Travel

Medieval Times, Buena Park CA

October 3, 2017 by Mia Cupcake Leave a Comment

Medieval Times was a staple for trips to Southern California when I was little. We took about a half dozen road trips down to the area while I was growing up, and we ALWAYS stopped at Medieval Times.

(To be perfectly honest, I was hoping every time to be crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty. I am still waiting to fill that particular wish….)

Last time I stepped foot into the castle was about 20 years ago.

So when the stars aligned and Medieval Times contacted me to attend one of their dinner theater shows during my trip to Southern California, I got a big ole dose of nostalgia and said “ABSOLUTELY, YES PLEASE.”

It was a long trip in rush hour from Ang’s house, so by the time we rolled up to the castle, I was beyond excited.

We took 2 out of 4 of Angela’s kids, and I made them all listen to my Hans Zimmer playlist most of the way there. (All “Pirates of the Caribbean”, all the time.) So I bet they were glad to get out of the car too…

So here’s the Cliff Notes version of how a visit to Medieval Times works:

You arrive, and are “sorted” into a section. This section determines which knight is your champion, and who you cheer and who you jeer. You also get a crown. (I do love crowns.)
While you are waiting in the foyer outside the jousting arena, there are all sorts of little skits and announcements from the king and his crew, and you can go visit the horses in the barn. There is a full bar, and you can purchase drinks in cups with flashing lights, and why yes I totally bought the flashing castle-tower-shaped one.
You are released into your section for the dinner show, and get to eat while watching some knights fight for a championship. Don’t worry about where you get to sit, because every seat in the house is a good one!
The knights duel and there’s a princess and a great storyline, and I won’t ruin it for you because you really should go.

After nearly 3 hours of entertainment and a good meal and awesome company, I have come to the conclusion that everyone should add Medieval Times to their Southern California itinerary, immediately. (they have 8 other locations too!)

Here are 4 reasons you should visit the Medieval Times castle next time you’re in the area:

The knights. There are dudes on horses with lances or running around with swords. There’s no blood, so it’s OK for kids. There are SPARKS FLYING, so it’s awesome for adults.Plus, the knights are pretty easy on the eyes. I can see this being a great choice for part of a SoCal bachelorette weekend!
You eat the food with your HANDS. Everything. From the soup to dessert, there are no utensils.
I was way too full to eat the dessert, but everything was pretty delicious. I especially enjoyed the tomato soup – I have never liked tomato soup, but this was really well-seasoned and tasty!
YELLING! Yelling is my favorite. My volume button is often stuck at 11 when I’m excited.They encourage rowdy cheering for your section’s knight and boisterous booing for the opposition.
Keep it clean (obviously), But be loud. There are flags and rally towels available in some of the more extensive ticket packages, but waving your napkin is also encouraged.
You’re fed, entertained and excited. There’s a show, jousting, skits, handsome men fighting to the death, gorgeous horses and so much more. It’s definitely fun for the whole family!

Side note: your ticket includes dinner and soda, coffee or tea and a dessert, plus the show. You can get additional perks if you purchase one of the add-ons…I’ve got my eye on the birthday package for my birthday trip next year!

Let me know on social media when you visit a Medieval Times location,
I would love to hear about it!

Here is the vlog from the day we attended Medieval Times too!

**I was provided with complimentary tickets to a Medieval Times show in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Driving in SoCal Traffic

September 28, 2017 by Mia Cupcake Leave a Comment

My best friend lives 1000 miles away from me.

This means that if I want to “pop by” or “have a girls’ night”, to drive from my house in Bellingham, WA to hers in Orange County, CA, it would take 19 hours and 58 minutes (if the traffic is light, like Google Maps is claiming it might be as I write this post at 10am on a Monday).

Lucky for me (and thanks to a lot of savvy saving/budgeting and a big airfare credit for getting bumped off a flight last year), I was able to fly her way last week.

Thanks to the fam at Kia Motors of America (and DriveShop), I had some sweet wheels waiting at the airport for me when I landed!

I sat in that car for a good ten minutes, giving myself a pep talk before I started the car…. because before this trip, I had never driven on California roads in my life.

Southern California highways terrify me. A lot.

I’ve seen those movies and TV shows! Californians sit in traffic forever and they also drive like crazy people, right?

There are an average of 379,000 vehicles per day driving on JUST the 405. There are more than THIRTY FREEWAYS AND HIGHWAYS in the LA area and I don’t know where ANY OF THEM GO.

I’m pretty sure I would have to live there for 10 years before I could tell you (without GPS) where the 405 goes.

(Notice the white knuckles in this photo that I took of myself before I even pulled out of the parking lot at the airport.)

So after my (rather lengthy) self pep talk, I pulled out of the parking and onto the road.

To be perfectly honest, I had built up the driving situation quite a bit. There are a LOT of cars, and a lot of freeways, but if you’re prepared and well-equipped, you can do it.

(taking a pause here to say thank GOD for Kia lending me this car, because the navigation and the loud beeping noise every time I tried to change lanes and someone was already driving there were SUCH a blessing on the 704 freeways they have running all over the place.)

