Cupcake Poll

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I'm taking a poll!

Why?  Because I'm about to delve into the world of cupcake-baking, and I'd like to know where I should start!  I've already found a killer Strawberry Cupcake recipe, but I need at least a handful of other flavors to add to my go-to list. 

Tell me what your favorite cupcake flavor is!

Time Sink and a Half

What's been eating my time for the past couple of months? That, up there, is the culprit. Those are 4 packages of 30 stickless Cupcake Pops. They're going to be displayed like chocolates in boxes like that white one there, with little white paper cups for each cupcake. Super cute huh? I'm calling them Cupcake Chocolates. They look like this when all put together:



Anyway, my typical Sarandipity order is around 20-30 pops. Over the past two weeks, I've had orders just like this one for 110-120 little cupcakes. Don't get me wrong - I freaking LOVE that I've got orders going out, but aaaaaaAAAAAaaaaAAAAA!!! They take a whole lot of time, kids. But, ok, I've got my whining out of the way and feel better. Where were we..Oh yeah, so this order is going to NY to a club promoter guy. Mehopes that it could really help get my name out. I've got a real website up, but all it does is show you my logo and then redirect you to my Etsy shop. Functional, but not the end-all-be-all. Patience, Sara, patience. Breathe.

Oh, so here's the box I shipped them all in. An enormous box just for 4 packages, but it also contained 6 of those white boxes, a crapload of bubble wrap, and 1" styrofoam lining. These summer months always freak me out when it comes to shipping. I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief when fall's cooler temperatures hit.



Now that the shipment is en route, I can focus on that half marathon I'm doing on Sunday. Which I feel the opposite of ready for. Again, with the aaaAAAaaaaAAA. I have actually put in my time training for the darned thing, and I did get in a 12 miler and a couple of 10 milers, but still. I'm pooped and feeling swamped, and running in the muggy heat isn't my dream to-do at this point. Oh well. It does, however, mean that I can scarf non-diet food on Sunday and not feel one ounce of guilt. For that, bring on the WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Mean Monkeys

This morning, my sister, Magpie, sent me this text:

"I had a dream that u were movin 2 new subdivision being built but it had long uphill drive 2 get there & a forest behind it w/ mean monkeys n the trees."

Which is amusingly whack on its own, but in one of my own dreams last night, I was yelling at some woman who was being mean to her. (And the fact that Magpie and I were baking pies and living in a duplex with sidewalk chalk drawings everywhere only adds to the fun of it all.) But, evidently, we were both worried about each other in our dreams last night.

She and I have always had really vidid - and often strange - dreams. And we usually have more than one that we remember each night. Before last night's saga of pie baking and sidewalk chalk, I dreamt that I was looking at a table or ledge covered in flowers and plants and greenery, and I was inspired to write a children's book. I don't remember the subject of my book, but evidently, it was wildly successful, and I was walking around just beaming from the inside out.

And a couple of nights ago, I dreamt that I opened my own bake shop. I've been daydreaming about owning my own bake shop for no fewer than 4 years now, but this has been my first night-dream of one. My daydreams have even gone so far as to have planned the entire menu of classic items and a few new twists (just say yes to gluten- and dairy-free yummies!). But back to the dream - again, it was just a really happy, content dream. My dreams are nearly always so vivid that whichever emotions I experience in my dream are carried over to the next day. Which is all fabulous until I have a bad or anxiety-filled dream, lol. But this morning, I woke up feeling the most smiley I've felt in a long while.

I'm sure that my bake shop dream was inspired by having recently watched "Stranger Than Fiction." Her bake shop is so close to what I'd like mine to look and feel like! And her philosophy on changing the world rings so true and close to my heart. Sigh...But she really does need an old piano in the corner of the shop and way more cookies on that plate.

One day, I'll write a post on lucid dreaming and the ability to control your dreams while you're having them. Ooh boy, I can't wait.