Delish Cupcakes Review

By Mon of Delissimon

At the beginning of my diagnosis this little shop opened up in Forrest Hill and I've been getting daily Facebook updates on the daily flavours and events of the shop. I salivate everytime. Today for example their flavours for sale are banoffee, choc raspberry, vanilla filled with passionfruit, vanilla stawberry, caramel, choc bomb and JAFA. Sounds delish yeah?


This little shop is Delish Cupcakes.

I heard about these ladies last year when my dad went to the Auckland Food Show and came across the Delish Cupcakes stall. Their progress has been from friends who bake and decorate fantastic cupcakes together to actually opening up a beautiful shop with different flavours everyday. So I thought it was high time to get myself up to Forrest Hill to try them out.
And I wasn't disappointed.

I bought a chocolate with chocolate ganache cupcake and my niece Zara chose a lemon raspberry. Both came in these adorable wee boxes so they wouldn't get squished. The chocolate had a beautiful rich ganache with a lovely moist chocolate cake, and the lemon raspberry had a lemon curd filling with a creamy, sweet and slightly tangy raspberry buttercream which was absolutely delicious (I got to try both, as we left them in the car and forgot about them in our hurry to get Zara to the airport, so she missed out on eating her one....lucky me!). These gals know how to please a fussy cupcake lover like me!

Delish Cupcakes cater for weddings, birthdays, corporate functions, baby showers etc and you can even order online.

So if you are in the area - - then I suggest you pop in and have a squiz and try out a cupcake and a coffee. They also have a range of decorating products if you are inspired to go home and try decorating your own!

Delish Cupcakes
Shop 4, 14-16 Raines Ave, Forrest Hill, Auckland
Open Mon - Fri, 08:00 - 16:30; Sat 09:00 - 16:00
Website: http://www.delishcupcakes.co.nz/

TXT-A-Coffee!

Now you can TXT us your order at 022 694 3159
Name/Coffee/Time - use T for trim, S for soy, L for large.
eg. Fiona L T latte 5 mins

 

Christmas Shopping Guide for Those Who Can't Rely on Santa

BY SIMONE FROM GREATFUN4KIDS

In the land of Facebook there are Urban Legends... people telling of Christmas Shopping 70% complete. Others who have even wrapped 80% of their 70%... {ahem. Yes. That would be me}

If you haven't started yet, don't worry.
Those of us who have accomplished so much by the end of October... we are freaks of nature. Nerds. And Crowd-a-phobes.

I am a fan of online shopping. I love the one-day deal websites etc etc. So I thought I would start up a linky on a post so we can all share our fav Christmas Shopping sites with those who are a little... er... behind?

I'll link up my favourites and then you link up yours... and leave a comment telling us why you love that website, OK...

Just follow the instructions (it's easy, don't be shy now)...

Queenstown Rocks

BY SIMONE FROM GREATFUN4KIDS

If you have kids I don't have to tell most of you how rare and precious is that thing we like to call "grown-up time". A night out. An uninterrupted lunch. But the biggest and rarest prize of all?? A weekend away. Without the kids. Can you think of the last time you had a full night's sleep? A lie-in? A leisurely breakfast in beautiful surroundings?

If it's been too long, feel free to live vicariously through me as I share my blissful tale... (and then go and find someone you can bribe to take your kids for a couple nights and go copy us and escape to Queenstown...)

For our tenth wedding anniversary we managed to find a pair of brave souls willing to have our three kids for the weekend. We booked cheap flights to Queenstown, a place I (a native Kiwi) have never been, but my (English) hubby has been to at least twice. I used Wotif.com to find us an accommodation deal for the dates we needed.

Look where we ended up...

Distinction Nugget Point, 4.5 star luxury Boutiqueness, overlooking the Shotover River. Half price rooms with full breakfast. Woohoo. When we arrived they were super-quiet so they upgraded us to a Superior River View Room. What a blessing! Oh that view. Mountains upon mountains stacked up as far as the eye could see, a river running past below. It felt like Northern Italy or somewhere totally exotic.