So here are 3 big tips I found handy when driving around in Southern California and the Los Angeles area:

You’re more scared of it than it is of you. It’s just driving. With more cars. Everywhere. So many cars. And motorcycles who do something called “lane splitting” and did I mention there are cars everywhere? And why doesn’t anyone use their turn signal?Just be vigilant. Watch your six, and you’ll be ok.
(And honestly, thank god for cars (like the 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid) with top safety ratings and really great gas mileage and little doohickeys that beep REALLY LOUD when someone gets too close to your bumper or are hiding in your blind spot when you’re trying to change lanes.)
Plan. OMG, plan. Look at the maps. Figure out how far all the things you want to do in SoCal are from each other. Map it out. Then be realistic.I didn’t realize how far away everything was, from the last half dozen times I’ve visited my BFF. She always drives everywhere. I didn’t realize that a trip to Santa Monica from Orange County would be a mostly-all-day thing. I thought we could just jog up there in the morning and be back by the time that the kids were out of school.
(Without the navigation in the 2017 Kia Optima Hybrid, I would have been pretty lost. My phone GPS got us lost 4 times in one trip, and the navigation in the car never steered us wrong and ALSO showed us shortcuts during ugly traffic times that would possibly get us to our destination faster!)
Do your thing. Turn up the music and roll the windows down and sing while you drive. Open up the sunroof while you roll down the PCH because you got lost in Santa Monica and want to smell the ocean and OMG why is it so hard to get to the Santa Monica Pier?
Turn up the seat coolers in your awesome borrowed ride (like that Kia Optima). Go to In N Out twice in a week. Hit up the Medieval Times dinner show. Go to the crystal shop and get your aura cleansed. Drive by Trejo’s Tacos just to take a photo.

Find those murals of the wings and Instagram the heck out of them. Make a list of all the things you want to eat when you get to SoCal and then toss it totally out the window once you get there because there are just too many options.Eat ramen. Hug your people you only get to see once every 18 months as tight as you can without hurting them. Make memories.

Drive that car. But safely, and in a manner befitting someone who wants to get back home in one piece.

A huge hug and thank you to my friends at Kia Motors of America and Drive Shop for lending me this vehicle while I traveled in California! They provided me with use of the vehicle and a tank of gas – all opinions here are mine and not otherwise influenced.

A Trip to Orcas Island in my prAna Fall Outfit

September 21, 2017 by Mia Cupcake 4 Comments

It was a long summer.

A long hot one, with smoky skies and ridiculous temperatures and I am not really built for this type of summer. I wanted to vacation in the Arctic Circle when mid-August hit.

So when prAna offered to send me a few pieces from their fall line, I knew it was kismet. I’m ready for fall, so why not dress like it?

(I chose the Filament tank in North Sea, and the Juniper pants in Coal.)

When the pieces arrived, I had to take them somewhere AWESOME to “debut” them, so we decided on a day trip to Orcas Island. We used to summer there every year when I was growing up, and it was time for a return visit.

To get to Orcas from our house, you must drive south to Anacortes and hitch a ride on the ferry.

(PS – If you live in the Pacific Northwest and have not yet visited the San Juans, do so ASAP. Plan your next vacation there. It is magical.)

So up we got, before the dawn, to drive to Orcas. 3 generations of Cupcake women, on a mini-road trip. Glad I wore the comfortable prAna clothes…that was a long trip!

First stop was for breakfast at a fabulous cafe called Catkin Cafe on the east side of the island, in Olga. A lovely little place attached to an art studio, serves some pretty amazing food and hit the spot.

We headed up Mount Constitution to see the view – but since it was the first cloudy (and RAINY!) day in nearly 2 months, there wasn’t much to see!

We hit up the Rosario resort to check out the main house, then went into town to check out the shops.

A lot has changed since my last visit over 15 years ago, but some things stay the same. The little pharmacy we used to ride our bikes to for candy is still there, but the shop where we bought all of our amazing fleece jackets we love so much has gone.

After we finished in town, we headed to visit a dear friend of mine who recently bought a new house on the island. We got to hold her bunnies and check out her cool geodesic house!

All in all, we spent about 10 hours on the island, and enjoyed every second of it.

I especially enjoyed that my clothes fit my body, and I didn’t have to keep tugging things back into place. As a plus size lady, it’s hard sometimes to find pants that make you feel comfortable, and these definitely did.

And the back of the Filament tank is so interesting – people kept stopping me to ask me about it!

All in all, it was an amazingly great day. We did so many things while we were on the island, but we do need to go back. I’ll have to snag myself some more prAna pieces for that trip. <3

Check out prAna here on Instagram!

If you’d like to pick up a few pieces of your own from the prAna fall line, they have provided me with a lovely discount code! Just head to their website, use “FALL15” at checkout and get 15% off your purchase!

prAna provided me with a few pieces from their fall line in exchange for this blog post. All opinions are mine. #prAnaFallStyle17 #prAnaStyle and #sweatpink #sweatpinkpartner

Opening Night at the Sugar Factory Bellevue (WA)

September 12, 2017 by Mia Cupcake 3 Comments

Thanks to Sugar Factory for hosting us for this amazing event!

