Sweetest Thing

Last week I had an opportunity to finally swing by Sweetest Thing, a little cupcake shop in my hometown of Newberg. I'd been wanting to stop since my lovely sister-in-law mentioned it. In passing no less, like "Hey, Newberg's got a cupcake shop. Have you seen Nancy Grace?" And thank Zeus I did because this shop is easily on par with Saint Cupcake and blows Cupcake Jones out of the water. I know. I know. Many of you may be C. J. fans, and I would agree that they make beautiful looking cupcakes but the taste? Oy vey. The cakes are like bricks and the frosting is far too subtle for my taste. Amp up the sugar a bit, bakers, it's a CUPCAKE.

Bean and I shared a cupcake - he's no delicate flower when it comes to consuming cupcakes, let me tell you! - at the shop before heading back to Portland. His choice, the Blondie, a traditional vanilla cake with smooth and light vanilla buttercream. It sported super cute pastel colored sugar crystals sprinkled on top. How refreshingly spring! And in the box to go home, one Lady in Red (Southern red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting - serious yum), one Happy Day (chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream - yes, please!), and one Margarita (refreshing lime cake topped with tequila and lime buttercream, rock salt, lime twist and straw - I loves me some lime). I enjoyed my halves thoroughly, Darr was like, "Meh." He probably would have been more impressed if they had produced an Old Fashioned drink-inspired cupcake. Margarita, puh-lease.

Current cupcake rankings*:

First place: Cupcakes (Vancouver, B.C.)

Second place: Sweetest Thing (Newberg)

Second place: Saint Cupcake (Portland)

Fourth place: Cupcake Jones (Portland)

*Cupcake rankings include cupcake shops I've been to but do not include cake shops that produce cupcakes. Would it really be fair to the cupcake folks to add Piece of Cake to the competition? No. Because Marilyn's cupcakes are like dense little miniature cakes of happiness and all things good in this world topped with cream cheese frosting. It also does not include Ida's Cupcakes because, alas, I was not able to go away for the weekend like these other ladies I know.

PDX Food Cart Review: Garden State

Meatball hero, 'nuff said. Garden State was the latest in our food cart tour of the Portland metro area. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a sandwich person. I mean, yeah, I pretty much lived on peanut butter and sandwiches growing up but anything other than that, excluding grilled cheese, was not on the menu of acceptable foods I would eat. Many years later we found ourselves at Garden State. Take a nice crusty piece of buttery bread, fill it with Highland Oak beef, mozzarella, and marinara, and you've got the sandwich of the century. While Henry did not partake of the food this trip, he previously enjoyed the hero and the arancine (risotto rice balls seasoned with saffron and stuffed with cheese dipped in breadcrumbs and fried). Pros include the great tasting food. That we couldn't easily walk with the food to a park would have been a con if there hadn't been plenty of available seating. The only real downer is that the cart doesn't open until 11:30 a.m., which meant Henry was rapidly approaching the near nap meltdown by the time we got our food. There isn't footage of Henry not eating but there is a little video of the kids playing at the park before we hit the cart for lunch. Henry "Danger" Gilroy can be seen not once but twice(!) nearly falling off the big red slide at the Sellwood Park. A slide that he has been hesitant to attempt on his own until he saw his lil' friend, Tevia, shoot down it like a professional slide rider.

Garden State from Christie Glynn on Vimeo.

Photo test results: And the winner is...

Pro Photo (my pick) and ScrapbookPictures.com (Darr's pick).

How we decided:
Because I'm impatient and want to get my pictures ordered, I did an initial review after the first four sets of prints were received. Costco and Shutterfly did not make it past this round. Costco photos were too dark and the finish, they have a non-glossy option called "lustre", was still too shiny for my liking. Shutterfly photos had a very aggressive orange tint and showed every flaw. (This may be a sharpness issue, I'm not sure, but the result is I didn't like the photos.)

