Bikini Kill 2024 Tour

 Back in 2019 legendary  punk rockers Bikini Kill regrouped for their first headlining shows since 1997! Since then the band that brought us "Rebel Girl" has had some pop-up shows and some music festivals here and there but now they're on their own full fledged headlinging tour! 

Bikini Kills' North American 2024 kicks off tomorrow with two shows at The Wiltern in LA on August 15th and 16th before they rock their way to the Bay Area for two nights of shows at The Warfield in San Francisco on August 18th and 19th. 

Tickets to the first show in San Francisco are going quick, snag them while you can! 

Frontwoman Kathleen Hana and the band are on the road through mid September, don't miss your chance to rock your punk heart out with Bikini Kill live! 

Harry Styles' Pleasing pop-up

Pleasing Astro Milk Bar  Pop-Up Shop Chicago 2024 
photo by Mitchell Hoverman 

I love visiting my good friend and I love Chicago so naturally I love visiting my good friend who lives in Chicago.  No matter the season, we always have the best time finding yummy places to eat, hanging out and site seeing around Chi-town.
As I planned my visit I realized that it happened to coencided with the Harry Styles' Pleasing Astro Milk Bar pop-up shop!

The pop-up shop is to promote his newest nail polish shade collection, Astro Milk and the whole Pleasing line. I had no idea there was a Pleasing pop-up shop in the works or a new Pleasing nail polish collection. Needless to say I was so excited to add this pit stop to our Summer in Chicago 2024 list! 

Founded in 2021, Pleasing is Harry Styles' beauty and apparel brand which includes nail polishes, frangrences, clothes and accessories that are eco-friendly and sustainable.

You'll be pleased to know that you can find any nail polish color under the sun and they're all animal cruelty-free, biodigradable and plant based (no chemicals). His apparel and accessories are all ethically crafted while Pleasing perfume uses consciously harvested materials as well as locally sourced ingredients through partnerships with co-op programs that support small communities and environmentally efficient productions methods.

 Expensive? Yes! Worth it? I think so!

A four pack of nail polih goes for $65 which is a deal being that single bottles go for $20 a pop.

The Pleasing Astro Milk popped up on the outskirts of downtown Chicago on June 15th, or "touched down"  as all of the promos leading up to it said, tying in the out of this world theme for the Astro Milk collection. June 15th also served as the launch of the four new colors.
Our visit was about two weeks after the shop popped-off on an overcast yet sweaty July afternoon perfect for a midday pick me up scoop of ice cream. And picking up some mani/pedi materials.

inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The store front is wrapped in a shinny silver lame, creating the illusion of walking into a spaceship or UFO. Inside we were met with bright red and seafoam green decor, giving a retro, pop-art sort of atmosphere.
And of course there was a not so retro selfie-op. 

It wasn't exclusively Astro Milk stuff on sale either, it was everything from Pleasing! All of the colors, all of the styles. It wasn't very busy when we got there but more people came and went as we shopped. 

The Astro Milk collection constists of  four pastels that go on sheer but dry with a milky finish:
 Cow Jumped Over the Moon is an icy lite blue.
Space Pink Polish is a super soft baby pink.
Not Sorbet Polish is a cool mauve hue.
Milk Man's Cheeks Polish is on the muted peach spectrum. 

Pleasing Nail Polishes inside the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Mitchell Hoverman 

The only cash registers are in the back of the shop where ice cream orders are placed and picked up. A great place for some impluse ice cream purchases to "skyrocket" the price tag of your Pleasing purchase. 

Though neither of us bought a polish from the Astro Milk line, we came wanting some scoops so there was no impulse ice cream for us.
We had mindful ice cream from the Astro Milk Bar. 

The four ice creams match their corresponding nail polish shades:
- Blueberry = Cow Jumped Over the Moon
- Strawberry = Space Milk
- Red Velvet = Not Sorbet
- Espresso = Milk Man's Cheeks

 Milk Bar at the Pleasing pop-up shop in Chicago July 2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

 After picking out some Pleasing polishes and perfume we got in line to pay and get our sugar fix. I hadn't noticed anyone else get any ice cream while we were there and it didn't take long until we were on our way with our Pleasings. 

