A Jolly Olde Time in London Towne!

Cheerio, mates! As those of you on Twitter may remember, I've just returned from a wonderful, whirlwind weekend spent visiting my sister (affectionately, Middle Chip) in London, where she's studying for the semester. We had such a fabulous time, and I was so sad to leave her again until December! But it's definitely a weekend I'll always remember sharing with her. :)

Now, the two of us didn't get up to all that much cooking this weekend (although we did manage one kitchen creation!), but what follows is a bit of a tour through our antics and escapades...most of which involve a lot of sugar...

Williams Sonoma Cupcake Mixes: Reviewed

Photo courtesy of metrolic.com

What are the first things that come to mind when you think about the UK?

Tea and crumpets? Big Ben? Prince William?

All fine answers. Now, your list probably doesn't include cupcakes. It's okay; I understand, really. But if you've been reading this blog for any appreciable length of time, you'll know that my sisters and I have a deep affinity for these darlings of the baked good world, and we manage to find a way to work them into any occasion, if not all.

So what was the most recent of these occasions?

Well, my dear Middle Chip has decided to spend her fall semester abroad in jolly ol' England. She departs in just under three weeks--I can't believe it! And so this weekend, we had all of our extended family and friends over for a UK-themed Bon Voyage party. It was, to quote the lovely Julie Andrews, "practically perfect in every way."

Cupcake Crawl 2011!!

Well, if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that Sunday of last weekend was the day Middle Chip and I had been waiting for: Cupcake Crawl 2011!!

And here it is, in all its recap glory...read on for cupcake gluttony!

Peace, love, and ice cream

So, today was Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough on the left, and Triple Caramel Chunk on the right.

I know you're jealous. It's cool. I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Night, kids!

Saturday Night Baking Fever

I ask you this question: What does one do on a weekend evening with no plans and nothing on TV?

Obviously, one bakes three batches of cookies. And, since one is bored and lonely, one convinces Baby Chip to help by giving her the job of Baking Photographer. Thus, all photo credits for this post go to my aspiring photographer sister.

TGIF, f'realz

So, just a short post to say that in spite of the fact that today included:

• savagely burning myself on the office toaster oven
• a wicked paper cut resulting from jogging my proofs too earnestly
• hellacious email drama and
• walking out the office door to rain--surprise!--with no umbrella,

I did not throw myself in front of a passing city bus because my dear Middle Chip brought me a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. Vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. In its own jaunty little Magnolia Bakery carrying case. I may or may not have shut my office door at 4 p.m. to eat my cupcake in peace because it was the bright spot in my life at that moment. So, dear sister, thanks from the bottom of my heart to you.

(Please excuse the crappy photo quality; I had to use my iPhone camera due to the spontaneity of such a wonderful gift.)

I think the cute boxes are half the reason I like boutique cupcake shops so much. Okay, maybe 25%.

Bringing much more joy and happiness to my office than my fake gerbera daisies ever can.

Just before digging in. :)

Happy weekend!

Links in this post:
http://www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php