I don’t go into Seattle very often for events. It’s a 3 hour round trip from home if the traffic goes my way, and I’m not always into making that jaunt for an event that will last less time than my drive there.

But occasionally, something lands in my inbox that’s hard to ignore….and this past Wednesday was one of those events.

(To be perfectly honest, I saw “appearance by Mariah Carey” and my teenage fangirl self RSVP’d immediately without knowing what the venue was. So my intrepid friend Ashli and I had no idea what to expect.)

When we walked into the Sugar Factory at the Shops at Bravern in Bellevue, WA that late summer evening, we basically stepped into a Christmas wonderland. Beautiful wreaths and swags everywhere, a stunning white-flocked Christmas tree and SANTA was there.

Obviously I live under a rock, as I seem to be the only person who DIDN’T know that the Sugar Factory was a restaurant. I just assumed that we would be hanging out in a giant candy store (and was completely satisfied with this idea).

I was only slightly wrong.

An extremely polite hostess led us down the black-and-white subway-tiled floor to a booth in the corner. The walls are all paneled with dark wood and red accents and hung with beautiful black and white photographs; the banquettes upholstered with black vinyl.

And rubber ducks are EVERYWHERE, as they’re the logo for the company.

There’s a huge mirrored one in the candy shop at the entrance, scattered throughout the restaurant on the short walls between the booths, and they make appearances on glassware and napkins and the menus.

Speaking of menus, try not to be intimidated by the massive book they hand you when you visit the Sugar Factory. It’s spiral bound, laminated and at least a half inch thick.

Luckily, our waitress Madeline was pretty savvy and when we told her to “surprise us”, she hit the nail on the head. She brought us huge drinks in goblets of candy and dry ice and color, and we made friends with the wait staff, so we had a constant stream of appetizers.

Sliders with “Sugar Factory Special Sauce” and the bruschetta were good, the Chicken Satay was OK (a little on the chewy side) but the Macaroni and Cheese Pops…oh man.

Heaven.

They were crunchy and cheesy and thank you (no thank you, I ate 3 of them) to DJ the waiter for passing them by our table every time they came out of the kitchen.

The restaurant filled up with so many beautiful people, it was astounding. My friend Sharon from Parenting Geekly was there, along with a few people I recognized from television and a guy I follow on Instagram.

Everyone was dressed to impress – even Sir Mix a Lot was there!

Oh…and since it was Christmas-themed, Santa was there too!

I was pretty excited.

So other than the grand opening of the Sugar Factory (which was a pretty huge event in and of itself), Mariah Carey also happened to be launching her Christmas collection, with over 100 items.

That adorable white feather boa tree in the first photo in this post is in her Christmas line available at the Sugar Factory, along with some adorable cupcake and donut ornaments (that I TOTALLY MISSED, but Ashli bought!), custom Mariah Carey cookies, caramel corn and so much more.

We were so engrossed in our enormous smoking drinks and the adorable tree dressed up for the occasion, that we nearly missed the entrance of Mariah Carey.

Now, I don’t really hang out in the same space as celebrities. We have a couple of local ones here in Bellingham and they’re pretty low key and nobody flips out when any of them happen to be in the area.

Mariah Carey entered the room and she’s like the sun. Nearly every face turned towards her, and they should because she’s lovely.

I managed to catch just a few shots of her as she sat in the booth with her adorable children and her sweet boyfriend, and then we had to head home.

But what a night! Sugar and celebrities and rubber duckies and so many fun things.

Thank you to the Sugar Factory for having us and to Ashli for being my +1!

Why You Should Visit the Pacific Northwest in the Winter

September 5, 2017 by Mia Cupcake 10 Comments

DriveShop provided me with use of the 2016 Kia Optima for our road trip last year to Portland and Seattle. All opinions are mine.

It seems a bit odd to write about a winter vacation in the heat of a late summer, but now is the perfect time to start looking at those winter vacation spots.

You can plan something to look forward to during the dreary rains of winter, you can think about cooler times as you bake in the dried-out last gasps of summer, and it never hurts to look away from the forest-fire-smoke-brown skies you’re dealing with (again).

*cough*

So let me lay down my argument for visiting our upper left corner of the lower 48 during the wintertime, despite (or maybe BECAUSE OF) the weather.

