I have never baked a cake before. My mom is the baker. I prefer desserts that don't require as much measuring. Crisps, cookies, brownies. Just add a little more oatmeal or butter or flower until the consistency is about right. And then either take it out early so it's nice and gooey or leave it in until it's golden brown. Less room for failure, I suppose.
Jessica and I were born 363 days apart, and both of our birthdays are coming up mid-week next week. With busy weekends approaching, we didn't know if we'd get a chance to get together. So we planned to bake ourselves a pre-birthday cake and exchange presents early. We followed Deb's best birthday cake recipe and were advised to use the fattiest buttermilk we could find, or else add another stick of butter. It turned out surprisingly well. Like, perfect. And then on day two it got a little dry. And because there was no party, five days later I still have a lot of cake to eat. But overall it was a success and we had so much fun staying up till 1 a.m. baking ourselves a birthday cake. And hopefully we can continue the tradition next year, and in the meantime brainstorm ideas on recipes and bunting and cake plates and candles.
Edit: Frosting recipe in comments :)