Thursday, December 31, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen...Elvis has entered the building.


Tiny guitar not included.

The Velvet Elvis, that is! In honor of what would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday on January 8th, we've come up with our own version of his favorite peanut butter and banana sandwich. Our January Cupcake of the Month is a moist banana cake, topped with a rich peanut butter chocolate fudge frosting, and a sweet and crunchy little banana chip. So throw on your blue suede shoes and shake it on over to Cupcake Royale on January 1st to try our cupcake fit for The King.

In the meantime, here are some more photos.


And a banana was his crown.


Elvis impersonators. They're everywhere!


Elvis' babies!


The King lives! NOM!

All photos by Amanda Ringstad Photography.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Baby Crazy!

Crazy for New Year's babies, that is. Well, we're all excited about New Year's babycakes, to be exact. To help you ring in 2010 the Royale way, we'll be serving up little baby versions of our delicious new Red Velvet cake AND our wildly popular Salted Caramel. That's right folks. Order up some of the these New Year's babies for your celebration, and get the year off on the right foot. We've got New Year's Baby 6 packs for $8.10 and New Year's Baby 12 packs for $14.50.

And for those of you who take your cupcakes in full-sized form, we have these precious little baby toppers in assorted plastic ethnicities.



And for those of you with a soft spot for Rankin & Bass specials, here's their version of Baby New Year...playing with a dragon. While floating down a stream.



HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CUPCAKE ROYALE!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Santa's coming!

That's right people. Just 3 more days...



We know exactly how he feels.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Have your dessert, and drink it too.


Mmm. Port. Image from the Quady Winery website.

Oh geez. Delicious, freshly baked cupcakes paired with Andrew Quady dessert wines! Sounds like one sweet shindig to us. We're super excited to be part of 12th and Olive Wine Shop's Sunday tasting this weekend! Come on by and sip on some fine dessert wines from Andrew Quady, then continue to fine tune that sweet tooth with a cupcake from Cupcake Royale. 12th and Olive is all about the tastings. Andrew Quady is all about the dessert wines. And you KNOW we're all about the cupcakes. This iron triad of goodness comes together to form one delicious dessert-themed event. Be there!

12th and Olive Wine Shop
Sunday, December 20th
3:00-7:00 pm


Seattle, the other port.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Grande. Sassy. Steel-y. Dan?



Still got some Christmas shopping to do? Duh. If you're like us, you probably haven't even started. It's cool. We got you covered. Come on in and pick up a few of these babies: The Grande Stainless Steel Coffee Tumbler. This stainless steel stallion of coffee carriage holds 15 oz of hot beverage goodness inside, and has a rad new design outside.

Sassy cupcake saying. Delicious Vérité coffee. And your first drink is FREE!

That's right. This sweet gift comes with a free coffee drink for maximum giving joy. Made with love, using Stumptoxn beans, and totally on the house. For just $16.95 (plus that free coffee everyone's talkin' about), you can go ahead and get a few, and get to checkin' folks off that Christmas list of yours.

While you're here, don't forget to treat yourself to a Figgy Pudding and/or Eggnog cupcake. You deserve it.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Royale Tannenbaums


Oh Christmas tree!
Oh Christmas treeeee!
How tasty are thy branches!

Well, this is, after all, a cupcake tree. A five-tier pedestal stocked with mouth-wateringly festive cupcakes from Cupcake Royale. The perfect touch for your holiday party, at home or the office. To order one of these arboreal confections, give a call to 206.883.7656.

That's not the only tree we're ooo-ing and aah-ing at this holiday season. Check out the sparkly new digs over at our Capitol Hill café.



She's a beaut! We can think of no better way to make merry than to head on over and sit next to this here Christmas tree, in all it's sparkling fifties-style holiday glory, while sippin' on a piping hot gingerbread latte and treating yourself to an eggnog cupcake. Very merry, indeed.

Cute couple

We won't try to give it one of those inane couples' combo names like Bennifer or Brangelina, (mostly cuz we can't think of one that's funny) but it's kinda like that. Cappuccino + Cupcakes. A match made in caffeine + sugar heaven. However, this hot little item stands no chance of a tragically public break-up, and we know you won't be seeing these two on the cover of Us Weekly any time soon. Although, Cupcake could make the summer beach bodies page. She looks good.



