cupcake craze continues

While out grabbing lunch, I spotted a new food cart in downtown Richmond- Sweet Melissa's Cupcakes. An adorable girl (presumably Melissa) was working the cart, though she bashfully refused to be photographed. She's just opened shop though has sold out most days. I should have asked what hours she's around, but you can catch these cupcakes on E. Main at 12th across from Quiznos.


At $2.25, the cupcakes aren't cheap, but compare to most specialty cupcake shops. Melissa had four varieties on sale, and a list of seven on the menu she sent with me to distribute in my office (sorry, it's just two of us here!) A glass dome covers the dislay cupcakes while the ones for sale are individually boxed in plastic take-out containers. (Bonus: free tupperware!)

I got the classic chocolate cupcake, and it managed to avoid the mistakes of many cupcakeries (yes, I just coined that word.) The cake was moist and tasted homemade. The icing was soft and not overly sweet (chocolate buttercream.) If I had gotten more than one, I would have tried the 'Humingbird' cake with cream cheese frosting.

Sorry I didn't get a closeup of the treats, my battery died after the first picture. Anyone else in Richmond tried these yet? Thoughts?

puerto rico: architecture pt 2: hospitality

[San Juan hotel 1]

[San Juan hotel 2]

guilt-y purchase

Just ordered these from Design History, on sale at Gilt.com. I really hope they fit correctly; I'm a bit nervous about the romper. I ordered it a size up because things that fit too snug around my waist are not flattering. The dress is a much more forgiving cut, so it should work great (fingers crossed!) Each was $45, about 60% off the original listing. The gray dress will be a summer constant, because right now it's too hot for clothes. Only bad part is they won't come for 8-12 days!

Gilt is an invite-only, free website that lists a few designers a day and has fantastic deals. Often the clothes are still a bit out of my budget (a $600 dress for $200 is still $200) but there have been some great deals and the clothes are often fun to look at even if I can't afford them.

Think you may want to sign up for Gilt? Use this code! (It gives me credit if you end up buying anything, so I'll love you forever.)

quick pic: hands across the sand

[Hands Across the Sand: Virginia Beach]
Part of nationwide protest of offshore drilling.
More images here. More information here.

quick pic: mail

[Old mailboxes at the 2nd St Post Office.]

sister dinner date

Lately Richmond has exploded with woodfired pizza places. For the full breakdown, check out RVAFoodie's pizza quest. Of course, the day before he posts, I end up with my little sister at Stuzzi. Pizza just seemed like the perfect sisters meal and I wanted a place to sit down, relax and have a glass of wine. We split an appetizer, salad, pizza and dessert. Overall we had a great meal, though with the burst of new pizza joints Stuzzi will have to work to shine above the rest (and I do plan to visit the rest!)

[Potato and proscutto croquettes]
My sister decided it tasted like "fried mashed potatoes with proscutto" which is pretty accurate, and accurately describes the deliciousness. However, at $6 for 4, they are rather pricey and the proscutto is not well destributed. My first bite was full of a giant piece but the rest of the croquettes had only one or two very small pieces.

[Arugula with shaved Parmesan]
Solid salad, but missing something. It may have just been fresh ground pepper or a bit more balsamic in the dressing but lacked the pop of an excellent basic salad.

[Cotto ham pizza]
This is where Stuzzi shined. Great woodfired crust, excellent cheese. The ham was good though could have used a bit more (or maybe I was just sad not to have a spicy pepperoni.) The pizza is very soft on bottom so we sort of folded it in half, but perpendicular to New York syle.

[Tartufo]

Best Italian dessert ever? Possibly. This isn't the style of tartufo my grandmother insisted we eat in Rome, but it was quite tasty. My sister and I avoided the cherry and enjoyed the ice cream and chocolate crust.

puerto rico: architecture pt 1: old san juan

I don't have much to caption each of these with since most of just random buildings, but I hope this gives you a bit of a the feel of Old San Juan. It's a very small area, perfect for walking in an afternoon, and feels very European with just a hint of the Caribbean.