chefdani23

Who have I become letting almost a year go by without a photo dump?! 😱

​Honestly, contrary to popular belief, I post these mostly for myself. My camera roll is an endless void of a million screenshots and snapshots, so my IG feed is where I actually get to look back and remember the sweet stuff. Prepare yourselves: I’m officially spamming you with archives over the next few weeks.

​Kicking it off with Winter 2025/2026 ❄️🤍

​A season full of good food, good people, seeing the SpongeBob movie, cousin visits, wandering Oakland Cemetery (and randomly learning Kenny Rogers is buried there?!), Emma taking home the "Most Open-Minded" award, field trips, getting my first Friday the 13th tattoo with one of my besties, and so much in between.

​Truly loving this sweet little life. 💖

This is probably the only post I'll ever make about a celebrity's death (other than Bourdain). But I've shed actual tears once hearing the news of her passing. Everyone loves Dolly. How can you not?

But to be a young girl, and a young APPALACHIAN girl who grew up in the 90s Dolly Parton TRULY meant something to us ALL in ways those not from Appalachia will NEVER understand. Where I'm from, we grew up about 45 mins across the border of Tennessee from where she did. From growing up reading her book "A Coat of Many Colors" about her childhood and growing up dirt poor, but in a home filled with love, and what that truly MEANT. To visiting Dollywood as much as my mom could take me and watching Dolly perform, watching her little brother Randy perform and meeting him on a few occasions, to watching "The Heart song" in the Heart Song theatre every time we went no matter how many times we had seen it. Dolly was PURE magic. She was someone we all looked up to our entire lives 🦋 ✨

I luckily enough had my own special interaction with her in 9th grade that many never were blessed to have. And I can attest that Dolly was as KIND as she seemed. I was in a county choir "Voices in the Laurel" who were lucky enough to be allowed to open for her Christmas Performances that year. Dolly put us all up in her employee cabins, and each one of us had a basket full of goodies waiting for us on our beds when we arrived. When it came time for our group photo (sorry to those I cut out of it, it's Instagrams fault) Dolly's manager wanted to rush her telling her she didn't have time to talk to us, that she needed to take the photo and keep it moving. And in typical Dolly fashion she let them know she was going to do what SHE wanted to do and take a moment to talk to these kids and thank us for opening for her Christmas shows that year. I will never ever forget her kindness. And the fun times we had while opening those shows.

There will NEVER ever be another Dolly Parton and what she meant to us Applachians, and what she did on numerous occasions for her Appalachian community. She was more than special. 🪽🕊️

(I'm the 2nd girl sitting on the floor bottom right)

On Monday my sweetie pie officially became a big 4th grader!! Here's to another wonderful school year for her and all the other kiddos. 🍎📚📓✏️💙

Can y'all believe she is 9 today... Because I can't!! 😫
We celebrated my sweet girl over the weekend and had a blast at the Great Wolf Lodge. She's officially big enough that she can hold me in the water, yet I can barely pick her up out of the water. 😂🩷🎂

Pics/Videos from Emma's 2 dance recitals from the beginning of May. One things for sure this little girl loves to be on stage! 🩷🥰🩰🧑🏼‍🩰

I'm months behind on posting, but I had to take a moment to post this video of my sweet girl killing it at her Flower Hour Performance a couple of weekends ago. She sang Shake it Out by 🤘🏼🩷⚡🌸

Special shout out to and for all that they do. And Emma's third grade teacher Ms. Crosby for coming to her show. 🫶🏼

(Instagram won't let me post the whole video Booooo 👎🏼)

Simple, classic and delicious! 💚🍫 Rich Chocolate cake layers with silky pistachio buttercream made for a special celebration amongst gal pals. ✨

Avengers Assemble! 🦹🛡️This Avengers-themed creation isn't just for show—inside is a powerhouse of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Flavored cake layers. Because let’s be real: even Super Heroes have a weakness for cookie dough. 🍪💥

A little bit of Roaring 20s glamour for a matriarchs 50th birthday celebration this weekend! 🥂✨

I ​loved making this chocolate double-stacked half-sheet cake, layered with fresh raspberry jam filling for that perfect mix of rich and fruity. The Art Deco design, complete with pearls, feathers, and gold details, really brought the theme to life! 🍸💛

A winter wonderland cake fit for a birthday princess! ❄️👑💎

I had so much fun creating this chocolate double-stacked half-sheet cake for a very special little girl’s birthday party this week. From the shimmering pastel gradients to the "crystal" rock candy toppers, every detail was designed to bring a little extra sparkle to her big day.

Seeing the joy these custom themes bring to kids is definitely the best part of the job and I even got a special hug for making her birthday cakes every year. ☺️

Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!l, I hope she had a blast at her party 🥳❄️✨

Hoppy Spring everyone! 🐣 Looking for some delicious Easter treats? I'm accepting last minute orders through Thursday, April 2nd!
I am ONLY selling 8 of my special smash eggs, so get your orders in quick!

​To place your order or for any special order requests, just send me a DM. 🐰