Happy Birthday, Maddie!!

March Madness, I tell you... our sweet little Maddie turns eight (8) today!!

Maddie and I baked 40 brownies to share with her second grade classmates at Mendham Township Elementary School. We're celebrating with dinner tonight at Jam Cafe (formerly Limestone Cafe) in Peapack, NJ, then again on Saturday night with a very small slumber party (three friends are sleeping over) with four great themes: dogs, skulls, basketball, and rock stars. Our cake lady, Carol Falcone of As You Like It cakes, is baking another amazing birthday cake (featuring a cockapoo playing basketball and wearing a pink bandana)... Carol baked a Nemo cake for Maddie's 2nd birthday party in 2004 when we had just moved to the Roxiticus Valley from NYC.

While I can't believe my baby girl is eight years old, Maddie is already counting the days until her 16th birthday, when she can audition to be the next American Idol... though she and her girl band, the Butter Bites, are probably better suited to Simon Cowell's new show, the X Factor, which allows groups, not just solo performers, to compete.

Speaking of Weddings....You Need a Cake Lady: Carol Falcone, As You Like It Cakes

Here's another tip for Wedding Girl. No matter where she and her fiancee (or you and yours) decide to have their wedding reception, there's only one person to trust for your wedding cake.

People are always asking us about our "cake lady" -- Carol Falcone, who does all of our fancy (and delicious) birthday cakes. So here's a link to her web site, As You Like It Cakes, in Far Hills, NJ: http://carolfalconespecialtycakes.com/.

Her phone number is 908-626-0693. I have now given you one of my best-kept secrets. Just remember to tell her the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives sent you.....