Cupcake : yellow cake with chocolate frosting

yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcake
Photo by Nikki DeMartini

Last week when I got to work I had totally forgotten that it was that time of the month when we celebrate all the Birthdays for the month, so I was super happy when I was told to grab a cupcake as I clocked in! Turns out my shift started just in time because one of two cupcake boxes was empty and the the other one was almost empty. All I could see from the few left to choose from was the frosting with cute, colorful confetti sprinkles on top. I was faced with an age-old question: chocolate or vanilla?
I couldn't be happier with my decision because when I picked up one of the cupcakes with chocolate frosting I could then see that the cake was yellow cake! Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is my all time FAVE! 

My guess is that the fluffy looking frosting came out of a tube by the way it was spiraled over the top of the yellow cake. It was light in color and it's super light almost whipped consistency reminded me of frosting found on (grocery) store bought cupcakes. It wasn't too  sugary, but it was more sugary than it was chocolatey. Even though I had no idea where these cupcakes were from since there was no labels on the boxes,  I knew they were not (grocery) store bought.

yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcake
Photo by Nikki DeMartini

yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcake
Photo by Nikki DeMartini

Hanging over the edges of the cupcake wrapper, the top of the cupcake sat like an oversized crown over the rest of the cupcake.  The cake was a pretty golden hue of yellow, moist with buttery goodness but it wasn't too moist nor was it too buttery. Goldilocks would approve, this yellow cake was just right! This was a filled cupcake too so there was a little bit more frosting in the middle of it! Who doesn't love more frosting?! I know I do. 

yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcake
Photo by Nikki DeMartini

It's been a long time since I have had yellow cake with chocolate frosting, let alone a yellow cake with chocolate frosting cupcake! Who would think it'd be a hard flavor combo to come by, right?  

I do wish the frosting was more prominently chocolatey, it wasn't bad but it could be better. With that said, no matter their flavor or where they're from, I am one lucky lady to be treated with yummy cupcakes at work! 

Panic Is Perfect & Nothing But Thieves @ Popscene 2/10/2016

The Brit-rock band Nothing But Thieves hit Popscene's stage full force last week for their SF debut and the native Bay Area band, Panic Is Perfect opened for them.

Nothing But Thieves at Popscene 2/10/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

Panic Is Perfect at Popscene 2/10/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

The Rickshaw Stop hosted Popscene last Wednesday night which is normally held on Thursday nights, sometimes on Fridays and the line to get inside stretched down the street before doors opened at 8:30.  At 9:30 the 5 guys of Panic Is Perfect  took the stage stage with a bit of apprehensiveness in their step. The apprehensive air quickly cleared when their sweet, synthy indie-pop hit the enthusiastic crowd, gingerly lifting the overall spirit throughout the club. 

Feeding off of this positive reaction, Panic Is Perfect plugged that energy right back into their performance: singer Mike Hoffman became visibly gleeful by the second song, smiling and bopping around while wholeheartedly singing, banging a single floor tom in front of him and shaking a tambourine. Joining in on the fun, keyboardist Joey Hassid popped to center stage throughout the set to hit a cowbell hidden on Hoffman's mic, adding a playful layer of percussion to their unique layers of dynamic rhythms. It made you feel good to see the local band, preforming a hometown show, get happier and happier as fans sang along to their youthful, danceable, new-wave inspired songs. Hoffman and band co-founder, Jeremy Belezer's fun connection fueled their soaring energy and they took every opportunity to sincerely say thanks as well as promote their debut album, Cell Space which they worked so long and hard on. The set ended with a big bang as they essentially had a drum induced jam session, jumping up and pounding out an invigorating set.  Their cheerful, carefree vibe of their well polished indie-pop was well received by Popscene show-goers and the band as a whole clearly couldn't be happier about it! They themselves said they couldn't have asked for a better, more fun record release show.

Panic Is Perfect at Popscene 2/10/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

Room to move opened on the dance floor as fans made their way to Panic Is Perfect's merch table to sing their praises face to face with members of the band during the change over for the headliners. 

Nothing But Thieves at Popscene 2/10/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

Nothing But Thieves mellowed things down a notch with their moody melodic tunes. With a low but loud grandiose sound heavy with mature guitar hooks and ominous drum beats, the up and comers sound like they're aspiring to be the next Radiohead. Delving into their dark alternative rock world, "Itch",  "Painkiller" and "Hostage" off of their self-titled, 2015 debut album topped the set. Focused  on delivering their best you could see that each of them take their music very seriously and you could hear why by the quality of their music in the small SF night club. 