So, what are we talking about? A Cupcake Royale gift pack, of course! It's the holiday season, the season of giving, the most wonderful time of the year! And we've got you covered. Give sweetly with our Cappuccino + Cupcakes Gift Pack. Sipping is oh-so-sweet when you give two vintage-inspired, pink European porcelain cup and saucer sets with two free cupcake cards. And at $20 each, (You save $9. $9!!! Que ganga!) you can afford to sweeten up a few of your friends this season.



It's only available in stores, but lucky for you, we've got four of those, so come on into the one in your neighborhood today, and get your holiday shop on! With a piping hot minty mocha and a Figgy Pudding cupcake, holiday shopping was never so enjoyable.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Fa-la-la-la-licious!

Is really the only way to describe the ridiculously delicious cupcakes we have for you this holiday season. We'll introduce you here, but to really get to know these mouth-wateringly merry morsels, you've gotta come in and try 'em!

FIGGY PUDDING

Oh yes. That's right. We made a Figgy Pudding cupcake, and it's freaking phenomenal! Because we all like figgy pudding, so bring some right here! As the song goes. We took some figs and pureed them, then we stirred in some chunks of dark chocolate. Then we swirled that gooey goodness into a fudgy chocolate cake batter. Bake it up, and you get a rich chocolate cake with a hint of fig throughout, plus surprise pockets of ooey-gooey-fudgy-figgy goodness. But wait! Then we top the whole thing off with a light and fluffy brandy chocolate buttercream. We suggest you get in on this. Pronto.


EGGNOG


Have another cup...cake! Zing! We take or delicious vanilla buttercake and top it off with real eggnog buttercream, using local butter and eggnog from our dairy farmin' pals over at Medosweet. Then we top it with festive sprinkles and dust it with nutmeg. It' like that scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, only without the rad antler mugs. And no awesome dickie.


CANDY CANE


Because you can't beat a holiday classic. Wintry peppermint buttercream on vanilla or chocolate cake, all topped off with a festive starlight mint and a dash of holiday sparkle.


RED VELVET


What better time to debut a new red velvet recipe than the holidays? And this little number is truly a Christmas miracle! For those of you who are into that sorta thing. This classic southern buttermilk cake has a hint of cocoa and is topped off with a generous swirl of cream cheese frosting. And oh yeah, IT'S RED!

So get on in here and get some! OR, stay at home, order online, and have them delivered! Santa's not the only one making house calls. CLICK HERE to order some now. They're perfect for parties, hostess gifts, at home, the office, school, teachers, Secret Santa's...whatever!

Let the holiday funtimes begin! 'Tis the season, indeed.

All images by the talented cfisherphotography.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Fireworks! No fingers lost in the process.

Because these Fireworks are soccer players. Super, duper awesome soccer players, who happen to sport the sassiest little uniforms this side of the Mississippi. The story of the Fireworks will surely go down in sports saga history, alongside such great tales as Mighty Ducks and Mighty Ducks 2.


Legends in the making.

The Fireworks were a team of 7-year-old girls who had it all going for them - skills, camaraderie, sportsmanship and a dynamic duo of coaches. However, they lacked just one thing - sass. And if anyone knows how to sass it up, and sass it up GOOD, it's Cupcake Royale. To the rescue! We swooped in with our mad digital art skillZ and extensive sassy slogan catalogue to whip up one fine lookin' uniform. Offset hot pink cupcake on the front, "DOES A BOOTY GOOD" printed on the back. On the booty, to be precise.


The dawn of a new, sassier era in youth soccer.

Clearly, the Fireworks were sparked by this new found style and pizzazz. All decked out in their sweet new uniforms, the girls went on to thoroughly rock the 8 other teams in the Capitol Hill Youth Soccer League, earning an 8-0 record, with an average margin of victory of 7 goals. Yes. 7 goals.


Simply unstoppable.

The undefeated, pint-sized footballers finished their season in first place, and celebrated in style with a Sprinkle-Your-Own-Cupcake party at our Capitol Hill café.


Time to get your sprinkle on.

