Sparkly cupcake distractions and a slipper
Today I went into town with the best of intentions. I had uploaded Kat Book 2 (known in the UK as A Tangle of Magicks and in the US as...TBA as soon as I know it!) onto the Kindle. I was going to re-read through it, on the way to doing Serious, Important Rewriting Work. (I'd spent the morning re-reading issues of the New Bath Guide from 1798, 1799, and so forth, in preparation, as well as staring hopefully at the EXTREMELY BLURRY map I found a few weeks ago showing the layout of the Bath baths in the 1780s.)
I was definitely there to work. And work was all I was about as I looked for somewhere to sit down with the Kindle. I'd stopped at Oxfam first to pick up holiday cards, so I was on the wrong side of town for my usual coffeeshop, but I knew there was a café right by here...
Oh. OH. I had forgotten - because I'd never been inside - what kind of a café this was. This was a cake shop that just happened to also serve coffee.
It probably wouldn't be a good spot to write, I told myself, even as I stepped inside. But since it was right here, only one door away from Oxfam, I might as well just take a look before moving on. It might still be...
OH MY GOD. Suddenly, I was having to try to hide my drool.
Seriously, I have never seen such beautiful cupcakes in my life. They weren't just delicious-looking (although they were definitely that!); they were actually works of art, their perfect chocolate icing sparkling with edible glitter and snowflakes and literally taking my breath away as my feet planted themselves on the ground and refused to move.
My Kindle sat waiting in my shoulder bag. My principles and my common sense were telling me that this was NOT the place to go to get Serious Work Accomplished.
They never stood a chance. I ordered a cupcake and a decaf latte. I waited in a chair by the window, with simmering anticipation, as the café's owner brought them over to me on a beautiful china plate and in an Italian cup, respectively.
The cupcake glittered up at me, festive and fun and playful. I suddenly really, really wished that I had thought to bring my camera along, so that I could have taken a picture to preserve it. I felt almost guilty breaking into its perfection.
I ate it anyway.
I can't claim that I got a lot of work done in that café. It's the kind of small, warm, friendly café where everyone spends the whole time chatting with the people at the neighboring tables, even if they're all perfect strangers. But it was fun. And ohhhh, it was worth it. (But I still wish I'd brought my camera!)
I wish I could offer every single one of you guys your own perfect cupcake today, to distract you from everything serious and difficult you should be doing (but would rather not). Since I can't, I'll just direct you over to the December Lights Project, where we just put up a new story, Sherwood Smith's "The Glass Slipper". It's all about finding magic even when you least expect it. And sometimes, that's exactly what we need.
I was definitely there to work. And work was all I was about as I looked for somewhere to sit down with the Kindle. I'd stopped at Oxfam first to pick up holiday cards, so I was on the wrong side of town for my usual coffeeshop, but I knew there was a café right by here...
Oh. OH. I had forgotten - because I'd never been inside - what kind of a café this was. This was a cake shop that just happened to also serve coffee.
It probably wouldn't be a good spot to write, I told myself, even as I stepped inside. But since it was right here, only one door away from Oxfam, I might as well just take a look before moving on. It might still be...
OH MY GOD. Suddenly, I was having to try to hide my drool.
Seriously, I have never seen such beautiful cupcakes in my life. They weren't just delicious-looking (although they were definitely that!); they were actually works of art, their perfect chocolate icing sparkling with edible glitter and snowflakes and literally taking my breath away as my feet planted themselves on the ground and refused to move.
My Kindle sat waiting in my shoulder bag. My principles and my common sense were telling me that this was NOT the place to go to get Serious Work Accomplished.
They never stood a chance. I ordered a cupcake and a decaf latte. I waited in a chair by the window, with simmering anticipation, as the café's owner brought them over to me on a beautiful china plate and in an Italian cup, respectively.
The cupcake glittered up at me, festive and fun and playful. I suddenly really, really wished that I had thought to bring my camera along, so that I could have taken a picture to preserve it. I felt almost guilty breaking into its perfection.
I ate it anyway.
I can't claim that I got a lot of work done in that café. It's the kind of small, warm, friendly café where everyone spends the whole time chatting with the people at the neighboring tables, even if they're all perfect strangers. But it was fun. And ohhhh, it was worth it. (But I still wish I'd brought my camera!)
I wish I could offer every single one of you guys your own perfect cupcake today, to distract you from everything serious and difficult you should be doing (but would rather not). Since I can't, I'll just direct you over to the December Lights Project, where we just put up a new story, Sherwood Smith's "The Glass Slipper". It's all about finding magic even when you least expect it. And sometimes, that's exactly what we need.