Seattle and Portland are far more magical when it’s dreary and grey. You don’t see movies set in either Washington or Oregon during the summertime, because everything is brown and it’s hot. Summer here is not romantic or lovely, it is sweaty and “don’t touch me”. It’s not pretty.The grey skies can be daunting at times, but the rain makes everything green. Our levels of winter precipitation make our states lush and beautiful, and it looks just like those scenes from Twilight.
Yes, there are parts of our state that look like that at times. Yes, it really is that lovely. No, you shouldn’t move here. (ha)Rolling down Chuckanut Drive in Bellingham WA, or over the bridge the 5 on the way into Portland is pretty amazing in the misty rain. (especially if you’re rolling in a car like the 2016 Kia Optima, an IIHS top safety pick.)
The crowds are practically non-existent. You can walk through the Pacific Science Center in Seattle without standing in horrendously long queues.You can walk through the empty Pike Place Market on an rainy night and that’s basically the most romantic thing ever, even if you’re with your Best Platonic Guy Movie Friend Dude and your kids.The lines at Blue Star Donuts in Portland and the crowds in Powell’s are practically nonexistent, and the Oregon Zoo (or the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle!) is quiet when it’s drizzling outside.My personal favorite: you don’t have to search for parking spots for nearly as long as you do in the summer. That alone is a selling point for me, as I DESPISE searching for parking. I also hate paying for parking. (The 2016 Kia Optima feels enormous inside, but is SO EASY to parallel park with its compact size!)I jump at chances to vacation in the off-season because you get to know a place a whole lot better when you’re not fighting hordes of humans to get to actually see the city.
It’s less expensive because it’s the “off season”. Hotels are less expensive, which means you have extra money to spend on fun things like more donuts (I very much enjoyed the donuts of Blue Star, can you tell?).Also, you can actually get food without the epic queue at the popular restaurants from those fancy magazines, like Salt & Straw ice cream (which has been featured in every food magazine out there, and on Food Network at least 3 times) or Tails & Trotters (which has been on Diners, Dive-ins and Drives and in multiple food magazines).If you’re road tripping like we did when we visited Portland and Seattle last winter, you can afford to pack your car trunk with all sorts of fun souvenirs. (We fit 2 new fairly large stuffed animals, luggage for 3 people for a week, the spare carseat, 4 bags of books from Powells, a dozen donuts and cupcakes, three large shopping bags of various and sundry items we purchased, plus three big winter coats in the 15.9 cubic feet of trunk of that 2016 Kia Optima.)
The flavors of a Pacific Northwest winter on a dinner menu are worth the trip. We have taken a trip every year on my birthday in February for the past few years.Every year, we stop at Etta’s and order the Dungeness crab. (And like 3 desserts, but we will talk about that another time.) Crab season is year round, but there’s something resplendent about in-season Meyer lemon with that sweet crab meat.Blue Star (I swear, they didn’t pay me to say this, I just am obsessed with their donuts) served up an orange-olive-oil-dusted donut in February that we actually had to go back and get more because it “disappeared”. (Into someone’s mouth.)Grassa, a little pasta place around the corner from the Blue Star on SW Washington in Portland, served up our first experience with gnocchi (done correctly) with pork belly and peas that we took to go, and ate sitting in the big comfy bed in our hotel room in the downtown Residence Inn Marriott (conveniently located within walking distance of Powells, Blue Star, and the train that takes you everywhere).There’s something about the flavors in the depth of winter that is surprising and comforting. Parades of soups and stews that will warm your chilled soul, desserts that you could have set on fire tableside (like the Baked Alaska we enjoyed at Salty’s on Alki) and tons of hot toddy options (like a spruce-infused version that I can’t quite describe from Dahlia Lounge) that will defrost your toes.
(And if you’re rocking that 2016 Kia Optima, you’ll be able to drive however far is required to chase those flavors, with 26MPG city and 39 MPG highway.)

I could probably go on and on and wax poetic forever about how much I love my corner of the United States, but you really need to just come on up and experience it for yourself.

So pack up your North Face, your handknits and your fleeces, bring a hat or two (and maybe some fingerless gloves) and head our way this winter. (If you’re driving a 2016 Kia Optima, you might be able to skip the gloves. That heated steering wheel option is ACES in the dead of winter.)

Have you visited the Pacific Northwest in the wintertime?

For a list of places we enjoyed visiting on our various trips to Portland and Seattle, and a list of places we want to try, check out our Cupcake Travels map!

Bellingham Farmers Market {local love}

August 16, 2017 by Mia Cupcake Leave a Comment

Every Saturday from April to December, you can find me at the Bellingham Farmers Market.

If you come with me, you have to be prepared though. I mean business…but I will also stop to talk to everyone I know.

A “quick trip” will take an hour. I don’t mess around.

Close to the opening bell at 10am each week, I start with the vendors in front of La Fiamma on Chestnut and Railroad. My friend Matt sets up most weeks right under the big maple there in front of the bike racks with his awesome Perler bead creations, and I always stop to say hello and see what’s new. We’ve been decorating our awesome basement game room with his creations.

Sometimes across from Matt, there’s a kid there with the most beautiful cutting boards, but sometimes there is a Native American gent in that space with beautiful jewelry, who sings with a hand drum on occasion.

Before you even reach the market, you get a little bowled over with the mouthwatering smells. (Like those waves off of PigPen in the Peanuts comics, but delicious. Maybe not the best metaphor?)

You smell the dhal from Simmering Tava, or the sauce they put on the tuna from Fairhaven Poke. There’s a whole row of ready-to-eat items, but don’t head there quite yet.

The first thing that greets you when you get to the market area is an explosion of produce. Two huge produce stands anchor the southeast entrance to the market, gifting us with a constantly-changing seasonal cast of fruits and vegetables every week.

Spring brings fistfuls of plump green and dark purple asparagus spears, and bouquets of pea shoots. Summer delivers with fat juicy peaches and a rainbow of fist-sized heirloom tomatoes that you carry with the utmost care back to your car to prevent any possible bruising. Fall rolls in with more gourds and squashes than you’ve ever seen, and beets and potatoes and cabbages and so many colors of apples.