Well done, Fireworks. You are indeed an inspiration to us all.

Wanna throw a Sprinkle-Your-Own-Cupcake (SYOC) party at our Capitol Hill party table? Yeah. You do. Click HERE for details and booking.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Art for November

It's November and we have a fresh crop of new art in our cafes to go with our new Cupcake of the Month, Cranberry Orange!


Entryway Proposal for University Art Museum by Leo Saul Berk

Our Capitol Hill store is pleased to present a new group show called I do which explores the relationships between artist couples.

Dawn Cerny & Davidson Warren Burnam collaborated on a set of photographs that re-enact war scenes from a battlefield in Delaware. These photographs eventually became the source material for Dawn's show last year at Henry Art Gallery called "We're all going to die (except for you).". In conjunction with Blitz, Davidson's band Katherine Hepburn's Voice will perform live at 7pm on Thursday, November 12.

Claire Cowie & Leo Saul Berk are each exhibiting two prints. Leo's are architectural renderings for a museum. Claire is showing two prints from an architectural sculpture. Between the two of them, they've created very different takes on imaginary spaces.


Erin Shafkind

Artist Erin Shafkind is exhibiting new work in West Seattle in a show called, The Flats of Life.

"Growing up in Los Angeles, with a single mom, McDonald’s every Tuesday, and lots of television I have been greatly influenced by popular culture and modern mythology. I always felt that there was something else, something intangible that I needed, but more and more I wonder if this is a product of growing up in American Corporate culture that strived to create illusion so we would consume. Do I know what I want? What makes me happy?

In this show I am sharing a few photographs and several objects made from 1/4” birch plywood. Spinning off the idea of the flat image I am trying to create something fun yet iconic, therefore potentially mythic and even sacred. Each wood piece is editioned to 11, the idea of repetition hopefully pushing the boundaries of the machine. Yet all are hand cut and drawn and are objects that I find to be truly beautiful."


One of Cupcake Royale's dear friends, curator Daniel R. Smith, returns with his annual poster show in Madrona. This year it's the Seattle-Moscow Poster Show, highlighting some of the best poster designs from Russia and Seattle. This show had its debut at Bumbershoot, where it's become a yearly highlight for the festival.

"In this third and final poster show linking Seattle to cities around the world (following Havana and Tehran), I chose to visit Moscow. My decision was based on the strong tradition of Russian graphic design, current and historical political differences between our countries, and the idea of exploring design in a post-revolutionary culture—a thematic bond that unites Havana, Tehran and Moscow from the perspective of the United States."

Dan is currently traveling so this show will be installed Saturday, November 7.



In Ballard this month, we're pleased to present returning artist Brandon Ilenstine.

"I find great pleasure in studying modern minimalism, high fashion, and urban decay. The unique contrast of traditional beauty against the deterioration of modern destruction is awe-inspiring and serves as the basis of my work.

My images investigate the nuances of human hope and evolution through self exploration. I love iconic imagery, anatomical illustration, and chaotic backgrounds. I explore abstract dream-like scenery and meditative environments which suggest the expansion of one’s self without the interruptions of the world."

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Spooky-Scary



Spooooooky ghosts. Scaaaaary monsters. Fraaaady cats. Haaaaaairy spiders. All on top of delicious little scratch-baked cupcakes! Ok, maybe not hairy spiders. That's gross. But we do have the non-hairy kind, for your eating pleasure. Muwahahahahaaaaa!

Scare someone sweet this Saturday with some spooky treats from Cupcake Royale.



BOO!



Hisss!



Muwahahahahaaaaaa!

CLICK to order online, or CALL one of our four cafés for added spookiness...if you dare.

And here's a spooky-scary bonus to enjoy while you eat your delicious Halloween cupcakes. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


Friday, October 16, 2009

Film + Cupcakes = Goodness



And this weekend, Capitol Hill is filled with the goodness! The 14th Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival kicks off with a bash tonight and runs through next Sunday. We're long time sponsors of the festival, and look forward to it every year, but this year...there's MORE!

Our Capitol Hill café is the official lounge of this year's festival. What does that mean? Well, two things. And they're both super terrific.