In a genuine effort to make his band more personable, singer Conor Mason kept things casual with lighthearted banter between every single song.  His impressive vocal range hit whooping highs and held notes strongly, he carried the show with a powerful passion. The highlight of their show that night was their cover of The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind", they even seemed to perk up a little bit as they played it! As most emerging bands with a single on the radio do, Nothing But Thieves played the catchy "Trip Switch"  a little later in their set. 

Nothing But Thieves at Popscene 2/10/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

Though the bands that played the Popscene stage last week have very different sounds, Panic Is Perfect and Nothing But Thieves do have a couple things in common: 

1) There are 5 members in each band. 

2) They are both playing Bottle Rock Napa Valley in May! 

Gwen + Urban Decay = L . O . V . E

Like many, I was heartbroken when I heard that Rock's star couple, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale were divorcing after 13 years of marriage on top of years of dating. This isn't the first time that my heart has been broken by the platinum fashionista. I've loved Gwen Stefani since I was a young, "rocker girl" in middle school when Tragic Kingdom came out but I did hate her for a hot minute when she started dating the BUSH lead singer, she ruined my chances of ever dating my rockstar crush! But I got over it. 

  Their brief breakup back then resulted in Gwen dying her infamous blonde hair pink and No Doubt's awesome album, Return of Saturn. 

After making a couple solo albums, Gwen has done a lot more than make music. It's plain to see by looking at the gorgeous trend setter that fashion is also one of her passions, so it was no big surprise when she started her own high-fashion line,  L.A.M.B (Love, Angel, Music, Baby) a few years back.  Now, with a high-fashion line, an affordable/kids clothing line (Harajuku Lovers), a perfume (L.A.M.B), a line of nail polishes by O.P.I and being a judge on the hit TV show The Voice, Gwen is a mogul! 

There's no stopping Miss Stefani. 

Go grrl! 

Late last year Gwen gave us another reason to say hey baby hey baby hey with the announcement that she was teaming up with Urban Decay for her own line of makeup! Geee! Now her fans could not only dress like her, they could get her signature glamorous look too! It made me so happy! I love the edginess Urban Decay makeup offers and I love Gwen, obvi.  I was not so happy with the $60 price tag for the 15 shade eyeshadow platte and I was pretty surprised that the shades were so natural. But, a bold lip calls for softer shadows and if you're familiar with Gwen Stefani at all you know she loves to rock red lips.

The cute polka-dot packaging is inspired by her love of black and white graphic prints and some of the shadows are named after No Doubt songs: Bathwater =pale beige with gold pearl named after "Bathwater" off 2000's Return of Saturn, Steady = medium rose with metallic gold shift names after "Rock Steady" off 2001's Rock Steady, Baby = cool metallic rose named after "Hey Baby" off 2001's Rock Steady.




Some of the other shades bare names plucked right from her life: Anaheim = light taupe-brown matte, her home town, Punk = reddish brown matte, homeage to her punk-ska roots,  Harajuku = metallic blue/pink with iridescent micro shimmer, her love for Harajuku style and her Harajuku clothing line. Blonde = pale beige with pink iridescent shift, her famous platinum blonde locks!

Thanks to my two favorite Aunts and their generous Christmas gifts of Sephora gift-cards I was able to get my very own Urban Decay Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette! I love it, right down to the decal of the lyrics "Magic's in the Make-Up" from the song of the same name off of 2000's Return of Saturn on the mirror, it's perfect! As I excitedly opened the box a flyer of lipstick samples slipped out of the box promoting Gwen's Urban Decay lipsticks! I was even more excited! Gwen Stefani lipsticks?!





There are 6 different lipsticks in her limited edition collection: one nude, one fuchsia and the other 4 are varying shades of red from a classic bright red, to a deep burgundy. Like her shadows the lipsticks have names that represent something about Gwen.








Firebird = deep fuchsia
714 = bright red: 714 is the Anaheim area code
Rock Steady = deep red wine cream: title song off of 2001's Rock Steady
Spiderweb = satin red cream: song off 1995's Tragic Kingdom
Wonderland = dark pink/red: play on Gwen's Alice in Wonderland style from her 1st solo album, 2004's Love. Angel. Music. Baby
Ex-Girlfriend = sheer nude-rose with pink shimmer, song off of 2000's Return of Saturn 





The packaging is ultra fab, too! Gold with a black safari-esque pattern, each lip stick slides into the lid from the bottom. I got Rock Steady, the deep burgundy one and I love it! The color is so rich and the texture is so creamy! I'll probably end up getting more, if not all of them, I am "Just A Girl" after all.

