Because we had to leave the night before to make our 9am appointment and because we couldn't exodus ourselves from Boston until Eric was done with work, we wound up picking my mom up in CT at around 9:30pm and taking a late night drive to NJ. We drove into the Courtyard by Marriott lot in Newport around midnight and bright and early the next day, we were up for our appointment!
Now, we had some very special guests for cake tasting at Carlo's--our friends Helen, Jim, and Kiki. All three of them agreed to come and also had the date on their calendar for months, and since they were driving down from Rhode Island for Helen's birthday celebration in NYC, it turned out to be an easy subway and PATH train ride over to the other side of the world!
Which reminds me, before I even get to the cake tasting: let me tell you a bit about New Jersey. Friends, it was like another country over there! And for someone who grew up with the healthy dose of anti-NJ sentiment that any New Yorker should have, I loved it! Hoboken is adorable, and the surrounding neighborhoods were clearly developing to be great places to live as well. There were pretty parks and safe streets and all the brownstones looked like 1950s Brooklyn and there were real butchers and a whole shop that sold rice pudding and fabulous views of Manhattan from across the river and...well, it was pretty terrific! But every time I took out my wallet I honestly thought I should be taking out Canadian currency or something because it just felt so far from New York, even though it was probably a 10 minute boat ride away.
So pumped about my newfound love for NJ and the rice pudding restaurant (Miami Rice) that sold over 35 kinds of rice pudding (Canoli was best), we headed over to Carlo's. And even though we'd never been to Hoboken before, there was no missing it: there was a huge line out the door! Luckily, we had an appointment, so Helen, Jim, and Kiki (who'd gotten there before us and procured black and white cookies in the meantime) and Eric, my mom, and I all got to walk right past the crowds and head to the far less frenetic upstairs. There we sat in a small room with a large, very Italian man with a giant gold crucifix around his neck who wowed us with cake. We tried carrot cake, red velvet, white with chocolate filling and chocolate cake and fondant (everyone's fave), yellow with buttercream and fresh raspberries and several others. I don't want to give away the secret design we came up with for the groom's cake (which will be served at the rehearsal dinner--some couples have been doing this now, having one cake for the rehearsal and one at the wedding instead of two at the actual reception), but suffice it to say that both Eric and I went, "WOW!" when we saw the design.
Before we left, we mentioned to the guy who was working with us that, like the employees at Carlo's, Helen had been on a reality show (Survivor season 5). It was so hysterical to see the guy's reaction--it was like he was so excited to meet a real TV star (which was mostly funny because he's surrounded by them) and he immediately called up this other guy who works at the bakery and loves Survivor to come in and meet Helen. He came rushing in and was saying that he'd love to be on Survivor but can't because he's on Cake Boss. Then ensued a whole conversation about what it's like to be on a reality TV show, etc., that really made the day unique. I mean, really, how many people can say they went cake tasting at a reality TV show bakery with a reality TV show star who wasn't on that bakery's reality TV show? Isn't that awesome?
Of course, mostly what was awesome was the fact that we had a great time with our friends and left with an amazing groom's cake idea. The fact that we saw a couple of famous people, well, that was fun too, but totally paled in comparison to laughing and spending time and tasting cake together!
We bought a couple of canolis when we left the bakery and also a special surprise for Meri (fyi: the cannolis were pretty solid--not too sweet but a little too cheesy, like they put in cream cheese in addition to the ricotta or something). Then we went back to the hotel to drive to Long Island for Melissa and Wayne's wedding, which was a really special occasion as well. I've known Wayne and his family my whole life, and it was incredible to see him all grown up and tying the knot. It was also wonderful to see Melissa, who has been really helpful as I've been planning our wedding, and who I know put a ton of work into her own. All the decorations and artwork she did for the wedding were incredible, and she really made the space look terrific. She also looked really beautiful, and they both looked wonderfully happy.
Of course, I've now decided every engaged couple should go to at least one wedding before they get married--it's so good for research! This way you can look and say, "Ooh, their table numbers looked awesome--I want to do that too" or "Ooh, that runner looks so elegant, and I thought I'd love it at my wedding, and it's great that everyone in this bridal party can walk down the aisle and not trip over it, but now that I see that it's not bolted to the floor and that I'm a total clutz--better skip that!" So it was pretty fun to participate in their special day and also to do some undercover research for our own.
Oh, and lest I forget the most important part, their cake--and giant Viennese table with real Italian zeppolis and a chocolate fountain--was pretty awesome as well! :)
Kiki, Eric, me, Jim, Helen, and my mom outside of Carlo's. Check out the line behind us!
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