Penguins. Cupcakes. Woodland Park Zoo. Saturday.

The zoo is opening a new penguin exhibit this weekend, complete with black and white cupcakes! Yup, a crew of Humboldt Penguins will now call the Woodland Park Zoo home, and we're welcoming them with 2,000 cupcakes...that look like them...sort of. So head on out to the Woodland Park Zoo this Saturday to get a firsthand look at these dapper little birds. The ribbon cutting ceremony is at 10 a.m. with penguin fun times goin' on all day long...and cupcakes for as long as they last.

Humboldt penguins are an endangered species native to the coasts of Peru. Yes, Peruvian penguins. Whodathunkit? Learn all about 'em this Saturday, and enjoy yourself a delicious little cupcake while you're there.



And if you're wondering what it looks like when the bosslady from our bakery gets too close to a penguin in Antarctica, here it is. He looks nervous. He probably should be.

UPDATE - Just to be clear - the cupcakes will be at the zoo. All you gotta do is show up, and they're free!

Local Arts Twofer!

Apparently, Local Arts Twofer! is a regular thing now, because it just keeps happening. And we just keep lovin' it. So much.

This week's Local Arts Twofer! is a double whammy, if whammies were good, and double meant infinite. The rules have changed a little, though. Whereas before the term "twofer" was used to point out the fact that two super cool arty things were goin' down in the same time and space, this time around they're same time...different space...which makes things a little interesting. However, one runs longer than the other, so you can do this people. We believe in you.

THURSDAY | APRIL 30 | SEATTLE, USA

FIRST

Go to the Harvard Exit and check out the results of the great Seattle film race that went down last weekend. Filmmakers were asked to complete a project in 24 hours with these two additional parameters:

THEME: Superstitious SURPRISE ELEMENT: Action: Swallowing a Pill

To top it all off (this is where the good whammies start getting infinite) Cupcakes for Health Care cohort Joshua Welter of Washington CAN! had a hand in the film "Meeting Miss Fortune." Yes. Yes. Yes. Tickets are $9 and the program runs from 7-9:30.

SECOND

Leave the Harvard Exit and hurry on over to Ballard for the "Bad Ideas" Northwest Designers Zine Release Party and Poster Show at Society Co. Here comes the infinity part again...not only is Society Co. our neighbor and superfriend, but our very own Darin Shuler has work featured in the show.

It's almost too much awesome. But its probably just enough, so tomorrow night, get on out and be in it!

Cupcake LOVEbirds. Busted!

We found 'em! You probably remember that back on April 13th we set out on a hunt for the mysterious couple that said "I do" right here in our Ballard café. Turns out, it was the lovely in love Felix and Kerry, pictured above. As Kerry explained it, they had some papers to sign, so they decided to just meet up and swap autographs at Cupcake Royale. Sounds like a well-laid plan to us.

We are honored, to say the least, and congrats to the happy couple!

White House. Jody Hall. The Recap.

What started with a quick once over of the sale rack at Sea-Tac's Hudson News, (Sleepless in Seattle tees. For just $29.99. Que ganga!) ended with Jody Hall delivering up a hot helping of the truth about health care for small businesses...at the White House.




Yup. That White House. Our very own Jody Hall (see also, Glorious Leader,) went there, and she took this photo with her iPhone to prove it.



Then she went inside and sat at this table with the likes of Nancy-Ann DeParle, (Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform) and Larry Summers (Director of the White House's National Economic Council...who may or may not have echoed Barbie's early nineties assertion that math is hard ...for girls.)

Jody's the one in the snappy argyle vest.

For those of you who are new to this story, Jody has been working with Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition for awhile now on health care reform, specifically in regards to insuring the millions of employees of small businesses in America. Scroll down and read on for more info, and watch this video to see what she said.




And of course you all want to know if she met Barack Obama. No. But she did see his motorcade.

Shop around.

To be fair, Smokey Robinson said it first. He was talking about something entirely different, but still. Credit where credit is due.

TV on the Internets

For those of you who prefer to get your TV from your computer, you're in luck. Jody's White House meeting will be streaming live from the following two sites.

www.whitehouse.gov
www.healthreform.gov

For added camaraderie, why not come on in and stream it from one of our cafés?

Jody on C-SPAN. Watch it.

L to R Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Barack Obama, Jody Hall

Jody is getting ready to board her flight to Washington, where she will be fighting for a public health care option for these United States. You can watch it all go down live tomorrow morning on C-SPAN. The roundtable meeting will include a handful of small business owners from around the country along with Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform. It's happening from 8am to 9:30am PST.

At the White House.

