Good Stuff Cleveland

Two business that I've patronized lately that deserve some attention:

Paper Trails (Rocky River)--As some of you know, my aunt is pretty sick and somewhat housebound. When I was visiting last week, I asked what I could do to brighten the days--daily email, books, phone call? She and MFA Jane demurred on all but the suggestion of a daily letter (oh, and sign up and pay for online dating already, Kerry! Amuse us with tales of the mens of Cleveland and Arizona!) was received with some enthusiasm. Lacking writing materials, I trotted over to Paper Trails. It is a neat little store. Most of it is high quality cards and cute writing accouterments. They did not have what I wanted on the shelf, which was plain 8 x 11 writing paper. But don't fret! They were able to get me what I really wanted--white stationery with my initials in red at the top with matching envelopes! It was special order printing and they did it within 3 days. (I asked for this for Christmas, but no one thought I was actually serious about wanting this.) Go over and check it out and say hi to Katie! She'll set you up nicely.

So--anybody want a letter?

Cakes Plus (Fairview Park)--A long time ago, I had the world's best cake, made by a woman who make crepes in the Arcade downtown. She moved to one of the other arcades and started selling brownies and cakes only, and they are seriously the best brownies, ever. They have the textural consistency of butter with real chocolate and sugar and a little flour to make the concept of eating soft chocolate butter appetizing. Cakes Plus is open Thursday-Saturday for walk-in brownies, but she also sends them by mail. It's expensive, but Aunt Marry Jane and MFA Jane agreed--best ever. Delicious. Seriously, you can eat them every day for a week and still not be tired. Okay, I realize that me and mine are not people who could ever not eat something rich and delicious for days and get tired of it, but still.