Jesse Wong "jWo" in Portland

It all started with a box of lemon cupcake mix.  I made them, my roommates and I all enjoyed them, but I was bored.  Cupcakes should have more flavors then just chocolate, vanilla, lemon, and velvet!  So, I began searching online for interesting cupcakes and stumbled upon the idea for tiramisu cupcakes.  Of course!  An unusual cupcake styled after the widely popular dessert.  I scavenged around for recipes of bakers gone before me and found quite a few, but nothing that didn’t involve carving up the cupcake and refilling it or poking holes in it and pouring liquid down it (Soggy cupcakes?!  The travesty!).  It seemed practically criminal to torture a freshly baked cupcake in that manner.  Some “gourmet” recipes involved cascading the frosting down the sides of the cupcake and eating it with a fork.  I wanted something simpler.  Something that stayed true to the spirit of cupcakes being the favorite finger food of children and adults alike. 

Through trial and error, I did some experimentation and the result is a recipe that tastes fantastic while being easy, cheap, and finger ready.  My roommates devoured these in an instant and begged for more.  I think they’re a little handful of heaven.  Enjoy the cupcakes!

Woo Hoo! With my second West Coast Swing Convention under my belt(read about my first WCS convention), I feel completely energized on WCS.  Lots of learning, new experiences, new friends, and brain candy.  Of course, my body is sore as hell from being sleep deprived and dancing all convention, but it was sooo worth it.

Here’s the recap:

I’ve reviewed Google Calendar several times since its inception for it’s viability as a professional event scheduling solution.  Finally, FINALLY, I think I’m ready to recommend it as a solution for my web clients.  To that extent, I’ll continue testing with it.  You may have noticed the new embedded calendar on the right column.  I’ll continue using it for the next month or so of testing to see how many bugs and limitations I can find.  Yes, It’s my real schedule.  Please don’t abuse it.

Its been non stop action with design and branding lately.  Leo & Laura, my two favorite Int’l Standard Ballroom coaches, approached me for a new look and feel for their website.  As rising stars and Champion level dancers, they wanted a look that embodied the dreamy classiness of International Standard Ballroom with their more out-of-the-box personalities. I’ve posted up a design composite of their new logo and website below.  In order to give them a more “professional” appearance, I’ve arranged for professional photography of the two(not pictured in the composite yet).  Many clients don’t realize the power professional photography lends to their brand image.  It’s a significant investment to do it right( anywhere from $500-$2000 ), but the results pay off in spades by conveying instant credibility and professionalism.  In terms of professional dancers, it elevates you from “local dance hero” to “industry professional.”

Whew!  After a very hectic month of impromptu visits from my family, formation team competition, and crazy work deadlines, I was ready for life to become a little more routine.  This weekend was my second weekend of normalcy, and what could be a better way to celebrate than to take a lesson from one of the top US Latin instructors, Yegor Novikov, who was in town to do some guest instructing at the Ballroom Dance Company.

Jack and I have been focusing on our Int’l Standard dances lately - which are looking great!  We’re working as a couple much better and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  We asked for a quick review of this from Yegor.  He had many positive things to say about the partnership, and our standard instructors, Leo and Laura, but ultimately we needed to grow as individuals to strengthen the partnership and gave us some technique drills to work on individually.

Upon reviewing our Rumba, he had an entirely different story.