Best reason to have a birthday party

Sure, the presents are nice. Seeing friends is fun, too. And not having to buy your own drinks is a welcome change of pace. But when it comes down to it, the best -- not to mention the sweetest and prettiest -- reason to have a birthday party is the chance to indulge in a cake from Brookline's Party Favors. Not only does the packed-to-the-rafters shop offer more than the standard chocolate, yellow, and marble basics -- try lemon, orange, mocha, spice, almond, and carrot, with fillings like rum, chocolate-raspberry mousse, Irish cream, hazelnut, apricot and cream, and white-chocolate-cinnamon mousse -- but the icing on the cake is, well, the icing on the cake. The talented decorators at Party Favors will create any design or structure you desire, from outrageously elaborate flowers to Disney characters, baby bassinets to scenic autumn vistas.

And even if it's not your birthday, pay a visit to Party Favors anyway, and head down to the basement, where a window into the cake-making room gives you a bird's-eye -- make that a mouthwatering, stomach-growling -- view of the whole operation. Here, workers mix up a rainbow of frosting colors and turn plain white hulks of cakes into museum-worthy creations limited only by the imaginations of their purchasers.

Party Favors, 1356 Beacon Street, Brookline, (617) 566-3330.