Each scoop came in a paper container about the size of a 1/4 of a pint with a lid on top. You get more ice cream here than you would at some other places for the same price or more! 

It's packaging matches the packaging and colors of the Astro Milk nail polishes.
Very cute. Very clever. 

Very asethetically...pleasing. 

Because blueberry ice cream is seldom seen, that's the flavor I got while my good friend traded his afternoon esspresso for a scoop of the espresso ice cream. Both ice creams are colorful in their own regard. The blueberry ice cream was light blue much like Cow Jumped Over the Moon and had specs of actually blueberries in it while the espresso coffee was much more robust than the faint mauve hue of Milk Man's Cheeks. 

Keeping up with staying sustainable, Pleasing's ice cream is manufactured by Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor and Creamery based out of Forest Park Illinois. Brown Cow sources local ingredients, eco-friendly and compostable products, it's staff is made up of people from their community, they use seasonal ingredients and do what they can to work towards being a zero waste company. How pleasing, an eco-friendly and sustainable ice cream and company. 

Cow Jumped Over the Moon & Milk Man's Cheeks ice cream from Astro Milk Pleasing pop-up shop Chicago
photo by Nikki DeMartini  

Though they both came from the same creamery the blueberry ice cream was lite and fluffy with the right about of sweet blueberry flavor and the espresso ice cream was thick with a rich, bold coffee flavor. We were pleased with our two different textures. 

Ice cream from Pleasing pop-up shop Chicago July 2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The recovering people pleaser in me couldn't bring herself to buy a $16 paif of lavender thick, cushy socks that donned the word Pleasing on the ankle but I did look at them long and hard. I did go home with a purple polish and a black polish, essential colors for my growing Pleasing nail polish collection. 

We may have spent more on nail polish and perfume than we would have had it not been for the visiting the Pleasing pop-up shop and we're ok with that. Why not treat yourself to silly little spendy things from time to time in this one life you have to live? It's all eco-friendly and sustainable too, so no no need to feel too guilty about that. 

Harry's slogan for his brand is "We're Pleasing, not perfect" and he couldn't be more correct about that! 

 Go please yourself while you can.
 The Pleasing pop-up shop at 1623 N Damen Ave in Chicago, IL is open through July 21st! 

There are no other sightings of the Pleasing Astro Milk pop-up shop landing anywhere else after that...yet. 

Outloud Festival brought all the queens to WeHo Pride

Pride festivities kicked off a bit early this year in West Hollywood with a star studded line-up for Outloud Festival. It was hardly a soft open with Kesha headlining Friday night followed by a dazzling performance from Janelle Monae on Saturday night and a queen of queens, the one and only Kylie, Miss Kylie Minogue closing out the show on the second official day of Pride month 2024. 

Big Freedia @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

And it wasn't only the headlining acts slaying the stages. 
Adam Lambert, Big Freedia, Diplo and friends, Doechii, Noah Cyrus, Trixie Mattel + more paved the way on the dance floor to the respective night's grand fianle.

And that was just the main stage! Across the way, the Summertramp stage hosted Hot Chip, Crystal Waters, Purple Disco Machine + more over the weekend! 

While I missed seeing most of the show on Friday and Saturday, I did hear that Kesha did in fact changed the lyrics of her 2010 hit "Tik Tok" from "woke up in the morning feeling like P-Diddy" to "woke up in the mornning saying fuck P-Diddy". 
There were murmurs of sound issues Saturday night as the non-bianary artist who goes by both she/her and they/them pronouns, Janelle Monae, and all of her dancers took over the stage. By the looks of it, the sound issues didn't lessen the crowd as I headed out of West Hollywood Park that night. As I was about to leave site to get some shut eye before the third and final show day, something told me to stay. So I turned around and found a spot on the edge of the crowd for a quick exit to beat egress. I told myself I'd stay for one song and eagerly waited in anticipation for what she was going to play next. 

