another year of ADVENTURES has begun...

Last night Gan, Kenz, and I went on yet another CUPCAKE ADVENTURE. Megan has battled upset stomach throughout her life but only recently realized that cutting gluten products out of her diet DRASTICALLY reduced the number of stomach issues she experienced. SO she gave it up {which made BOTH her and Kenz gluten free friends}. WELL on Feb. 14. 2009 {Kenz’s 23rd Birthday} the three of us went on the CUPCAKE CRAWL. We traveled throughout Orange County (from Newport Beach to Santa Monica) taste testing all the most talked about cupcakes. IT WAS A BLAST! I’m pretty sure we’ve never had another adventure quite like it. However, now that Gan and Kenz both live gluten free lives, cupcake crawling looks a little different…it’s done mostly one shop at a time. Last night we ventured out to babycakes, a gluten free {mostly} and vegan bakery that was originated in New York. They have a wide variety of baked goods that Kenz and Gan can SAFELY consume without fears of a protesting stomach. They each got SEVERAL ITEMS and I bought one, single, solitary, spelt {which is a type of gluten – also known as the ancient ancestor to modern day wheat} cupcake {red velvet to be exact}. Due to the fact that babycakes was in a moderately uncomfortable and entirely unfamiliar area of Los Angeles {in the dark}, we got our goodies TO GO and got back on the road. OF COURSE we hit traffic driving back so we stopped at CITADEL {an outlet that we will DEFINITELY be returning to} to grab dinner in their food court and check it out. They have a LOT of enticingly bright light up signs. Unfortunately we didn’t really get there in time to do much damage as far as shopping is concerned. We made it inside the Banana Republic outlet only moments before they closed. {Do not be deceived, Megan and I were still able to make purchases – I got some jewelry and Gan got a scarf. Rebecca is really the only one who has trouble shopping on a time crunch…she needs more time to think and evaluate – Gan and I IMPULSE buy!}. After dinner {and the QUICK shopping trip} we got back on the road and came home. When we got to the church parking lot {where Gan and Kenz were parked} we stopped and consumed our baked delights – each of us ate a red velvet cupcake. Although they were not {nearly} as good as the REGULAR ones – they were totally eatable and the girls were THRILLED to be eating cupcakes at all. It was a swell adventure and I’m sure we’ll go again – maybe in the daylight and with a guy! Oh and by the way - just so that there is no residual concern - Irealize that my fingernails are NOT painted in the picture above where I'm eating the cupcake. However, I painted them LAST NIGHT when I got home and all is well in the world again! You can't really see the color - but this is Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ. It's a pretty awesome color actually - it's a dark dark red that is almost black depending on the light but also has a really fun burgandy quality to it! It was DEFINITELY a good choice!!