The one Barack Obama lives in.

Again, it will be airing on C-SPAN, so, although we rarely advocate this, get up tomorrow morning and TURN ON YOUR TVs!!!!

Health Care. White House. Jody Hall. Friday.

L to R: President Barack Obama, Jody Hall, Nancy-Ann DeParle

Yup, that's right. Jody Hall, owner of this here small business, is heading off to Washington tomorrow for a roundtable discussion for small business owners with Nancy-Ann DeParle. Yes, THE Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Care Reform.

With the April Congressional recess over, health care reform is comin' up front and center, (see photo.) Having made it a clear priority for the session, the White House will continue its series of roundtable discussions on health care this Friday with a focus on small business. Small business owners from around the country will be meeting to talk shop with Nancy-Ann DeParle about what's the what with health care for small businesses and the millions of Americans they employ.

As our rep from the Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition (a project of Washington CAN!), Jody will be discussing the need for a public health care option to lessen the burden on small businesses who insure their employees.

She sums it up rather nicely like this:
“A public health insurance option would give us real choice and greater bargaining power, increase competition and drive down costs for everyone. Small businesses can create the jobs to help revitalize our economy. But we’ve got to get health care fixed. We need real health reform, and we need it now – this year.”

We have 51 employees here at Cupcake Royale, and as a company, we spend almost as much on insurance as we do on rent for all three stores. That's pretty nutty. And if things don't change, it'll only get worse. Insurance rates continue to climb, (ours just spiked 40% - neat!) and small business owners are being forced to purchase plans with inadequate coverage, or to drop their policies completely, adding to the millions of already uninsured and underinsured Americans. Those who continue to fork it over to private insurance companies are giving out a good chunk of dough in some pretty tough financial times. Clearly, none of this is good for anyone.

So, you tell 'em Jody! And we'll be sure to tell you all what's new as it goes down. Stay tuned.

Foe more info on the issues, check out these links.
Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition
Washington CAN!
Main Street Alliance

We also love this scooter.

How could we not? How could anyone not? Come on.

We love youth. We love film.

And we really love films made by youths! You should check some out at the National Film Festival For Talented Youth, a.k.a. NFFTY.

The festival showcases work from filmmakers ranging in age from 7 (yes, 7) to 22, and the subjects range from a couple of Australian kids trying to surf their way across the U.S. to the incredible members of Def Dance Jam Workshop in Harlem.

See what happens when a bunch of talented youth use film to speak about social justice, environmental change, and chicken cowboys.

The festival runs from Apr 24-26 at SIFF Cinema, Cinerama, and EMP|SFM. 10 short films open the festival at Cinerama this Friday with an after party at EMP.

Do not miss it. Do. not.

May Cupcake of the Month: Chocolate Scorcher

Dark chocolate cake. Rich cream cheese. Fragrant spices. Fiery ghost chiles. Theo Chocolate.

These tantalizing ingredients combine to form our newest Cupcake of the Month in all it’s magnificent, spicy glory. We’re thrilled to partner with our local pals Theo Chocolate to bring you a taste of the world’s hottest chile, the Ghost Chile.

It's spooky hot.

The Ghost Chile is found primarily in the Assam region of India. Theo Chocolate has captured this hot little number and made it into a scorcher of a chocolate bar. We’re bringing it to you in combination with warm Indian spices and our dark chocolate cake Royale.

Available May 1st - 31st. Get ready for it. This cupcake is paranormal.

Walls Form Hall: Countdown to 1111

Once you have enough wallage, you get what is known as a hallway. On the right, bathrooms and an office. On the left, the Funlab*. In the middle, open passage. That, friends, is how you make a hallway.

*That's what we industry types call the "bakery."



That's Roy McMakin and Ian Butcher, the designers, pretending to be bakers. One day that will be a window, and behind it, we'll have some real bakers.



This appears to be some fancy measuring business, but it's mainly the guys from Dovetail showing off their crazy photography skillZ. Construction-wise, that string served no purpose whatsoever. This little task was all about the art.

Double the Fun!

Just when you were starting to think that the free babycake you're gonna get when you buy your sweet new album from Sonic Boom or Easy Street on Saturday is almost too much goodness to handle, we got all ninja and tossed in some more! Our friends from the Washington Bus will be hangin' around all three Cupcake Royales this weekend doin' the good work you know they do.

They're currently directing their good work at I-100, or Schools not Jails. Once they gather enough signatures, we all get to vote on the $226 million dollar jail the City wants to build. Not only that, but we force ourselves as a civic unit to sit on down and think a little about how we as a city approach this whole incarceration business. Thinking is good. Voting is good...especially when it comes after the thinking part.

