to get into the kitchen for a little baking session. Happy 23rd Birthday, Kimberly! 

Anniversaries, Weddings and Birthdays...Oh my!

The weekend we get married, we will be celebrating Jacob's parents' wedding anniversary (September 17), our wedding day (September 18) and Jacob's brother Seth's Birthday (September 19). Not to mention we are marrying on his aunt and uncle's wedding anniversary. September is apparently a huge month in the Kelly family.

As such, I have been thinking of ways we can commemorate these events within our weekend wedding extravaganza...

First off, I definitely think that a toast(s) (from Jacob and I) during our Rehearsal Dinner would be a nice touch. And in such an intimate setting, this could be really great!

Second, I have been doing a lot of thinking about placing old family wedding photos in pretty frames at the reception site...I have seen a few images from weddings that had a similar set up and it looks like a really nice idea. And a really great conversation starter! Consider this photo of my grandparents (Mom's parents) at their 1955 wedding (left), and my great grandparents (Mom's grandparents), at their wedding sometime in the early 20th century (right). Priceless!

I think the tricky thing will be to find a classy way to display these... I am leaning toward an entryway table, where we can also set the guest book and some pretty flowers. Maybe something like the below. Thoughts?


Speaking of photos...I thought about possibly having a display of photos of Jacob and I at Keene Run. Not sure if this is something we really need or not (we plan to have a pre-wedding trivia show for guests to play in the church before the ceremony starts AND Jacob's mom is working on a slideshow for the rehearsal dinner that we may also be able to play at the reception as well). But, these are cute ways to display photos if we do decide to go that route:

And, finally, I plan to have the DJ play first dance songs from family members' weddings. This is a simple (and fun) way to tie family weddings to ours. I can hardly wait to hear what these songs were for family members...especially after Mom told me she and my Dad had some totally 80's number. For the life of me I cannot remember what it was, but I laughed and I laughed when I heard what it was. Ha!

But when it comes to Seth's Birthday, I don't know how to best incorporate it into our wedding...ideas?