The California State Society

My apologies for taking so long to update the expat! I just returned from my first gay wedding in California not too long ago. My dear friends, Travis and Hernan just tied the knot at a truly fabulous and touching wedding at the Disney Concert Hall. It was a stunning venue and even had paparazzi, helicopters and, yes, the USC marching band. I'll forgive you for that one, Hernan. Only because Travis seemed thrilled with the surprise...and because they were incredible. Anyway...I'm really happy for both of them.

Speaking of California...

I recently discovered where all the other Cali expats in Washington hang out: The California State Society. Yes...there's a society of Californians working in D.C. who are dedicated to networking, socializing and improving the image of California in our nation's capital...but from what I can tell...it's mostly about the drinking. God bless.

So...here's the story. Every state has a society in D.C. that serves as the networking body for people from that state working in the District. It's chock full of staffers from different congressional/senatorial offices. Judging by the way some of these 20 something staffers were dressed...there's something more than networking going on...

Last night, the CA State Society held it's annual Back to College Night. Basically, all the major colleges and universities in CA send an alum to staff a table full of free school pride goodies. The important part was the two large bars with hours worth of free wine and beer. Basically, it just made all of us feel old...especially because some of the alumni were at least 90 years old. But, we had a blast. I finally got to talk about what was on my Tivo with some other UCLA alumni. We were all lamenting about the District's general lack of pop culture knowledge. Here are some other things I floated by my fellow California expats:

- Where does one go to lay out for a tan in the District without getting mosquito bites all over? This wasn't a problem in La La land. And...it's just gross because you basically look like you've ended up with "backne." I may or may not be speaking from experience here.
- Why is it that wearing a really hot pair of jeans with a cute blazer, shirt and tie isn't acceptable as "business casual," but tucking a polo into some cheap gap khakis is? This is just appalling. Apparently, everyone in this town would rather look like an ex pro golfer than a cute professional.
- Does anyone watch Bravo around here? Does anyone watch anything other than CSPAN and MSNBC? Honestly, I have SOOO much to debrief on about Project Runway (even though this season is nothing compared to last year's)
- Where the HELL are the luxury spas here? My sources tell me that I'm supposed to drive to certain parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. That seems ridiculous. With the amount of money that there is in this town...it shouldn't be hard to track down DC's version of Burke Williams or something. Seriously, people.

So...as you can see...it was a productive mixer...especially in that they had no problem refilling my wine glass several times. While I was getting drunk with the California Expats in the basement of the Rayburn House Office building, there were a LOT of staffers scurrying around like bees trying to deal with the $700 billion economic bailout. God's speed, kids...God's speed.

Oh...and you MUST check out the website for the California State Society...cutest thing EVER (there's a bear on a surfboard!):

http://www.cssdc.org/

Cupcake Speculation!

This just in from WeHo Expat informant, Christina. Thank god I just joined a new gym. Thank god.

But seriously, NYC...get over yourself! Perhaps gourmet cupcakes sprouted up in Gotham before the land of La, but must you relegate LA's trendy Pinkberry craze to a parenthetical notation? As if that was a minor event. This is almost as bad as when Trader Joe's popped up in Manhattan. I can't TELL you how many New Yorkers would come up to me and go on about "this Trader Joes...you must try this Trader Joes. They have all sorts of inexpensive treats and amazing food...even $2 dollar wine!" Trying to explain to someone from Manhattan that Trader Joes actually started in Pasadena in the 1970's was like trying to convince them that dumpsters were a more modern way to dispose of one's trash (rather than letting it become a rat hotel in front of the Prada in SoHo).

Just remember, NYC...some ofyour fads just DON'T catch on....rice pudding comes to mind.

September 4, 2008, 4:00 pm

Will Cupcakes Be the Next Krispy Kreme?

By Jennifer S. Lee

Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery in the Village. (Photos: Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)

New York City may well be the cupcake capital of America. Magnolia Bakery of Greenwich Village has produced a list of progeny very Old Testament in length: Magnolia begat Billy’s and Buttercup, and Buttercup in turn begat Sugar Sweet Sunshine.

And then there are Crumbs, Cupcake Cafe (which dates to 1988) and Burgers and Cupcakes. Los Angeles appears to be hopping on the cupcake bandwagon, but New York remains the genesis of cupcake awareness. (Los Angeles, however, gave us the yogurt craze with Pinkberry.) [Read more...}

The Cupcake Economy

Another endearing feature of life here in the District is that the whole city gets up in a tizzy over fads TODAY that happened 3-4 years ago in Los Angeles and New York. One such phenomenon opened here a week or two ago: Hello, Cupcake. Even though most of my compatriots here flee to the East to take advantage of cool ocean breezes, Hello, Cupcake managed to bring together the coiffed lobbyists of K street and the Connecticut Ave policy wonks for a great cupcake feast...or maybe it's been more like a run on the bank!

Hello, Cupcake is one of those gourmet cupcake shops that charges you $3 for cupcakes with charming names like "24 carrots" and "rootbeer float." Allow me to share my feelings about why we normally feel guilty about purchasing such a treat:

- Single-serve cupcakes are usually only available in the big, slightly run-down supermarkets
- These supermarkets usually have those bakeries in the back corner where some 70 year-old woman named "Edna" pulls things out of a questionable case complete with blinking florescent lights
- Management usually sticks Edna in the back because she's the last union employee left in the store, and they just want her to retire, already
- The cupcakes always inevitably have those creepy plastic snowmen heads, balloons, "clown" bears, shamrocks...whatever...stuck in the top. Most of them aren't even edible. That's just wrong.

Edna

You really should feel guilty if you're one of those people who would stop in to get a cupcake from Edna. Shame on you.

But then comes along Hello, Cupcake. They don't have creepy plastic decor in the top. The frosting and cake is higher quality. And, let's be real: they put everything into a pretty box and slap a sexy sticker on the top derived from a Hello, Kitty aesthetic that just makes you feel like a true successful professional. For weeks, elated Washingtonians have been walking up and down the avenue beaming with their boxes of cupcakes (even though they spent their entire lunch hour in line).

What's particularly amusing about the whole phenomenon is that Hello, Cupcake has been running out of cupcakes everyday! So, they've started to RATION them: 4 cupcakes/person. Enter: the cupcake economy. These cupcakes have become such a hot commodity here on Connecticut Ave that an entire workplace economy has developed around their trade. Have a project for which you could really use some help from another employee? Offer them a cupcake. Are you THAT GUY who always offers to share a cab with your workmates for your meetings up on the Hill and doesn't ever have cash...thereby owing a substantial sum to your colleagues? No problem...offer a cupcake. You see, the limited nature of these little frosted dreams in the District has rendered them their weight in gold.

God forbid they offer some kind of "holiday" cupcake basket.

How long will this last? The answer: 3-4 years after the cupcake fad died down in Los Angeles and New York.