Key to My Heart, Key to Success, Key to My Car?

Week two has left me and week three said, "hello," with snow.  In fact, it snows every day here.  Just in case you were curious.

I'm still enjoying my job.  My team is amazing and I've had the opportunity to do some cool things in the past week.  We're wrapping up Fall/ Holiday 2011 and I'm pretty pumped to start designing for Spring 2012.

Madison is a lovely city, but I'm not sure it's for me.  There are two "parts" to Madison: University of Wisconsin and a giant capital building (neither of which I have too much of an interest in).  So now you may ask yourself, "Self, what is there to do in Madison on the weekends?"  And now I shall pass along the great knowledge that has been so forcefully fed to me: "You eat."

Twice in the past week I went down to "The Square" (downtown) for dinner.  The Old Fashioned is a hot spot for tourists and locals alike.  They offer at least 4 cheese platters, fried cheese curds, a wide array of Wisconsin beer, and their famous "The Old Fashioned" drink.  My taste-buds were pleased, but my wallet cringed.  I also checked out Cooper's Tavern on The Square.  The food was pretty good. The atmosphere was quaint and it actually reminded me of a restaurant I went to in NYC.  Once again, the food was overpriced. Perhaps what I really paid for was the view:

I feel as if I have a calling to find fabulous local coffee shops every time I move to a new city.  However, I now realize that my mission has expanded.

 As most of you know, my family own a cupcake shop called Manna Cupcake Cafe.  And now, because of Manna, I feel obligated to seek out all cupcake shops in a 30 mile radius of my current location and indulge in, I mean taste test, our "competition."  This philosophy also applies to coffee.  My perspective on coffee has changed since I've been a barista.  I now have urges to jump behind the espresso bar at said local coffee shops and say to them, "Here, let me show you how to do this," and "I'll pay you the $5.00 if you just let me make it myself."

Sadly, I am yet to fall in love with a coffee shop here.  No worries though, I'm not giving up on finding a temporary replacement for the glorious coffee that is handcrafted at Manna.  I also am not giving up on finding cupcakes in the Madison area that can cure my hellish nights when I'm in delicious Raspberry Bismark cupcake withdraw.  I did find a place downtown that sold cupcakes, but the  cupcakes simply did not compare:

I leave you with a confession:  I was grateful to be in a small, safe town such as Verona this past Saturday.  I was getting ready to start my Saturday adventures when I realized that my car needed to be scraped off.  Like most people, I wanted my interior to heat up to a toasty marshmallow temperature as I scraped my car.  When I got out of the car, I locked the door behind me out of habit.

Like a hungry puppy, I looked through the car window just to stare at my keys dangling in the ignition, my purse on the passenger seat, and my cell phone nestled inside my purse.  Perhaps it was out of human instinct, or stupidity, but I continually tried to pull my locked car door open.  It was almost as if I told myself that I could will it open if I just thought about it hard enough.  Then again, if I had OnStar that would have worked (but I don't).  Instead, I walked my flustered self across the street and made friends with my neighbors.  They took me in and let me make long distance phone calls on their cell phones.  If that doesn't scream, "New Best Friends," I don't know what does.  That reminds me, I need to send them a Thank You note and some cupcakes.  If only I had access to a cupcakery...