A Mini Obsession

I have created a monster..



And that monster, has re-created me...



Because I introduced my bloggy friend Stephanie to Mini's when I was in Utah... and then she went out, and made her OWN.



And now, I have yet ANOTHER obsession with my favorite food, but now, it is in a different form.

A Mini.

(Curse you Stephanie)

So, now? Since they are pint sized? Can I eat like 10? Does that make it count as 1? If not, I have 48 new problems around the house. I'll have to see who I can pawn these off on to. . . any volunteers?

What I am doing RIGHT NOW

What I am doing right now is . . .



Eating a cupcake.

Not just any old cupcake.

Or I wouldn't be blogging about it.

Why am I writing about CUPCAKES?

Because I love them.

And because it is cupcake SEASON.

And because it is sooooooooooooooooo good.

And because it was HARD EARNED.

Because you see,

The cupcake CRAZE has not caught on here in Arizona.

At least not to my knowlege.

Because I have only found like, 3 shops when I google "Cupcakes" on Google Maps.

And NONE of them are by my house.

ESPECIALLY not the one worth going to.

But I had to make a special trip.

Because it is CUPCAKE SEASON.

Because they are my favorite thing.

AND IT WAS WORTH IT.

Pretty Near Perfect

Believe it or not, I had a pretty near perfect day on Saturday. (I know, hard to believe since I have not had this baby yet) But it is true!!! The weather was near 80 degrees, Jaxon has learned to ride his bike without training wheels and I decided to capitalize on BOTH while trying to get this baby to budge.

SO: We went on a riding bike tour of our neighborhood.

I wish I would have had my camera. We rode through the abandon streets (one of many of Az's empty and not growing neighborhoods, due to the economy and market failure) of our development to each of the neighborhoods 4 parks. The empty streets were perfect as Jaxon riding his bike is like a scud missile with multiple possible targets. I was able to let him ride behind me (YES, I WAS RIDING A BIKE AT 9 MONTHS PREGNANT. Yet another reason I didn't take my camera, one doesn't want proof of such things. ) and every once in a while I would turn to look at him in a pile of legs and bike parts waiting for assistance. He kept getting back on though and the kids thought my ability to find new and undiscovered parks was purely amazing! I would sit and enjoy the sun while they explored the greatness of our many neighborhood parks!

We finally made it home and I decided to get productive. It was time to clean the house for the 4 th time in an effort to show good faith that this baby WILL EVENTUALLY COME. I enlisted Abby to empty the dishwasher and much to my surprise, she then volunteered to mop the floor!

I even caught her enjoying it! I mean, I am going to capitalize on her being WILLING to mop the floor as long as I can, and someday, I will show her this picture of a time where she ASKED to mop the floor and LOOKED LIKE she was enjoying it. Ah, the sweet wonder of capturing a moment on FILM. After that, I took a nice long bath (no pix of that of course) and decided to make CUPCAKES to celebrate our baby's birthday. I was hoping that us celebrating would encourage her to make her debut. It didn't, but, I have eaten several cupcakes every day since.. .just in case.

Wouldn't this make YOU want to come out????

Happy Birthday baby! We hope you decide to come out soon!

Sorry you missed your birthday party!

(Note: Baby's birthday party was followed by 14 hours of contractions at 10 mins apart... then, Nothin')

THE HIGHLIGHTS

I know you are all DYING for an update on our move.. (right?) Well, we are still in SLC and have just been chillin' as much as we can before the explosion of boxes, paper and me. Some of the highlights so far?

1- There is a BRAND NEW play land in Pocatello, ID at the SECOND Pocatello off ramp. EVEN BETTER, the play land is at Article Circle.. FINALLY, someplace other than McDonald's! It is a perfect dinner stop if you leave between 8 and 9 in the morning from Spokane to SLC. Just thought all of you Spokane Summer travelers should know!Order a Lime Ricky.. for sure.

2-I went to Tai Pan the morning after we got here. Did you know the place opens at 8:30 a.m.? YUP. And if you go at 8:30 a.m. you will have the store to YOURSELF. (So, you don't have to shower before you go, because no-one will see you.)
Now, before you go calling me a nutjob Amy, it was at my mother-in-laws request that we go because she had to hop a plane at 12:00. Of course, I was happy to oblige. I didn't take pictures because although I had FOUND my camera.. I had NOT found the charger yet.. Oh, so, I can tell you I didn't spent too much because technically, I don't even have a house right now, but I DID get my Mother-in-law to drop some SERIOUS $$$, so, I felt as though I spent vicariously through her, and, it was wonderful. (Don't you worry. I did make a FEW purchases!)

3-I found my charger for my camera

4-We took the kids to Kung Fu Panda. I have to admit, I enjoyed it. Is is no Disney/Pixar movie, but still entertaining and funny and the graphixs WERE amazing. If you have an issue with violence (there is LOTS-o-KUNG FU), don't go see it. Jaxon covered his eyes in 1/2 the movie because even though the kid would take someone down to the ground and pound on them for NO REASON he still doesn't like to see other people get whooped. Go figure.

