A Truly INCREDIBLE Cupcake Party With Duff's Cakemix

You all know I love cake and cupcakes. Pretty much anything with sugar I’m jumping in head first. Sugar makes everything sweeter, right? In my life I crave things sweet and not just food things, all things. I started my blog, Baby Boy Bakery, nearly eight years ago with recipes of baked goods and a strong mission to make life sweet through sugar coated desserts. But laced within that sugar was a deep deep love for being in the kitchen with my children. Being in the kitchen with my kids helps ignite my excitement for all things, not just for food. It also makes me realize how special this time with my children is. Watching their brains learn the ins and outs of salty, sweet and various textures is incredible. Today my children and I are still cooking and creating together in the kitchen. In hopes of inspiring other families to come together and make lasting memories in their own kitchens.

People often ask me “Oh Baby Boy Bakery, you have an actual bakery?” and I can see how my name can get confusing. Eight years ago I started my little space online with just my son and I in the kitchen. Though, as most of you know, life happened. And while having our family turn upside-down was heart breaking, one of things that has always helped me cope is cooking and sharing it all on my blog with you.

When I try to explain what Baby Boy Bakery is I say, “It is a place to be inspired. A place to learn simple ways to involve your little ones in the kitchen more often. A place to understand that life is too short and we only truly have today to make the most of it. A place to laugh and not feel alone in your grief or on hard motherhood days.”

Last weekend I hosted an intimate cupcake decorating party at Duff’s Cakemix here in Pasadena, California. We came together to celebrate the release of Disney Pixar's The Incredibles 2 film. You know everything I do has a story behind it or some time of meaning/tie in to my family. When Duff’s Cakemix reached out and wanted to host an event together I jumped at the chance to have families create cupcakes together. I thought it was the perfect little event to have since we are so focused on cooking with our own children. When the Disney team jumped on board as well it felt like a total dream. It felt as if my son Ryan was playing puppet up in Heaven and planning this event all on his own. I say this because one of my son’s favorite Disney Pixar movies is ‘The Incredibles’. And now, it seemed only fitting to host a party in celebration of the movies sequel. You know I always look for signs and love finding ways to tie my late son into everything I do. I carry him everywhere and talk about him always as he is still very much here in my eyes. This event was so special to me in so many ways.

One quick story, I wrote more about our first Halloween with out Ryan here, though I’ll tell you quickly now. On our last Halloween with Ryan he had just turned three and wanted to dress up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. That night trick or treating with Ryan was so much fun. We must have hit at least 50+ houses and we stayed up late sorting and eating candy. Looking back now all our ‘lasts’ with Ryan were so deliciously incredible. Almost as if he knew he was setting us up for beautiful lasting memories to help us through the hard times of missing him so much. Does that make sense? Anyways, the very next day Ryan declared that next year he would be Dash from The Incredibles. Ryan would remind us almost daily about getting a Dash costume for next year. Ryan didn’t make it to his next Halloween, but I did end up buying him his Dash costume. We still have it actually. Well my mom keeps in her closet and displays it every year on Halloween.

Now, Mila too adores the movie and oddly enough Dash as well. She runs through our tiny home saying “I’m fast like Dash!” When all the pieces for this cupcake making event came together I knew it was all for a reason. And on the day of, my son Ryan was everywhere.

The day was full of sunshine and the kids all had such a great time! We decorated cupcakes with frosting, fondant, sprinkles and all the candy you could dream of. We couldn’t have done this with out our incredible event sponsors …

Thanks to Duff’s Cakemix they supplied all the cupcake fixings for the children and allowed everyone to get creative! (and as messy as they wanted) The Disney Pixar team supplied the families with fun activities and t-shirts to take home and were just so happy help our little event in celebration of their new movie. We had Amazebowls come and set up a DIY acai bowl station which the parents and children loved. What was not to love about healthy acai bowls accompanied by frosted cupcakes?! After all, life is about balance. ;) To help capture the fun we had The Flash Truck set up their insanely rad photo booth truck. Families went in and were able to take the coolest family photos! And a big Thank You to Birdling Bags and Space Masks for giving every guest a special something to take home!

You know, it might just seem like a small cupcake decorating party. But for me it was so much more. It was truly special to see things come together, all laced with my son in some way. It was neat to stand in the middle and feel a full circle moment there for a second. Remembering how my blog and social media started and what it looks like today. Seeing how far we have come, but also how we’ve stayed within our mission to make life sweet with desserts and yummy foods. All while holding on strong and living life in the moment, making the most of it all. It is hard to openly feel or say you are proud of yourself, for fear of sounding ridiculous or self-centered. But today, I am feeling proud of myself and my family. I’m taking that and running with it. I’m also excited to have these memories now to look back on and help me out when I don’t feel so prideful or when my days are a little more dark. You know? Banking all good to pull out later when I need it the most.

Thank you always for listening and we are already planning a few events were we can open to all of you! So stay tuned …

Below are photos from our fun morning at Duff’s Cakemix.

Photos by Lily Ro Photography