After a leisurely spa bath and some chillaxing in the hotel Library we meandered back to Queenstown proper and checked out the famous Gondola. Oh my. This Gondola makes Rotorua's one look teensy. You swing your way up a nearly vertical cliff, the view of lakes and mountains spreading out like a carpet... and then shock horror... when you think you have nearly left earth's atmosphere you spot the Bungy jumping tower. Eek!! Who does that?

We were after romance and relaxing so we declined to fling ourselves off the cliff, but if you were that way inclined this would be the place to do it! We also declined to race down the mountain on the luges. Did you know they have luges in Queenstown? I didn't! The kids would have loved it. We briefly considered it... and then carried on relaxing..., enjoying a drink overlooking the best view in the world.

Queenstown is a wonderful place. So many great pubs, restaurants, cafes. The service is great wherever you go because they are so focused on tourism there. ALL the wait staff and shopkeepers we ran across were super-helpful, super friendly and super-pumped to be working in such a beautiful place where people come from everywhere for adventure and escape.
And the scenery?!! Mountains, lakes, incredible views. Everywhere you look another vista.

If you want to fit in I recommend taking a pair of sturdy walking shoes, some pants with plenty of pockets, a polar fleece jacket and a Backpack. High fashion in Queenstown this outfit. Forget about classy duds and think Kathmandu.

On Saturday needing a little adrenalin hit, we had a go on the Shotover Jet. Wow. Serious fun. I am not a natural thrill seeker; I hate all but the gentlest theme park rides and squeeze my eyes shut on windy roads... but this?

This was pure excitement and fun; not sick-making at all. I laughed the whole way and didn't close my eyes once. Not even when we did those wild 360o spins, or seemed to shoot so close to the rocks we were sure to crash... nope I totally loved every minute of it. Shotover Jet have been operating for over forty years. They used to transport picnickers upriver. These days it's all about adrenaline. We were impressed with the staff; they train to double the industry standard before they are allowed to take passengers. You can tell they all love their job. At $119 per person it's a bit pricey but worth it. It's one of those things you can say, "I did it!" Like going to Venice and forking out for a gondolier to pole you down the canals. Something you can't do anywhere else.

Later that day we drove twenty minutes to gorgeous historic Arrowtown... meandering through quaint shops, saying to each other, "Your mum would love this..."; finding the cutest little cafe with home baking tucked in an alley... stretching out on the grass reading companionably... bliss. This is history-lovers paradise. Quaint and gorgeous. It has a holiday atmosphere, but at a lovely pace. Totally worth a visit.

It was rather hard to leave paradise and head back to reality. We sat out on the balcony overlooking heaven... and I just breathed in the beauty. Those mountains. That serenity. Sigh.

Queenstown totally lives up to the hype. A jewel in the crown. Every second person we met was American. Or Australian. (We spotted what we thought was a protest march; a crowd of Koreans being led by flags... oops nope, just a tour group!) People flock here from every corner of the world, and rave about it. I felt so proud. Loved hearing all the foreigners extol New Zealand's beauties.
We live in a truly beautiful country, but it took me forty years to visit there?!! I kept thinking of that old 80's NZ Tourism ad, "Don't leave town til you've seen the country..."

Sure there are lots of great places overseas. But Queenstown, with it's loads of things to do and its unsurpassed scenery... it has to be on your Places to Visit list. It's as good as anywhere else in the world. Better even.

Queenstown, I love you. And We'll be back.

Excellent service at "High Tea", The Sebel Hotel, Tauranga.

Today myself and a couple of friends attended "High Tea" at the Sebel Hotel in Tauranga. We had gotten ourselves vouchers to make it half price and thought we would give it a try.
We went in there not expecting a whole lot, but you know what? It was EXCELLENT!! The service was great,beautiful atmosphere, the drinks were nice and the food was just AWESOME.