5-We went to paradise bakery today and I had THE WONDERFUL Chicken and Artichoke Panini.. Awesome. If you have never had it, GET ONE.

6-I met a BLOGGER TODAY! Aberjaber met me at Sugar House park. Bless her heart, it is no where near her house, but she took pity on my tired self and drove here to see me! BETTER YET, she brought me CUPCAKES from Dough Boys and Flour Girls in American Fork. They were FAB (Thank you Aberjaber!- Her name must remain anonymous to protect the innocent) I took pictures of them and her, and I would LOVE to show them to you, but now that I found my camera and my charger, I can't find my Camera upload cords..

Ahhhhhhhhh, I love moving and total Chaos. Don't you?

Birthday Aftermath- STILL CELEBRATING!

So, my birthday was finally yesterday and I had a FABULOUS day at Zi spa with an hour long massage and a relaxing and rejuvenating facial. Really, everyone should do that on their birthday. I talked a friend(Heidi) into going with me and we had a marvelous time being pampered and letting other people watch our kids. We are sorry that we came home 2 hours later than we said we would and that I had to make emergency phone calls to pick up my kid from the bus stop. Thank you Kara for bailing me out and picking up my son!

You know, I don't live in Utah, but I might as well with the swell group of neighbors I have. There are about 11 LDS families that live in my hood and it makes for a wonderful network of loving and caring people who like to help each other out. It is awesome, and I feel totally fortunate and blessed.
From left to right Holly (sorry Holly, but this was a better picture of me.:)Me, Amy, Kara, Heidi(fellow spa go-er), Lori, and Lindsay. These lovely girls spent the night out with me at PF Changs and then came to my house for CUPCAKES and some good old fashion REALITY TV! (What a perfect birthday)They were happy to oblige.
But guess what, they are on to me... they know I LOVE CAKE! Here is the barrage of sweets I got for my birthday.(Including the leftovers of my FAVORITE cupcakes)and a can of sprinkles cupcake mix from AMY! Thanks for all the goodies girls.
If anyone feels like a little cake fix today, I know where you can get one!

Is it bad that I was eating one this morning at 9:30 a.m.? Don't worry, I didn't eat breakfast. I didn't want all those added calories. (Of course I had to wait until my kids were all off to school so they wouldn't see me eating cake for breakfast--that would NEVER work)
Thanks again for a WONDERFUL birthday!

GOOD BIRTHDAY COMPANY

If you don't know, I am celebrating my birthday WEEK... That is right, as mentioned before, I think EVERYONE should celebrate for a whole week because it is much more fun. Anyway, when your husband is gone on a trip on your birthday, you have to celebrate on a different day anyway because celebrating on your birthday would then be less fun. However, I am still going to celebrate with my girlfriends and I will be spending all morning at a day spa, and eating my favorite cupcakes (don't worry, I ordered them ahead of time) and going to a more universally liked place of dining... PF Changs.

So, I will be in good company, but it turns out that I have good birthday company as well! And since I am celebrating for a whole week, I will show you who I also share my birthday WITH!
Jennifer Garner: My favorite, I was a HUGE Alias fan.. So happy to celebrate with her... I hear she is crafty too!
Victoria Beckham: Ok, I will never be as into fashion as she is.

Kate Hudson: Super cute hippy.. I would never let my boy have girl hair.

America Ferrera: All american woman.

and, my husband's favorite: Ashley Judd.

All of these ladies share this special WEEK with me ALONG with the famous blogger....Bridget!
(See! I am not the ONLY person who takes pictures of themselves! I am sure she took more than one!)
Happy Birthday Bridget! You are in good company!

Oh, and just so you know, I only share my ACTUAL birthday with Jeffery Dean Morgan, Aaron Spelling and Jackson Nicholson. Oh well.

Discourse on CUPCAKES the Best and the Worst

As you may know, I recently went on a few trips. . . One to SLC to visit with family, and one to Vegas to celebrate with the husband for our anniversary.

I took it upon myself to check up on all of the cupcake stores that I had researched. I am proud (or embarrassed) to say that I visited each store and ate a variety of cupcakes JUST so I could tell you how they were and for my "research" of course. I say "research" because it sounds better than visiting cupcake stores just to eat cupcakes and secretly, I want to open my own cupcake store. (Would you come?)

Here is the run-down.

SALT LAKE CITY:

Mini's Location: 800 South in between state and main.
Yummy cake and fabulous cake to frosting ratio! YUM!

Every flavor was super delicious! I got to try a few sneaks off the kids cakes, but I personally had the black and white cupcake.

I think the price is a little steep ($2- for a MINI! Usually full sized cupcakes are about $2.50) and it isn't really a place to "stop in" and grab a fun treat. Weird store location. Well worth it though if you are driving by (I don't know why you would be), need a special treat for you OR a friend, or if you are just cupcake obsessed like me! Oh! And only ONE table in the store... if someone is already there, you are outta luck.

