No UCLA 1L’s, not that Susie Cakes, the Susie Cake Bakery on San Vicente in Brentwood!

I had heard of Susie Cakes several times since I have moved to LA. It isn’t all that far from my apartment and after the Fall graded memo featuring Susie Cakes – our protagonist and manager who is stiffed in her movie star brothers will (we suspect the Nanny of influencing the estate) I knew it was only a matter of time before stopping in for some cupcakes.

My Mom and I decided to check it out before heading out of town. The interior is nicely decorated in the manner that you would want a cupcake shop to be decorated with: cute retro Betty Crocker ads, clean tables, and plenty of cakes in the display case…

After much agonizing we decided to try the special cupcake, which was pineapple upside down cake, and the mocha.

The Pineapple Upside Down Cake had yellow cake with the pineapple folded into the batter and a brown sugar butter cream frosting and a maraschino cherry. Delish! I love that the pineapple was in the batter. It made the cake super moist and almost an undercooked taste but in a good way. The frosting was the highlight. There was a light brown sugar flavor but it wasn’t too sugary, which I think you could easily run the risk of doing.

The mocha was pure bliss! Very chocolaty and coco-ey (ok that’s not a word but it should be). Just perfect, rich, and totally delicious. There are no words!

Overall these cupcakes were distinctive from others I’ve tried at Joan’s, Sprinkles, and Sweet. The cake was cakier but it wasn’t dry. It wasn’t as light as the cupcakes at Joan’s, but it was very flavorful. In addition, the frosting was some of the best that I’ve had in LA. Next time I go back I’m going to have a red velvet. I hope it’s soon!

So while my Mom and I were shopping today on Montana we popped into a store called “The Quilted Monkey”. The sell these glasses and pillows I’ve seen before by catstudio with cities and states on them. I got one for every city I’ve lived in AND Martha’s Vineyard (which I have visited many times over the years).

They are in order that I lived in or visited: Chicago, Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, and LA. Little known fact: besides Logan airport, I actually went to and visited in Martha’s Vineyard before I lived in Boston!

Look at the top, you can see the North Shore! Also, Lake Michigan, Second City, Millennium Park, and the Loop! In the top you can see the real reason its called the “windy city”.

Great! Here is Martha’s Vineyard. Note the Black Dog, Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, the cliffs etc.

A set would not be complete without my favorite city, Boston! Ah, my great love:

In this next one you can see the MFA, Fenway Park, the South End, Trinity Church, Back Bay and the Charles River:

And last of all, my new city, Los Angeles!

Malibu, UCLA, Beverly Hills and Bell Air! You know, my ‘hood!

Also, I picked up this great Boston postcard:

I already had this one:

I have a little home improvement project planned with these post cards. I especially love this one because it has the State House on it, where I worked this time last year … I can add to my collection which my mother started:

Great, right? Not only does it match my apartment colors (!) but it has such a great message. My mom cleverly put it in a see through frame. While I cannot take credit for the decoration of my apartment (those snaps go to the talented Danny Mailley) I really like these little touches and I have a plan formulating to incorporate the post cards so stay tuned.

Hello everyone!

This is not about food, its about cleanliness! My Mom is in LA right now, and I knew that she was going to give my apartment the “white glove once over”. Basically look over everything! I’m not a messy person, I am a bit clutter-ish. Carolyn, former roommate, will remember the “Starbucks graveyard” from Jr. year. I’ve gotten better though, but I still don’t clean my stove, for example, as much as I should. You can generally look at old posts and see a greasy, gross, food splattered stove top but on Friday AM, that became history…

So clean!!!! The trick? Baking soda and water! Just make sure you don’t drink the baking soda with water, cause your stomach will explode just like in that failure to warn torts case…

I also cleaned the rest of the kitchen…

And Izzy was so happy in the clean apartment.

I made oatmeal for breakfast today before meeting up with Mom for Starbucks and shopping at the UCLA Thrift Store, OSH, Abbot Kinney in Venice, and Montana Ave. in Santa Monica.

In my oatmeal I had dried apricots, dried cranberries, and Saigon Cinnamon.  So delish and hearty! Can’t go wrong with oatmeal for breakfast!

Just downloaded the wordpress iPhone app. This is a test to see if this works. Now I can update my blog from anywhere! Yay! Here should be a pic of the tea I’m having tonight, trader joes sleepy time tea.