Hurricane Irene !

The trees outside my home being ravaged by the wind in the aftermath of Irene!

Hurricane Irene crept up the East Coast with a vengeance last night! I don't know WHO pissed her off but the Category 1 hurricane hit the tri-state pretty hard !

I am so thankful that my family and friends are all well, and experienced very little damage, if any, to property and personal belongings etc. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones and who dealt with the power outtage and severe flooding etc. My prayers go out to them all.

In the midst of the madness, there WERE some daredevils who wanted to toy with Mother Nature. While I was home screaming at the television, wondering why those crazy people did not evacuate the beaches when it was mandatory, (Long Beach, LI and Long Branch, NJ in particular), I got a text message from my friend Sheila. She told me that she was going to "swing by" to drop off some cupcakes. I thought she was kidding until she showed up at my doorstep, cupcakes in tow! She wanted me to sample one of her new creations!

Although I savored every morsel, I DID wonder if my friend was coocoo for cocoa puffs! WHO DRIVES IN THE MIDDLE OF A HURRICANE TO DELIVER CUPCAKES???

The infamous cupcakes I've named "Hurricane Irene" (Cakes Galore by Sheila)

It's a chocolate, carrot and zuchini cupcake,

topped with a blackberry buttercream frosting and fresh blackberry on top!

I'm glad she made it home safely....(then she wondered why she was the ONLY ONE ON THE PARKWAY!)

At the end of the day, I'm glad that the Hurricane did NOT do more damage and has gone her merry way. Much respect to Mother Nature.