So Cupcake: Highland Drive, Holladay. I was driving around trying to get Wade to fall asleep in the car before I went to my sister's house and although I didn't have plans to stop by So Cupcake, I saw it (across from Neilson's Frozen Yogurt) and HAD to stop. After all, I wanted to be thorough. The report from my mom and sister were true... Dry, not so flavorful cupcake. Sorry Natalie! (It just happened to be opened and run by a girl I went to highschool with) She opened it with her daughter, great story, great cause, but just... Not so good. (Don't worry, I am sure she will never see my blog)We ate them in the car and I didn't take pictures.

Curious Cupcake: Delivery Only

I know, DELIVERY ONLY??!! I didn't love that about it ($10) but they were OHHHHHHHHH SOOOOOOOOOO PRETTYYYYYYYY!!! (and good too) If you have a special friend, that needs a special pick me up, and you don't have time to do it yourself...Order. This would be great. This is how I may have to start up my cupcake business to test out the market. I am not sure I can make mine as pretty, but I can sure try!
Very good cake, and super pretty flowers, but personally, I like more frosting.

Her presentation CANNOT be beat!

But you can only order one flavor per box. :( Not good if you like to try different kinds, so, I can tell you, the vanilla was very good. :)

There is one other place in SLC called Sugar Rush, and they only do catering.

ON TO LAS VEGAS!!

I didn't have too many intentions on going to get cupcakes in Vegas. We were short on time, but I was surfing to see where they were on the Husband's PDA and he was listening to the addresses as I was asking him if they were in the "direction" we were going. To my surprise, he was heading straight to TWO of them (They are in the same parking lot) At the Cupcake Lane Bakery I ordered one that looked like a Hostess Cupcake, and a lemon flavored cupcake. I can say that they Hostess Cupcake was dry, and not good (not enough frosting) and the lemon one was good, but here is a hint, if it isn't memorable enough to take a picture... it isn't worth going back.

MAD HATTER CUPCAKES was in the same parking lot, but a totally unique experience. They call themselves the "Cold Stone" of cupcakes and you order a bare cupcake... !
they will fill it,
frost it,
and top it right in front of you!

I hope you enjoyed your cupcake trip as much as I did!

Sidenotes: There was one other store in Vegas called the Cupcakery we didn't get there, I heard it wasn't good. Also, my friend AMY stopped by Cupcake Royale this weekend in Seattle and said, "It was a dissappointment."

Cupcake Crazy

This is why I love my sister, and this is what binds us together . . . a passion for CUPCAKES!!!

I love cupcakes

I love cupcakes, and now you can too. If you live in these cities, near these cupcake places, please go, and tell me how wonderful they are!! :)

Someone aleady beat me to the punch with a blog dedicated fully to the love of cupcakes though. On the right side of the blog, there is a list of cupcakes in just about every city. I think I am ready to go on a country-wide cupcake tour. Anyone want to join? I know I will at least be hitting the ones in SLC, UT over spring break, so get ready Hillary! We are going cupcake hunting! :) Here are some of the places I intend to visit soon!

Renton, WA
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA

Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT Hillary, this one just opened right by you!!!
Sandy, UT


Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach, CA
There are about 10 more places in Los Angeles... I am going to be busy when I am there. You can view them all on the cupcake blog.

Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas, NV

Curse the Cupcakes

I like food. It is not a secret. It is a family thing. If you visit our family food blog and click on Cookies and Yum you will find double the recipes, maybe even TRIPLE the recipes of any other link on the blog. What does that mean? We like dessert the BEST!

So, on most days, I think about cake.
Cake just happens to be my favorite dessert. I am not sure why. My favorite cake of all time is from Leslie's Bakery in Salt Lake City. I am not ashamed to admit, that if I am in town, I will drive to Leslie's and buy one, for absolutely no occasion, or celebration other than the celebration of eating it. If you are there, and want to buy one, it is well worth your $20 if you LOVE cake. It is called the Black and White cake. (White cake with Chocolate Fudge-like Frosting and this cream kindoflikemarshmallowbutnot stuff on top that I have yet to replicate, but dream about often. Buy one, you will thank me)

Anyway, I have long been on the search for more cake. As a matter of fact, when my sister, mom and I went to the Ellen Show
last February, we mapped out all of the best bakeries in Hollywood, and went on a Cupcake Tour. It was fabulous!

I have finally found a place to eat cake here. I admit, sometimes I plan excursions to the area JUST so I can eat their cake. My beloved husband brought me a box of these cupcakes just after giving birth to Wade. . . I mean, I LOVE these cupcakes.

Today, I planned a trip to the said area, JUST TO EAT CUPCAKES, and they were out. AGAIN! This is the second "trip" I have gone on to get Cupcakes and they were suddenly out. I am pretty sure there is some kind of conspiracy to keep me from eating their cupcakes. But, I will thwart their plans, and next TUESDAY, I will call the bakery at 9:00 a.m. and reserve said cupcakes until I come and pick them up at 4:30 when I am at speech therapy for Jaxon, and THEN AHHHHHHHHHHH THEN, WILL I EAT CUPCAKES!!!!!!!