cupcakes and life lessons

This is actually the inside of Bliss Bakery!

I went to a new cupcake place last week - Bliss - and now I think I'm obsessed. Their cupcakes are yummy, and their coffee is amazing...it's French press, and so good. The first time I went with the kids I babysit, I had a Red Velvet cupcake, which is daring for me, since I'm usually a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing girl (which is the cupcake I got on saturday with Miriam). I'm lusting after this HUGE cupcake you can buy that feeds 12-15 people....it's $45, and I think it would be WONDERFUL for a birthday. Not that I know anyone with a birthday soon.....but Bliss's cupcakes are sweet without being saccharine (like Sugarland), and light. You don't feel heavy after eating them. Which makes them very, very dangerous. Of course, do I miss Crumbs and Buttercup Bake Shop, but short of getting on a plane for a cupcake run to Manhattan, Bliss will do quite nicely. 2 years ago, my then-roommate, Sonja, had gone to Manhattan for the week, and just happened to come back to NC on my birthday. She brought me back cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery for a birthday gift! I was so surprised...I mean, to carry them on the plane and everything? That was, by far, one of the best birthday surprises I have ever had.

I was reading blog entries from last year...G-d, I was so optimistic about doctoral programs. Things seemed to be falling into place. And somehow, I went from there to here. A place where nothing is certain, I'm not sure which way to go, and I don't have a set plan right now; no trajectory. This is not where I wanted to be, and I am trying to do everything I can to change this. It's a rough and rocky road right now, and I'm just trying to clear the path enough for me to squeeze by, if that makes sense. I know that I want to do research, work in oncology, and also work with patients - doing patient education and advocacy, counseling....somehow, a mix of all that. I'm looking at two possible avenues, but I'm not writing about them until January, because I don't want to jinx anything. Superstitious, yes. But I don't care.