The Pro Photo and Creative Memories sets moved to the second round and were compared with the ScrapbookPictures.com and Snapfish sets once they were received. In a blind test, the photos were randomly laid out on the table, we recorded our favorites separately, and then calculated the results. I did not like the matte finish on the Snapfish photos so that set immediately moved into last place. Admittedly, there were a few of the Pro Photo photos that were a touch on the bright side but that didn't bother me as much as it did Darr, who always selected the darker photos when presented with the option. When all was said and done, Darr had selected seven of the ScrapbookPictures.com photos and I had selected seven of the Pro Photo photos. The remaining photo favorites were a combination of the other sets. Ranking for us is as follows:

1st place: Pro Photo Supply and ScrapbookPictures.com
3rd place: Creative Memories
4th place: Snapfish and Shutterfly
6th place: Costco

So, where will we go? Pro Photo Supply, silly. Yeah, it costs me an additional $0.05 per photo but I've got a history with PPS - they developed our wedding pictures. And I know if I'm unhappy with a photo, they'll redo it for me. Plus, it's printed on Kodak paper and has, I think, the best matte finish out there. Well, maybe not in the world but definitely the best matte finish of the six sets I reviewed.

Photo test progress

Photos ordered from:
Pro Photo Supply
Costco
Snapfish
Shutterfly
Creative Memories
ScrapbookPictures.com

We received four of the six photo sets back last week so tonight I forced Darr to do side-by-side comparisons to see which set had the greatest number of pictures developed to our liking. As expected, he preferred one set and I preferred another. Here's the current ranking with some specific notes for each set:

Pro Photo Supply (tied for first)
Printed on: Kodak Royal Digital Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.19 (sale price)
Web URL: www.prophotosupply.com
Notes: This is my favorite so far. PROS - 1) Most true-to-life colors; 2) Processing method hid scratches and flaws, particularly on close-up face shots of Henry; 3) Best matte finish;
4) Details not lost in shadows; 5) Supports local business. CONS - 1) Too bright; 2) Processing method caused some detail to be lost when flash used; 3) Length of time to upload pictures to site when ordering.

Creative Memories (tied for first)
Printed on: Konica Minolta paper
Size: Standard 4x6 or 4xD option (4xD is the industry term for a print that is 4x5.33 inches)
Cost: $0.19
Web URL: www.cmphotocenter.com
Notes: This is Darren's favorite so far. PROS - 1) Bright colors; 2) Great details, showing some flaws; 3) Photos taken with flash not washed-out. CONS - 1) Hard to navigate site and place order; 2) Some photos too dark, particularly on pics with shadows; 3) Not true-to-life colors.

Shutterfly (third place)
Printed on: Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.12
Web URL: www.shutterfly.com
Notes: PROS - 1) Bright colors; 2) Photos taken with flash not washed-out; 3) Price. CONS - 1) Orange tint; 2) Showed all flaws.

Costco (fourth place)
Printed on: Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.17
Web URL: www.costco.com
Notes: PROS - 1) Photos taken with flash not washed-out; 2) 1-hour processing and local pick up. CONS - 1) Too dark; 2) Slightly orange tint; 3) Lustre finish (the non-glossy option) is too shiny.

UPDATE: I'm posting scanned photos per B.E.'s suggestion. Just know that my scanning abilities are NOT GOOD.

The following shows the variances in light and dark from the four photo developers I've received pictures back from so far:
The next two photo comparisons are from Pro Photo Supply and Creative Memories, both tied for first. In the first example, note the shadows (and try to ignore any weird lines/grooves that are present as a result of my bad scanning):
And next, the lighter photo has colors more true-to-life than the slightly darker almost-orange tinted photo.

It must be the socks

While there was no stated resolution made on New Year's day, I have made my lukewarm return to the treadmill. (Lukewarm seemed more fitting than triumphant given that I'm currently only running three days a week.) And while I did get new shoes and new shirts to further convince me I enjoyed running, I think it is the new socks that are really making a difference. Seriously. I love these things, with their anatomical left- and right-specific designs that offer "superior fit" and the "unique footstrike cushioning system" that "incorporates running-specific pressure maps" that provide my feet with all the comfort needed to keep on trucking.

Bugaboo vs. Oregon weather

I spy a Henry in a Bugaboo.

Traipsing through the urban jungle.

The stroller made mincemeat of the abundant fallen leaves.

And easily forded the fjord.

Beaut in her role as Wingdog.