BIG news for cupcake and coffee fans

I was hanging out downtown today, waiting for Napoleon to be groomed at pussy and pooch, the overly elite pet spot downtown.  He now smells like blueberries because they spray him with blueberry dog cologne...

Before: dirty face, overgrown, smelled kinda of like a dog

After: clean, fresh, smells like blueberries

Anyway, as I was waiting for him to be ready, I ran into the Big Man himself, Chip Brown, owner and creator of Big Man Bakes cupcake shop(s).  I told him I love his cupcakes (true story, they are delish) He told me that they will now be opening at 8 every morning, serving Handsome Coffee.  Um, ok!  That sounds awesome, but wait, there's more: This week if you buy a coffee, either size, you get a free mini cupcake.  Maybe one day after yoga I will wander over that way and be bad with an old school or a black & white with a coffee.

I ordered Big Man Bakes mini's for Danny's surprise party that I threw him in March.  All the flavors are great and I highly recommend giving the cupcakes a try.  Frosted and Sprinkles are still my favorites, but his come in a close third.

While I'm on the topic of treats, let's talk yogurtland.  I always get  Taro with kit kat bits and mochi. Always.  However, this summer they are doing this thing where they have "scoured the globe" to find new flavors.  This flavor quest has brought some really awful flavors, such as the sticky toffee pudding, creme brûlée, and the spiced chai, all of which I tried samples of and all of which taste nothing like what their actual counterparts should.  Therefore, I was a bit apprehensive when trying the Mexican Hot Chocolate flavor last night.  Big surprise, it was delicious!  I actually mixed it up and did half Taro, half Mexican Hot Chocolate, plus the kit kat and the mochi, of course.  I hope that Mexican Hot Chocolate is a flavor that sticks around at my local yogurtland.

The Den: Before and After

I know I'm lucky to have an extra room in my apartment.  We call it "the den" and the people we rent from left a huge ugly desk in it that we can't get rid of.  The room is relatively small (approx. 8'x11') and it also houses our closet on one end.  When we moved in, we added a few more book shelves to what the previous owners left behind and it quickly became a storage room for us, despite Danny being a grad student and me preferring to work at a desk.  This room was not being used, and the further the semester went on, the deeper the clutter got.

before

after

You can see from the before plan that the desk was wasting the corner of the room and blocking easy access to the window.  One of the biggest issues was that your back would be to the door whenever working at the desk.  This is not conducive to working at home.  I finally had a minute to sit down and realize that this den could work with a little innovation and came up with the second plan.  I measured everything and drew it out to make sure there would be enough clearance for walking through and that everything would fit.  It works perfect, I'm totally in love with my new den!  I plan to work in there all the time and I even have a great amount of space to work out in there too!

before

after

before

after

before

after

it's obvious no one can do work here!

I love doing work here!!!

I heart my "new" den!