First Birthdays, cake, and ordering things from Etsy...

We celebrated my Nephew Noah’s first birthday this past weekend.  I was in charge of the cake and I wanted to do something special.  I did some poking around and decided to order a custom cake topper from a seller on Etsy.  I really try to purchase things like this from independent sellers, you usually get personal service and things are shipped quickly.  I have an Etsy shop and whenever I get an order things are done in the time frame I give and I always, always, ALWAYS ship priority mail.  Always.

I ordered this custom topper on May 28th, I needed it by June 7th at the very latest and let the shop owner know this.  After not hearing anything for a few days I contacted her again on June 3 and she asks me what the order was for again, so I send it to her again.  I emailed her again on June 5th asking her WTH was going on with my order because I needed it by Friday and get a message back that it was shipped Monday followed by another message with the tracking #.  My order, which came from Illinois was shipped first class mail and she was under the impression it would arrive Wednesday or Thursday.  Thursday night I'm in a panic when I return home from work and there’s nothing from her in the mail, the tracking information is saying the package is somewhere in NJ and I’m in full on panic mode.

Friday it rained cats and dogs, I had the day off work so I could work on last minute things for the birthday party before I have to pick up The Kid from school and get over to my cousin’s so I can help her set up and get these cakes baked off..  I busied myself in the morning getting ingredients together and packing up weekend stuff for myself and the kid and straightening up.

Noon rolls around and no mail yet, finally I check my email around 2 and just after 1pm I got a message from the USPA that the mail was delivered.  I ran outside in the pouring rain to get the mail and my landlord and his wife were pulling into the driveway.  As I'm rummaging through the mailbox and he tells me that a package was left on the porch in the rain and he brought it inside, and there it is.

Granted, it was perfect.  It was just what I wanted.  But I will Never ever order from this seller again.  There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for something you ordered well in advance.

The cake came out fantastic with a vanilla layer on the bottom Chocolate on top and a layer of smooth eggless cookie dough in the middle.

I wish I had some pictures of Noah gobbling up that cake, it was awesome.

Noah's Big Brother's birthday party is next month, I want to order another topper, but this time I'll order it from ebay where I can rely on seller ratings and order well in advance just for good measure.