Win win.

Cupcakes. Gateway to manhood.

This little man has it all figured out. It's kinda like that episode of the Cosby Show where Theo and Cockroach put mascara on their upper lips in order to look older, only this is way more delicious, and way more believable. This tiny mister went all out, not stopping with a mere moustache...

Look closely. That is indeed an off-center buttercream soul patch.

Line up, ladies.

We have walls! And a pooch! Countdown to 1111

That's Jason, builder extraordinaire, and Princess Leia impersonator.

On the floor, we have Sammy, shaggy pal and best friend forever. Girl make Lassie look like a fool.

In the background...walls! Ok, not quite. But once we glue some more construction stuffs onto those metal thingies, those will be walls. And behind them, toilets! Two of them. Yes Yes Yes!

RECORD STORE DAY: Buy an album, get a free babycake!

This Saturday, April 18th, is Record Store Day! A two year-old holiday in the name of independently owned record stores, local music, small business, and neighborly goodness. Get on out to your local record shop and buy some stuffs. Lots of labels and artists have issued exclusive releases for this holiest of days, and they're available only in record stores.

Super rare. Super exclusive. Super awesome.

Check out your local record store for the complete list of awesomeness. We highly recommend checking out Sonic Boom in Ballard, and Easy Street in West Seattle. And if you do, we'll give you a free babycake.

That's right. Buy an album, get a babycake! This will happen in one of two ways.

1. When you buy an album at Sonic Boom in Ballard this Saturday, they will give you a special card, good for one free babycake. Walk across the street to our café. Exchange the special card for a delicious babycake.

2. In West Seattle, go to Easy Street and buy an album. Walk across the street to our café, receipt in hand. Show said receipt to your friendly neighborhood barista. He or she will give you a free babycake.

Win win. See you Saturday!

Famous Art. Bell, that is.

For those of you who don't know the man whose name was the winning answer (one of many possible) to our Famous Arts giveaway, here he is. You may have heard him on late night talk radio, yammerin' on about UFOs, conspiracy theories, and Chupacabras. Apparently Kirsten Terry did, and now she gets two free tickets to the Henry's open house bash on Friday.

Well played, Kirsten. Well played indeed. That is one bad Art.

Other answers, though not quite in time, included Rackham, Carney, Linkletter, and Chantry.

Art Party at the Henry!

If you have been following this blog at all (hi Mom!), you have probably noticed that we are kinda into the arts. We at Cupcake Royale are firm believers that art is a real good thing for every community. Whether you grew up in a house decked out in obscure Picasso originals, or just some super sweet doodles on the fridge. It's all cool. Whether you like to be standin' and starin' and contemplatin' a piece for hours, or you prefer to give her a good once over, note the pretty colors, and move on, you should come to the Henry this Friday for their Open House party with art, food, booze, and yes, cupcakes!

Here are some things to entice you:

• Open bar and wine bar

• Music and projections by Leeni

• Food by Lark

• Honey Peanut Brittle babycakes...from Cupcake Royale

*** And...The Brink award will be announced at 8PM. The Brink is new to the Henry under director Sylvia Wolf. It will be awarded every year to an up-and-coming artist of Washington, British Columbia, or Portland, and comes with a $12,500 solo exhibition and an acquisition of work. We like the sounds of that.

BONUS! First person to email art@cupcakeroyale.com with the name of a famous "Art" gets a free admit-two pass to the party. That means a person of celebrity status named Art, and no Garfunkels. That's too easy.

All the galleries are open.

Member and Patron Preview: 6-7:30PM
General Admission: 7:30-10PM

$10 / $8 Students and Seniors / FREE to Henry Members

UPDATE: We have our winner! Congratulations Kirsten Terry. And she could not have answered more hilariously:

Art Bell! Host of creepy conspiracy radio show Art Bell Coast to Coast.

UPDATE #2: Daily Candy agrees, this party is where it's at for the weekend! Click HERE to read their blurb on it...complete with a mention of our sweet, sweet cakes.

Did you or someone you know recently get married IN our Ballard café?

Someone did, and we sure would love to find out who it was. A couple of our baristas just reported that a few weeks ago, a group of people came in together, bought cupcakes together, and sat down together...for a little wedding ceremony right here in the café!

If that isn't cupcake LOVE, we don't know what is, and it surely deserves a wedding present from Cupcake Royale.

So, if it was you, or someone you know, let us know! Our staff was so beside themselves with emotion, (they get that way at weddings,) that they forgot to ask the bride and groom their names.

