My mom (in the white shirt) emigrated from Japan 30+ years ago, so whenever we go back, I get to see my mom in a whole new light.

Example: I was going through some old pictures at my grandparents’ house and found pictures of my mom in junior high. WHAT? My mom was 13 once in her lifetime?

My mom and her older sister (in the green shirt) don’t get together often, but when they do, they reminisce about their parents, catching fireflies in the Japanese countryside, helping their mom “ton-ton” the futons, and yes, even walking uphill both ways to school (which, for the record, was way farther than any school to which my dad ever had to walk uphill both ways.)

Despite living in tech-advanced Japan, my relatives over there don’t really hang out online, so they probably won’t see this blog post. But if they do, Aunt Hiromi, you make the BEST shabu-shabu I’ve ever had, and I can’t wait to go back and enjoy some of your fresh sushi. Nom!

Thanks to everyone who showed their north/southside loyalty! We’re pleased to announce the official winners of our Cubs and Sox Quippie Challenges:

Cubs fans are sweet!
- Tara H., Chicago

Sox fans are a black tie kinda fan!
- Alexis J., Naperville

E-mail hey@foiledcupcakes.com to claim your free dozen!

Congratulations to Tiffany, our 2012 Admin Contest Winner (with over 50 votes!)

Tiffany and her office will receive a dozen Foiled Cupcakes every month until next year, when we run our Admin Contest for 2013.

Thank you to all who participated and for celebrating Administrative Professionals Week with Foiled Cupcakes!

Introducing . . .

Lightly Frosted Favorites!

Our newest line of gift cupcakes, the Lightly Frosted Foiled assortment takes our best selling cupcakes and gives them to you with more cake and a little less buttercream.

Q: Is the overall size of the cupcake different?
A: No. The whole cupcake size will remain the same. The ratio of cake to frosting will be different.

Q: How much different will the ratio be?
A: We estimate that our standard line of Favorites (Chocolate Favorites, Seasonal Favorites, Classic Favorites) have around 65% cake, 35% frosting. Our Lightly Frosted Favorites will have about 80% cake, 20% frosting.

Q: Is this healthier for me?
A: We make no health claims.

Q: Who wants less frosting? That sounds craaaazy!
A: We posted this idea on our Facebook fan page and got over 200 responses via e-mail requesting this assortment. The masses speak for themselves!

Q: How much notice do you need if I want the Lightly Frosted Favorites assortment?
A: As with all of our Favorites assortments, order by 5 p.m. the day before you need the cupcakes, and we’ll deliver the next morning.

Q: Will they cost the same?
A: Yes.

Q: Can I mix and match?
A: At this time, the assortment is preset (6 flavors, 2 of each). We may offer a mix and match option in the future.

Q: How do I order?
A: Use our order form! The Lightly Frosted Favorites can be selected on Step 3 (Pick Your Cupcakes).

Any other questions, just let us know. Thank you for your suggestions and for your continued support of our shiny happy goodness! We certainly appreciate you!

Here they are! Your top 3 Admin Haikus. Vote for your favorite in comments and the winner will receive a year’s worth of cupcakes (a dozen a month) - on us!

—-
TIFFANY
Tiffany works all night
But if she had time for sleep
She’d dream of cupcakes
- Submission by Gaby G.

—-
DOROTHY
You rock the front desk.
Like frosting on a cupcake,
The best is seen first!
- Submission by Tricia M.

—-
EMILY
You hold my scared hand
Be not afraid of printing
Double-sided joy
- Submission by Joe W.

Please vote below for Tiffany, Dorothy or Emily. The admin with the most votes by Friday, April 27th at 11:59 p.m. wins. Good luck!

It’s April, and you know what that means: Administrative Professionals Day.

As always, we’re offering a super special My Admin Rocks! assortment of cupcakes, which you should order here before we run out.

You can also win a year’s worth of cupcakes for FREE for your office.

