Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Frankly, I'm Shocked

I don't know if any of you pay attention to the site meter on this blog at the bottom of the sidebar, but I usually check it twice a day. At the time that I am writing this, this blog has received about 48,000 visits. And really, that's a lot. I mean, I'm not posting Gawker numbers here, hell, I'm not posting Daily Dump numbers here, but the fact that 48,000 times someone has clicked over to say, 'hmm, I wonder if Cupcake has posted anything new' or 'hmm, I wonder what happens if I google "Rhode Island Mafia Marshmallow filling"' blows my mind a little bit. At let's face it, I'm not picky. I'll gladly take both kinds of visitors.

Soon this blog will hit 50,000 visits and I think we should do something to celebrate. I'm just too lazy to actually think of something cute and fun to do to comemorate this landmark. So does anyone have any suggestions on how we should celebrate the big 5-0-0-0-0? Try to consider plausibility here. I mean, you might think a great way to celebrate would be for me to mail each of my readers five bucks, but I assure you that maintaining a payroll for certain cool New York kids to act as my "friends" has already drained my entertainment budget. [I can only assume that my checks have bounced recently and that's why I haven't heard from SuperSkater and Mondo in ages.]

And speaking of conspicuous consumption, I'll be going to Chicago on Friday for a long weekend. PatriotDave and the GreatLewandowski are going to be there and as an extra special bonus Drew Belstock will be there too. How could I say no to that? Of course, I'm going to try to locate Cupcakes and give you a report. Looks like they have some tasty flavors. (Diet? What diet?) While I'm there, I'd like to get my hair cut. Can anyone recomend a good salon? Also, I'll hopefully be hitting up a day spa and Wrigley Field. In short, a perfect getaway. If you've got a must-see suggestion for my trip, let me know. I'll be staying in the Near North by Navy Pier. This area was also the scene of my 2003 humiliation when I was thrown out of the offices of Chicago Public Radio then fed my CTA card with a $9 balance on it into the wrong slot on a public bus thus losing the card and invoking a pathetic glower from the bus driver.

13 comments:

JMc said...

I live in Chi and Cupcakes does indeed have tasty flavors. Why, just yesterday, I got a Thai Coffee cupcake and a Dark Chocolate Merlot cupcake. Mmm. Briar Street at Broadway. Check it out.

Anonymous said...

Ok Cupcake, guilty as charged. But I do check your blog just about every day, sometimes more than once if work is more maddening than normal. So I am certainly contributing to the ticker approaching 50,000, even if I've contributed less face time than I probably should...do I get any points for that?

We should get together soon, though. I have to work this coming weekend (bleh), but maybe we could have dinner next week? I'll have to go easy on the sugar because I recently discovered that I have atleast three cavities that need to be filled, so my entire head is starting to throb. Officially, I blame my company for its repeated refusals of dental insurance. Unofficially, I blame myself for my lackadaisical approach to flossing. But dinner, dinner I can do.

J said...

Cupcake, why were you kicked out of the office of CPR?

Cupcake said...

Gibson, you were just at Cupcakes yesterday? Awesome. Dark Chocolate Merlot? Ho-boy. Can you tell me what the closest El stop is?

SuperSkater, I too must share part of the responsibility for our lapse in quality time. Let's get together soon. I'll be pretty busy until, like May 6? I know, I'm a loser. By the way I have a dentist appointment coming up and I am dreading it. DREADING it. You are my hero.

Josh, the story behind me being kicked out of CPR is interesting, but I am currently debating whether or not I want to publish it here. Probably I will.

JMc said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
JMc said...

Red line Belmont. Walk east on Belmont to B'way, then hang a right onto B'way until you get to Briar. Turn right and Cupcakes is on the left side of the street. Yee haw! (If you are from Chicago or have lived there, I apologize in advance for implying that you don't know how to get to B'way/Briar from the Belmont stop).

Also good, but more run-of-the-mill, are the carrot cake cupcakes. Mmm.

Anonymous said...

1000 waves is a great chicago dayspa. Really relaxing in a kind of granola way, and frequented by women of all ages/sizes, not just the usual scrawnt spa rats (which made me feel a LOT more comfortable then I have at say, Bliss). Plus they have little cubicles where you can draw the curtains and take a nap afterwards

Cupcake said...

Gibson, I've been to Chicago a couple of times but I'm not a whiz by any means with getting around. Thanks for the explicit directions.

I'll check out 1000 Waves. I'd been looking at Kiva as well because it's not far from where I'll be staying. I appreciate the tip!

JMc said...

I go to Art + Science in Wicker Park for hair cuts, although the guy who used to cut my hair now works at Kiva, so there you go. (I think Kiva is slightly pricier, but I'm sure it's great). Also- my bfriend works for CPR- please share your story! I am dying to hear some dirt on those folks.

Muk said...

Stuff I like to do when I'm in Chicago,

1. Eat in Greektown. Personally, I like Greek Islands. I dream about the grilled baby octopus (no, they don't attack me).

2. Splurge and eat at Salpicon. Incredible, well-chosen tequila list. Chicago does Mexican far better than NYC. Also, any of Rick Bayless' places are decent bets if you're cutting your teeth on the Chicago/Mexican thing.

3. Run or walk down the Lakeshore Drive bike-ped path.

I really love Chicago. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

I’ll be very interested in hearing what you think about Cupcakes, especially since we almost bought it last winter. The new owner hadn’t changed it that much when we were last there, but that was back in Jan, so he hadn't had it for very long.

I love Chicago so much and I can’t imagine having a bad time there, no matter what you do. There are always amazing art things going on. There is a bar somewhere, (why does my travel advice always include bars?!?) that is stocked with tons of board games. I have spent many a night having beer and playing Sorry!. A lot of fun. If you’re interested, I’ll track down the information.

Are you going to be in NoHo anytime soon? We are going to be there in May.

Cupcake said...

I hope to give a full report on Cupcakes. If I meet one of the owners, can I mention your name?

I have no plans to be in NoHo in May, but I can always impose upon Smarty and Fribs unter the pretense of "I want to come help to wedding stuff!"

(Although I don't think they actually want my help right now, they'd probably humour me like, "It's very important for the wedding that you color this picture of Dora the Explorer. Try to stay in the lines, this time Cupcake.")

Anonymous said...

We didn't talk to the new guy who bought it at all. In fact, when we went in to get cupcakes last time we were in Chicago, we tried to strike up a conversation with him and he was pretty much non responsive. If there is an employee there named Sara, and whom wears a head scarf, she might remember me. When I worked on my Cupcake Show (ha ha! get it?) for PR, the owner-at-the-time, also named Sara was late, and so I interviewed her for a bit. So if she is there and you ask if she remembers a girl with a recorded from October last year who interviewed her, she might know me. But I don't think it will get you any cupcake discounts.

The kids who started Cupcakes moved to Turkey this Jan, which is why they sold it.I think there is only one new owner, the unfriendly guy.

Try to be there! We could meet up.

And this makes my 4th comment for the day on your blog. I really should try to find somethig else to do.