Illinois cupcakes and books

I happened to be in the Chicago suburbs for The Great Lace and was able to go to the next town over to walk around with a friend- there happened to be a bookshop and cupcake place almost right next to each other! Of course we had to go to both!

First up the cupcake shop was really cute inside! It was all Alice in Wonderland themed! There was no place to sit inside but there was a courtyard outside to sit if you wanted to.

Atmosphere: 3.5/5

Of course I got my vanilla on vanilla Cheshire Cake and the person working said that the Mad For Chocolate Cupcake was their most popular flavor. The Cake on the vanilla was a little dry but had a good balance with the amount of frosting. The Chocolate one was more moist and had a creamy filling I couldn't decide what it was (maybe more swiss buttercream?)

Cake: 2.5/5

The frosting for each cupcake was different and I felt really suited each type. The vanilla was a swiss buttercream which was really smooth but rich and not too sweet. The chocolate had an almost whipped cream type texture and again not too sweet or sugary! 

Frosting: 4/5

Price was 4.50 for each cupcake which is pretty typical for cupcakes. While typical for a cupcake I wasn't a huge fan of the vanilla one so value for money is a little lower for me personally.

Value for money: 3.5/5

Total: 3.4/5

The bookstore, which I still don't know exactly how to pronounce unfortunately, was a small cute indie bookstore with a dog! The dog was very cute and friendly so was definitely a plus for this store.

I of course found the Sci-fi/Fantasy section right away and unfortunately they didn't have any of the books on my priority wishlist. I did find a book on my kind of second tier wishlist which was "A Prayer for the Crown Shy" by Beckey Chambers. This is the second novella in the Monk and Robot series, a solar-punk series about a tea monk and a wild-built robot. I really enjoyed the first one and overall I've liked Becky Chamber's writing she has a hopefulish sort of vibe to her writing that I appreciate a lot right now. 

I'm not sure if I'd go out of my way to come back specifically to this bookstore but if I happen to be downtown Crystal Lake again when visiting my parents I'd make a point to stop by!

https://www.cheshire-cakes.com/

https://abalabixbooks.com/