Salted Caramel Cupcake from Cupcake Royale

It had been a few years since I had a cupcake from Cupcake Royale in Seattle, Washington so the last time I was in town I made it a point to try another one. 

The closest Cupcake Royale location was about a half hour walk from where I was staying and by the time I got going it was later on the afternoon than I had hoped. Side tracked by the mesmorizing Seattle Public Library en route put a little more pep in my step being that I had to be back within an hour for a dinner date with a dear ex-festie. I wish I had gotten out earlier but a las, all the more reason to visit again soon as each time I do, I leave liking Seattle a little more.

Salted Caramel cupcake from Cupcake Royale 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Getting closer and closer to the Cupcake Royale location I wished more and more that I had broken free of the work email vortex I had been sucked into because the neighborhood I found myself in was so cute. Where was I? The streets were alive with an arts district vibe, cute small business store fronts, murals, sticker covered street signs and rainbow crosswalks. Turns out I wound up in the Capitol Hill area and subsequently, unintentionally found the gayborhood. No wonder I serendipitously felt calmer even though I was rushed. 

Stickers at Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The neon light sign outside conjured memories of the last time, my first time, I visited Cupcake Royale but as soon as I walked in I knew it wasn't the same location. This one was so much smaller and it was so gay. Taking in all of the cute pride and Halloween decor, including sassy stickers by the register I quickly realized that I had indeed gotten there late because the cupcake pickings were slim. 

One of the few flavors left was their Salted Carmel: a chocolate based cupcake with a salted carmel frosting. Though I am not one who usually goes for chocolate cake unless it's flourless (the most chocolatey of chocolate cakes go). I'm also not partial to salted carmel flavored things outside of salted carmels themselves. However, salted caramel carries a certain cozy vibe especially this time of year, doesn't it? I thought so, so I went for it. 

Salted Caramel cupcake from Cupcake Royale 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

It was no surprise to me therefore I wasn't disapointed that the chocolate cake wasn't that chocolatey. I will say that it was better than most chocolate based cupcakes I've had. 

As soon as I licked the frosting my mouth salavated for more. That salted caramel flavor hit the sweet and salty spot of my tastebuds and wow. It is one of the most flavorful frostings I have ever had. It's such a comforting flavor, perfect for a cozy Autumn day/evening/night. Just thinking about it makes me crave it. 

If the chocolate cake would have been more chocolatey it might have taken away from the salted caramel and been way too much. The dark chocolate shavings on top of the frosting gave the cupcake an extra touch of chocolatey-ness that was just right. I couldn't have been happier that I decided to take a leap of faith and try a flavor I might not have tried if there was more to choose from. It is a salted caramel in cupcake form. 

Turns out this very Capital Hill location has a Halloween version of the Salted Caramel which features candy corn curls in place of the dark chocolate shavings. Candy corn might get a bad rap but I'm a fan of this Halloween confection. What a treat this halloween time cupcake is! If you're in the area this Halloween you gotta try it for me!

Be safe out there ghouls & goblins. 

The Fest & The Gainesville Music Scene

This Summer I got the chance to work Beyond at The Gorge in Washington State. For those who don't know Beyond is one of many festivals put on by Insomniac, the same promoter behind EDC Vegas, EDC Orlando and so many others. These days such festivals are widely considered as raves however, raves are traditionally underground and far from mainstream. Insomniac events have essentially become the epitome of mainstream so here's to calling these shows what they are.

I had wanted to work this one for years and was excited to get to cross this one off of my work bucket list simply because of the beautiful location. I was also excited to be working with a skelton crew of my boss and my co-worker who's been working with our boss since the begining. They're both pros at what they do and I consider myself very lucky to get to work with them and therefore learn from them. 

Out of the three of us working this EDM festival none of us are fans of EDM.  

Our drive to and from site every day was at least 45 minutes with the same commute time to look forward to in the wee hours of the morning after a long work day. My coworker drove so by default he was the DJ (no pun intended) and took full advantage of listening to something very different from the noise we were subjected to for hours onsite. 

He likes rock. Rock n roll. Punk rock. Hard rock and everything in between. Along with learning tricks of the trade on-site from him as I do at every show we work together and have for years, this time I also learned about a specific genre of music I have since deemed Gainesville Rock. 

Gainesville is in Florida and my co-worker is from Florida, not Gainesville but close enough.  If I hadn't worked Beyond Gorge with him I don't think I would have ever known about the Gainseville Music Scene and all of the bands that have come out of it. 

One of his favorite bands, Hot Water Music, happens to be from Ganiesville and that's who we listened to the most on our drives to and from work.  Music blaring, he'd feed me information about the band, album or song that was playing much in the same way my Dad has always schools me on music while listening to it. Both instances are first hand encounters of the power of music: grown ass men fully enthraled by the influence of this art form and spreading the love of it. 

Aganist Me! and Less Than Jake, both of whom I'm more familiar with than the latter, came in the rotation a couple of times and I was surprised to learn that they too are from Gainesville, FL. There were a slew of others he'd play a song or two from, they're sounds ranging from punk to hard to harder and thrashier. So many bands have come out of and are still popping up from the Gainesville music scene. A scene that's seemingly underground if you're not already in the know, as underground happenings go.

Radon

Draft

As Friends Rust

Spoke

Roach Motel

Mutely Chix

Fried Christ

Asshole Parade 

Tired From Now On 

Along with a thriving underground music scene, Gainesville Florida is also home to a more underground music festival than most. Simply named, The Fest this homegrown three day fest is entering it's twenty-third year this year. It's layout is similiar to that of SXSW, taking over multiple venues in a certain area every show day and every show night. With the layout of The Fest being how it is, it's almost as if attendees trick-or-treat their way around from show to show at the festival. 

It takes place close to Halloween every year which got me thinking, what happened to the New Orleans Halloween rock fest, Voodoo Fest? That was one I always wanted to go to long before I started working music festivals but never got a chance to go. 

 

There's no shoartage of Spooky Season EDM festivals Boo! in Seattle, Escape in San Bernardino, Hulaween in Live Oak, Florida and probably others that aren't on my radar but a rock filled Halloween music festival seems to be a real treat to come by now a days. 

With middle fingers flying at "the man", this year's The Fest was announced weekend two of Coachella.  Along with the multiple venues and long list of acts, there's also been quite a few changes to the bill making it hard to keep up with who's playing at The Fest. One band in particular stood out to me and that's Tsunami Bomb straight outta Petaluma, CA. Back in my local punk show attending hayday I'd seen Tsunami Bomb around The Bay and was tickeled to see them on the bill all these years later.  

"Technically" show day one is this Friday, October 24th but like any good music festival now a days there's a soft launch of the madness that is The Fest tomorrow, Thursday October 23rd. Even punks got make an extra buck when they can.