Now we don't claim to be classy by any means of the word, however we got ourselves all dolled up, put on some makeup and away we went. We were treated like we belonged there, from the minute we walked in.

I would highly recommend giving this a try to anyone,  and we thought before going, that it wouldn't be worth it for the normal price of $20 per person, but you know what? After actually going, I would love to go back and do it all again, even for the normal price!!

Pacific Blue How I Love Thee

Story by Johanna from One Girl's Thoughts on Life.

On December 20th 2009 I moved back to NZ after a 2 year stint in Australia.

My Sister and I packed up our lives and between us we had 12 pieces of luggage...that sounds like alot but keep in mind we were moving our WHOLE lives across an ocean.

We had art, clothing, books, just a whole lotta stuff.

We had booked our flights for roughly 6pm so had planned on catching the 3pm train up to Brisbane Airport. At about 1pm we both got a txt message saying our flight had been delayed, we jumped on the internet to check our emails to confirm, called the airport and yes our flight had been delayed. We were now scheduled to fly at 1am blearg.

Mishal being an adventurous girl had a bit of a giggle while I rolled my eyes and sulked on the couch thinking about a red eye flight which would land us in New Zealand at 7am.

We had to catch the train from the Gold Coast to Brisbane (a 1.5 hr ride) and the last train was at 5pm so that is the one we hopped on.

We struggled in the pouring rain with our 12 luggage items and managed to drag it all down the 2 flights of stairs to the train platform (the train station staff (men) wouldn't help us - they were restricted by the health and safety rules of the company, they might get an injury). When we got to the platform Mishal guarded the luggage and I tracked down the train driver and explained somewhat tearfully that we had a LOT of luggage and would he please hold the train long enough for us to load it all on. Out of no-where about 6 lovely men each grabbed two items of our luggage, stowed them on the train, sat us down and told us to just enjoy the ride. Oh and not to worry because they had called ahead and arranged for someone to meet us at the Brisbane end with two luggage trolleys so we wouldn't have to struggled into the terminal with our bags. Bless them.

Whilst on the train Mishal and I stressed out about how overweight our luggage was and that at $10 a kilo for each extra kilo we were carrying we were in for a world of financial pain.

Mishal was roughly 60kg over her allocated 20kg allowance - $600
Johanna was roughly 80kg over her allocated 20kg allowance - $800

We sat together and prayed that the staff would let us come to an agreement with the cost and that it would be reasonable.

Upon arriving at the airport HOURS earlier than we needed to be we were greeted, as promised, by staff with trolley's and they even packed our bags on for us and then walked us to the terminal. We went straight to the Pacific Blue desk and asked if we could check in early so we didn't have to lug around our luggage any more - it was HEAVY and bulky.

The woman behind the desk was lovely and said that of course she could check us in. I felt a bit sick to my stomach as I started loading my bags onto the belt to be weighed and taken away. She put the stickers on each bag and chit chatted as she processed my passport. With a bit of a catch in my throat I mentioned how heavy my bags were and asked if she would be at all negotiable on the overweight cost. With a sweet smile she paused and then informed me that due to the flight delay Pacific Blue were waiving all overweight costs for the flight.

Sorry what now?

She repeated that yes Pacific Blue would not be charging me for my overweight luggage. I promptly burst into very loud uncontrollable tears and said thank-you about a million times and in my head had a bit of a funny chat with the Big Guy Upstairs. He had totally come through but with WAY better results than I could have imagined.

Lovely lady checked Mishal in also and then presented us both with our boarding passes and gave us the standard chat about customs etc. She then presented us with 3 vouchers EACH with a value of $8 EACH so that we could purchase some dinner. That is is $24 each for dinner. I was pretty gob-smacked. Free luggage AND free dinner. AWESOME.

