The other day I decided that working in my office hasn’t been going well, so I should give an alternate environment a shot. And so I ended up at Cupcake, a local coffee shop/cafe/bakery that specializes in gourmet cupcakes. I actually started to get the first productive work done that has happened in weeks, so I stuck around.

Round about lunch time, I went to order one of my favorite things in the world, their Moroccan Carrot sandwich. This creation entails grated carrots in some kind of awesome red marinade, green olive tapenade, and a delicious white sauce of some sort. It sounds gross to a lot of people, but to me it is one of the most wonderful things ever to grace this girl’s palate. Every once in awhile I get an overwhelming urge for one, the kind that simply must be satisfied. And since I have never tasted anything else like it, Cupcake is the only place to find satisfaction. To my horror, when I tried to order it on this occasion, I was told that it has been discontinued! What?! How can this be? What in the world am I going to do from now on when I get that overpowering, must be satisfied craving?

So as I sat there eating my second choice sandwich, this green apple, brie, cranberry mayo thing (which actually was very exciting, but no Moroccan Carrot), I thought that maybe I should ask for the recipe. But being slightly socially-phobic as I’ve been lately, I thought that I’d much rather email them and ask for it. I took advantage of their wireless internet (I love you cybercafes) and did a quick search for "Cupcake Minneapolis". It seems that they don’t have a website, but some sites with reviews and other info about them came up. I clicked on one, and a local girl’s blog with the following post responding to someone asking for advice appeared:

Dear Girl Friday,
I’m at a loss: my girlfriend is a holiday / special occasion fanatic, and I’ve been having a hard time matching her enthusiasm for certain days of the year. Next up is Valentine’s Day, which I’ll admit I totally dropped the ball on last year. I have issues already because I feel like it’s such a manufactured holiday, but this year I need to come through — I’m not talking gifts or candy, I’m trying to come up with something fun we can go out and do. Maybe a nice meal, a fun show, or…? What’s the hot (non-contrived) tip for a young couple who both work way too much and probably need some one-on-on time out on the town?

At this point, I was thinking "Ha ha, that sounds like Nate". And then I read the last sentence:

Help me, Girl Friday. You’re my only hope.

And then I thought, "Ohmygod! Description of us + Star Wars reference = Nate. That IS Nate!!" So I emailed him with a link and a "Dude, did you write this?". At this point, the juice ran out of my laptop, so I went home. About an hour passed before I fired it up and logged in to my email again, during which time, Nate panicked.

The first email in which he admitted it was him and wondered how in the hell I found it was pretty normal. But the second one got a little wiggy.

Um, FYI, I don’t have a problem that you love special occasions so much, I think it’s really cute, and I’m honestly trying to make them more fun for both of us. I hope you didn’t take that email wrong, because that and her answer makes it sound like I have huge issues – which I don’t. Just little ones, but trust me, you’re worth it. Ok? Why you no write back?

Tooooooo cute. You can actually visualize the sweat breaking out on his brow. Aww. Though the temptation was there to string him along for a little bit and make him think I was all offended, I just couldn’t do it, and wrote back telling him I thought it was hilarious. After all, not only did he receive a gold star in Karen’s Book of Holiday Achievements for this year’s Valentine’s Day efforts, but he led me to the discovery of my new favorite blog. A girl obsessed with cupcakes who writes about food and drink in the Twin Cities? How is it possible that we are not already best friends? And it is freakin adorable that he was stressed to the point of seeking advice from strangers about what to do. Might have been a little weird and possibly disappointing if the favorite breakfast / powdered sugar heart thing had been her idea, but lucky for me it was all him.

My conclusion from all of this is that sometimes the worldwide web is a very small world.

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