Even with my own wedding anniversary coming up at the end of the month and so many of my friends getting engaged or married, the whole getting older thing is something that hasn't really sunk in very much. With each passing month, it something that gets harder and harder to ignore. After most of your friends graduate from college (even the stragglers) the next big milestone that screams "YOU'RE ALL GETTING OLDER," is getting married. It's a slap in the face for all of those (who am I kidding--all of us) Peter Pans out there who don't want to grow up. I've hit the age where singles are dropping like flies and weddings feel like they're every other weekend. Every wedding that passes makes you stop and think about life and what you're doing. They force you to think about the future and what it might look like, but the best part is that they make you celebrate the present. Weddings celebrate the very best parts of life--family and friends and love. Once you realize that you're surrounded by some very cool people who will be there for you no matter what, getting older doesn't seem like such a bad prospect.

One of my dearest friends from high school is getting married next month and a while back I offered to bake for them if they had a need for any of the numerous parties that always seem to go hand in hand with weddings. His lovely fiance asked if I could do some fruity cupcakes for a lingerie party, and I jumped on the opportunity to whip up something utterly delicious! I figured you can never go wrong with something pink at these events, but I still wanted to keep it simple and classy, I went with Martha Stewart's strawberry cupcakes and strawberry buttercream. Definitely one of my new favorites.

This cupcake is not overly sweet and the moist, dense batter balanced well with fresh strawberries chunks  and gave them a great burst of flavor. The strawberry buttercream was just devine and complimented the cupcakes perfectly. Made with fresh strawberries, it was just the right balance of sweet, creamy, strawberry goodness with out being too sweet or packed with artificial flavors. For a topper, I melted some chocolate and made little white chocolate coins and piped A's on them. Easy and quick for just a little flair of decoration.