My mom and Ryan’s mom organized a going away party for us this weekend. It was wonderful to be surrounded by many of our family and friends. I felt so loved and was really touched that people made the trip out to send us off. And I liked having so many different groups of people together. I felt warm and fuzzy, but I also got a bit weepy. With so many people supporting and encouraging us, what can’t we accomplish, even if we are far away? But, being far away… I will miss so many things and so many people. So I cried a bit. But not too much.

The party itself was lovely. My mom got us the most BEAUTIFUL cake. She ordered it from Samantha of Sweet Eats Cakes. My family is a little obsessed with her. Samantha made Ryan and my wedding cake, and in total, to this day, she’s made us five cakes. We love Samantha because her pricing is affordable, she is so flexible and easy to contact, and most importantly her cake is so delicious. Each slice of incredibly moist cake has four layers, which means tons of cake and more space for frosting. She makes great fruit purees and a chocolate ganache. What blows my mind is her butter cream! The frosting is light in texture but so deeply infused with flavor. Oh man, Ryan and I will miss her cakes.  Below is my Sweet Eats Cakes photo collage. 

Our going away party cake had three tiers. The bottom tier was decorated to look like Hershey, Ryan’s home town. The second tier was Baltimore, my home town. And the third tier was London, our future home town. The cake was so intricate with recognizable buildings from each city’s skyline. Even better, each tier was a different flavor! There was chocolate and hazelnut, yellow cake with oreo butter cream, and yellow cake with lemon butter cream and raspberry puree.  I made sure to eat all three flavors.

Ryan and I also walked away from the party with a great haul of gifts to remind us of home and get us ready for London. We got Nationals and Ravens gear, cookbooks, and guidebooks. We also got a ton of snack food. A picture of our snack mountain is below. Did you know there’s no peanut butter in London? Or marshmallows? Or graham crackers? That’s according to the internet, so I don’t know for sure. But I have a hard time believing that the country of London lives without smores. How could that be?

I’m not sure, but I’ll be sure to scour the grocery stores and once I’m there and let you know. And so the countdown begins. 5 days for Ryan, and a little less than 2 weeks for me. England here we come!

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