I brake for cake.

I got Scott tickets to see Gabriel Iglesias at the Masonic Auditorium and we went on Saturday. We had a blast and Gabriel was super funny. His bus was parked out front and I am in love with what was painted on the back of the bus:


If I actually ever put a bumper sticker on my car this phrase would be a serious contender.

Visit Butter Lane and mention Jess Loves Cupcakes for a deal!

I was stoked to find the following comment this week on my old blog posts, LA Cupcake Crawl, and NY Cupcake Tour Part 2.

Anyone who comes into Butter Lane and mentions they saw us on your blog gets two for one cupcakes Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays through the month of February. (Limit two per day.) At the end of the month, the blogger the most mentions wins a dozen cupcakes!

Maria Baugh
Butter Lane
www.butterlane.com

First of all - love that Butter Lane read/found my blog. Second of all - if you're in NYC - go to Butter Lane and tell them you saw them on my blog!! And get the banana. It's freakin' delicious.

Thanks, Maria!

Becca & Jenna

On Jan 2 Scott's sister gave birth to 2 beautiful twin girls, Becca & Jenna. Scott and I had the pleasure of meeting the cuties this past weekend and had a blast holding them, watching them make funny faces, and laughing at the strange sounds they make.

Here's Uncle Scott holding Jenna (his first time holding a baby EVER):

This is one of my current favorite photos of Jenna (left) and Becca (right).

Their confused/surprised faces crack me up :).

Here's me holding a less than thrilled Jenna:

Don't worry, she calmed down shortly after the photo was taken.

And another cute photo of the girls in their hats.

And a picture of the whole family:

Congrats, Christine & Sean! Welcome to the world, Becca & Jenna!

Beatles cupcakes!

Saw these this morning on Cupcakes Take the Cake and I couldn't resist! Like Rachel, I'm a huge Beatles fan :).

From London's Crumbs and Doilies (via Flickr)

I love that they represented John, Paul, George, and Ringo with their hair.

Yellow Jacket

I am in total love with my new Tommy Hilfiger coat that I found on sale at Macy's a few weeks ago. It's bright yellow AND it has a hood. I love bright colored coats - brings a little cheer to gloomy weather.

I wore it in Michigan last week where it was an unseasonably warm 36 degrees and got tons of comments and compliments on it. The woman at Panda Express was so mesmerized she dropped my Panda Bowl in the chow mein. True story.

I (Hello Kitty) Nerds

I love this bag. Because I do heart nerds and I do have a small-ish obsession with Hello Kitty (small-ish because although I love Hello Kitty, I don't have too many related items).

I would also like to have a long discussion with Sanrio regarding why they discontinued Hello Kitty cupcake related items before I had a chance to buy them all. For example:

(Hello Kitty Sweet Cakes Tee)

(Hello Kitty Cupcake Tote)

(Hello Kitty Cupcake Plush)

I also found a couple cute Hello Kitty Cupcake necklaces on Etsy (here and here), but alas they are sold out too :(. You can get this one, but it might be a little doom and gloom for me. I think the Hello Kitty cupcake theme really needs to make a come back.

I feel that I should also share that no matter how much you love Hello Kitty, this is never ok.

Say no to animal abuse.

Tacky Christmas

I realize I never posted a photo of my deliciously tacky Christmas tree - my first ever tree!

Why yes, that tree is made of pink tinsel.

Ceramic Cupcake from DY

One advantage to everyone knowing you're obsessed with cupcakes - they buy you cupcake related items! This ceramic cupcake bank comes from DY and was waiting for me on my desk one Monday a few months back.

I'm particularly a fan of any cupcake related items that don't insist on putting a cherry on top (honestly - how many cherry topped cupcakes have you seen in real life?). This hershey kiss topper is super cute. Plus I love how all the frosting is totally weighing down the cupcake! This little guy has joined my other ceramic cupcake on my desk at work to bring a little sweetness to my work day. And yes, that is a Dance and Shout Elmo in the background. He's awesome.

Thanks, DY!

SF Cupcakes to Try - Cako Cupcakes

A few days ago my friend Dr. J brought Cako Cupcakes, a new SF cupcakery in Union Square, to my attention after she came across it during her weekend safari. How amazing do these look?

