So much for resolutions

It's only 11 days into the new year and I seem to have broken most of the ones I made. Must remember not to make any next year!


But today is a new day and I'm trying to keep one, which is to write a daily blog post.

I can't really write much of a post about the Cupcake Trip that Duchess Linda and I took Saturday to Sugar Bakery & Sweet Shop in East Haven, Ct. , winner of the Food Network's Cupcake Wars in 2010.
As you can see from the link (please read her post) she already wrote a comprehensive one!

We enjoyed these sweet samples of frosting ~ and then came the hard part: which cupcakes to buy? 

It took quite a while to choose from more than 20 varieties. 

This trip broke another resolution, come to think of it! Consuming cupcakes (even though I only had half of one) is no way to lose weight. I bought four different chocolatey ones; the children each had one, I brought one to my chocoholic mom and Ralph and I split the remaining one. Yummy!
 
They even sell T-shirts. One says "Keep Calm and Eat A Cupcake." Don't know how to stay calm after consuming all that sugar, but I'm willing to give it a try.  The map of the U.S. shows just how far some folks have traveled to get their cupcakes.

 

 And I didn't realize it at the time but I managed to get Linda's red Dodge Caliber in the photo. 


 When we left with our purchases you could say we were "happy."

So after the bakery visiting we got back on the highway and The Distracted Wanderer asked me how far away I thought the 9/11 memorial in Westport was from where we were.


I guesstimated 30 miles. But when you say "30 miles" to Duchess Linda, it's like saying "3 miles" to anyone else!
She doesn't mind driving, and I don't mind passenging. We headed down I-95 South from East Haven to Westport and Sherwood Island State Park.

The island is actually a peninsula that goes into Long Island Sound. There we photographed the living memorial that lists names of Connecticut residents or those with close family in the state who were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Since it was a mild, sunny day for January there were quite a lot of people there taking a stroll, flying kites, viewing the somber memorial and just relaxing.

But I think I'll save those photos for another day. Cupcakes and terror attacks don't really go together very well.

Linda and I ended up back in West Haven at the Texas Roadhouse for a late lunch. Here's Linda sitting near the Willie Nelson Corner.


 I hope you enjoyed reading about our January wandering. I know I enjoyed being a part of it.

Can you say cupcakes?

My friend Duchess Linda of Norwich-Upon-Thames Facebook messaged me last night (do any of us use a real telephone any more?) and asked me to accompany her in search of cupcakes and tea today.


Sounds like a plan!

The sun is shining and it's unseasonably mild. We're lucking out weather-wise.

Details to follow...

Cupcakes

That's it!

I figured it out. Cupcakes are the secret.

Their sweet selves serve to pull us out of our depression, our frustration over a slow Internet connection, our exhaustion, or in my case heat exhaustion.

I don't know about you but the summer weather does a number on my brain - I can't think straight when it is so hot. And I'm sitting in an air conditioned room. How spoiled.

What did the pioneer women do? I know they didn't have air conditioning in those covered wagons and log cabins and outhouses.

Allegra made *cupcakes* this week after I purchased a baking tin, and now I want her to make us some more. We enjoyed them immensely.

They are wonderful. And she is wonderful for making them. I hope she reads this blog post today.

OK, back to work. Have a good day.

What's better than pizza and cupcakes?

That was the menu for a first birthday party we attended Saturday for our niece's baby (see pizza boxes piled behind her!). Her aunt baked the birthday girl her own pink and white cake to shmoosh and enjoy. And she did. There were quite a few little ones under age 5 at the restaurant, which made it a bit chaotic but a lot of fun. Ah, the next generation is upon us!
Here's the birthday girl with her proud (and young) grandfather:

Nothing like being able to dote on your first grandchild! And dote he does.