Gwen's Urban Decay makeup collection rocks! It's available at Sephoria for a limited time so act fast ladies before it's "Too Late"!

New album from Rogue Wave April 29th!

Oakland's own lo-fi indie rockers, Rogue Wave are set to release their 6th studio album, Delusions of Grand Fur on April 29th!



Three years after Nightingale Floors, the band's name sake, frontman Zack Rogue returns rejuvenated with promises of a reinvented sound on Rogue Wave's forthcoming new album. Taking control of their identity and sound, the band has grabbed the reigns of all creative aspects, recording and producing the entire LP on their own.  There are, however a couple contributors: former Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla mixed  "In the Morning", giving the track it's vibrant infectious pulse and native-transplant, Michael Deni from the Dream-indie group Geographer,  is featured on the psychedelic track "Ocean". 

The Season of awakening will bring the rebirth of Rogue Wave, so forget what you remember about what they sounded like before and get ready for something brand new! Mark your calendars now, cause they're hitting the road this Spring, too!

Preorder your physical copy of Delusions of Grand Fur here: http://bit.ly/1Qvm0tH
 and/or preorder your digital copy here: http://apple.co/1PQvq6O

Tour Dates

May 5th, 2016: Oakland, CA @Starline Ballroom
May 6th, 2016: Mill Valley, CA@ Sweet Water Music Hall
May 7th, 2016: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent 
May 10th, 2016: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
May 11th, 2016: Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
May 12th, 2016: Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
May 13th, 2016: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
May 14th, 2016: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 15th, 2016: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
May 17th, 2016: Washington, DC @ Black Cat
May 18th, 2016: Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
May 19th, 2016: Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
May 20th, 2016: Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
May 21, 2016: St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
May 22nd, 2016: Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
May 24th, 2016: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
May 25th, 2016: Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
May 26th, 2016: Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
June 9th, 2016: Dallas TX, Club Dada
June 11th, 2016: Austin, TX @ Mohawk Outdoors
June 12th, 2016: San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
June 17th, 2016: Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
June 18th, 2016: Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up 

Borgeous @ The Regency Ballroom 1/30/2016

Borgeous at The Regency Ballroom 1/3/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

LA based, platinum recording artist/DJ/producer John Borger AKA Borgeous or BORGEOUS spun tunes at his sold-out show last week in SF at The Regency Ballroom. 

Scantly dressed teens, tweens and twenty somethings swarmed the venue as intrusive thumping beats buzzed all around. The opening DJ acts included the girl duo DJ group Delora who took turns singing and spinning, yeah singing! One of the last songs they performed was a cover of "Burning Down The House" by The Talking Heads. While I appreciated the fact that they took the classic and made it their own rather than a carbon copy cover I wondered how many of the kids in the crowd could name the original artist (if they had even heard of them) or if they knew that the song was a cover at all.  

Borgeous at The Regency Ballroom 1/3/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

The audience was throughly amped for the headliner when he hit the stage just past 11:00. Roars of applause ripped threw the crowd as BORGEOUS did what DJs do. There wasn't as much dancing as one might think there would be at this type of show which is actually considered a "rave". Consisting mostly of jumping up and down, people only really danced/jumped when prompted. For his part, BORGEOUS is one of the more engaging DJs I've seen. 

He got down from the black caped elevated podium a number of times walked the length of the stage, sprayed his young fans with champaign and mouthed words to the songs he was mixing/spinning.  He actually spun a bunch of well known songs like "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes, "Under The Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and "In the End" by Linkin Park to name a few. Again, I was left wondering if the kids who surrounded me knew these songs and bands, too. Regardless, they loved it. Dancing or not,  the whole place pulsated with an infectious energy that seemed to just keep rising. Plooms of fog blasted from the floor of the stage to the ceiling throughout the set and there was even showers of confetti  adding to the fun! 

Borgeous at The Regency Ballroom 1/3/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

BORGEOUS is on the road through March! 