But don’t spend all your money before you even see what else the market holds!

The first place I stop is always the mushroom stall.

Cascadia Mushrooms brings not only gorgeous fungi every week, but also kits you can use to grow your own shiitake or lions’ mane mushrooms at home! Sometimes they even have reishi mushrooms.

We get our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box from Roslyn at Rabbit Fields Farms. You can’t miss her saffron-yellow umbrella and the matching fabric fluttering in the breeze around her huge certified organic produce stand. Our box is ENORMOUS and stuffed with all sorts of goodies. Some weeks we get berries, kale and potatoes, the next comes cabbage and kohlrabi and tomatoes. you never know until you open the box – it’s a gift full of veggies and fruit every week.

Pat is the lady with the planters made of boots and kitchen utensils and gorgeous handmade birdhouses, but she also sells the best eggs (and the best price!) at the market.

A swirl of brightly-colored, handmade hula hoops can be had just a little further down the row from Pat.

As you stroll around the corner from the hula hoops and Roslyn’s stand, make sure you stop to watch Strangely’s show. No matter how many times we have seen it, we always stop and watch.

“Bass on the face”. Enough said. (You have to see him, or catch him on my Instagram stories to understand.)

If Amy is working, we will stop by the Henna Lee booth. It’s a calm, dark oasis from the hustle just outside, and Amy has a super calming presence and makes her henna pastes by hand. (She’s also a beautiful artist and I’ve written about her before.)

When you head into the Market Depot (the big building at the north end of the market), you could go visit my friend Shannon with her handmade chocolate truffles. If you ask nicely, she might give you a taste of the lavender lemon (my personal favorite) or the sipping “chai-colate”, a thick concoction made from melted chocolate and chai.

Yes, it’s as amazing as it sounds.

Tucked back in the corner in their own little booth is Ralf’s Bavarian Bakery. That’s usually the treat the kids ask for – pretzels as big as their heads. Never with mustard, just plain. (Though they DO have mustard if that is your jam).

In the opposite corner from Ralf’s is the Breadfarm. Most weeks (except when I’m on a Whole30 and I cannot take it), I’ll pick up a loaf of their Monster Stoneground and a croissant. They always have samples, and their sour cherry lemon bread is otherworldly.

Next stop is the eastern-most row, the outside that faces the street.

It’s the last stop before we head home to squirrel away the goodies we picked up.

We slow down and say hey to Chelle of Chelle Beautiful, and her fairy squad armed with balloons and her army of face painters, ready to make you a lizard or a cat or a unicorn.

Drayton Harbor Oysters is worth a stop – they barbecue oysters with white wine and parmesan cheese. The smell will draw you in, even if you don’t like oysters. My mouth is watering and my stomach growling as I’m typing this out. Yum.

Last stop lately has been Cauldron Broths, a purveyor of delicious bone broths. They have been serving up some tasty borscht-inspired beet-infused beef and some french-onion-soup-infused beef bone broths lately, and they’ve saved my bum from diving headfirst off my Whole30 journey this summer with their plan steamed broths (with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt.

(If I ever start dating again, a love of farmers markets in general will probably be a requirement for any potential dudes. I don’t mess around when it comes to who I am anymore, and the market is a huge part of me.)

I don’t have enough room here to cover even half of the booths our market is bursting with. We have skin care and plants and candles and mead and kombucha and pasta and so many other things, I don’t even know where to start.

You should come on out to our market any Saturday between April and December, and choose your own adventure. <3

Henna Love (and how to care for your henna design)

August 10, 2017 by Mia Cupcake 2 Comments

I have a lot of really talented friends. Despite (or maybe because of?) my awkward tendency to be friends AT people, I’ve managed to surround myself with people who are doing amazing things, and I’m incredibly lucky.

One of those people is my friend Amy, of Henna Lee.

During the summer here in our little hippie corner of the United States, you’ll see a lot of henna and Amy is an incredibly busy lady. She works a few farmers markets, all of our big festivals and quite a few private parties.

She also competes in a huge henna contest every summer (we will get to that later), so she’s one busy little bee!

I always love to visit her at our farmers market when I can, and just let her do her thing. Whatever she comes up with is always better than what I would pick or request, and she knows me so well, it’s like a hug from her every time I look at it until it fades.

What is henna you ask? It’s a paste, made with specific essential oils and leaves from a specific plant that causes this stain if left on your skin for long enough.

A great henna artist (like Amy) will apply the paste in a variety of patterns and decorations, and the paste will dry, leaving behind a gorgeous stain to temporarily “tattoo” your skin. The stain will last anywhere from a few days to two weeks, depending on how you take care of it.

I’m currently nursing the gorgeous Persian-influenced pattern in that photo above (Amy’s contest entry for the last round!). I’ve been applying coconut oil every day, that was taken this morning on day 10.

How long it lasts definitely depends on how well you pay attention to your aftercare!

So after your henna is applied, you do have to treat it a bit gingerly. If you plan ahead of time to get henna, make sure you are wearing clothing that exposes the spot you want to henna. Your delicate design will look much better if you don’t smoosh it!

