[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

Earlier last week, I attended an event at Azalea, a local boutique in San Francisco. Mission Minis was one of the sponsors, and I was so happy to finally get to try their mini cupcakes! I’d heard of them, but just never got the chance to visit their shop.

They were moist and delicious! Batch 19 was also a sponsor, and I definitely recommend the Peanut Butter Kiss [pictured above before I devoured it] as a pairing for their beer. At $1 a piece, I wouldn’t mind stopping by for a small treat!

In fact, I’m heading out to a birthday brunch this afternoon. Guess what I’m bringing? Two dozen mini cupcakes! The birthday girl loves cupcakes, and I found a great Plum District deal on it. I couldn’t pass it up, knowing how tasty those Mission Minis are.

Everyone starts with 24 hours in a day. How the 24 is allocated is where we differ. In order to maximize the ratio of awesome moments to available hours [that's 24 hours less sleep time, less $-making work time], I need to stop wasting time on ventures that offer no return whatsoever. They are the kinds you invest hours of time/effort for a big “fuck you” at the end.

So over it and determined to make the most of my 24 hours, I’d rather focus my energies on the positive than the negative. So far, what’s gone right?

MoA #1: After a week-long trial period paid in lunches, RV has signed on with a company! Salaried with benefits. Looks like he beat me to the full-time employment game. I’m still on contract, but on track to be signed on. Anyway, two incomes are better than one!

MoA #2: In an attempt to make cupcakes with brownie mix. I followed the instructions for the brownie mix [MY BAD!] and ended up with rock-hard brownies in cup form. It’s all a learning experience, regardless of how obvious a mistake I made and how embarrassing that can be. More than half have been eaten by RV, friends who came over for a movie night, and me. Once one gets over the rock hard exterior, there’s actually a delicious and chewy brownie inside! So even with the failed 101 in 1001 task, it wasn’t really a waste.

MoA #3: Festizio show at Red Devil Lounge on Sunday night. Great chance to support my friends’ band + check out a venue I’d never been to. It was their last show before they’re locking themselves up to record an EP in May, so it wasn’t one to be missed.

MoA #4: Inspired by Marie aka The Simplist and in an effort to get organized, I found a coupon for the Freedom Filer. 20% off! My set of tabs is coming in the mail soon, so I can get the file cabinet in order. Hours spent on sifting through paperwork will result in something magical, I hope.

It’s not even Hump Day, and it appears that my week is going well. What moments of awesome have you acknowledged thus far this week?

I’m starting to build a routine for my Saturdays – Pilates with Chase and volunteering at the SPCA [hopefully taking photos of cats and dogs!]. This weekend, however, only one of those was scheduled in because there was a cupcake crawl in the East Bay to attend! Seeing as how this would involve sweets, I opted to pair the cupcake crawl with a workout beforehand. Well, it was more like Chase would be attending, so it just seemed easier to stick to one side of the bay for the day.

We caught up with everyone at the second stop of the crawl, La Farine. Kirsten and Stephen came too! Here [pictured right.] she is with the chocolate cupcake from La Farine. It was a little on the sweeter side, and the vanilla cupcake from the same place was much preferred. While the cake was a bit more flaky, the BLUE frosting [pictured left] was tastier.

Our second stop was at Sweet Adeline Bakeshop. They weren’t quite ready when we first arrived, but when they delivered, they really DELIVERED. I think of all the stops, they had the most variety of flavors. At Sweet Adeline, we tried the Guinness Chocolate, Red Velvet, and Banana. There were quite a few others, but I was a little late in line and missed some of the other goodies. I snoozed, therefore, I lost.

After the sweetness overload of the two stops, we took a savory break with fried chicken sandwiches at Bakesale Betty. Crispy, spicy, and tasty! There was a ridiculous line that went down half the relatively long block, but it moved quickly. With the sandwich in our bellies, there wasn’t much room for anything else. Still, we pushed on.

The second to last stop for the crawl was Cupkates, but it was our last stop. Cupkates is a cupcakery on wheels, so you have to follow their Twitter account for their locations! They planned out the cupcake crawl where the mobile cupcakes would meet us close by. We tried the Smores, Lemon Raspberry, Pumpkin Spice, and Double Vanilla [pictured below in order].

Yum, but too many cupcakes for the day! Luckily, I learned from my previous experiences with Cupcake Camp, so we shared a lot of the cupcakes. We know better than to stuff our faces with entire cupcakes at once when we need to really conserve as much space as possible.

More photos from the cupcake crawl: here.

An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

041 – Learn to bake edible cupcakes.
I don’t know when I will tackle this one. Amanda says she’ll help me out, so it’s just a matter of finding time. I think that most of my list just requires time and energy. In an effort to broadening my cupcake horizons, I dragged RV with me to Cupcake Camp v2.0. They picked a bigger venue this time, and I think there was more of everything – bakers, cupcakes, and attendees sampling the cupcakes.

It was a madhouse. We didn’t stay for very long, but it was enough. Growing up, I did not eat a whole lot of cupcakes or sweets, so my tastes in cupcakes has been relatively boring. I like ‘em fluffy, not too dry, and the frosting not too sweet.

Perhaps I will submit my cupcakes next time!

More Cupcake Camp photos: here

Traveling in a large group AND on one of the busier weekends of the year can lead to a spectacular or craptacular experience. I think it was on the brink of the latter, saved by the appearance of some dear old friends of mine.

Our flight was delayed. We were planning on eating dinner once we landed [which was supposed to be at 7:30]. We landed at around 10:30. By the time we were all set with the rental cars [power went out briefly, and they had to reboot all their computers.], it was already past 11. Needless to say, there were some grumpy folks on board, so we called it a night once checked in at around 1 in the morning. We had dinner at a mediocre Korean place in K-town, and during that brief period of time, my rental had been smashed by tomatoes and gunk. Yea, thanks for the welcome, LOS ANGELES!

Waited until the next morning when we were in Anaheim to clean it off [Thanks L!]. Disneyland was a blast, as expected. How can it not be when you’re in the “Happiest Place on Earth,” right? Some drama ensued over the course of the evening, which resulted in a bit of disappointment and frustration on my end. Luckily, Jeshii and Yayoi were there. Plus, fried chicken soaked in gravy?! YUM.

Sunday was a day to relax. We woke up, grabbed breakfast, and then went for our massages and facials. Met up with Jen there. Lunch was in Thai Town, although the restaurant I had wanted to stop by was closed. We ended up at another, where you would have to make the request for NO MSG. I felt a bit sick after lunch, so I didn’t get to fully enjoy gelato at Scoops. After Scoops, we checked out the Museum of Jurassic Technology – weird, but interesting. I might have been the only one in the group who actually liked the place.

After we stopped by Beverly Hills to load up on cupcakes [which were then subsequently left on BART once we returned to SF - SAD!], we were on our way home. Instead of waiting for our delayed flight to SF, we switched our tickets and went via Oakland. Had some cupcakes on the plane trip back, so at least we got to try them.

It was nice to get away from the city, but perhaps next time, I won’t be traveling with all these people. I don’t need other people’s drama!