Beyonce Bowl II

Millions of people tune-in to watch the Super Bowl every year: either for all of the high priced, strategically scheduled commercial spots or for the popular, highly anticipated coveted half-time show....or...oh yeah! To watch what team wins! No doubt, there's a lot to look forward to seeing on Super Bowl Sunday plus it's a great reason to chill with your people, eating chips and snacks and drinking brewskies all afternoon. 

Head Full of Dreams 

When the BIG performer for this year's BIG halftime show was announced I for one was not impressed, I was surprised really...Coldplay? Ok so the British rock band released their 7th album Head Full of Dreams last year and they did collaborate with none other than Mrs. Beyonce (and Tove Lo) and even sampled some of The POTUS "Amazing Grace" on one of their new songs, but I honestly didn't think Coldplay was THAT big (is that big?).

This could turn out to be a very good play in the NFL's defense though. A couple of weeks ago it was rumored that Beyonce would join Coldplay on-stage during the halftime show and a couple days later it was confirmed. Bae and Coldplay or errrr Coldplay and Bae. This will be the 2nd time Beyonce has graced the halftime show stage: she performed at Superbowl XLVII in New Orleans when the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers (ironic, don't chya think?) 

Another 2nd timer, Bruno Mars, will be returning to the Halftime show stage, too! It's been 4 years since his Halftime show at Superbowl XLVI in Indianapolis when the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots.  What a weird line up! 

Ever since Justin Timberlake facilitated in Janet Jackson's nip slip seen around the country 12 years ago during their Halftime show at Superbowl XXXVIII, controversy has kind of been a part of the show. (M.I.A flipped the camera off when she shared the stage with Madonna and Nicki Minaj 2 years ago, lame left shark was about as controversial Katy Perry's performance got at last year's Superbowl). What will happen this year?! The video for the Coldplay/Beyonce single "Hymn for the Weekend" is stirring some mixed feelings because of what she wears in the video, will she dare wear the same on Sunday?! 

Will Jay Z join the party? What about Gwen?! Not Stefani! Gwenyth Paltrow, Coldplay frontman's ex, after all they did a "conscious uncoupled" duet together not too long ago!  

Or maybe one of the dozens of performers from the Super Bowl City and Festivities going on in Downtown San Francisco will make guest appearances: Alicia Keys, Chris Isaac, One Republic, Pharrel Williams, Alesso, METALLICA?! Maybe Brittany Spears will make a triumpant return to the Super Bowl Halftime show? Just think: Brit, Bae, oh my! Whatever does go down, Beyonce has already stolen the Halftime show, sorry Coldplay this Sunday is Beyonce Bowl II.

With all of that said, something to really be excited about in relation to Super Bowl 50 is Lady Gaga singing the National Anthem before the game! Now that will be something to see!

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016

Friday night was a special evening with the 5 piece instrumental band from scenic Santa Cruz California, Sound Tribe Sector 9 also known as STS9 at The Fox Theater in Oakland. 

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

I can't think of a band that would be well suited to open the show which was for the best anyway seeing that STS9 played not one but two sets!  The first set got under way at 8:15 with the 2nd set scheduled to start at 10:00. 

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

The musician collective band has an interesting fan base: drawing a mixed crowd of older, "summer of love hippies", aging baby boomers, yuppy Gen X-ers, young burners and a handful of wanna-be hippy millennials who all sort of floated and bounced around the venue in their own bubble(s) of pure bliss. 

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

Having released 11 albums since 1998, the last of which being 5 years ago, the livetronica band totally vibed, sending a  carefree ora swirling in the air. Without a keen ear for their funky, psychedelic sound their songs tended to blend together, but the crowd's energy peaked at every sparkly buildup and then again with the vibrant breakdowns, alerting those less familiar that a song was nearing it's end. 

Show-goers couldn't be happier as the music played on with no banter between songs and the band sounded as magical as they looked in a kaleidoscope of rainbow sunburst and polka-dot lighting. They did stop and bask in whistling filled applause before giving thanks and exiting the stage between sets though. 

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016
Photo by Marc Fong 

STS9 is a modern day jam band: with an array of instruments and five musicians they're not an electric band by far but that element is definitely there which makes them an electronic jam band in my eyes. Once their colorful yet mellow jams hit your ears it's easy to lose yourself in the moment and the music.  Their 2016 tour ends on Valentine's Day at the House of Blues in Chicago before Sound Tribe Sector 9 embark on a Summer Festival circuit and I wouldn't be surprised to see them play a headlining gig somewhere around here before the end of the year. 

STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016
Photo by Marc Fong