Bailey says, “Heyyyyyy, ladies!”

Theodora had an interview this afternoon, so I met Bailey at her apartment after my bus arrived in the city. As soon as I walked in the door, Bailey immediately rolled on his back and requested belly rubs.

Of course, I couldn’t turn down such an adorable doggie face!

A little while later, I said goodbye to Bailey and headed out onto the streets of New York City in search for cupcakes. I spent the next hour walking around the city trying to find the Crumbs on 42nd Street. I had my iPhone with me, but I just could not find it. I walked in circles, sweating like crazy in the 90-degree heat. Honestly, I got pretty cranky at one point. Just as I was about to give up on looking, I caught a glimpse of the Crumbs sign through the building scaffolding. Hallelujah!

Cupcakes! Glorious cupcakes!

As expected, they were big, wonderful, and delicious! (TWSS!)

I ended up choosing the Red Velvet cupcake, which was everything that I expected and more. The frosting was really sugary, but I managed to eat it all and not feel sick. The cake was one of the best Red Velvets I’ve ever eaten. It was smooth, soft, and super moist. It was pretty much perfect. Yummmmmm.

Theodora just got back to her apartment, so we’re going to drink a million John Dalys have some fun together!

Yay! Tonight’s barbeque was a huge success! And I love our friends!

The evening started with conversation around the table outside on our back porch. While we chatted, we munched on chips and salsa. I also sipped on an Arnold Palmer. (After last night, there were no John Dalys for me!)

On the dinner menu: grilled hamburgers, garlicky couscous, and salad. 

My plate: hamburger + Annie’s Goddess Dressing for dipping and salad with balsamic vinegar.

Dessert (not surprisingly) was the highlight of the meal for me. I made S’mores on a Stick for our guests.

And our guests brought cupcakes from Sweet!! I was so psyched! Thanks, Dave and Marie!

Mmmmm… Karat Cake!

We shared.

They also brought Pupcakes for our doggie friends!

I love summer… and barbeques… and cupcakes… and puppies… and good friends. I’m off to bed with a big smile on my face. Life is good.

Good night, guys!

Good morning, bloggies!

I slept so late this morning! It was awesome and totally worth it. I feel so much better this morning. I almost feel like my normal self again. I just need to get rid of my stuffy nose!

Breakfast

Mal finished off the peanut butter the other day and almost threw out the jar. The horror! Luckily, I saved it in just the nick of time, and used it for OIAJ this morning.

I made blueberry oatmeal this morning.

In the mix:

• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup Galaxy Granola
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal

Mmmmm… peanut butter!

I also had some iced coffee with hazelnut milk with breakfast.

So, even though I was feeling under the weather yesterday, I wasn’t too sick to bake cupcakes! I’m not going to lie, eating homemade carrot cake cupcakes for lunch definitely made me feel better! I was in cupcake heaven!

My cupcake baking extravaganza was part of a fun promotion with OpenSky. I have lots of adorable cupcake-related products in my shop, so I thought it would be cool to create a special cupcake aisle.

My cupcake aisle has 5 great items all handpicked by me, including cupcake plates, cupcake stands, cupcake wrappers, and a cupcake kit. Plus, 1 bundled item that includes a set of 4 cupcake plates + 1 color cupcake stand. All of the products are so adorable! I’m sort of obsessed with the dessert plates.

So, here’s the deal:

• If you purchase any of the individual items from my cupcake aisle, you get 10% off, PLUS an exclusive carrot cake cupcake recipe that I created the other day. Just use the coupon code ‘CUPCAKEAISLE’ at checkout.
• If you purchase the bundle of items (cupcake plates + stand), you get 30% off (only $39.90 vs normally $58), PLUS you get my exclusive cupcake recipe. (You don’t need a coupon code for this deal.)

My cupcake aisle is only open for 1 week with these deals, so act fast. But, I’ll be adding more great cupcake-inspired products to the aisle in the future. Happy shopping!

P.S. These cupcake goodies make wonderful gifts, especially for bridal and baby showers. They come in really cute packaging!

Question of the Day

If you could only eat one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be?