1. As our way of saying thank you to festival filmgoers, and to support the arts and the discussion thereof, we are offering a free babycake with a coffee or tea purchase to anyone with a ticket stub or festival pass. Films are screening all week at the Egyptian and over at our superfriends the Northwest Film Forum, so we really could not be better positioned as your official festival hang out. See a film. Bring your friends. Discuss over coffee and cupcakes. Perfect.




2. We are actually showing a film in our café! Yes, you read that correctly. Starting Saturday and running through the end of the festival, 13 Love Stories will be projected on the wall of our Capitol Hill café at 3 pm and 8 pm each day. This film "profiles the moving stories of thirteen couples whose lives were profoundly affected by Proposition 8 - the recent California ballot initiative that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry." We are psyched to have this important piece showing in our café, and it couldn't be more timely for our own state. Your chance to help us APPROVE REF 71 is just around the corner. Get those voting pens ready!




Speaking of marriage equality, remember when we had a little fundraiser called Legalize Gay Cupcakes? We kicked it off for Pride back in June, and sold tees, buttons, and stickers to raise money for Lambda Legal, those good folks who fight hard every day for marriage equality and equal rights across this great nation. Well, the gear has been sold and the tally is in. Thank you to everyone who helped us raise $1762 by buying a Legalize Gay Cupcakes tee, button, or sticker, and rockin' the message hard! Keep up the good work as we fight to get Ref 71 approved, so that ALL Washington families have rights they deserve.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

HCAN National Call-in Day!


Today and tomorrow are big days for health care reform! HCAN (Health Care for America Now) has marked Oct 5th and 6th as national call-in days to coincide with the beginning of the Senate merging the Kennedy HELP committee bill, a bill that includes a public option, with the Finance Committee bill, which does not include a public option.

What's all that mean? Well, recently, the big hold up in health care reform, (other than all the false information that people who prefer saving their huge bank accounts to saving human lives have been spreading,) has been the Senate Finance Committee. Those folks just could not agree on a bill. The main object of contention was, of course, the public option. They released their bill a couple weeks ago, and voila, no public option.

Not good, America. Just not good at all.

So, the bill they put forth now needs to merge with the bill put forth by the Kennedy HELP committee. Their bill does include a public option. And there is clearly only one way for this to go for the good of ALL Americans: we need the public option.

So pick up your phones, call your lawmakers, and say it like it is. America NEEDS a strong public option. We NEED to keep the private insurance giants in check. We cannot let them continue to turn astronomical profits by keeping people sick, or just letting them die. That is not the kind of people Americans are. That is not the country we want to live in. We need real reform. Real bad. Right NOW.

Now call this number and say just that: 1-877-264-4226

Thank our Washington Senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, for fighting hard on behalf of all Washingtonians, and for sticking behind the public option, and encourage them to keep up the good fight on behalf of all Americans.

Senator Cantwell has drafted a petition on behalf of the public option. After fighting hard for it, and watching her committee exclude it from their bill, she is rallying the people to push it through. That is just what we love to see. Click HERE to sign the petition, and help Senator Cantwell in her fight for real health care reform.

We can do this. Now let's get it done!

Friday, October 2, 2009

BirthDAY WEEK. All the kids are doin' it.

Well, Morgan Clark is. Well, her mom is. She's been sending things to her daughter all week leading up to her 18th birthday this Sunday. Birthday Week Day #5's surprise...babycakes! She ordered some sweet little babycakes using our handy-dandy online order form, and had them delivered to her daughter at SPU. This is what they looked like when they arrived.



As you can imagine, the birthday girl loved them. And her mother, Kimberly, was pretty psyched about how EASY it is to get cupcakes delivered. She wrote us the sweetest little thank you note, and included the above photo.

So, get on board! Send someone special a sweet little treat right now by clicking HERE!

And hey Morgan Clark - Happy 18th birthday!

Rock Out With Your FREE BABYCAKE Out...tomorrow in Ballard.


That's right party people! ReverbFest, Seattle Weekly's local music extravaganza is taking over Ye Olde Ballard as it does every October, and we can't wait! This year's line-up includes Erik Blood, Final Spins, KHV, The Maldives, Fatal Lucciauno, Visqueen, and many more. These local rockers will be taking the stage at all the Ballard hot spots, like the Sunset, the Tractor, and Conor Byrne, for a neighborhood-wide day of musical awesomeness.

