jumping for joy (oh joy)

We were so excited to have our new second location featured today on Oh Joy AND we teamed up to ship one lucky person a dozen cupcakes (check out the post for all the details...most important, you only have until Friday morning to participate in the giveaway).

Our second shop in Solvang just opened up about 3 months ago.  Here's a glimpse of what we started with ~

Our 1964 restored vintage Shasta airflyte cupcake trailer was the design inspiration for the little shop.  We want our guests to feel as if they are stepping into our trailer (full of cupcakes!). Here was our inspiration for re-working the space.  I put together this inspiration board before we started re-vamping ~

And, here's some more info about our Solvang location and lovely visuals captured by the amazing Jose Villa!

 In addition to selling cupcakes, we also sell some fun retro inspired products that smell like our cupcakes taste & one-of-a-kind vintage finds (vintage aprons, milk glass cake stands, retro thermoses, etc.)!  We have Margarita Bloom, www.margarita-bloom.com, bath & body products from their "Bakery" line (i.e Belgium chocolate soap, lemon drop body butter) and hand poured soy candles in retro tins, with scents like vanilla mint, maple brown sugar & key lime pie.

churro

I love when we make flavors that people get super excited about.  This week it was Churro!  It was the first to sell out most days in both shops.  When I think of churro, here's the images that float around in my head...

Churro cupcake, vanilla bean cake, filled with cinnamon pastry cream, topped with cinnamon sugar buttercream & a fried cinnamon sugar tortilla strip.

Vintage Ferris Wheel, Churro Cupcake, Churros, Amore Sign, Churro Bar

turtle...

cupcake that is!

Chocolate cake, filled with house-made caramel, topped with toffee frosting, more caramel & a candied pecan.

Inspired by this...

when he's not peddling cupcakes...

he's corporate team building!  Kevin's been energizing corporate groups for 12 years with his Interact business and of his 20+ events, one of his most popular ones is the "iron chef" food competition - he can't get away from yumminess!  See him in action...

no matter what we do, we are always thinking about new cupcake flavors and one of the teams in this iron chef challenge sauteed bananas in orange juice and it was awesome...so this week we'll feature an orange bananas foster cupcake!

happy birthday, Opal Ray

Today Opal is 3!  Her favorite colors are black & purple.  She's captivated by all things "princess".  She loves to dress up.  She has more handbags than I do.  She loves sparkly shoes.  She pays attention to the details and will stop everything to admire a beautiful flower.  Her imagination is rich (she's gasping in awe in the photo because my friend Jill had just told her that Tinker Bell is in the tree above her).  She wishes she could climb into her books.  She likes to make announcements into pretend microphones in the bathtub.  Her heart is full of God's love.  She's intensely thoughtful.  She'll talk your ear off about Disneyland.  She is obsessed with sugar.  She gets excited every time she sees the moon.  She likes to twirl.    She loves to pray and tell God stories.  AND she really loves TV & movies :)

I can't believe she's already three.  We look forward to every moment & celebration in her future.  We love her more and more everyday.

handbags:  www.thebedlamofbeefy.blogspot.com, Olallie Berry Cake: www.enjoycupcakes.com, flowers:  snippetandink, princess dress:  Etsy, crown: Etsy, studded ballet slippers

newlyweds in the moonlight...

At an awesome wedding on Saturday Kevin was so focused on capturing the full strawberry moon rising over Figeroua Mountain that he neglected to notice Kelly & Joe (the newlyweds) admiring the moon themselves!  What a beautiful end to a wonderful night.  Congratulations, Kelly & Joe!

a rustic display...

 These little cupcakes were for a wedding rehearsal celebration.  The bride & groom call one another "baby cakes" so the minis were a natural fit!  Kevin put together the display and took the photos!

beautiful baby shower...

I was heart-broken not to be able to attend my friend's baby shower.  She's lovely, talented, artistic & graceful (check out her newborn & maternity photography here!)  and her friends created an environment that perfectly reflects her personality and style.  Even though I couldn't attend, I was able to be there through lemon cupcakes (Meg's favorite flavor) & a pale pink birdie nest cake I made in honor of baby Ella.  Here are some pics from the shower, taken by Christy Schuler.  I can't wait to hold you, baby Ella!