NYCupcake Run: A Couple of Sweet Distractions

Now that you have read all about my cupcake escapades while I spent a fleeting 30-some hours in the Big Apple; I have to pause to share with you a couple of sweet distractions. After I spent the evening on the Lower East Side last Friday, I stayed on the subway for a couple of extra stops and decided to visit Times Square. I had been there about 20 years ago, but there is a different appreciation as an adult. The lights, the people, the sparkle of the rain-slicked streets. There was something magical about it. I loved the corners facing one another where Hershey's and M&Ms have each parked their super-shops for a chocolate lovers overload. While the Hershey's signage was by far the most impressive in a 5 block radius...

... the M&Ms store had a flirty Ms. Green winking and pouting on an oversized plasma screen taunting the lesser Hershey's shop. Hershey store was a huge disappointment, I was excited to visit, as it looked AMAZING in an old episode of Project Runway (406 - Eye Candy). Sadly, for Hershey's; great facade, lame store.


I was like a kid in a candy store - yes, I meant for that pun - while visiting the World of M&Ms. I was fascinated by the walls of colorful little gems. EVERY color you can imagine, ceiling to floor; with and without nuts! It was sad; however, to note the overflow "drain" (left) to see where the m&m's that didn't make it into someone's bag fell to - well, lets not say.


My plan for Saturday, before I left for La Guardia, was to visit the one and only original Tiffany & Co and purchase my one singular, yet totally spectacular NYC souvenir. In the hours before my trip I managed to sell a ton of old books and CDs, got paid from a friend for some graphic design work I had done for the ruthiewear line, and was reminded by another very dear friend that this was a chance of a lifetime trip and that I had to remember to feel special and recognize that my cupcake ideas and efforts were beginning to pay off. So, of course, when I got to Tiffany's, this seemed like the perfect trinket to mark the unexpected trip to the cupcake motherland.

As I noted in a previous post, this visit almost did not happen, as I had lost track of time while visiting cupcakeries with Rachel of CTTC earlier in the day. But, with the help of a truely awesome cab driver and a resilient clerk at Tiffany's I managed to swoop in and out in less than five minutes with my little blue box and bag in hand and back on the route to the airport without a blink of an eye. OF COURSE, being SUCH a girl zipping through the floors of Tiffany's, when the elevator operator mentioned that the worlds largest canary diamond was on display to the left of the main enterance, I somehow managed to sneak an illegal photo of the rock of all rocks. Due to my stealth photo tactics - thanks cakespy - I managed to steal a shot before the guard voiced my wrong-doing.

One last THANK YOU to the gals at MWW Group and 1-800-Flowers for making this whirlwind ride a reality. Don't forget; now through 10/12, you can WIN a CUPCAKE IN BLOOM bouquet and a $100 gift certificate compliments of 1-800-Flowers. Go, RIGHT NOW and enter our survey about cupcakes, romance and the holidays.