Cupcakes and Road Trips

Tonight I made cupcakes for my writer's group meeting tomorrow. Okay, technically when I made them I wasn't planning on taking them to the meeting. I was just going to satisfy the sweet tooth that has been growing since I've been watching all the amazing cake contests on the Food Network Challenge. But then I realized I couldn't eat 24 mini cupcakes and 12 full-size cupcakes without going into a sugar coma, so I will foist the excess sugar on my writing friends instead.

(These are them. Aren't they luverly?)

These cupcakes remind me of my recent trip to Austin. I went for an overnight with writer friend Kim Frost when she went to speak at the Austin RWA chapter. It's not a bad drive from Houston, maybe 3 1/2 hours. (Maybe 3 at Kim Frost speeds. She drives a Mustang, people.) Anyway, one of the first things we saw in Austion was a palm tree in a car. Seriously.


Then we hung out a Jo's coffee cafe, where they have a ultra cool outdoor patio right on South Congress, Austin's hipster main drag. We chatted and talked writing and kept our papers from flying away in the delicious breeze and maybe scared some of the other patrons with our hypothetical conversations about death and ice ages. (Then again, this is Austin. Their motto is Keep Austin Weird. Also, see palm tree car above.)


Then we left Jo's, determined to make one more stop before heading to check into the hotel ... only this is what we found when we got back to Kim's car.

(That is one seriously flat tire.)

Thankfully, the lovely peeps at AAA sent someone to come fix our tire and we were back on our way in under an hour. We postponed our one stop until the next day, but it was soooo worth it. (Now the cupcake tie-in will make sense.)


This is Hey Cupcake. It's a cupcake shop in an Airstream trailer. If there are two things I love it's frosted cake and Airstream trailers. (I have an almost unnatural obsession with all things Art Deco, and I definitely consider Airstreams to be Art Deco.) Plus, look, it has a giant spinning cupcake on top! How kitschy-cool is that?

I'm definitely looking forward to going back to Austin. It seems like a great city with a fun vibe and a big focus on individuality.

Hugs,
TLC