Click HERE for all the details, including show times and locations. Click HERE to download a song from all 64 performers.

KILL-ER.

But wait! The neighborly funtimes do not stop at the venue doors! Ballard is spreading the love all OVER this weekend. How does a free babycake to wash down your coffee sound? Or how about $2 of a new album at our superfriends' Sonic Boom? Well it can all be yours. A bunch of Ballard businesses are offering free stuff and sweet deals this weekend if you show up wearing your Reverb wristband. Walk in rockin' that wristband at Cupcake Royale, and we'll hook you up with a free babycake with any coffee. Stroll on next door to Asher Anson, and get yourself lookin' good, for %10 off. And then mozy on across the street for $2 of a new album at Sonic Boom.

And the timing could not be more perfect. For you, that is. Why, you ask? Because as of yesterday, WE HAVE HARVEST FEST BABYCAKES! That means you can use your fancy wristband magic to get yourself a tiny taste of Caramel Apple or Pumpkin Maple... on the house.

Contain yourselves.

See you tomorrow.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The 5th Annual Cupcake Harvest Festival is here!

Brought to you by the illustrious Mr. Squirrel...along with Shepherd's Grain, Tiny's Organic Farm, Woodring Farms, and Ralph's Organics. We're servin' up a fresh fall crop of Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Maple, and Carrot Cake cupcakes. Here are the complete stats on our official fall roster.

CARAMEL APPLE
Hometown: Wenatchee, WA and Monroe, WA
Position: Next to a piping hot cup of caramel apple cider



Everybody's favorite old-timey treat on a stick...in cupcake form! A delicious golden cake made with tart chunks of local Honey Crisp apples from Tiny's Organic Farm and sweet apple butter from Woodring Farms. Topped with our house made caramel buttercream, this apple-packed little slugger puts a pie to shame.

PUMPKIN MAPLE
Hometown:
Corvalis, OR
Position: Next to a pumpkin latte



Two fall flavor all stars paired together in one ridiculously delicious cupcake. A lightly spiced pumpkin cake made with organic pumpkin from Stahlbush Island Farms is topped with an out-of-the-park maple cream cheese frosting. That's right: MAPLE. CREAM. CHEESE. It's new to the game, but this cake is already batting a thousand.

CARROT CAKE
Hometown: Mount Vernon, WA (Please note that Carrot Cake is still a little sad about this whole "key to the city" situation. Glenn Beck makes cupcakes cry.)
Position: In your mouth



Our classic carrot walnut cake is new and improved now that it's made with fresh, local, organic carrots from Ralph's Organics! Topped with a rich cream cheese swirl, this veteran treat still has a lot of real good innings in it.

There you have it, the key players on the 5th Annual Cupcake Harvest Festival team. And, of course, leading the team to sweet success...Mr. Squirrel! It wouldn't be the Harvest Fest without Mr. Squirrel tees. We got 'em screened on organic cotton in men's, women's, and kid's sizes, plus onesies for all the little babycakes in your life.



So hurry on in and grab a bushel of tasty harvest cupcakes and a sweet new Mr. Squirrel tee.

OR click HERE to order 'em online...and you can even get 'em delivered! To your office, your best friend's office, your house, your apartment, your kids' school, wherever. (sorta)

And stay tuned for the November line-up, when Caramel Apple gets a pinch hitter...Cranberry Orange!

Art for October

Get Excited by Chona Kasinger

West Seattle is celebrating rock-n-roll this month with new art by Chona Kasinger. Titled Almost Famous, this series offers us "A glimpse into the incendiary world of rock and roll as seen by an underage live music photographer/writer." See more of her work here.

Learning from the loudest voice by Chris P.

One of our favorite artists will be showing in Madrona. Chris P. opens up The Cud That Chews Itself. To see more of his work, swing by our Madrona store or check out his website.


Untitled by Weston Jandacka

A beautiful and moody show by Weston Jandacka is now hanging in Ballard. "In this series of illustrated photographs, he offers up an ambiguous story to the viewer. Each image being individually it's own story while also playing a role in the overall continuity to the series. One can conjure up personal conclusions through these stage sets." See more of his work here.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

And the award goes to...Jody Hall!