So how do you take care of the stain?

Amy shared a few tips with me to pass along to you to make sure you get the most wear out of your henna:

Keep the paste on as long as possible. The longer the paste stays on, the darker the stain will be and the longer it will stay.
Once the paste dries, apply a paste of equal parts lemon juice and sugar, mixed with water just enough to make a watery-type paste. Dab it over the paste area and let it dry. It WILL be tacky to the touch, so just don’t get stuff mashed in it and you’ll be fine.
DON’T get the area wet for AT LEAST 12-24 hours. This will help your skin absorb the paste more. If you get it wet, you’re breaking the bond between the paste and your skin.
Use oil to remove the paste. I use olive oil and a paper towel and I dab at the paste until it starts to slide off. Don’t scrub, and don’t use water.
Don’t scrub that area (like with an exfoliant or a dry brush). The henna only soaks in a few layers, so when you exfoliate, you’re removing color. Wait until the stain starts to fade.
Moisturize! Check the ingredients of your moisturizer and make sure there’s no alcohol. I’ve been caring for my latest stain with coconut oil and it’s been working wonders!

Henna is super fun way to decorate your exposed skin during the all-too-brief Pacific Northwest summers, and is a beautiful way to also try out a tattoo before you get it permanently inked on your skin!

So I mentioned earlier that Amy is currently competing in a contest and I know she would love some extra support! If you have a second, please watch the really beautiful “reveal” video below for her latest contest entry – a beautiful Egyptian-style yoke pattern.

If you’ve got more than one second, go check out her Instagram profile and like the latest couple of posts!

She’s a hard working single mom (like me) and deserves SO MUCH to win this contest!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX5vh7blZnj

Have you ever had henna done? How long did your stain stay?

Larrabee State Park in Bellingham, WA {local love}

August 9, 2017 by Mia Cupcake Leave a Comment

We are kicking off a new series, highlighting some of the awesome places to go, morsels to eat and things to do in our beautiful little corner of the Pacific Northwest. Our focus will be on the Bellingham area mainly, but we’ll touch on Seattle a bit as well. Enjoy!

I have made my home here in Bellingham, WA for just over 8 years now. I spent a lot of the first few years indoors, on a self-imposed hiatus from the outdoors. Another few years recovering from a breakup, and I’m just now discovering all of the amazing things we have to do here.

I know, I’m late to the “LOOK AT WHAT YOU CAN DO OUTSIDE!” party. Forgive me, I grew up mostly an “indoor girl”.

So I have flipped a switch and abandoned my couch and the endless amount of streaming television options to head outside.

And our town has been glorious this summer. We have hit outdoor concerts, movies projected onto the side of an early 1900s building, sea kayaking, sailing, beach time, and visiting many of our local parks.

We also “discovered” Larrabee State Park.

Just a 20 minute drive from downtown Bellingham, Larrabee Park sits right on Samish Bay. It’s heavily wooded, and has beaches as well. It is 2,748-acre camping park that has 8,100 feet of saltwater shoreline.

It’s basically heaven.

The kids and I decided to have an “after school adventure” one Friday, and headed out after I was done with work. The drive through town was lovely (as always) and the short distance we traveled down Chuckanut Drive is just stunning with the trees and ocean views.

When we pulled into the park, we had to stop at the Ranger Station because I had just purchased a Discover Pass and had no idea what I was doing.

(Protip: you put the pass on your mirror and park. That’s it. I may have overcomplicated it a bit.)

We parked near the amphitheater, and took the trail down underneath the train tracks to head to the beach.

When you get most of the way down the hill, the trail splits. The trail to the left leads you to a set of large rocks you can climb around on and a tiny beach where a lot of people go crab-fishing during the season. There’s also a pretty lookout from a REALLY big rock you can sit on.

To the right, is the beach. There are tidepools (if the tide is out) and sandstone rocks and lots of kayakers and lots of ways to get dirty and wet and it’s pretty incredible.

So I piled a pair of wet, filthy, tired and completely blissful kids into my car at the end of about 3 hours of playing on the beach and climbing every rock they could and catching a thousand tiny crabs and rolling in dirt and learning how to catch a crab with a fishing pole from some nice gentleman.

It was a great after-school-adventure trip, and a pretty amazing park.

Here’s five things you should know about visiting the beach at Larrabee Park:

It’s the first official state park in Washington, founded in 1915! There’s a cool plaque commemorating this, next to the picnic structure near the amphitheater.
The trains are LOUD. Hella loud. Be prepared, because the path to the beach takes you straight underneath the train tracks. It’s kind of fun to stand in the tunnel while the train passes overhead.
If you need to purchase the Discover Pass, you can do so at the pay station on site. You can also just pay for a day of parking at the same pay station.
There are no bathrooms down on the beach. There ARE bathrooms right next to the amphitheater. Highly recommend hitting the bathrooms prior to heading down the trail.
This park has a lot of fun rocks to climb and the climb-able terrain changes with the tides. Keep an eye on those kiddos who climb every and anything – at one point on our first trip, one mom though she had lost her kid, and he was halfway up a huge boulder nearby.

