my year with sprinkles

So here we are.

It was just over a year ago that Sprinkles Cupcakes opened their New York City location. The last twelve months have been, to say the least, eventful:

May 13, 2011: Opening Day. My husby and I stand in line among the other devotees. It is a short, brisk queue. But I am Prepared. I know that there are rotating flavors and regular flavors and I know that today is Friday. I know the lineup, and I know I am ordering three for me and three for the husby for what promises to be the most fun weekend of cupcakes ever. What I do not know is how much buttercream is going to fly out of this new Pandora’s Box. 

I have only tried a handful of flavors at Sprinkles’ Beverly Hills location, and up until today I have forever been firmly entrenched in the Chocolate Coconut camp. It is a Wednesday and Sunday flavor. I have made certain that all of my Los Angeles visits involve a Wednesday or a Sunday. Today is Friday. I am venturing into new flavor territory. 

And today, with a single bite of a Pumpkin cupcake, I discover the glorious taste sensation of cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Angels sing. Life will never be the same again.

May 16, 2011: The weekend is over and we are already junkies, jones-ing for our next hit. It is today that we try one of the seasonal flavors: Salty Caramel. My husby, normally more of a donut and pie devotee, is a believer.

May 18, 2011: I am back. It’s Wednesday, and I require a Chocolate Coconut. Out of curiosity, I also try a flavor that is only available once a week: Ginger Lemon. I know. It seems like a grown-up cupcake, so out of character for a chocolate connoisseur such as myself. I take a bite. Instantly, audibly, passionately, I praise the Lord. The sky seems bluer. I don’t even know who I am anymore. 

June, 2011: Wednesdays are becoming dangerous. My three favorites (Ginger Lemon, Pumpkin and Chocolate Coconut) are Wednesday flavors. Sophie’s Choice, indeed.

July, 2011: It is officially ice cream weather, but that doesn’t stop me from trying seasonal flavors like Key Lime and Summer Cherry. Thankfully I find these to be ever-so-slightly too sweet for me. I am grateful to know that even I have limits.

August, 2011: The morning that Hurricane Irene is supposed to hit New York City, Sprinkles tweets that they are giving away free cupcakes. I look outside. No rain yet. We venture out, get our free cupcakes (and purchase a couple extra, just in case the city is destroyed), and that’s when the rain begins. I hold the box tighter as it rains harder, making sure it stays safe under my umbrella, and my husband laughs at me. He will forever retell this story to embarrass me, referring to the venture as “going out in a hurricane just to get free cupcakes.” I remind him that he came along willingly. 

September, 2011: Certain employees are starting to call me and my husby by name when we walk in, kind of like Norm on Cheers. Not surprising since I am starting to resemble Norm on Cheers. But good gravy, this month features a German Chocolate cupcake, and it is truly a thing of beauty. 

October, 2011: I am afraid that my husby is going to leave me for the Caramel Apple cupcake. I am further afraid that once the month ends and the flavor disappears for another year that he will don a black armband and weep like a widower. He does not, but to this day he speaks of it in hushed tones and counts down to October as if it were Christmas.

November, 2011: I am having problems with pants. I attempt to reduce my caloric intake by ordering just a “frosting shot,” which is exactly what it sounds like: a little condiment cup of frosting accompanied by a tiny wooden spoon, and the best 75 cents I will ever spend. And in November, since Pumpkin cupcakes are a daily item, it means that cinnamon cream cheese frosting is available 7 days a week instead of just 4. It is a cinnamon roll on a spoon. On Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for it.

December, 2011: My birthday month is lessened somewhat by the temporary removal of Chocolate Coconut and Ginger Lemon. The seasonal Eggnog Spice is a tasty diversion. However, it is on my 40th birthday that I discover Sprinkles’ glorious Drinking Chocolate. Holy crap. My ass does not stand a chance. 

January, 2012: I hit all the clichés as I usher in the new year and vow that this cupcake madness must end. And I am pretty good about it. I lapse only once, upon buying a box of sympathy cupcakes for friends who’d just lost their dog. This is absolutely true. And when I do lapse, I am met with a where have you been? from the employees. This too, is absolutely true.

February-April, 2012: I manage to stick to my vow to cut back, and when we do walk in on occasion, one of the gals there is relieved to see us, as she thought we may have moved. 

May 5, 2012: It is Cinco de Mayo, and we are taking a weekend jaunt to Washington, D.C. to meet up with my sister. As we pass the Georgetown Sprinkles, we pause. We simply must. There is a special flavor for five days only: the Choco Loco (with Mexican cinnamon chocolate frosting), and aye dios mio. Why do they all have to be so damned delicious? Why can’t they just suck so I could be a size zero?

May 10, 2012: The New York Sprinkles has its official 1-year anniversary celebration, marking it by giving away free cupcakes all day long. We go, of course. We’re not made of stone.

May 13, 2012: Mother’s Day, and the true 1-year anniversary of Sprinkles’ existence in our fair city. But we don’t partake today. Not because we don’t care, but rather because yesterday we splurged on a deliciously chewy Liege Wafel topped with Belgian chocolate and fruit from the Wafels and Dinges cart. I love New York. Tastiness is always just a calorie-burnin' stroll away.

Yes indeed. Welcome to me.

P.S. Don't start a-snarkin' - I managed to end the twelve months of cupcakery at just about the same size I started it.