The Age of Pleasure artist teased with one of the longest song intros ever and when that distinctive chord finally hit it gave me chills. The one song I stopped to watch happened to be one of the Janelle Monae songs I know and really enjoy, "Make Me Feel". Her vocals did faintly cut in and out but it didn't take away from the performance, not for me anyway. Aside from that, she sounded great: smooth yet strong. Janelle Monae delivers a humble confidence and her dancing is as smooth as her voice. Watching her perform is spellbinding. From working the crowd and belting them out, instrument playing, chorographed dancing, costume changes and some personable banter Janelle Monae does it all with an unmatched style and grace. 

Janelle Monae @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/1/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Seeing that one song live sent me to bed fully fulfilled.
So real, so good, so fuckin' real.
It's just the way it made me feel. 

The nest morning the feeling of F.O.M.O was real upon hearing Janelle's special guest was Queen Latifah.
What a way to jump start Pride month 2024!

Janelle Monae set-list 6/1/2024
1. Float
2. Champange Shit
3. Black Sugar Beach
4. Phenomenal 
5. Haute
6. Django Jane
7. Q.U.E.E.N
8. Electric Lady
9. Lipstick Lover
10. Paid in Pleasure 
11. Make Me Feel 
12. Tightrope

It had been years since I saw Big Freedia live and she was even better than I remember. In a bright, rainbow colored, layered tull high-low frock Freedia dripped with pride from the moment she hit the stage. While I hoped she'd play "Mo Azz" I honestly didn't really care what she played as long as there was twerking involved.

Oh lord was there twerking.
Freedia held it down on the mic while the crowd went wild. How anyone can move their body as fast as her dancers do will never not be awe-inspiring. They pop it, lock it and drop it. They move it, groove it and shake it.
It's rachet.
It's dirty.
It's such a good time. 

Big Freedia @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Between drawn out intros, long interludes and boughts of playful banter songs seemed to morph into each other. The speed driven tempo of "N.O Bounce" and it's looped chorus lines was filled with plenty of eye ctaching dirty dancing as the Queen Diva asked her dancers "how you eat that d!ck, how you eat it?". Their intrepretive twerking ansered the question.

Next, Freedia invited a at least twenty fans on stage to shake their asses during "Throw it Back". It's an antic of hers that never gets old.

Freedia dropped a couple of her signature lines "You already know" through out the set and the unostentatious featured singer on Beyonce's albums Renaissance and Cowboy Carter covered Queen Bey's single "Formation" and a  "Explode/Break My Soul" mash-up. 

Big Freedia and Macy Grey @ WeHo Pride Outloud Festival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Right as I was about to get back to work  Macy Gray was brought out on stage. I had no idea that the two have a new single together "I AM" and they debuted it live at Outloud Fest 2024! It was very cool to be there for that and to say a big ol' fuck you to all the haters with these two unique powerhouses. 

Big Freedia set-list 6/2/2024 

1. Booty Whoop 

2. Betty Bussit
3. N.O. Bounce

4. Throw It Back
5. Central City Freestyle 
6. Nice for What (Drake cover) 
7. Formation (Beyonce cover) 
8. Explode/Break My Soul
9. Chasing Rainbows 
10. I AM
11. Gin in My System 

The grand finale for the whole weekend was of course the closing act, Kylie Minogue.

Naturally, Sunday night saw the biggest crowd...everybody wanted to see Kylie and who could blame them?! Her grandiose return marked her first live performance in the States since 2019 drawing an estimated twenty thousand people at Outloud Festival on June 2, 2024 by the time the dance floor queen hit the stage. 
In a fringed sequence jumpsuit, care free strawberry-blonde hair and a genuine sincerity flowing from her mere existance, Miss Minogue stunned on stage. 