But wait...There is MORE

Lovely lady then gave each of us a letter, with a reference number. Upon landing in New Zealand we needed to call the toll free number to contact the Pacific Blue team. We were both receiving a flight credit for the price of the flight we were about to take.

Mishal and I were speechless.  We just could not believe that a 7 hour delay was rewarding us with such wonderful treatment.

We left the desk and walked over to the chairs to sit down and just stared at each other for a while then had a hysterical conversation that went something like

Can you believe....?
I cant believe....?
This is just....
What the...?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Then we ran into a family friend who was stuck at the airport a while. He was on his way back to NZ to surprise propose to his girlfriend on Christmas day. We spent the next few hours looking through photos, catching up, eating food paid for by Pacific Blue, looking at the ring that was to soon adorn a lovely lady's finger and just chilling out.

We eventually parted ways and Mish and I boarded our plane.

We arrived at 7am NZ time to FREEZING weather and our beautiful family. We told them the crazy story on the way home and thanked God for his wonderful provision as we were tucked into bed by our delicious Mamma for a good sleep after about 24 hours of being awake.

In June this year I used my credit with Pacific Blue. I got return flights to the Gold Coast.

All up our savings because of Pacific Blue's amazing service and generosity totalled:

Mishal - just over $1000
Johanna - just over $1200

Collectively yes that is about $2,200 in savings.

So a 7 hour delay paid us handsomely...if we were to break that down to an hourly rate we were getting paid sweet dollaarrs.

Thank you Pacific Blue - You gave me the best Christmas present ever. 

Humble Pie - A Dish Served Best At Baobab

STORY BY MISS BONNIE OF THEBABYBUMP

So, after the enormous (and somewhat heated) array of feedback I got in response to my last blog on Baobab Cafe I stayed true to my word and popped on down to see what it was like for myself. And here, in front of you all, I bow my head in shame and say I was wrong, this is my first and last lesson in "doing my homework" before mouthing off. Somewhat. 


I wandered down to the cafe last Friday with a buggy clad bubs and my Mum in tow. Luckily it was a beautiful, sunny day so we didn't need to manoeuvre the buggy into the cafe and try to get it out of the way of passing waiters/patrons because logistically it just doesn't work. If you're buggying baby, make the most of the huge sheltered, sunny area outside or leave it out the front - don't try to shove the apparatus to the side of your inside table, there ain't no room and hey, that's fine.


We were greeted by a lovely gent working the coffee machine like a pro, just what I like to see. The great thing about Newtown? It's amazing coffee. And Baobab didn't disappoint. While we chose something to nibble on out of the decent (and seriously delicious) selection of cabinet food - I had a pumpkin muffin, Mum a date scone and both were so yummy I'm now drooling just thinking about them - a waitress approached the counter to take our orders. This was the only downfall. As lovely as the barista was (and the waiter that brought us our coffees), the girl behind the counter was just a bit.... meh. She didn't smile and wasn't really interested in being polite but you know what? Everything else was spot on so who am I to complain?!


The back outside area was divine - perfect for Mums, babies, kids, everyone! The food, as previously stated, was absolutely mouthwatering and the coffee was to die for. Mum had a chai latte and was overly pleased to find out they make their own chai syrup with real cinnamon and peppercorns. The chai even came garnished with a whole cinnamon stick!


So despite the OK service from one of the staff members (which quickly paled in comparison), the whole experience was fantastic. Gorgeous surroundings, superb coffee and amazing food. I wasn't able to get an idea on how they are with babies but as long as you use your initiative as you would at any other cafe and keep baby related paraphernalia out of the way and keep bubs in a cafe friendly manner I assume that they're spot on. 


I eat my (previous) words and highly recommend this lovely little cafe. So pop the little one in the buggy and mosey on down there to soak up some sun and devour some decent nosh.


PS. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so couldn't take some much deserved pictures so you'll have to let your imagination do the wandering.


Baobab Cafe
152 Riddiford Street,
Newtown, Wellington
Website