Here’s how:
1 - Write a haiku poem (5-7-5, remember?) about your admin and why he or she is the best.
2 - Email your haiku to hey@foiledcupcakes.com by Tuesday, April 24th at 11:59 p.m.
3 - Check our blog on Wednesday, April 25th to see the top 3 poems that our team has chosen as finalists.
4 - Vote on our blog for your favorite haiku no later than Friday, April 27th at 11:59 p.m.

The winner will receive a year’s worth of cupcakes (a dozen cupcakes every month for a year!) - over $580 value!

Write your poem now
Tell us why your Admin rocks
Cupcakes for a year!

(Yeah, see what we did there? )

We’ve scoured the internet high and low, and found these awesome modern easter egg decorating ideas.

Yep, that’s right - pull out your Sharpie, 80s neon food coloring, puffy paint, and yarn/mod podge - you’ll be able to revive these trusty craft room regulars to make these beauties.

Check out our Easter Best bundle, which includes a dozen Easter cupcakes, Easter themed Quippies, and a bonus pack of our hand-crafted bird nest cupcakes - all for $38.00, including free delivery (regularly $88 for the bundle). Just order by Thursday, April 5th to take advantage of the special offer.

Have fun gettin’ crafty!

If you are a Words with Friends addict like we are, you’ll want to get in on this.

Invite us to play a game of Words with Friends with you. If we accept (we can only manage 5 at a time, so thanks for being patient!) and you beat us, you’ll win a box of our NEW Seasonal Favorites, available 4/1:

Cinco de Chile (Mexican chocolate chile, anyone?)
Cheerful Churro (Vanilla cake, dulce de leche, and fried churro topping)
Matcha Back Atcha (Matcha green tea cake, cream cheese frosting)
Lemonade Stand (Lemon-filled vanilla cake and candied lemon peel)
Baby Carrot Cake (supermoist carrot cake and cream cheese frosting)
Swizzle (a spring favorite: strawberry-filled vanilla cake with a strawberry-basil frosting)

Invite us to play. Our user name is CupcakeChicago. Let’s get our WWF on!

We’re a couple of weeks behind, but let’s get going with the winners from 3/12, 3/5 and 2/27:

Mom, you mean more to me than a Chicago Cubs World Series!

- Andrew O., 3/12

Rolllllll Tide Roll!

- Laura J., 3/5

Passover another cupcake (Matzel Toff edition)

- Jessica R., 2/27

Winners, e-mail hey at foiledcupcakes dot com to claim your free dozen!

Thanks to everyone for playing!

I remember in 2009 when I filled out my first NCAA Tournament bracket. Everyone told me my picks sucked.

Everyone then ate their words as I beat the President (yes, his bracket is public) and continued onto beating 99.7% of the rest of the country.

2010 rolled around, and I thought to myself, “There’s no way I could do that again.”

Results: I finished on ESPN Chicago’s top 10 (I was lucky #7 out of over 100,000 entries) AND I won a Wow Bao party for 10.

2011 was an off year for everyone (thanks a lot, VCU) and only 2 people out of 5.9 million got the Final Four correct. It was an amazing year of upsets, Cinderella stories, and passionate, passionate basketball. And the year I realized I now know too much about college basketball to make golden ticket bracket picks.

The point?

If you know nothing about basketball, it is quite possibly a major advantage. You aren’t tainted by “expert analysis” or historical favorites. You can choose based on school colors, mascots, the average weight of the starting lineup, or if their arena faces East.

Hey, it’s worth a shot. And we have 10 dozen cupcakes to give away to the person who has the closest-to-perfect bracket. If we get 125 people in the Foiled Cupcakes pool, we’ll even give a consolation prize of 5 dozen cupcakes to the loser.

So what are you waiting for? If you’ve never done one before, now’s your chance. Show us how ignorance is bliss… particularly in the unpredictable world of Men’s College Basketball.

1 - Go here: http://foiledcupcakes.mayhem.cbssports.com/e
2 - Set up a CBSSports.com login and password if you don’t already have one.
3 - Enter the pool password: foiled (all lower case)

You (and I) have until 11 a.m. Central time on Thursday, March 15, to finalize our brackets.

Good luck!