Photo taken with my iPhone.

This morning at the Swedish Cultural Center on Dexter, some of the city's best gathered to acknowledge the progress our community has made over the past year to make this state, and this country, a better place for everyone. Washington CAN! hosted its Annual Social Justice Breakfast bright and early for those who could crawl outta bed on this all too autumnal morning, and boy are we glad we did. Our very own Jody Hall was honored with the Deana Knutsen Grassroots Leadership Award! Along with three other amazing, community-minded individuals who've been doin' it up big for the people over the past year, Jody was recognized for her hard work on health care reform. We could not be more proud, nor more honored to share the room with such an incredible group of folks.

Big thanks to Washington CAN's Joshua Welter, for all of his hard work and coaching over the last year and a half. Jody couldn't have done it without him!

And a huge shout out to superfriend Molly Moon! Thanks to her for all of her work for health care reform for small businesses, and for sponsoring this wonderful event.

Sure does our little cupcake hearts a WHOLE lotta good to start the day out in company like that.

Go Jody go!

Don't stop now, people. This is a fight we can win, as long as we keep fighting. Health care for ALL!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Amber waves of LOCAL grain

You know we love to keep it local here at Cupcake Royale, and we're always tryin' to find ways to make our business even more local-er. We're members of our neighborhood chambers and local business owners groups, we donate to all sorts of local organizations and schools, and we always support our fellow neighborhood business owners whenever they are in need of a little sugar and caffeine. We've been baking our cupcakes with local dairy and eggs for some time now, and we feature seasonal, local produce in our delicious Cupcake of the Month. Sugar, cocoa, and vanilla are a wee bit tough to come by north of the equator, but we knew we could still do better.

So, we got in touch with the good folks of Shepherd's Grain.


There's grain in them there silos.

We've known about Shepherd's Grain forever, but they just didn't have the right type of flour to make our cupcakes truly Royale. Turns out, when you bake as many cupcakes as we do each morning, the kind of flour you use is a pretty, pretty big deal. Fred & Co over at Shepherd's Grain were excited to work with us, and totally up for the challenge of milling a cake flour that was truly Royale. We handed them our flour spec sheet, and voila! The perfect cake flour, milled just for us, from the grains they grow on their no-till farm in Eastern Washington. That's right. They are milling a local flour made specifically for us.


Jody learns a thing or two from our man Fred.


What's so great about that? A LOT.

First of all, we are just wholeheartedly thrilled to be working with such a fine bunch of people. They care about their community, their product, and the earth. A no-till farm is just what it sounds like - they do not till the earth after a crop has been harvested. The field is left as-is, and the remaining plant matter is left to decompose, resulting in a type of soil called humus. This nutrient rich, highly absorbent soil holds water even in the desert climate of Eastern Washington. Plus the non-invasive processing of the fields results in less erosion and overall topsoil loss. It's a sustainable farming practice that preserves the field for future generations, and makes us feel REAL good about using their flour.


The Royale inspection.

Second, we all pretty much know by now the benefits of participating in the locavore movement. Support local agriculture, an integral part of the local economy. Cut down on fuel usage and transportation needs. Encourage sustainable farming practices. And of course, you get the absolute freshest, premium ingredients.


100 years of local, sustainable farming! We HEART Shepherd's Grain.

So now that we have an amazing local grain producer making flour just for us, our cupcakes are all at least 66% local. For a sweet little product that relies so heavily on so many equatorial crops (vanilla, cocoa, sugar,) we think we're doing pretty darn good!

And now, more fun photos from Melanie & Jody's trip to the farm! Melanie is behind the camera, so you will see her only in spirit. The two ended their trip with a harvest meal at an outdoor table with the whole farming family. Seriously. These people are just that good. For more info on Shepherd's Grain, click HERE. To read the recent Seattle Times article about all this goodness, click HERE.


Bosslady loves to take the wheel.


The deed to the farm. Yup. That says Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America.


That Fred is just a wealth of wheaty knowledge!


Machines of the trade.


Bosslady loves a goody bag!