Lavender Lemon Cupcake from Cupcake Heaven in Virginia

The first stop when I hit the at the end of July was in the quiet little town of Haymarket, Virginia. The hotel was across the street from a collection of cute shops and bussinesses all situated in colonial style white house looking buildings with black trim and matching louvered shutters.

Outside Cupcake Heaven, Haymarket Virginia
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I wasn't looking for a cupcake place but when I searched for coffee nearby, a cupcake place across the street popped up. It's been a little bit since my last traditional cupcake review so I indulged. 

Outside Cupcake Heaven, Haymarket Virginia
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Cupcake Heaven is in one of those colonial style white house looking buildings serving drip coffee, esspresso beverages and cupcakes. To be honest, I was impressed with the dozen different cupcakes this small place offered. While most of the flavors were pretty standard; variations of chocolate, vanilla and classic red velvet, there were three that stood out. Those three were, Lavender Lemon, Pina Colada and Vanilla Almond Raspberry. 

I went the Lavender Lemon route. The flavor combonation made me think of a perfectly warm and sunny, relaxing Summer day. A feeling we all long for when life gets busy and since I wouldn't be having a relaxing day as the end of Summer approached, why not enjoy a treat that induced the same feeling. 

Cupcake Heaven, Haymarket Virginia
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Lavender Lemon Cupcake Heaven, Haymarket Virginia
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Along with the cupcake which came in an box big enough for one, I also got a cup coffee. Traces of a soft lavender scent escaped upon opening the box. There were a few flecks of real lavender on the pastel colored lavender frosting which sat on top of the golden hued cake. The frosting was the first thing I tasted and the trace of lavender that danced on my tastebuds was the same as the one I smelled, light yet fragrent. The perfect touch of lavender which can be overpowering if not used with caution. 

The texture was nice and creamy and not too thick but thick enough. The lemon of the lemon cake was like the lavender frosting, light. Lemon cakes have a tendency to go overboard with the lemon flavor but not the Lavender Lemon cupcake from Cupcake Heaven. The cake was spongey and fresh and buttery but not too buttery. The amount of frosting outweighed the cake, a ratio I for one am never mad about when it comes to cupcakes or cakes. 

Lavender Lemon Cupcake Heaven, Haymarket Virginia
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I polished off this cupcake pretty quick and was left very pleased by it. It's unclear of this is a seasonal flavor but if you find yourself in Haymarket, Virginia in need of a cupcake on the light side, I recommend the Lavender Lemon. 

Music Is a Work of Art

 Life inspires art. In turn, art inspires a magnitude of different things for different people, including different works of art. 

Last month I heard about two different exhibits at two different Art Museums. One of them being the "Art of Food" at the Long Beach Art Museum and the other, a photo exhibit titled "A Day with David Bowie" at the Santa Monica Art Museum. Both sparked my curiosity and both runs end at the respective museums on the same day, Sunday August 31st. This meant that I had to catch them before hitting the road for work and I am so happy that I did. 

Banana by Andy Warhol @ LBAM 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I didn't know much about either exhibit and didn't bother researching what they were all about before venturing to go see them because I enjoy a good museum adventure. My curiosity in seeing them was the only motivation I needed.

The "Art of Food" at LBMA was facinating on so many levels and in ways I would not have thought. The whole exhibit explores the multifaceted relationsheip between food, art and culture.

There were a few different pieces by an artist who's been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl, the pop-art genius, Andy Warhol. 

plaque for Banana by Andy Warhol @ LBAM 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

One of these new to me pieces was a version of his infamous banana, this one had the more comonly known yellow banana in it's peel along with a pink image the fruit itself peel free. I had no idea before seeing it in this art exhibit that Warhol's banana was used for the album cover art of The Velvet Underground's 1967 album, "The Velvet Underground & Nico." 

Further research uncovered that the pop-art icon was the iconic band's manager and suggested that Nico sing on some of their songs. During his time with The Velvet Underground, the band became a fixture in his multimedia roadshow, Exploding Plastic Inevitable which featured Warhol's film endevors paired with Velvet's music. 

photo of a photo from  "A Day with David Bowie" @ SMAM

The "A Day with David Bowie" exhibit at the Santa Monica Art Museum kept popping up on my social media feeds. Of course I know the fashion forward, gender and genre bending, multifacested artist and his biggest hit singles but I didn't know much about him personally. Being that work was about to ramp up again before the exhibit ended, I made it a point to see it before I and it were gone. I figured it'd be a good way to get to know Bowie more intamately but had no idea to what extent. 

photo of a photo from "A Day with David Bowie" @ SMAM

In 1994 photographer Christine de Grancy captured David Bowie's visit to the Gugging Psyachritric Hospital in Austria, known for it's Art Brut (outside art) artists. During World War II, Gugging was part of the euthanasia program, where many people with mental illness were murdered. Over time, Psychiatrist Dr. Leo Navratil started encouraging patients to create art as a form of therapy, revealing extraordinary talent. It is said that Bowie went there to try to gain understanding of the connection between art and mental illness. A brain of an artist and brains diagnosed with mental illness(es). At this exhibit I learned that Bowie has a half brother who was diagniosed with schitzopherenia. Afterwards, I learned that in 1995 David Bowie released his twentieth studio album, Outside. The title, so ut seems, was an  homeage  to "Outsider Art", the phenomenom that emerged from the patients turned artists at Gugging. 

The intensness of his observations in the photos struck me. He's totally engulfed in the moment and the heaviness of the place. Mesmorized by the art and the artists who created it. A  human celebrated for his work looking at work done by humans locked up for their work.  Killed for being and thinking different...made me think of his characters' exchange with Sarah in the movie Labyrinth: "It's not fair!" "You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparisson is?"
In another place, another time, that could have be him or a slew of other boundary pushing musicians of his time in Gugging. I found parallels between this exhibit and the autobiography of the Japanese arist Yayo Kusama and even the autobiography of Debbie Harry. Imagine if all of the trailbalzing artists we know today were locked up and murdered? Who then would have paved the way for a lot of today's musicians?

photo of a photo from "A Day with David Bowie" @ SMAM

I can go on and on about "A Day with David Bowie" but I don't want to totally ruin it for anyone truely interested in seeing it. It's showing at the Santa Monica Art Museum is it's first run in the U.S., hopefully it won't be it's last. 

Both of these exhibits showcase how art makes the world go round, how it can inspire people in different ways and while music has the power to bring people together, so too does other forms of art. Don't be afriad to think outside of the box in order to create what's in your mind and heart, even of it's scary to do so. Take the leap of faith. You never know who you and your beautiful mind might inspire and in what way.