Sweets at the Cake Cafe!

Spoiler Alert – some of my artwork is now hanging in the Cake Café in the Marigny.

Some of my photos hanging in the Cake Cafe

A little while back, my friends Chessa Johnson and Amy Shipley asked me if I could take some pictures of them for an ad for the Cake Café, where they work. Of course! I had been there many times before and loved it. It’s a little café in the Marigny at 2440 Chartres. Open every day from 7AM to 3PM, they serve everything from breakfast dishes (I am a sucker for the crab omelet) to sandwiches, salads, and of course, yummy baked goods. Its cute little spot on a corner is the perfect locale for outside or inside dining depending on your mood or weather. It IS the Big Easy Rollergirls‘ place of choice to come on weekends after practice. Unfortunately, I’m usually filthy when I go after working outdoors all day, but occasionally I am showered and the sweat is only from riding my bike. It’s a charming café, their food is great, and let’s face it, the waitresses are hot!

Bea, Chess & Kelly enjoy breakfast

My nephew and girlfriend in line at Cake Cafe

The Frilots enjoy a meal outside

Abby can't wait to dig into her breakfast!

Fleur and Peaches can't believe how good the food is at the Cake Cafe!

The idea was to take photos of Chess and Amy decked out in their derby gear sampling many of the Cake Café’s delicious items. Easy enough. Right?

Chessa and Amy, aside from being stunning, are also incredibly goofy and naturally feed off each other whenever they are near one another. You know the old saying – Never work with children or animals. Well, a new saying could be Never work with Chessa and Amy when they are in silly moods and there is sugar to be consumed. My typical directions are usually: move your head to the left, lift your chin up a bit, relax your face. With those two it was: quit sticking things in her nose, don’t make funny faces, stop licking her. What inevitably happened was the shoot ended with a cupcake fight. Sticky sweetness all the way around – and some really good shots (AND I got to take a box of goodies to my co-workers)!

This photo is part of the permanent collection at the Cake Cafe.

I sent the photos to the owner Steve Himelfarb and he selected the one he liked the best – and then I sent it off to Scott Frilot who designed this fabulous ad that now runs in the Big Easy Rollergirls’ bout program.

Photo by me; ad design by Scott Frilot

Anyway, a few weeks ago Steve asked me if I would like to hang and sell some of my photographs in his café. Sure! And finally we are getting to the whole point of this blog. So, long story short, I now have some of my work hanging in the Cake Café for your viewing and purchasing pleasure. They are on two of the walls, and if I do say, I think they fit quite nicely.

And a shout out to Sheri Montz who texted me pissed when she saw the photos and thought someone else was “jacking” my work until she realized it was me. Thanks for looking out for me, Bea! And thank you to John Haffner for helping hang the photos and taking the photo above of them in the restaurant.

So come by the Cake Café and check them out. Or if you ever want to join me for breakfast, lunch or brunch, just let me know and I will ride my bike down and meet you!

*and right after I wrote this blog, Steve just emailed me to let me know I sold my first piece. Woo-Hoo!