Less than a month away...

I can't believe I somehow missed the one month 'til my birthday mark!  I must've been too distracted with water and my family of hams to realize I'm only 25 for a few more weeks.

So, much to my mother's disbelief -- "You're going to make your own birthday cake?!" -- I am, in fact, planning on making my own birthday cake.  Listen, when you enjoy food this much, it's a treat to have a reason to bake a cake of your choosing while everyone around you has no choice but to eat what you've selected :)  Plus, I'm pretty picky when it comes to my baked goods, so I can fine tune them to meet my unreasonably high standards.  I love the basic yellow and chocolate cakes, but I think I can speak for every baker out there when I say that I welcome a challenge!  Something out of the ordinary.  With a little bit of flair, danger... what, too much?  Fine fine.  Anyway, here are some of the finalists in the running for my 26th birthday cake:

• Crepe cake with layers of luscious vanilla bean pastry cream.  No oven required!
• Citrus poppyseed cake... perfect summer flavors
• Finally attempt a red velvet cake, despite kitchen disaster stories that I've heard
• Strawberry ice cream cake (and maybe some blueberries for July, too)

Have you seen any awesome cake-ish recipes that I should consider for my big day?  What do you think of my choices so far?  That's especially directed at those who will most likely be enjoying said treat with me.  Well, the day before.  Since around 7:45am on my actual birthday, I'll be boarding a plane to LA-la land :)