Tour Roundup: San Diego

We arrived at the La Jolla Festival of the Arts not really knowing what to expect. Fortunately, people actually showed up – and some of them even knew who we were! (For the rest, the words “free cake” were more than enough incentive to cram into the tent. Heh.) Whatever the reasons, we had a hefty, happy crowd – so much so that our hosts ran out of books. (Oops. Sorry, guys.)

We neglected to get a shot of the crowd, but here’s a cutie in a custom CW shirt:

John & I were touched by how many Wreckies chose to pay their own admission rather than allow us to pay for them. In the end, we only owed the Festival admission for 51 of the more than 150 people at the show. Several folks told me they paid their own way despite financial hardships and even unemployment. That’s super humbling stuff, guys. Thank you.

And now…the cake!

Get a load of this jungle goodness! Lisa of Cake Dreams and Cookie Wishes pulled out all the stops in crafting this sweet treat – especially considering she only had a week’s notice when our first baker had to cancel.

Lisa putting the final details in place.

A few close-ups:


And my favorite bits:

Awww. My name’s on the Disney hat! Plus, the little book was perfect – and edible.

Oh, and Lisa’s carrot cake? Phenomenal.

I was thrilled that there were any wreckplicas entered in the contest – and even more so when they turned out to be this amazing:

She even included the tiny penguin! Ha!

A photo of the WoW cake on a cupcake. Perfect.

Our “winners!”

I love that two of our three winners were wearing Disney shirts. :)


And their cakes:


This was our grand prize winner – because “Pink Cat Gives You Wings!”

And that’s it for our third “world” tour! Thanks so much to all of you who came out, to our volunteer bakers, and to our host stores for making John and me feel like wrecky royalty. It’s been a great week, thanks to all of you!

Note from john: Special thanks to Sean Boston for finding us a sushi knife/full on sword to cut the cake. You rock absolutely!



Tour Roundup: Pasadena, CA

On Saturday we did our 16th tour stop at Vroman’s in Pasadena, CA. If you haven’t been there you should go; it’s awesome. And a big thanks to Connie, the book store rep, for being all around wonderful.

Some smiling faces in the crowd:


And hey, look! Our computer’s working! Weird!

Our last-minute replacement baker was the phenomenal Linda Darck of Sweet Art Cupcakes. She made a meringue-based buttercream that was sooo good. The chocolate tasted like rich chocolate mousse, and John loved the strawberry so much that he stole a bunch of them to bring back to the hotel room for later. :D

Plus, look how pretty!


And a few of our fav wreckplicas:

A few fun Disney ones:

The photo on the table is of the Epcot attempt that went horribly, hilariously wrong. ;)

Seriously, you guys have mad wreckerating skilz.

(We’ll put the rest of the entries on Facebook later this week, so watch for those.)

And our “winners!”:


We didn’t get a close-up of the stuffed bunny on the cupcake, but as you can see, it was a stuffed bunny. On a cupcake. John laughed so hard I think he teared up a bit. Then he stole the bunny. (Yes, we still have it.)

The suggestively hairy graduation cheese! Isn’t it great?

And our grand prize “winner”:

Complete with censor bars. Awesome.

Thanks to everyone who came out! Oh, and thanks also to wreckies Mike & Michelle for taking us to an amazing Afghan restaurant later, and not kidnapping us. That was swell.



Sweet N’ Salty

Salt Lake City charmed our socks off, pure and simple.


We had a great crowd in the gallery next door to The King’s English, and as you can see, everyone LOVED my yellow boots. Or maybe they’re looking at the slide show here. One or the other, anyway.

Rylie of That’s My Cake took on the challenge of following up Tempe’s treats by creating not one, not two, but FIVE cakes. (!!)

Two were yummalicious sheet cakes, and then there was the sparkly one:


A fun modern one:


And, er, this:

Now THAT is a cupcake.
Notice how the carrot jockeys are circling it like a giant whirlpool wave. :D

You rock, Rylie.

Then there are the wreckplicas: A whole two tables’ worth! Here are just a few of our favorites:

The famous Poo Dog! Complete with Poo!

First time I’ve seen the merman on the tour. In fact, there were two merman wreckplicas. Must be merman country. :)

And speaking of bear skin rugs:

Would you believe that the guy on the rug is made entirely of fondant? No? Ok, neither would I.

And finally, our “winners”:

Emily, Tiffiny, Curtis and Aubrey

And their cakes:

Love the CW butt tattoo. The only thing missing is the Barely There Censor Bearâ„¢.
Emily made a combination of three different wrecks. Can you name them all?
And this was the winner of the “Winners”: the window display from Bakeries from Beyond!

Oh, and we can’t forget our above and beyond Wreckies:

Custom t-shirts! Kay Krex, Cake Rex, and the carrot jockey:

They had me and John sign the shirts, too. I only let John sign the backs, though. (Sorry, ladies.)

And finally, you Epbot readers may remember my quest to find sparkly Steampunk jewelry. Well, Lois Ewing took on the challenge and made me this *astounding* jewelry set:


WOW. I know it’s not cake, but that’s pretty darn sweet! Thanks, Lois!



