My Cup of Joe

I'm sharing the coffee and paper my husband delivers to me every Sunday morning...ahhhh, what a guy. You like my Christmas gift, the beautiful coffee mug from Peet's coffee and my new one cup filter cone? Nice!

Loves Cupcakes

Welcome to San Jose's newest Cupcake Shoppe! Gourmet Cupcakery Loves Cupcakes opened this summer in California in an historic downtown building. My friend April and her family worked long & hard to get this shop up and running so I visited her last week. Just the exterior of the building is pretty, let alone the interior. I love the brick and wonder...who lives up top?

Well, come on in and let's look at some cupcakes! Isn't this entry door beautiful? It's so detailed and welcoming and very tall, reflecting the incredibly high ceilings inside. I like that with this door and the front window, the entire storefront is flooded with light, but because it's constantly shaded by the new "The 88" condos across the street, you never get blasted by sunlight. This will make for a perfect display window once a few faux cupcakes make their way there to draw in the foot traffic from civic buildings and the university nearby.


The red door is also the first hint to the color theme of chocolate, cream & red. I met April over a year ago when she was working on the shop and requested custom cupcake jewelry in these colors. Well, since she opened and placed her bracelet in a display, she's been getting requests for more jewelry, so I took down about 10 pieces to add to it. This was my first time in the shoppe and it was wonderful! The pendant lighting is placed just so and the cases April's husband built are old fashioned, simple and beautiful, like a picture frame for the incredibly decorated cupcakes. I felt like I was in an old candy shoppe, but everything is new, so they have created a warm and inviting ambience. Nice job.


Now, speaking of cupcakes...April was icing these Red Velvet cupcakes in the bright, clean kitchen and just the tip and design she used gave them such a ....well.....velvety texture! I thought, wow, it really does look like if I touched them they would feel like velvet...quite an illusion.


What impressed me most about the cupcakes is the intricate detail in the icing of all the cupcakes. I have never before seen such work. There isn't a ton of frosting, which can adversely affect the tasting experience. Just intense detail and obvious love in the design that makes you drop your draw. This Mocha-Java icing was my favorite...see the little coffee bean up top? Here is the website description: "Belgian bittersweet chocolate cake flavored with coffee finished with Italian meringue mocha butter cream garnished with a chocolate coffee bean".


And last, but not least, is the Fleur de Sel: "Intriguing interplay of sweet and salty caramel cake finished with caramel swirl Italian meringue butter cream garnished with a chocolate dipped caramel & fleur de sel".

Okay, so now to make you laugh...I was so excited to finally visit this shoppe AND put my jewelry on display that I totally FORGOT TO EAT A CUPCAKE!!! What a big goof! I just had to laugh in my car on the way home when I realized it.

Remember to request a frequent customer card and visit the website at www.LovesCupcakes.com.

Thanks April, for letting me sneak back into the kitchen where it all happens...and "hi" to Katie & Vanessa!

Comfort & Fab Fibers

Check out this wonderful giveaway for some amazing beads from Blu Healer Glass that Fab Fibers is sponsoring by clicking "Fab Fibers".

Had a cup of coffee with my sweet friend, Lisa, today. Hadn't seen her in several months and she had ordered a pair of my Signature earrings and wanted to peek at some cupcake jewelry. I made it fun for her and took my entire container of cupcake beads for her to "shop" through...thought it would be a lot more fun than just looking on line! It was so nice to chat about families and get generally caught up on what we are doing. We need to do it more often, but doesn't that always seem to be the case?

I get to see my other friend, V, next week for lunch and a movie. Wolverine, baby! I could use a tough Hugh Jackman fix. I've seen him recently on quite a few talk shows and he looks so clean and is funny and sweet and glorious to look at, but he is NOT Wolverine in real life...funny, that. I need his gritty, clawing side. Yum.

So we finally got a new umbrella since the previous one was comPLETEly thrashed. Our local hardware store had this 9 footer for $49! It's not the heavy duty canvas type (which cost 3x as much) but it cranks open which I like and it can be angled. If we keep our bricks cool and shady, it helps keep the bottom floor icy cool in hot weather. Isn't it pretty here with our bistro table & chairs and the jasmine vine in the background. Nice!

I will be visiting my Godson in Napa next week, so I'm not sure when I'll post next, but be assured, there is my friend's surprise bracelet yet to show you (think Paris colors: pink, black & white) and I should have a new piece assembled by then for you to purchase as well.

Stay cool.