After seeing hundreds of aesthetic TikTok videos where people venture to the beach or any gorgeous destination with friends, consume bougie foods and drinks and jam to Harry Styles, I was enraged. Not by the Harry Styles, but by the way they ate cake. 

Eating cake with wine glasses. As a self-proclaimed food connoisseur, I must point out all the flaws in this trend. Overly large servings, cake crumbs all over the place, dirty glasses smeared with frosting and a misshapen cake left looking extremely unappealing. Cute in a video, but a guaranteed failure in reality. 

I sought to try it out myself, just to prove how awful it was. 

My plan was simple: I made a cute cake, as well as some more food, and planned a picnic with a friend. The cake was chocolatey, decadent and complete with decorations, frosting and all. It was the highlight of the show. But disaster struck before I could even get to the picnic. 

Unbeknownst to me, my family decided to help themselves to my cake, taking not one slice, not two — but the entire cake. I was left empty-handed and unprepared. 

In retrospect, this might have been a blessing in disguise — I was saved from having to eat cake with a wine glass. 

With no trendy cake, I decided to make some more different trendy foods. I spent about an hour carefully assembling a charcuterie board (with homemade butter), only to realize I had to transport it and painstakingly took it apart once more. 

After persevering these challenges, however, I reformed my board at the picnic. The end-product was a beautiful board with assorted fruits, breads and nuts. Still, it tragically lacked the most essential aspect of a charcuterie board: cheese. I had unwittingly made an extra trip to the grocery store, only to forget to buy one of the most crucial ingredients.    

I also brought along some iced coffee, homemade coffee granola and a yogurt bowl. The collection made for a vibrant spread on a picnic blanket. Very Pinterest-y — I know. 

Overall, the experience was great. Although I had a few mishaps, the simplicity of eating food outdoors was an exquisite break from the mundanity of quarantine. And setting out with the intention of creating anon-trend experience definitely made me feel way cooler than I actually am. 

Making the food was fun, eating the food was even better and not having to eat cake with a wine glass might have been the best part.