That just takes the Cake!

Cupcake Craze 

The new it places everywhere are oh-so-stylish cupcakeries popping up across the country. From New York to Hollywood and everywhere in between hip new pastry chefs are putting they're own spin on the age old cupcake...

The gourmet gemcake trend really took off back in the late '90s when HBO's Sex and the City series name-checked New York's Magnolia Bakery as a favorite spot for lead character Carrie Bradshaw. Here's a small list of unique cupcakeries around the U.S.

Hostess never imagined anything like this before!

Cake Fetish – Known for their “half baked” cakes

www.cakefetish.com

Albuquerque , New Mexico

Cupcake – Featuring a Black bottom cupcake (chocolate cake with chocolate chip cheesecake baked in, topped with cream cheese frosting...Mercy.)

www.freshcupcakes.com

Charleston, Columbia, and Mt. Pleasant ,SC

Molly's Cupcakes – Try a specialty or Vegan cupcake, homemade ice cream, eclairs and more.

A portion of all profits are donated to schools in the Chicago community.

www.mollyscupcakes.com

Chicago, Illinois

Cupcake Royale – This month, featuring the “RED HOT” (Peppery cinnamon Theo Ghost chile frosting on chocolate cake royale.

www.cupcakeroyale.com

Seattle, Washington

Crushcakes and Cafe – Make Cupcakes not War with their cool vanilla bean cake topped with wild tie-dye frosting and a chocolate peace sign.

www.crushcakes.com

Santa Barbara,  California

Bettie's Cakes – Come check out Bettie's double decker cupcake bus and some amazing cupcakes too!

www.bettiescakes.com

Saratoga Springs, New York 

FYI:

In the beginning, cupcakes were sometimes called "number" cakes, because they were easy to remember by the measurements of ingredients it took to create them: One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs, one cup of milk, and one spoonful of soda.

The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796, when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in “American Cookery” by Amelia Simms. The earliest documentation of the term “cupcake” was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.

Paper liners were not used until shortly after World War I when the James River Corporation manufactured cupcake liners on machines that just a few years before were churning out artillery shells. 

And just for a little fun, try the latest iPhone app...Cupcakes!

William Elliot Whitmore

William Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer from Iowa. He's been recording under Southern Records and recently under the ANTI record label(an excellent choice in my opinion).
His howling back of the throat singing voice just grabs at my soul and keeps pulling me back. You find yourself deeply listening to the content of his music, feeling like your pulled into a dialogue in his mind. He's been described as having undertones of the punk generation... I don't know if I agree with that. I do feel the tone and emotion of the depth we saw in the basement grunge we used to see in Seattle, wrapped in the eloquence of an old fifties blues singer.
Beautiful!

Room to Read

Occasionally you’re presented an opportunity to learn about a cause that inspires you to action. That gift was presented to me in the form of a book called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, written by Room to Read founder John Wood.

During a long overdue vacation trekking through the Himalayan mountain range, John came to meet Pasupathi, a district resource administrator, who would later become a partner and friend in a venture that would lead him across several continents and far from the fast paced career and overflowing pockets of  the software giant Microsoft. 

On his trip, John was introduced to countless children who were eager to learn. He saw the lack of resources that were available for teachers to make this dream a reality in the lives of these kids. Across Nepal, schools were operating with limited libraries or no books at all. Realizing the gift we have in a free education and the countless libraries that are supplied to us, simply because we were not born in a third world country, John knew this was a problem that he had a responsibility address. Room to Read is the answer to that call to action. Since its creation in 1999, thousands of books have reached the hands of children across the world. 

Room to Read has also made a specific petition to educate girls in locations where they would, in other circumstances, have very limited or no education at all. He makes the point that if you educate a girl you educate an entire family. Women who know how to read and are given the opportunity to learn will inevitably teach their children how to read and encourage them to learn. An investment in the education of one girl will exponentially extend for generations to come. 
These children have the desire and drive to learn and to make a better life for themselves. Room to Read provides an opportunity for us to help them make that dream come true. 

The upcycled life

This term "upcycled" appeals to me right now. It's the beauty of the old creating something new and interesting. It's a type of starting over and a new perspective... It's Adventurous. I'm seeing it everywhere from shipping containers being turned into stylish and affordable, recycled housing to old inner tubes being refashioned into stylish wallets. 

BUCHAREST wallet found at Supermarket

I vacillate back and forth between the person who holds on to everything old (my grandmothers box of hundreds of crocheted doilies?!?) thinking that someday I'll create something amazing, to the person who needs clear unfettered space. At that point, you'd better hide the dog or he'll be in the thrift store pile.
Upcycled let's you look at something awesome, clean and new and still see a glimpse of something you remember from your past. That's the ultimate Retro!
Katie Thompson at REcreate in South Africa has an inspiring visual sense for what can be created out of the discarded pieces around your life. Clearly this unique perspective in decorating is catching on. Katie's ingenious suitcase chair has been featured everywhere from eco-decor sites in the U.S. to leading home design magazines in Israel. She says "I love creating functional art from discarded non functional junk."
I found an absolutely breathtaking example of functional art from the design company Inghua Ting at an online store based out of San Fransisco called Branch. Their recycled vintage belt floor mats are infused with the aged rich patina colors that only come to leather over time.

Upcycled Vintage belt floor mat 

Lately, I feel we've been void of original style coming out of the fashion world. It's exciting now to see that some excess has taken a backseat to originality through simplicity. I'm happy to say that upcycled is the new "IT".