Cupcakes & Cat Food

The Writer:  Born and raised in Peekskill, NY, about an hour north of New York City, Allyson, is an aspiring writer.  While attempting her dream to become a published author, she works in the non-profit world as a Marketing & Development professional to pay the bills and to attempt to make a difference in this crazy world.
Allyson has a range of experience in the Communications arena ranging from media relations to internal communications to interactive media and marketing.  She has worked on both the corporate and agency side touching on a variety of industries inlcuding Oil & Gas, Alternative Energy, Travel, Food and the Arts.
A graduate of Marymount College (Fordham), she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in English/Journalism.  She enjoys writing about her family, travels and the entertainment of everyday life.
Allyson is the youngest of seven children and currently lives in her hometown with her two cats Mysti & Beeker. Her all time favorite cupcake shop is Crumbs at Bryant Park in NYC.

The Concept: I know what you’re thinking – Cupcakes & Cat Food?  Not an enticing combination I know, and no, I don’t eat cat food.  The title came about during a phone conversation with my good friend Mollie.  After having a bad day I had been on the phone with her on the drive home from work rambling on about something, that I was surely over dramatizing, and was craving a cupcake to comfort me.  I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up cat food for my cats so that they would be fed and happy, and I thought why not pick up cupcakes to make me happy.  As long as there are cupcakes and cat food all is right with the world.  I mean c’mon … who doesn’t like a cupcake?
Then it dawned on me … how pathetic would I look going up to the register with cupcakes and cat food?  Clearly the cashier would know I was a pathetic, single, lonely woman with cats – an up and coming spinster of sorts.  And to top it off, a girl with quite a few pounds to lose buying cupcakes no less!  I could go to the self check out, but I hate those things.  I always end up needing assistance and having to press the button to make the check out aisle light flash, which would then bring even more attention to my pathetic purchases.  Plus I didn’t have my handy dandy discount card to save a few cents on the cat food that was on sale, and a human cashier could enter a discount code for me.
It was that night, in the conversation with Mollie that I declared I would someday write a book and call it Cupcakes and Cat Food.  This may not be a book, but it’s my attempt at getting it started.
If you’re wondering … I never did go to the grocery store that night.  The cats ate a can of tuna and I went cupcake-less.