Pinkberry, the Los Angeles-based chain that started the whole tart fro-yo craze, will open its first Northern California outpost in December in Santana Row in San Jose.

It will be located in a pavilion in Santana Row Park that now houses the concierge center that will relocate to the security center.

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I came armed with a hat, sunscreen, bottled water, and even a book.

But this is what you must do when you prepare to do battle with the Sprinkles Cupcakes line.

You may recall how last week I intended to run inside the new cupcake bakery at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, then dart across the road to the equally new Kara’s Cupcakes  in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. My plan was to compare the two to see whose cupcake reigned supreme. But of course, a lack of time trounced those plans once I spied the huge, snaking line at Sprinkles.

I did make it to Kara’s that day, where there was no line. And you’ve already read how scrumptious I thought those cupcakes were. So I thought it only fair to drag my bee-hind into line yesterday at Sprinkles to finally pass judgment.

At 2:40 p.m. on Monday, there was a line, but not too frightening of a one. Yet again, almost everyone in line was female. Oh, there were three guys queued up, but two of them gave up and left when they were only steps from the promised land — the bakery’s front door. If there ever was confirmation of which sex has the most patience, a cupcake line is unrefutable proof.

The woman in front of me recounted how her kids were so bold as to come last Tuesday — opening day of the bakery. They waited in line for one hour. Thankfully, my experience wasn’t as painful. From the time I planted myself in line to the time I walked out with my cupcake loot, about 25 minutes had passed.

I carried home one banana cupcake with vanilla frosting, one mocha (Belgian dark chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and one chocolate marshmallow (Belgian dark chocolate cake topped with marshmallow cream-bittersweet chocolate ganache). They were $3.25 each, just like at Kara’s.

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Guys, I didn’t want you to feel left out. I know the Food Gal logo is pretty darn cute, but it’s also a little too girly for you manly men out there.

So just for you, the new “Meat Boy” collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and aprons makes its debut with its very own distinct logo featuring a big, macho cleaver.

This collection, of course, is named after my hubby, whom you already know as the original Meat Boy for his insatiable appetite for all things meaty. Yes, he’s the guy who’d rather order a second entree of meat than save room for any frou-frou dessert (so unlike me). He’s the guy who gets more excited by prime rib going on sale at the grocery store than the Niners’ winning a Super Bowl — er, or any game these days actually.

This collection is for anyone who is a Meat Boy at heart (or stomach). Peruse the racks in our boutique by clicking on the “Food Gal Boutique” page at the top or just click here.

Get ready for red velvet, chai latte, ginger lemon, banana dark chocolate, and more cute-as-can-be, freshly baked, no-need-to-share treats when Sprinkles Cupcakes opens on Sept. 23 at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.

Yes, the cupcake bakery that’s all the rage with Tyra Banks, Oprah, Katie Holmes (Mrs.Tom Cruise), and other celebs is finally putting down sugary roots in the Bay Area. Other Sprinkles bakeries can be found in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Dallas, and Scottsdale. You can spot them easily by the lines outside the doors.

It’s only fitting that Pastry Chef-Proprietor Candace Nelson and her co-owner/husband Charles Nelson open a shop here. After all, Candace’s French-American great grandmother, Margaret Craig, owned three successful restaurants in the Bay Area for more than 20 years. Candace and Charles also are two former Silicon Valley tech investment bankers who spent long hours crunching numbers for others while they longingly dreamed of baking cupcakes. (Hey, I would, too!)

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This lunch bag is not only cute, but made of certified organic cotton that’s easily washable. It also was designed by a self-professed “industrial designer and Silicon Valley dropout.”

Susanne Maddux of San Francisco was the first woman on Apple computer’s elite international design team. She later started her own design consultancy business, where she helped design products for such companies as Sony, Nike, and Kuhn Rikon.

About two years ago, after losing her father and step-father to cancer, and giving birth to her second child prematurely, Maddux’s focus shifted, after she painfully realized how fragile life could be. She rededicated herself to designing things that would be socially and ecologically responsible. The result was her company, Hero Bags, which manufactures totes in the United States using sustainable materials.

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