And you thought it was a hairdryer

It sure isn't. This is the Vérité, the truth, the good word, and it's embodied by a Super-8 film camera. Inspired by cinema vérité, a French style of documentary filmmaking from the 60s, we chose this as our logo, because who doesn't like the truth? Well, some people don't. Fascist dictators, cult leaders, career criminals, Fox News.

We love the truth, and we love supporting people who are working hard to get it out there. That's why we're producing Sweet Crude, a documentary on the truth about oil production in the Niger Delta. If you don't already know about Sweet Crude, click here to visit their website, then go to their RASIE IT fundrasier this Wednesday at the Triple Door.

RAISE IT!
Your glass. Your voice. Your awareness.
Cold, hard cash.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
6 pm and 9 pm
The Triple Door
216 Union Street. Seattle, WA

Tickets $30...or $1,000. It's a donation to the film, so you decide!
Click here for tickets, or call 206.838.4333

Keep readin'...



Turns out, the Nigerian military police are not so much in love with the truth. Last spring, the film crew returned to the Niger Delta to finish shooting Sweet Crude. They had a line-up of interviews scheduled that included high-ranking government officials as well as the leader of the new militant group in the area. On this most recent trip to the Delta, director Sandy Cioffi and the crew were detained by the military police. They were held in custody for one week without charges brought against them, and their footage was confiscated.

Under watch of semi-automatic weapons in the back of a military truck, the crew endured an 8 hour trip to their cells with a little help from an iPod. Huddled together in the dark, they compiled a playlist that gave them hope and comfort while friends and family back home worked hard for their release. This Wednesday, a group of local musicians along with national acts such as Erin McKeown will perform these songs live at the Triple Door to raise the funds to complete the film.

Be there. Do it for this guy.

We're in The Knot Best of Weddings 2009 Issue!

We do a real nice wedding here at Cupcake Royale, and the brides and grooms and their friends and family who used the Knot to plan their weddings agree! We were chosen for the second year in a row as a Best of Weddings Pick.

To see more lovely photos like the one above, and to learn more about Royale weddings, go here.

HONK: A tale of two neighborhoods

Tonight, two Cupcake Royale neighborhoods will be joined as one in a celebration of music, dancing, and general good-natured raucousness. Honk Fest West will be taking over venues around Ballard tonight for their second annual Seattle celebration of street music.

Street music? Oh, like when my roommate takes his guitar down to Pike Place Market on Saturdays and plays for tips?

No. Your roommate is a busker. This is totally different. But we understand the confusion.

The story of street bands is rich and rowdy. Representing musical genres ranging from European Klezmer to Brazillian Afro Bloc, Honk Fest brings together Seattle groups who shall band together (zzzing!) in the name of booty shakin' community fun times. Whether honking in the name of an ideal, an event, or just to get the people movin' and motivated, these bands promise, a the very least, a damn good time.

And just in case this didn't already sound like the most best thing ever (wait for it...the title of this post is almost about to make sense...), the Garfield High School Bulldog Drumline is in Ballard tonight as part of the fun. As neighbors to our Madrona café, we Ballard cupcakers could not be more excited to see our two 'hoods become one in the name of musical rabble-rousing.

Honk Fest will be in Georgetown tomorrow night, with a grand finale at the Vera Project (also awesome) on Sunday. For details on participating bands, schedule, etc. click here.

Lady Love

It has been brought to our attention that not everybody knows the song Lady Love by Lou Rawls. So, until we get that satellite in orbit, here you go.

Bringin' the Goodness: Countdown to 1111

Yesterday, some of us took a little walk-through of our new space on Capitol Hill, and we'd like to recreate that for you now. For those of you who haven't heard, we're opening a café and bakery at 1111 E Pike Street this summer. Seeing as we just took over this brand spankin' new space, this tour will require the use of your imagination.


So here's the exterior of good ol' 1111 E Pike. As you can see, not a lot going on. You got your brown paper, blue painter's tape. You can, if you look closely, see our across-the-street-neighbors the Satellite and Post Options reflected in our windows. That's right, you can get a cocktail, a cupcake, and have it all witnessed by a notary public.



Turns out, the first thing you wanna do when building a sweet new cupcake café is label the pipes. If you get those confused, you're in big trouble.



And there she is, our Glorious Leader. This shot was actually taken at 10 pm. She just always exudes a persimmon-hued glow. We're about to launch a satellite into space that will circle Seattle playing songs of praise in her honor. Track 1: Lady Love by Lou Rawls



And this is where the magic will happen. Once we move that ladder, this will be our bakery!



Sophisticated construction talk. It's pretty complicated. You wouldn't understand.



