Before going into anything, I will say this- I have and always will be a fan of Sex and the City. The show came on when I was in middle school and high school, so I didn’t really get around to watching it during its original installment, however I recently purchased a Roku which includes HBO Now and has the entire series available at my disposal. Upon rewatching the series twice after many years of small clips I would pass through on basic cable, I have come to the conclusion that many men and women fear stating- Carrie Bradshaw is a fantasy character that no one, I repeat no one, should emulate in real life. For so many reasons, this is true. As someone who understands the Manhattan scope of dating, living, and so much more, Carrie represents really the anti of what our city has become. This includes, when the show was on the air. Here is why.
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sex and the city
Iconic New York City Locations Used in Box Office Blockbusters
The 88th Academy Awards are a mere ten days away, with host Chris Rock sure to bring the laughs and fun throughout the night. Movies and television alike have a great tradition of using New York City as the backdrop to whatever story they are telling (Hello, Sex And The City), and in that backdrop you will find some iconic locations that helped mold the story that turned these movies into the blockbusters that they are known today. So which locations made the cut? You probably know many of them already. From iconic restaurants to hotels, these are the ones that made their debuts on the silver screen.
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Why Magnolia Bakery Is Worth The Hype & Deliciousness
The cupcake to the New Yorker is quintessential to a whiny woman in a Woody Allen film. It just makes everything that much better. Seeing as there is a bevy of locations in New York City where you can divulge in your favorite type of cupcake, there is one place that many locals and visitors deem as the creme de la creme of the cupcake shops here. This of course, is Magnolia Bakery which has several different locations throughout the New York City area.
I became aware of Magnolia Bakery years ago due to my love of the HBO hit show and two time movie “Sex And The City” in which Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie visits the original Bleecker Street location in one of the episodes. I didn’t visit, however, until a friend of mine surprised me on my birthday five or six years back and took me to their location in the Upper West Side. The bakery itself had a warm and friendly vibe as well on top of the lovely people working there. Then of course, there was the taste of what they were preparing for everyone. All of it was delicious, from the decadent red velvet cupcakes to the world famous and insanely delicious Banana Pudding, Magnolia Bakery stepped up to the plate when it came to delicious treats designed for the masses.
I recently sat down with one of their fantastic and fabulous PR & Marketing Manager Riana Zimmerman to talk about Magnolia Bakery’s rise in the food world in general, from its one location to now internationally known brand. Take a look.
So how did the world famous Magnolia Bakery start?
So we started in 1996 at the Bleecker Street location in the West Village. It was a local bakery known for cupcakes and a bunch of other yummy desserts. And then “Sex And The City” mentioned it on one of their episodes and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) ate one of our vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting. After that happened, it brought an insane amount of crazy lines to the Bleecker Street location and started the whole “cupcake craze”. Steve Abrams, who is our current CEO, bought the brand in 2007 and expanded it further in New York City while opening up locations in Chicago & Los Angeles and now we are franchising internationally. So the supposed “Cupcake Craze” that Magnolia Bakery started is taking over the world.
I, just like a lot of people, became knowledgeable of Magnolia Bakery through “Sex And The City”. What was the process in getting a huge show and star like Sarah Jessica Parker to visit and film at the original location?
I’m not entirely sure! This was just a local bakery that may have been on the show’s radar, or maybe it was on someone’s recommendation list. I just know that it completely changed the Magnolia Bakery brand once the episode aired.
To the people that live in the New York City area, they view Magnolia Bakery as licorice. Meaning you either love it or hate it, but the haters don’t hate the actual products but see it more as a tourist trap. What would you say to those people in order for them to overlook the droves of people and just enjoy what Magnolia has to offer?
Everybody has their own personal taste of course, but I don’t think it is a tourist trap. We are at the Upper West Side location right now, very local to the neighborhood and as you can tell it has a pretty normal crowd as does the Bleecker street location. I think the one that they are referring to is the one in Rockefeller Center, however I don’t think it’s a tourist trap. The fuss is for a reason, and I think we have great cupcakes and a full menu of 100 other desserts and customizable cakes and whatnot.
Now I have my personal favorite at Magnolia Bakery (Red Velvet Of Course!), but what would some of yours be?
I personally love our Banana cupcake with chocolate frosting. The icing is so rich and delicious that it really works well with the cupcake itself.
There was a lot of hoopla over the summer about the supposed “Cupcake Craze” being over as a big cupcake chain filed for bankruptcy. What are your thoughts on the craze in general?
I think there are places that do specialize in one off products like cupcakes. Luckily for us we are known for our cupcakes but we also have a ton of other desserts. Our Magnolia Bakery customers do buy a lot of cupcakes however they do also purchase a ton of our other products so it really is the best of both world when you come here. A cupcake is a perfect size portion for a snack during lunch or after you finish your dinner with friends, as opposed to a large slice of cake. It really has shown by how well all of our stores are doing with all of our products, so I don’t agree with it being a craze.
What big celebrities have you seen come into any of your locations?
So I actually saw Donatella Versace at our Bleecker Street location which was very exciting. Zoe Saldana was at our Los Angeles store which has been all over the news as she is pregnant and has visited us a couple of times due to her craving of cupcakes. Michelle Obama actually sent some of her secret service agents for our cupcakes while she was visiting in New York even!