Larrabee State Park is a fabulous short trip from Bellingham – you can even squeeze it in between lunch downtown and one of our many breweries – or make it your stop on your way out of town!

5 Pro Tips for Taking your Kids to Disneyland

August 1, 2017 by Mia Cupcake 5 Comments

I have been to Disneyland quite a few times over the past 5 years, both by myself and with kids (both mine and the Biswolds).

Since we haven’t lost a kid or an adult yet (knock furiously on wood that I’m not jinxing myself now), I judge each of these trips to be highly successful.

I’ve also never put a single charge on a credit card for any of these trips, but we will talk about how I do that another time!

Despite the fact I have not been to the parks in over a year, my friends still come to me with questions about how to take your kids to Disneyland and not lose them…or your mind. I am not a travel agent (though I really should be), but I’ve helped plan 10 “magical vacations” in the last 6 months, and I love getting texts with happy photos from people enjoying themselves in the parks!

Because I love you all (and I want you all to be safe and have a magical time going to Disneyland!), I’m sharing the 5 best tips I share with all my friends who are taking their families to the parks.

NOTE: I have heard that most of these will work for Disney World too, though I haven’t been there except the one time I was pregnant with Wolfgang and couldn’t ride anything except Small World. Ahem.

Buy souvenirs before you go. When I took my kids, I bought custom ears off Etsy for our first day, and a few fun teeshirts for the kids (and one for myself!). I bought little Disney-related things (pez dispensers, a disney pouch for all the autograph pens we took) to keep in my backpack, and fended off a lot of tantrums when I wouldn’t buy the balloon or the *thing* that would get lost or break in 10 minutes.
– I told my kids ahead of time that I would allow one purchase of a big souvenir (a stuffie, a teeshirt, etc) and one hat or pair of ears in the parks. That seemed to satiate their shopping beasts.

– I gave them one of the pre-purchased souvenirs each morning before we left the hotel room and BOOM, zero arguments about “BUT I WANT THE $20 ARIEL SPINNING THING”.

– The biggest hit with my kids were their personalized Disney water bottles that I made with stick on letters. Go figure.
Take a photo of your children before you leave the hotel room each morning, and have your cell phone number on their person somewhere. Taking the photo is important. In case they get lost, you can show cast members a VERY current photo of your kid and what they are wearing. Your cell phone number is so the cast member who finds them can ring you.
– Older kids can take your number on a paper in their pocket, but DON’T let them just put it in their cell phone. What if the battery dies? They need something concrete.

– With smaller children, I’ve seen everything from writing the number on the kid with a Sharpie to temporary tattoos to writing it on the label of their shirts. I highly recommend if you are using the temp tattoos that you test how they wear BEFORE your trip so you don’t lose your kid and the tattoo has worn off three numbers. I’ve “rescued” a lost kid or two on my solo trips where they have the temporary tattoos, but the numbers are missing and I can’t call their parent.

– If you write your number on your kid, make sure it’s somewhere that’s not going to be hard to show an adult, but doesn’t just let your name and cell phone number hang out for anyone around to read.
Have each person pick one thing they want to do each day. Stalk the Disneyland hashtag on Instagram. Take a look at the park map and watch the ride videos. Figure out one thing that everyone wants to do each day.
– Example: One day in California Adventure Park, I wanted to ride Radiator Springs, one kid wanted to see Donald Duck and the other wanted to ride Grizzly River Run. We got all three done in an hour, and everything else was just icing on the cake! Makes the whole day more enjoyable when you’re not rushing to get EVERYTHING done.
Hit up the Target on Harbor or the Walmart on Anaheim Boulevard after you settle into your hotel. Stock up on non-perishable snack items and water. Pack snacks and water as much as you can every day, as this will save incredible amounts of hangry meltdowns that turn sour because the “only thing” readily available is an expensive ice cream cone.
– I LOVE Disneyland food! They have so many options. However, it can definitely be a large part of your budget. Agreeing to eat ONE meal a day (and maybe one snack) in the parks means you’re not having to wait in another line to get your food, and you’re not breaking the bank every time you have to eat! We made peanut butter sandwiches and brought bananas for lunch one day, and ate those sitting on the benches, looking out at Mickey’s Fun Wheel and California Screamin. Then we ate dinner at the Trattoria!
Strollers and backpacks and lockers, oh my. If your kids are 6ish and under and don’t mind sitting and being pushed around the parks, I highly recommend renting or bringing a stroller. They corral your littles from running all over the place, gives you a place to stash your snacks, and allows a place to rest if they happen to fall asleep. Save your arms from carrying them!
– Backpacks are a great place to put sunscreen, hats, sweatshirts, whatever you need for a marathon park day. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is pay through the nose for sunscreen or a sweatshirt or a hat because you forgot yours and you’re having too much fun to get back to the hotel. (Plus, stash your snacks in it!)

– Lockers are much more accessible than the hotels, as they’re available in both parks! Pack up your backpack with everything you could possibly need during the day, drop off the pack in the locker and carry a small bag with your wallet and cell phone, etc. Come back to the locker when you need something, and save yourself the time in security lines and entry lines trying to get back and forth between the parks and your hotel. As of this writing (July 2017), lockers are $7 for a backpack-sized locker and $11 for a larger locker. Well worth the price so you aren’t lugging a heavy pack all over the parks, and you’re not paying through the nose for sunscreen, so you can spend those coins on something more awesome that you CAN’T get at home!

