The aftermath of a weekend of this magnitude is very tiring. Here it is Thursday already, and all I can think of is a really solid nap...no time, yet...maybe in 48 hours or so. But...for now...I wanted to share a few of the moments that happened BEFORE the Cupcake Clash.
I should have known at AJ Bombers that it was going to be a wild weekend. We did not tell anyone; but a handful of staff, that we were heading there for lunch. Regardless, no sooner did we sit down did a couple come by asking for an autograph and photo. (A little foreshadowing of the crowds to come...) Once we finished eating, Duff was very sweet and posed for lots of photos and even stopped to sign the wall. A must-do while in Milwaukee.
After lunch we popped in on the gang over at 91.7 WMSE. The visit would have been incomplete if we didn't get Duff into the station. WMSE was, afterall, our partner and our non-profit for the CUPCAKE CLASH.
We had a great time, the staff presented Duff with a MSOE Hockey jersey and he even sat in for an interview that you can hear by CLICKING HERE. And then, of course, we had to pose for the gratuitous photos by the WMSE microphone. Given that Duff is in a band, ::::soihadto::::, as are many of his bakery buddies, this stop was a natural. PLUS! This is where, if you listen to the interview, Duff said that if we hit our sell-out mark of 2000 he would come back on 1/1/12 for Milwaukee's Polar Bear Plunge at Bradford Beach!
Now, lets just face it, my hardcore days are behind me...or were there ever any? Well, whatever...
Next we dropped Duff off at the Iron Horse Hotel - who, along with Frontier Airlines, were so kind to provide him with transportation and the hippest lodging in town. Pretty sure he got a kick out of the place, as this photo was spotted on his Facebook page with the following comment:
We then got to quick work of putting together our little private reception. Held in the Library of the Iron Horse, this was a special event just for the competing bakers, the awesome volunteers and a handful of local business people who have helped make Iron Cupcake awesome. It was a great time, because it gave the bakers a chance to break the ice with Duff before the big event. Many of them felt much more comfortable the next day because they had gotten even 5 minutes with him at the reception.
A special thanks to Paula from Miss Julia's Bakeshop in Brookfield for the amazing cupcakes. Unable to participate in the Cupcake Clash; Paula jumped at the chance to participate in her own special way by donating these luscious treats. Let me just tell you that I took home a couple and I could gladly die in a vat of that Banana's Foster frosting alone. Y to the UM!
After the reception, a very small group of us headed off to a quite dinner at Water Buffalo. (No cameras at this one.) We were treated to all sorts of incredible yummies, but I do think that the biggest hit was those incredible mussels! Thanks Joe! It was a very long day and we could not have been more thrilled to have Duff join us. You are true awesome, my friend!
I want to take a minute to send my love and gratitude to ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS that helped make this weekend so awesome; but most of all the Cupcake Queen Mum, my mom, who flew out from California just to see my super-sized IronCupcake come to life. You rock, mom!
A LOT of you are asking about the next challenge for Iron Cupcake, a post will go live at lunch time tomorrow with what the crystal ball might hold for ICM. See you then!
***Special thanks to Scott Baitinger and Olga Thomas
for snapping some awesome pix at the reception,
check them out on their FLICKR page.***
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