Important Update for San Diego/La Jolla

Hi Guys!

Due to a mix-up/communication snafoo (or “snafu” – but I like my spelling better), I have new location details for our La Jolla stop on the 27th. If you’re planning on attending that show, please read the following carefully. There will be a quiz afterward. ;)

Instead of the Warwicks store as we originally planned, the La Jolla stop will now be located at the La Jolla Festival of the Arts, located about 4 miles from the store at the corner of Genesee Ave and Regents Rd. (Map here.)

Warwicks has an author pavilion there complete with seating, audio-visual equipment, etc., so the show and cupcake Wreckplica contest and free cake distribution will still all go on as planned at 2PM.

Warwicks will also have copies of CW available there for purchase. The proceeds will actually go to charity, so plan to buy your copy there.

Now, here’s where things get tricky: there is a $10 admission fee – also being donated to charity – to get into the Art Festival. (Believe me, all of this has been as much of a surprise to us as it is to you.) Never fear, though, because we’ve found a solution. Ready? Here ’tis:

John and I are personally going to pay for each of you to get into the festival. Yep, all 163 of you.

Why?

Because it’s not fair to charge you to see us, and because there’s no other way, and because the proceeds go to charity anyway, so it’s all for a good cause.

So, if you have already RSVP’d via the Evite for the La Jolla show, you will be getting an e-mail from us soon. Print out that e-mail. Bring it to the show, and you’ll be allowed in for free. Your e-mail will be good for the amount of people you originally included in your RSVP.

Of course, if you’d like to pay your own admission – which, again, is for a good cause – then by all means do so. (Kids under 10 are free.) If, however, the admission charge would otherwise prevent you from coming to the show, then please use the e-mail voucher. John and I will gladly pay your way.

Parking is free, by the way.

And that’s it! I’m very sorry for the mix-up, everyone, but on the bright side, now you get the CW show *and* an art festival all in the same afternoon! So please still plan on joining us, and we’ll see you there!



Reminders, Updates, & FAQs

Attention, Wreckies! A few quick reminders:


- John & I are coming to LA (ish), San Diego (ish), Tempe, and Salt Lake City in just over two weeks! Check this post for details and dates, and please RSVP if you’ll be joining the party. There will be a cupcake contest, prizes, and yes, FREE CAKE.


- Father’s Day is coming! Have you got your Falker Satherhood on? (It’s like a word journey.) Also, Cake Wrecks the hardcover gift book is still a rock-bottom $5.20 on Amazon right now. Buy $25 worth, and you even get free shipping – so stock up for easy gift-giving. Do it. DO IT NOW!!



- As you tweeting twits already know, John and I will be attending Dragon*Con again this September. A few D*C FAQs:

* No, we won’t have a booth at D*C; we’ll just be regular paying geeks like the rest of you. However, if you have something you’d like signed, bring it along!

* How do you find us? Twitter.

* Yes, we’ll be playing the Twitter game again this year: find me via my hints/”I’m right here” tweets, and win a prize. I’ll also sign anything you like. (Within reason. Let’s limit things to the northern cheeks, if you please.)

* The best part of D*C? The costumes, of course! (Ok, that’s not really an FAQ, but I had to share.)

That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled evil henchperson duties.



The CW Book Tour, Part Three

Guess what?!?

Ok, well, I guess the post title might have given it a way a little. And that Twitter post I made a few weeks ago. But still.

Ta-da!!


Yep, in order to lure John and me out of the house again, my dear publisher Andrews McMeel has shamelessly bribed me with a trip to Disneyland. Shamelessly, I say. And since we all know I’m powerless against those kinds of tactics, here’s the schedule:

Monday, June 21: Tempe, AZ
7:00 pm
Changing Hands Bookstore

Wednesday, June 23, Salt Lake City, UT
7:00 pm
The King’s English Bookshop

Saturday, June 26, — Pasadena, CA (That’s almost LA, right?)
4:00 pm
Vroman’s

Sunday, June 27 – La Jolla, CA (Google says it’s San Diego)
2:00 pm
Warwick’s

Monday, June 28th – I get to go to DISNEYLAND!!

Now, for those of you who weren’t around during our first two tours, here’s the drill: each event will start with a hee-larious slide show presentation by yours truly and John, then we’ll have a Q&A, and then – the best part for us – there will be a cupcake contest. That right: you make a cupcake version of your favorite Wreck, bring it in, we’ll judge it, and if it’s one of our favorites you’ll win fabulous prizes, fame, and the adulation of Wreckies everywhere.

We’ll also have free cake for all, provided by a local baker/Wreckerator. (And if you’re a pro baker in one of those cities who’d like to volunteer your services, let me know! It’s great advertisement, and heaps of fun. Honest.)

Oh, and I guess I’ll sign some books. You know, if you have some.

So mark your calendars, and please RSVP via the Evite links above if you think you’ll be able to attend; we want to be sure we have enough cake!

Having done about 15 of these so far, I can tell you that these events are like no book signing you’ve ever been to. They’re more like giant parties with all of the best friends you’ve never met. So please, come out and laugh with us and eat cake and say hello! John and I are looking forward to meeting you!