All in all, taking kids to Disneyland should be enjoyable for EVERYONE! You should be able to have fun with your kids, and everyone should be able to go home talking about how great your vacation was.

Make sure you plan ahead, and your Disney vacation can be as amazing as you want it to be <3

What’s one tip you’d share on taking kiddos to the Disney parks?

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Cupcake’s Bucket List

July 13, 2017 by Mia Cupcake Leave a Comment

I have a notebook I carry everywhere with me. It’s pink and gold and says “CARPE THAT DIEM” on it.

A few years ago, I started writing a bucket list in it. Full of wild things like “Have dinner with Dwayne Johnson” and “Ride in a cattle drive” and “Run the Boston Marathon” (not sure I really want to do that last one, but you never know).

And for the longest time, I never did anything with it. I wrote things into my book and never did them.

I did one or two by accident, but the most of the things I was adding were REALLY exorbitant..

I crossed off something on the #cupcakebucketlist. Today is a very very very good day. (I also climbed the stairs at the amphitheater, which is crazy town.) #cupcakeonthego #redrocks

A post shared by Libby (@miacupcake) on Jun 29, 2015 at 9:52am PDT

But lately, I’ve been doing things that scare me. Things that make me say “I always wanted to do this”. Things that make me remember why I work so hard and why I love to do what I do and allow myself all sorts of opportunities.

So I added to my bucket list. And not-so-systematically, I’ll mark things off my list. It’s a living document, so it will grow too. I’ll keep track here.

This summer, I have plans to check off at least three…so stay tuned <3

CUPCAKE’S BUCKET LIST

1. 1. 1. Learn to surf
    2. Be invited to the White House
    3. Go up in a hot air balloon
    4. Ride in a cattle drive
    5. Drive Route 66
    6. Go to a yoga retreat
    7. ~~Visit Red Rocks~~ (done June 29, 2015)
    8. See Thailand
    9. Visit Tokyo
    10. Catch a fish
    11. Visit the Wailing Wall in Israel
    12. See the cliffs at Dover
    13. Kiss the Blarney Stone
    14. Hike Artist Point
    15. Hike Kilauea
    16. Run the Boston Marathon
    17. Run Dopey
    18. Do yoga in the Costa Rican rainforest
    19. Walk a red carpet
    20. Dance the hula in Hawaii
    21. Learn to ride a motorcycle
    22. Ride a scooter in Italy
    23. Get published
    24. Visit India
    25. Celebrate Holi
    26. Play in a marching band
    27. Stay in a villa in Italy
    28. Visit a chalet in Switzerland
    29. See Mont St Michel
    30. Snorkel in Palau
    31. Learn to juggle
    32. Learn another language (conversational-level)
    33. Visit Oaxaca
    34. See Morocco
    35. Visit the temples in Bali
    36. See the bats in Austin
    37. Get beignets in New Orleans
    38. Be an extra in a movie
    39. Be onstage at Cirque
    40. Learn to make a good croissant
    41. Stand on the great wall of China
    42. Get a bamboo tattoo at Wat Bang Pham
    43. Soak in the thermal pools in Iceland
    44. Bike through the tulips in the Netherlands
    45. Visit Petra in Jordan
    46. Float in the Dead Sea
    47. Visit Stonehenge
    48. See the Taj Mahal
    49. Ride a camel to the pyramids
    50. Ride a gondola in Venice
    51. Ice skate at Rockefeller Center
    52. Stand on the equator
    53. Be able to do the “scorpion” yoga pose
    54. Attend a wine tasting in Napa
    55. Swim with sharks
    56. Have dinner with Dwayne Johnson
    57. Have a pint in a pub in Ireland
    58. See the Northern Lights
    59. Drive a Ferrari
    60. Go on an African safari
    61. Fly in a helicopter
    62. Visit Machu Picchu
    63. Stay in the Ice Hotel
    64. Try circus-style aerials
    65. March in a Mardi Gras parade
    66. Visit Christ the Redeemer in Rio
    67. See a show at the Hollywood Bowl
    68. Wear a big hat at the Kentucky Derby
    69. Be in the audience for a TV show
    70. Cook with Alton Brown
    71. Do a handstand in front of a palace
    72. Catch a foul ball
    73. Have a drink at Club 33
    74. Eat a Dole Whip
    75. ~~Be an AP Holder at Disneyland~~ (done October 1, 2015)
    76. ~~March in a protest~~ (done at Womens’ March, Jan 21, 2017)
    77. Go sea kayaking
    78. Enter something in the county fair
    79. Learn to ride a long board
    80. Go swimming with dolphins
    81. Win an award
    82. Eat at a Michelin star restaurant
So this happened today….#100happydays #cupcakebucketlist #cupcakeonthego #disneyland #disneylandap

A post shared by Libby (@miacupcake) on Oct 1, 2015 at 7:44am PDT

Is there something you think I should add to this?
What’s on YOUR bucket list?

Come and get it!