Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Tasty Tussles and the Old Cupcake Hustle: Of Prints and Princesses


Publish or perish.  Also, high school never ends.  These maxims came to mind as I read Jenn McKinlay's Going, Going, Ganache and Dying for Devil's Food.  Even if Going, Going, Ganache isn't about academia but a struggling magazine.  

After turning a photoshoot into a food fight, Mel and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes crew are sentenced to run a baking boot camp for the Southwest Style staffers.  But things really go south when one of the reporters is murdered.  As a writer who exposed Arizona's elite, the guy had a lot of enemies.  So it's up to Mel to find out which one silenced him for good.  


In Dying for Devil's Food, Mel is guilted into catering her fifteenth high school reunion despite being bullied as an overweight teen.  True to form, some of the popular kids, including the class mean queen, sling backhanded compliments about her now-svelte figure.  But the real trouble starts when said queen goes to powder her nose -- and never returns.  A poisoned cocktail points to murder -- and a lipstick-scrawled message makes Mel the prime suspect.

So there you have it in a pastry shell.  Copy and cattiness kill.

That said, the real crime would be if Fairy Tale Cupcakes used pastry shells.

Monday, February 3, 2025

YOLO for Bolo: Not My First Romance Rodeo

Skirt: So, Kohl's

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Scrunchies: Amazon

Boots: Betsey Johnson, Zulily

Top: Madden Girl, Macy's

Skirt: Tinseltown, Macy's

Bag: Sugar Thrillz, Dolls Kill

Bow: Wild Fable, Target

Red boots: Wild Fable, Target

Top: ELLE, Kohl's

Boots: Wild Pair, Macy's

Hair clip: Wild Fable, Target


Bag: Macy's Backstage

Not too long ago, I thought, you know what I need?  A bright bolo.  Or, as I used to refer to them in the '90s, lariats.  So I searched Etsy and discovered some cool shops.  One of them, Fat Cat Fancy, had heart bolos in all sorts of colors.  I knew I wanted one but had trouble choosing.  So I got two, a yellow heart and a red and pink heart cameo.  Once they arrived, I immediately styled western-themed outfits around them.  Denim?  Check.  Cowboy boots?  Check.  Attitude?  Check.  If by attitude I mean goofy dress-up energy, which I of course do.         

To round things out, I added a third fit featuring my own valentine necklace.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: Valentine's Day is my fave fashion holiday.  So this is the first of many hearts-and-flowers  posts.  

Let's see how many I can cram in before Presidents' Day.