Otsukare-chan!

The first part of today was a pretty normal Friday: relatively chill at the beginning, and then classes in the late afternoon and evening.  But what made today exciting was the surprise party Becky and I threw for Carol!  We were afraid she'd figure it out but I guess she didn't, so yay!  We had a pretty good turnout, and there were lots of sweets and snacks and such, and it was a lot of fun.  So have some pictures!

My cake!  Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  I started with a yellow cake mix, so it wasn't quite from scratch, but I did everything else myself!

I meant to take a picture of all of the snacks (there was kind of a lot), but I forgot.  But I had to take a picture of the Rilakkuma box from Mister Donut!  Words cannot express how okay I am with the combination of adorable bears and delicious donuts.

Dessert plate!  Everyone got a plate like this with my red velvet cake, Becky's pumpkin pie, and Julia's apple crumble thing that has some long German name that I can't remember.  And now, moving on from food (it's hard for me, I know)...

A bunch of people hid behind the cough, haha.  So cute!  Aki-san decided to hide under the kotatsu, but his feet kept sticking out.  XD;;

Group shot!  Yay!  :D  The only person not in this picture is Eri, who came late.

People chatting and eating.

Nori-chan and Youko-san!

Alicia and Julia!  We talked about Greek mythology, haha.  Good times!

Rieko-san, Aki-san, Anna, and little Eva who made her way into the picture, haha.

And the birthday girl!

And me, wearing the chonmage thing Eri gave Carol.  Eri said I looked kakkoii.  Ummm sure.

A bonus picture of our Christmas tree~

And Carol had this really cool candle that her sister gave her to use on her birthday.  Here she is getting ready to light it.

And then...a gigantic flame!

And then it lights the other candles, opens, and shoots out sparks!

And then it ends up like this, playing Happy Birthday (apparently for three whole days unless you cut this wire thing).  Yeah, it's basically the most awesome candle ever.

So that's all for today!  Tomorrow's Inspa, the returnee gathering in Nagoya, so that should be fun!  :D