What's going on

Me with two of my closest friends, Twanna and Nichelle. The three of us are going to Martha's Vineyard over Labor Day weekend. Me, to visit my grandmother (who grew up there) and they to have fun. I can only imagine the troubleadventures we will have!



I'm in Minneapolis this weekend, visiting friends, seeing Fringe Festival shows (tonight I have many options, so if you have a great suggestion, let me know!), eating cupcakes, and doing a booksigning and reading (today at 5:30: Amazon Bookstore, tomorrow, reading and open mic 7-8:30 at Smitten Kitten)

And cupcakes! Do go check out Miel y Leche's FANTASTIC cupcakes at Letterbox Creative if you're in town today at noon. I am gonna try to hit them up, then am going to the inaugural Minneapolis/St. Paul Cupcake Meetup at Cupcake, home of the best S'mores cupcake I've ever had.

I'm staying with friends in this really cool apartment building in the Elliot Park neighborhood:



I went for lunch with my super-awesome publicist Buzzy Porter for Bedding Down, my December Avon Red novella anthology of winter erotica, and this is the dessert we had (I forget exactly what it was called but it was delicious!):



And now, the food that has captured my taste buds and won't let go - the shawafel from Chickpea, which just opened on Houston Street on the Lower East Side (after being on 3rd Avenue off St. Marks). Twanna can tell you; I devoured it in about two minutes!



This is the shawafel from Chickpea, which just opened on Houston (near the Sunshine theater) after being on Third Avenue off St. Marks. They are the felafel restaurant that had a reader contest to name them. Anyway, they make a felafel and shwarma combo sandwich called the shawafel that is so amazing. There's also hummus and salad and (if you want) hot sauce in it. Omg! They also have flavored felafel which I had never seen before (3 flavors of felafel, 3 flavors of shwarma). I chose spinach and broccoli felafel and was not disappointed. The felafel is baked, not fried, too.

It was so good I went back the next night and had another! And I also cannot recommend enough the side of roasted eggplant- I could eat a giant bowl of it! It's mushy and tasty and yummy. Getting hungry now just thinking about it.