A gig in the 1980's that found her on stage during a Fitzroy Football Club Benefit Concert for a duet of "I got You Babe" with Queer icon John Waters, Minogue herself has been in Queer eye since day one. The ever growing LBGTQIA+ comminuty continues to love and support Kylie and she them. Do you see a theme here? Give love. Get love. Spread love. 

The single studded set-list showcased hits from her early, mid and later 2000s catalog plucked from Light Years, Fever, Aphrodite, Golden and Tension. 

Kylie Minogue and Orville Peck at WeHo Pride Outloud Music Fesival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Half way through her set she played a song I'd never heard before, I actually thought it was a song off of her new upcoming album but turns out it's off of her 2018 album Golden.

She hit the stage with an army of ho-down attire clad back up dancers as she serenaded us with "Dancing." Breaking out into song and dance along with her dancers, Kylie fell right in line, a showmanship that sent chills of joy raging through me as I marveled the moment. 

She'd already started down a country road so for Minogue's next trick she brought out the gay masked singer, Orville Peck for the live debut of their new single, "Midnight Ride". The juxtaposition of her sweet croons and his darker ones strike a beautifully balanced chord within the song's country-pop blend. And the chemistry between them as they performed teetered on a cuteness overload, an overindlugdence LA was ready was ready for. 

Gays rejoiced as lesser known to me songs were qued. Again, surges of joy rushed through me as countless little cuties clacked fans, snapped fingers and sang along to "All the Lovers" and "Padam Padam".

What a jubilent experience it is to be able to embrace something unknown while feeling the love of being included with the freedom to enjoy it how you choose to enjoy it without judgement.
There I was, a 40 year old, straight, white, single, childless, cis-woman sailing solo in a sea of queers happy as a clam. 

Kylie Minogue at WeHo Pride Outloud Music Fesival 6/2/2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

She closed out the show and the weekend with two hits that helped catapult her to stardom "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Love at First Sight". Honestly, kicking off Pride month with Kylie Minogue was simply the best. Period. 

The Princess of Pop is slated to play the BTS Hyde Park Festival on Saturday July 13th. Rumors swirl around a 2024 tour annoucement from the Kylie Mingoue camp but with no further dates annouced we'll follow her lead and keep on dancing. 

Kylie Minogue set-list 6/2/2024
1. Tension
2. Come Into My World 
3. In Your Eyes
4. Get Outta My Way
5. Slow 
6. Hold On to Now
7. Dancing 
8. Midnight Ride 
9. Spinning Around 
10. All the Lovers
11. Padam Padam
12. Can't Get You Out of My Head
13. Love at First Sight 

Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles

 June 30th is the last day of Pride month and it's also the last day to get a  Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles! 

Sprinkles gets that love is love and during Pride month they celebrate love for everyone from June 3rd - June 30th. This super cute confetti birthday cake cupcake is filled with rainbow nonpareil sprinkles and is pretty in light pink strawberry frosting.

Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Every cupcake that I have had from Sprinkles has hit all of the marks:
moist, fluffy cake
right ratio of cake to frosting
creamy, smooth buttercream or cream-cheese frosting.
Inclusiveness is key for any Pride celebration, so of course their Pride Sprinkle cupcake hit all of the marks too. 

The strawberry frosting is faintly fragrant and tasting. Anything more might distract from all of the rainbow fun and possibly deem it a strawberry cupcake. It's pairing with the birthday confetti cake, which has a vanilla flavor, is nice since most strawberry cupcakes during Summer are both strawbery cake and strawberry frosting. 

Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Unwrapping this cupcake reveals rainbow confetti sprinkles baked into it's vanilla.
You're met with a waterfall of the same rainbow nonpareil sprinkles that rim the frosting once you get to the middle of the cupcake. It's no surprise that these nonpareils are there since Sprinkles advertises this flavor by showing what's inside the cucpake. What is surprising is the amount of nonpareils! Sprinkles doesn't skimp on their rainbow nonpareil sprinkles in their Pride Sprinkle cupcake! 

Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I am a sucker for bright colors. They have the power to lighten up any day, good or bad, happy or sad.
Sprinkles' Pride Sprinkle cupcake is the most colorful cupcake I've seen and eaten to date.
Eating it is sure to make you smile and feel happy, or some might say, gay. 

Gay:/gā/ adjective:  jolly, joyful, a happy or lighthearted mood. Suggests a lightness of heart or liveliness of mood that is openly manifested. A good-humored, natural, expansive gaiety of mood or disposition.

Give love. Get love.
Spread love with Sprinkles' Pride Sprinkle cupcake during the last weekend of Pride month 2024!

Khruangbin at Boston Calling 2024

A few weeks ago over Memorial Day weekend I worked for the first time Boston Calling Music Festival which meant that I had a chance to see Khruangbin for the first time. The psychedelic rock/new-age funk band, pronounced KRUNG-bin, started popping up on festival lines up this year ahead of the April 5th release of, A La Sala,  their fifth studio album. Soon after came their own tour announcement. 

Khruangbin at Boston Calling 5/25/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

They played on Saturday, show day two, infamously known as the busiest show day at any given show. Boston Calling proved to be an anomoly with it's biggest ticket selling day being on Sunday night when The Killers headlined and closed out the festival. 

The line-up this year was a good mix from Megan Thee Stallion, Blondshell, Renee Rapp to Ed Sheeran, Beach Weather and Tyler Childers, to name a few. A golden hour set was fitting for Khruangbin's ultra chill aura. Nestled in on the more Country music inclined day the three piece group played the main stage, Green Stage from 6:05 - 7:05, ahead of that night's headliner, Tyler Childers. 

It's unclear what time is was by the time me and a few coworkers found a spot to watch and enjoy, I couldn't even tell ya what song they were playing. Khruangbin is a band that's been on my must see list for a while. Albeit festival sets are hit or miss I was just happy to be there.

The crowd had already started beefing up in anticipation of the headliner yet there was still plenty of room to comfortably stand, watch and dance or sway if you will, to their enrapturing tunes. 

Their stage design almost mirrored the image of their latest album's cover art: windows against an outside skyview of blue sky and puffy white clouds. The walls on the album cover are red and on stage they were beige but the tie in was obvious. In an avant garde-ish power suit of rust-orange colored pants and matching tutu-ish top,  topped off with a matching headband, leading lady Laura Lee Ocha  was perfection. She matched the golden hue of their sunset set which played into the band's sunset vibes.  From where I was standing it looked as if guitarist Mark Speer was sporting a brown three piece suit as he strolled around stage. 

Khruangbin A La Sala album cover art

The two had sweet interactions with each other through out the set and made it a point to bring their playing to drummer DJ Johnson who was tucked somewhere in the stage design. As easy going as their music is, seeing them live fosters the same sort of feeling,  Khruangbin's grooves make you feel groovy because it's welcoming and judgement free. Khrubangbin has curated an all encompassing atmosphere around Khrubangbin: from their music and albums to their stage design and their stage presence. And it all feels geniune. That's the ticket. Good, genuine music at a show, a festival set no less, that isn't phoned in or contrived. 

Ready to go at any moment if duty called, I was discreetly elated to be soaking in the moment. Then, familiar sounds of two of my favorite songs of theirs, "So We Don't Forget" and "Time (You and I)" made it that much better.
Eyes closed, setting sun on my face,  I did my best to let the music take me away and with Khruangbin that's not hard to do. 

Khruangbin at Boston Calling 5/25/2024
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Surprisingly no pressing calls came through for our crew while we were enjoying ourselves at Green Stage and we ended up staying right up until the end, extending our fun through "People Everywhere (Still Alive)" and "Maria tambien".
The best work break you can ask for. 

Aside from the fact that Boston Calling keeps the volume at all of the stages low, I thought Khruangbin sounded just fine. Their  sound and matching aesthetic were a perfect fit for when they played. A golden sunset all-call radio call soundtrack. 