The location size of Magnolia Bakery is growing each year, however do you think you’ll open up anymore in its hometown of New York City?
We aren’t focused on expanding domestically right now as we are focused on expanding internationally however down the line we are looking into opening up other locations.
What would you recommend for a first timer at Magnolia Bakery in trying?
Maybe you are going to think I have a love affair with chocolate but it’s OK if you do because it’s true and it’s real. A chocolate piece of cake with chocolate icing is so good. Of course, the world famous banana pudding. To top it off I would recommend our pumpkin cheesecake & pumpkin spice whoopie pies is essential to now as it is available throughout the fall.
Does Magnolia Bakery do deliveries?
We do! We have an online store which delivers all throughout the United States with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. You can order anything from cupcakes, cookies and bars so I definitely recommend if you aren’t local to a Magnolia Bakery you check out the online store to try something out!
What are you ultimately hopeful for the Magnolia Bakery brand and beyond?
We would love to see our international franchises succeed of course! We are excited about our growth, in fact we had a meeting recently to discuss 2015 and see what new items we can bring to you, your readers and the masses! Stay tuned!
Want to know more about Magnolia Bakery? Log on to their official website for locations, product information and more!
Gay men make girls look like Mother Theresa. Yup.
I feel we owe it to ourselves to all fess up and say- Yup, I’ve been a bitch to that guy or groups of guys. We all have been. Now more than ever there is a strong vibe in our community that gay men start out like the nice Cady Heron in “Mean Girls” but end up being the vicious, backstabbing bitch that she becomes in the movie (sort of like Lindsay Lohan in real life. Ahhh, how art imitates). Yet, a lot of men tend to stay in the second zone without ever learning the life lessons which ultimately makes Cady likable in the end, especially breaking her plastic crown and sharing it with the rest of the crowd. When it did become so socially acceptable for gay men to treat each other with such disdain and rudeness yet millions of us are screaming to the straight world that we want to be accepted? We can’t accept each other. It’s beyond ridiculous. Here are some reasons behind this philosophy.
One- I was bullied growing up, so now it’s time to take revenge. I consider myself a fortunate gay man in the sense that growing up I was never bullied, called names like “fag” and “homo” in a serious matter and physically and/or emotionally abused like many other gay men and women were growing up. This could’ve been in and outside of the school, but this is something that they take with them the rest of their lives. This can incorporate itself in the gay community completely when you reach a certain age, find a group of guys to hang with, and become that group of mean girls we all hated back when we were growing up. In essence, you were becoming that guy or girl that bullied you and exacting it upon other people. Sure, it can make sense to you and some other people but really what are you getting out of it? In the grown world, these people never went after you, the ones that did it growing up did it for their own insecure reasons. Don’t turn that around and think that two wrongs make a right, cuz really they never do.
Jealousy. Bitterness. Resentment. Oh, he cheated on me. We had bad sex. I woofed at him on Scruff and he didn’t say thanks. I took him out to dinner once and he never got back ton me. Four of zillion reasons why we talk shit behind others backs. The best ones to me are when men talk about other men they have NEVER freaking met and act like they know them as well as their own family or best friends do. It’s human nature, I get it. We all talk about someone behind their backs. The reasons for men of a certain age to do it in this community once again come off as childish and immature. I had incident a couple of months ago where someone I knew from brief chats years ago decided to take it upon himself and ruin a couple of friendships of mine. Luckily, the two in question that he tried talking to were mature enough to understand the shit he was trying to pull, and didn’t let it phase them or our friendship. It makes me giggle though that people can be that insecure where something that was merely nothing three years back can still influence someone of a certain age to act like a 12 year old girl in order to prove a point. It gets to be a bit silly.
Maybe it’s just society that has led us to this conclusion. Is it just me or has Hollywood and the media in general embraced the bitchy gay guy? No, I am not mentioning if they are butch or queeny, that has nothing to do with it. I mean just purely mean and rude in every which sense of the way. From Jack MacFarland on “Will and Grace” to Anthony Marentino on “Sex and the City”, it sort of seems like there is a bit of typecasting which can lead to real life experience. Several reality seem to pitch the same concept, in particular “Big Brother” which I am a huge fan of. Every season (except for season 5) there is the bitchy gay guy. Really it just makes us look bad especially in the heterosexual world where they already have a preconceived notion about it. Yet as stated before, it can really lead to real life experiences in how we treat one another.
Listen, the moral here isn’t for us to hold hands, go to a yoga class and be super nice to each other because that would really make us look like a bunch of assholes. I just think that this treatment of each other can lead to serious problems within gay men such as depression, body issues and a ton of other things that can ultimately hurt who they are in the long run. Just think about what you are saying the next time you go to gossip. That’s all.
Valentine, Hint-Of-Lime, and Office: Two Obsessions and A True Love Of HonestFrugalChaos Style
HonestFrualChaos would first like to wish all my fashionistas of Manhattan a Happy Valentines Day! Let’s keep this love going with HFC’s two obsessions of the week and one true shoe love. When we’re talking about fashion there is always love! Enjoy my loves and flavors of the week!