Febraury was an awesome month for many reasons.  One of them just happened to be making a trip to this amazing establishment known as The Meatloaf Bakery.

One of my friends tipped me off to this on twitter, and I can’t remember who, but seriously… THANK YOU.  This place is amazing!

What you should know: This isn’t a normal bakery.  Oh no.  What they serve is the amazingly awesome meaty goodness that is gourmet meatloafs in cake (and cupcake) form.

Jaron and I walked over after a day at the zoo.  It was maybe 30 minutes before close, but everyone there was still amazingly nice and they weren’t rushing us one bit.  Jaron got to try out a sample and ended up getting their newest loaf, Chili Chili Bang Bang.  I, however, went for the No Buns About It cupcake, pictured above.  It’s all the gloriousness of a hamburger (bacon and pickles included) mashed up into a meaty explosion of amazingness.  Topped off with cheesy mashed potatoes.  Oh.  Yeah.  And it comes with special sauce.

Let me just say, since having this meaty goodness, I am craving it!  SO GOOD.  I definitely cannot wait to go back.  And I’m super excited to see that I’m within their delivery zone.  You must try this out if you get the chance!

Now, before you get all “But you said that Molly’s couldn’t count!”… well, that’s true, I did say that.  But here’s why I decided it’s okay: I have actually never been to Molly’s.  I had 1 cupcake at 1 even.  (Plus, I did some other awesome cupcake things that month.)

So. Molly’s Cupcakes.  It was busy, but it was also a Sunday afternoon.  So Jaron and I waited in line and got our treats to go.  Which, well, I did want to sit at one of the swings at the bar, but they were all full and the girls sitting there didn’t look like they’d get up for anything (well, had RPattz walked in, maybe)…

So I ended up getting the Tiramisu, however, I didn’t eat it that night.  So it slept in the fridge for a night, which may have changed the texture of the cake.  The coffee-soaked cake was very moist.  Like, near dripping.  It had a cream filling as well, which didn’t help the moisture situation.  The frosting was great.  It was nice and light.  Very smooth.  The cake, however, was just a bit too strong.  The coffee was a bit too much.  It wasn’t terrible, but it was very wet and heavy.

I’d definitely be willing to try Molly’s again, but I’m not so sure about the tiramisu. (Or at least I won’t get it unless I know I’m going to eat it right after purchasing it.)

For the my very first, official cupcake of 2010: Year of the Cupcake, I headed down to a one-of-a-kind bakery… Bleeding Heart Bakery.

The first time I heard about this place was actually on television — Food Network Challenge.  Yep.  These people rock the extreme and awesome cakes.  So I knew this would be a great first choice to start the year of yummy-goodness off right.

The self-described punk rock bakery is bright.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  The walls are bright, the tables are bright, the plates (from ikea, the same ones my sisters have!) are bright, and holy-wow they have they brightest and best colored icing & fondant I have ever seen.  Seriously, their case alone had be very impressed.

Now, I decided to go for the Vegan Mint Chocolate.  Visually, as you can see, it’s awesome.  Great bright green.  The cake was dense, only slightly heavy, and only the teeny-tiniest bit dry.  But it had a good chocolate flavor.  Being vegan, it didn’t taste like a traditional chocolate cake, but it wasn’t so far off that any chocolate lover wouldn’t still enjoy it.  The icing had a good mint flavor, not too overwhelming, and balanced off the chocolate well.  It was smooth and complimented the actual cake.  While it didn’t start off too sweet, it did get a bit too sweet at the end (but well, I that could just be my taste).

Overall the Vegan Mint Chocolate cupcake was really good!  I’ll definitely be back to try more cupcakes (maybe the fluffnutter or chocolate orange — or whatever they have for the day!)… and I definitely want to try their cake balls!

you want towel?  …  you want mint for pillow?

Okay, for the first time in a while, this actually feels like a Monday.  And well, as the start of the week, I feel like I need to do some organizing and thought gathering and just some general housekeeping.  (and please tell me you get the reference above.)

• 2010: Year of the Cupcake – I’ve been slacking at starting this.  Which, yes, is totally lame because, hi.. CUPCAKES.  I have indeed consumed my first (second, third, and fourth) cupcakes for the year.  However, I’m not counting them for YotC.  I do however have a great bakery picked out for my first trip and am very excited about visiting them this week.
• Some personal news – I don’t want to talk about work too much, but I had to share this… I got a promotion!  I know I just got this job, but I’ve already been promoted to Assistant Manager.  Feel free to congratulate me with cookies, cupcakes, drinks, or meals.
• Triple-A – still going steadily…  We also have a facebook group now that you can join (this is just a way for us to sort of be able to see all the members at once.)  I’m going to continue working with Lovely about maybe a giveaway… and I’d like to work with 20sb on some projects too.
• BOYS. – okay this is the update that you all (*cough*cmigs*cough*) want.  I am going to be working on The List post(s?) during my days off this week.  (When I’m not finishing freelance work.)  I know you’re all dying to know about the Macedonian (*cough*cmigs*cough*)… However, while, yes, I still talk to him some, there’s someone else.  I’ve been reconnecting with someone from my past (from college, not a previous hookup or relationship or anything).  Well, let’s just say it’s been the highlight of a lot of things (weeks, days.. yeah..) .. And I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where this could go — however, he’s not in Chicago… so…
• Grad school – I know I talked about living your dreams… and wanting to apply to the MA in Zoology… but with the promotion, I’ve been going back and forth about whether I should apply for this year.  Classes would start in the summer.  I might see if there’s any conservation or environmental education courses I can take online this year…  I need to find a way to work full time and still get this degree.

Anyway… said guy from above is IMing me… and I have an email from him that’s burning a hole in my inbox (MUST READ NOOOOWWWW!)… so…. sorry… BOY.

I don’t generally make New Years resolutions.  Again, I’m going to pull the Quaker card and point out that choosing New Years to make a resolution is dumb (for me) because it’s just another day.  But yeah, digression.

For 2010, I plan on making this my Year of the Cupcake.  Each month I must get to at least one new bakery an try at least one of their cupcakes.  I’d like to get to more than just 12 for the year, but I’m starting out with something that is definitely manageable.  If I can get to more than one a month, awesome — but it still only counts for that month.  Cupcakes don’t rollover.

And of course, to help keep me accountable, I’m going to blog about it.  I even plan on making a little badge for myself too.  It’s all a part of my plan to be Chicago’s Cupcake Expert.

So while most of you are making resolutions to be more active, more productive, healthier… I’ll be sitting back taste-testing the sweet joy that is a cupcake.  Because that’s how I do resolutions.

Happy New Year everyone.