Khruangbin set-list @ Boston Calling 5/25/2024
1. Pon Pon
2. Todavia Viva
3. Juegos y Nubes
4. Dern Kala
5. Lady and The Man
6. The Infamous Bill 
7. So We Won't Forget
8. Evan Finds the Third Room
9. Time (You and I) 
10. People Everywhere (Still Alive)
11. Maria Tambien

Khruangbin are on the move this Summer, sharing their feel good grooves along the way!

Blackbird Doughnuts in Boston

 One of the first things I did before I even got to Boston to work Boston Calling music festival was look up where to eat. And, at the top of my "best foods in of Boston" search? Not cupcakes but their cousin, donuts.
The first donut spot that popped up in Boston was Blackbird Doughnuts but would my crazy work schedule allow me to find and try Blackbird donuts?
I was about to find out. 

Luckily for me, one fateful load-in day as my coworkers and I walked to our long thought after lunch destination we walked right by Blackbird donuts. Being the only one who noticed, I was instantly excited and excused myself to grab my wallet from the car. 

"where are you going?!"
"I'm going to buy donuts!"

Met with much less enthusiam from the guy behind the counter, I burst into the small shop wide eyed and beaming. The donuts were all on display in a glass case. Some fancier looking than others. Cake and raised. All with a little beaded name tag on top sans description or price. 

Blackbird doughnut from Balckbird Doughnuts in Boston
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I had gone in for one donut but I left with three: 

1. Blackbird = vanilla cake with vanilla glaze.

2. Blueberry Lavender (not pictured) = rasied doughnut with a purple, blueberry lavender flavored glaze frosting. 

3. Strawberry Cupcake = vanilla cake with a strawberry buttercream frosting and a sprinkle of chocolate sprinkles. 

I love me an Old Fashioned doughnut and the Blackbird doughnut looked like the closest thing to an Old Fashioned that they had to offer so there was no question there.
I am a sucker for purple (no I am not a purple person) and though I'm more of a cake girl than raised, I do enjoy a a good lavender flavor so Blueberry Lavender was my second choice. As the not very friendly assumed Bostonian put the two doughnuts in a white paper bag I noticed the name of one of the cupcakes in the display case. Strawberry Cupcake. 
Strawberry Cupcake doughnut?!

I added one Strawberry Cupcake doughnut to my order in the nick of time and watched in a subtle horror as the Blackbird employee added the doughnut covered in whipped buttercream frosting in the bag with the other two doughnuts instead of a separate box. Or at the very least it's own bag but whateva, Boston!

Little did I know that this was the flavor of month in May which is understandable because strawberry season in Massechusetts starts in May! 

What I did know is that I love doughnuts, I review cupcakes,  I've been saying doughnuts are cupcakes' cousins for a while and cupcake doughnuts aren't something you see very often, if at all. 

This was the last doughnut that I ate. The rasied blueberry lavender was the first to go because raised doughnuts go stale faster and knew I wasn't eating all three doughnuts in one day. I was unsurprisingly underwhelmed. The blueberry and lavender were indsitingishable confirming my suspesions that the eyecatching icing was nothing but a ploy. 

Next up, the signature Blackbird doughnut. 
I have put a lot of delicious doughnuts in my mouth. This one takes the cake as one of the best doughnuts I've ever had the pleasure of eating. The buttery, fluffy cake melted in my mouth with each bite. It doesn't have the shape or consistancy of original Old Fashioned doughnuts but there is a crispiness around it's edges that's undeniably Old Fashioned doughnut fashion. Same goes for the icing that smoothered the whole thing. Ten out of ten. 

Blackbird doughnut from Balckbird Doughnuts in Boston
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The last doughnut I ate was the Strawberry Cupcake one, I kept it in the fridge until it was time to preserve what I thought was whipped cream on top. 

Turns out it was not whipped cream but in fact strawberry flavored buttercream. It wasn't until I made my way to the center of the frosted cupcake doughnut that the frosting got more dense which leads me to believe it's a whipped buttercream frosting. 