The full menu includes:

Banana Split
Carrot w/Walnuts
Red Velvet
Chocolate Decadence
S’Mores
Chocolate Caramel
Mocha
Vanilla
Chocolate Coconut
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Chocolate Strawberry
Chocolate Banana
Andes Mint Chocolate Chip
Vanilla Chocolate
Chocolate Vanilla
Apple Pie

+ seasonal and daily cupcake flavors

The reviews seem to be mixed on Yelp so I guess I'll have to try for myself to see. Will report back what I find!

Deep Fried Cupcakes from Cake Spy

Ok, seriously. Between the bacon cinnamon rolls and now these, I think CakeSpy may be trying to kill me.

Cake Spy's Deep Fried Cupcakes on a Stick

Given my very questionable track record with deep frying (and by that I mean I once nearly burned down my apartment) I don't think I'll be trying these any time soon. On the other hand, I do have friends with a mini deep fryer so perhaps an experiment is in order...

Hooray Turquoise!

Apparently Pantone has named turquoise the color of 2010. A little love for one of my favorite colors. I actually think lime green might be a close 2nd for color of the year. I've seen a lot of turquoise and lime green out lately (my wedding colors - I'm so ahead of trends) - Crate & Barrel, Ikea, Target especially as far as home wares.

Exhibit A - galvanized bins @ Target

Exhibit B - candles @ Ikea

According to Pantone,

Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times.

Sure. Whatever you say. I just love it. Go turquoise!

SF Cupcakes to Try - Mission Minis

I'm stoked that my home base is getting more cupcake shops! And on my end of town! I've been hearing about Mission Minis for awhile but haven't gotten out to their kiosk in North Beach. Now they've opened a retail location in the Mission (@ 22nd and Capp)! See the full menu here, but the two flavors I'm drooling the most over are:

Pink Lemonade

Meyer lemon cake with seedless blackberry swiss meringue topped with freshly planed lemon rind.

Banana Maple Glaze

Gourmet banana cake with maple vanilla bean buttercream topped with a crispy banana chip.

According to the Mission Minis website, they are "San Francisco's favorite cupcake bakery. Using only the finest ingredients, our mini cupcakes are small in size but packed with an explosion of flavor. With flavors like Ruby Red Velvet, Aztec Chocolate and Cinnamon Horchata there's plenty of flavors to fall in love with."

Can't wait to try them! Expect a review soon :).

Holiday Gift Adventures - CH by Carolina Herrera

It's been awhile since I regularly wore perfume and I decided recently that I'd like to pick a scent. Naturally Scott would need to assist in this as if I don't smell good to him, what's the point? We did a smell test while in Chicago and settled on CH by Carolina Herrera, which Scott gave me for my Xmas eve gift.

It's a nice subtle fragrance and definitely not too overpowering. I only wish it came in a roll-on stick so that I could travel with it. It's still a relatively new fragrance so maybe they'll come out with one in the future.

Thanks Scott!!

Awesome Van Gogh Cake

This has been floating around the interwebs but as a fan of both cake and Starry Night, I had to post.

Original photo here, by Flickr user Megpi

Amazing.

Ceramic Cupcakes at Target

I was wandering through Target's home section yesterday when I came across these ceramic cupcakes in the Valentine's Day section:

Putting aside the fact that V Day items are already on the shelves - these are pretty cute and only $5 to boot! (I'm not sure why the pricing label says "ceramic blue," these are pretty solidly pink and red.) I ultimately decided not to purchase one since I already have 2 ceramic cupcakes (look at me, showing restraint) but if you're looking to add to your collection, head to Target (these don't seem to be on-line, unfortunately)!

Photo Adventure - Valencia Cooridor

Another old photo adventure - the Valencia Cooridor. Here are some of my favorites:

Saturday Brunch

Last week I was scrolling through my food feeds on Google Reader when I came across this amazing idea from the one and only CakeSpy - canned cinnamon rolls rolled with bacon. I knew immediately I needed to try it. But I couldn't risk having all those bacon filled cinnamon rolls laying around for just me and Scott so I recruited several friends for a Saturday Brunch!

Before going in the oven (check out that glistening bacon!)

All baked up.

And smothered in frosting. Mmm frosting.

The complete spread: breakfast casserole (I substitute sausage for ham and add green onions - it's amazing), pancakes, bacon cinnamon rolls, pastries from La Boulange, fruit, bloody marys, and mimosas!

Overall the brunch was delicious. The casserole and cinnamon rolls were a huge hit. Perfect start to the weekend. Thanks to everyone who came!