Here's the imagination part:

Imagine that crate is not really a crate. It's a bunch of tables filled with happy people.

Over at the community table (that's the big long one to your right), you got a group of community-minded folks talkin' shop about public school funding. Fact: Cupcake Royale is totally in love with public school.

Oh look - over there! (to your left) Someone just turned 3. Adorable! This will be a good year for him.

What's that in the corner? A first date? Yes. It surely is. We predict a second.

Get ready people. We are bringin' the goodness to Capitol Hill.

Another local arts Twofer!

Chaos Sauce | Darin Shuler

This time it's the work of our very own Darin Shuler paired with the local non-profit stylings of Richard Hugo House. Darin's show is up at ZAPP through May 31st with receptions on April 9th and May 14th from 5-8pm.

What is ZAPP, you say?

Well, ZAPP is the Zine Archive And Publishing Project at the Hugo House. Aimed at both exposing the Seattle community to literary works of the lesser known variety as well as fostering the freedom of expression that is sure to flourish when DIY publishing opportunities are readily available, it's one of the largest collections of its kind in the whole wide world.

To learn more about ZAPP, along with all the other awesomely bookish offerings of Richard Hugo House, visit their website .

And to see more of Darin's work, visit his.

UPDATE: The April 9th reception has been cancelled.

Spring Fever. We got it.

Age ain't nuthin' but a number

And there is no age limit on Cupcake LOVE. We caught this little cutie baby in Ballard yesterday, rockin' our super sweet cupcake duds on his little noggin'.

ARTcakes wrap-up

As promised, here are the deets on the artists showing in Madrona and Ballard this month.

Madrona
Manya Fox
National Parks
Photographs (C-prints)
In Manya's Words...This group of photographs explores ideas about nature and the West and how we as American's interact with our natural spaces.




Ballard
ArtWalk | Saturday 11 APR | 6-9 in the pm
The Infrared Lament: black and white infrared photos of people
Black and white infrared photographs
In the artists Mr. Shiflet's words...This collection is a small sample of my love for black and white infrared film and the lament that it is no longer made.



Also, if you click HERE, you can see photos of our Ballard artist...dressed as a tiger.

Rarr.

Local arts Twofer!

We sure love the Northwest Film Forum, and we're really looking forward to being neighbors when we open our Capitol Hill café on 1111 E Pike this summer. And right about now, we just couldn't be more excited about their spring gala, because this year it's being produced by Implied Violence.

In case you haven't heard of Implied Violence, they are the winners of The Stranger's 2008 Genius Award for Arts Organization. Founding member and Managing Director Mandie O'Connell can also be seen pulling shots and frosting cupcakes in our Madrona café. Small world, eh?

So, in attending this year's spring gala, you get the Local Arts Twofer! we promised you in the title of this post. Support the Northwest Film Forum's upcoming year of amazing film programming - films you will not likely be lucky enough to see anywhere else - and expose yourself to the work of local theatre group Implied Violence.

Also, there will be cupcakes in the Dessert Dash, so get your biddin' chops ready.

Unbridled Stimulus Package

An evening of dinner, bidding opportunities, performance, games, and froth to benefit Northwest Film Forum

Produced by Implied Violence

Saturday, April 18
China Harbor
2040 Westlake Avenue North
6:00 P.M.
By reservation only
Seating is limited

For more details, and to buy your tickets, go here:
http://www.nwfilmforum.org/party

ARTcakes: Dan Conner lays the smack down on reality TV

Before there was Reality TV, there were real TV characters. Characters, you say? You mean like celebrities who wanna lose weight? Or some beautiful well-to-do young people whose personal lives we cannot go one minute without hearing about?

No.

char·ac·ter - the personality or part which an actor recreates

Thanks Merriam-Webster, for clearing that up. And thanks Gretchen McAllister for hanging your super sweet art show in our West Seattle café entitled, Men I Love. Gretchen, (who just so happens to have a day job in our Ballard café putting smiles on the faces of all who are lucky enough to get their morning cup from her,) has created a body of work here that harkens back to a day when there were actors on TV playing roles that were meant to actually connect with viewers in some way, shape, or form.

Whether it was Dan Conner working yet another dry wall job to pay the small town Illinois bills during the recession of the early nineties, or Lloyd Dobler exchanging his heart for Diane Court's pen (ouch), these fine men were keepin' it real.

Ok, that last one was a movie, but you get the idea.

The show is up through the end of the month, and West Seattle ArtWalk is Thursday, April 9th from 6-9 pm. Resist the temptation to stay home and watch Make me a Supermodel, and get on out and look at some art!