I smelled the strawberry before I tasted it which was leaps and bounds in comaprrison to the blueberry, lavender flavor of the other cupcake. Both the Blackbird doughnut and the Strawberry Cupcake doughnut are cake based but they were two totally different cakes! As mentioned above, the cake of the Blackbird Doughnut was fluffy and buttery but the Strawberry Cupcake doughnut wasn't butteryor fluffy, it was what you expect of a doughnut shop cake based doughnut. Of course I took into consideration that it had been in the fridge which may have contributed to it's denseness but not it's lack of buttery-ness. 

This was a first, I couldn't finish it. I enjoyed it with a cup of coffee before work and it was just too much first thing in the morning. My huge sweet tooth was no match for this doughnut. Children will rejoice but parents be ware! 

So grateful that this unexpected work perk happened: I got to eat Boston based doughnuts in Boston and discovered that doughnut cupcakes are indeed a thing. 

New month means new flavors of the month at Blackbird Doughnuts!

Before leaving Boston a great friend, beautiful mentor, a lovely lady from Boston showed me around town. She's not, not a foodie and took me to some good local spots including Mike's Pastry.
Infamous for their cannolis, Mike's is a stop you can't miss when in Boston, a must, a tourist attraction. The place was packed and a little chaotic. A border of photos of every flavor of cannoli they have lines the walls, there must be over twenty different flavors! An array of other pasteries filled the pastry cases and in one of them, cupcakes.

Beacause Mike's is cash only and I only had a little bit of cash on me I spent it on one cannoli (I wanted to get three) and since it was my first experience of Mike's Pastry I went with the traditional cannoli flavor ie: plain. It was delish.
My friend got a pistachio cannoli and shared it with me.
When I say she's the best she's the best, she shared her cannoli with me and I didn't even have to ask.  

Mike's Pastry s in Boston
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Before leaving, my indecisiveness and subsequent last minute addition of two Italian anise cookies to my order visibly annoyed the very Bostonian lady behind the counter who helped us.
Was my California showing?
My friend and I giggled about it as we left, I got the full Boston experience. Next time I go back I'll be ready with my order and it will probably include a cupcake. And maybe a Boston Creme pie, we will see!

Fuck Me Up Alison Wonderland

 Back in May one of the biggest names in EDM these days, Alison Wonderland, launched her own "festival friendy" beauty line!

Nothing can top when the then 36 year old Aussie performed EDC Las Vegas nine months pregnant in 2023 but don't try stopping this powerhouse! On May 15th, 2024  just three days before performing the main stage at EDC Las Vegas, Alison Wonderland dropped  FMU: festival friendly multi use products for everyone. 

Fuck Me Up beauty products from Alison Wonderland
photo by Nikki DeMartini

FMU's UFO Body Art Pens offer day-glow colors that will shock and amaze under any and every black light. One end of the pen has a hearty felt tip, perfect for all of the lines, designs and cat-eyes while the other end is a fun shaped stamp to make plur looks pop.
 There's also the Hyper Hue Lip & Cheek Tint which changes color. Think mood ring but make-up.
Both pens and tints are currently available in three different colors.

The bright colors are well pigmented and meant to last the entire night in to the wee morning hours as you rave away, plus all Fuck Me Up products are animal cruelity free.  It wouldn't be very peace, love, unity and respect if Alison Wonderland made make-up that wasn't animal cruelity free now would it? 
To top it off, at 16 to 20 dollars a pop you won't fuck up your bank account buying this stuff!

Not to be confused with Brooke Candy's single "FMU", Alison's 2017's "Happy Place" bears the lyrics "fuck me up" nestled in the chorus hence the name of her beauty line. 

Now when you get glitzed, glammed and ready to say "fuck me up" you can rave easy knowing your eyeliner and lip gloss won't get fucked up.
Fuck around and find out with Alison Wonderland on your side, don't miss her at Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge!