What a girl can’t and won’t deny: her love for a sweet treat
dark chocolate ganache sheet cake
One of the best things to come out of my friendship with two of my dearest friends (shoutout Gabi and Ashley), is the discovery and love for the Trader Joe’s sheet cakes.
The Trader Joe’s sheet cake has single-handedly deepened our girlhood and connection - it is the common experience that continues to bring us together. Read more about girlhood here.
Background
On a trip to one of the girls' cities, we took a grocery run to Trader Joe’s. The Trader Joe’s mini sheet cakes had just made their debut and our sweet treat lovin’ selves couldn’t resist a chocolate cake, especially a dark chocolate cake.
As we were checking out, the cashier had asked about our plans, and our plans were to chill and eat our snacks, but specifically this dark chocolate sheet cake. The cashier had only positive things to say about the cake, even mentioning that he could eat the whole thing himself. With that in mind, emotions heightened and excitement filled me up.
Whatever happened between leaving Trader Joe’s and eating that cake is just the space between because all thoughts and feelings came to a halt once having a spoon full of that dark chocolate sheet cake.
You’ve heard of dream blunt rotation, but have you heard of dream sheet cake rotation? Between the three of us girl friends, there was more than enough to go around. The timing between each bite from passing her (the sheet cake) around was the perfect interval, with time to savor each bite as well as slow down to not have the urge to finish the entire tray - not to mention, the sweetness could use a cleanse with a sip of water.
Before I continue to confess my love for the dark chocolate sheet cake, let’s please mention that it could be considered too sweet without possession of a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate. But, fear not, there are other options for whatever sweet tooth you possess.
For you: page? No, for you: flavors.
The two flavors that dropped were: dark chocolate and vanilla (technically dark chocolate ganache and chantilly cream vanilla bean). I naturally gravitate towards chocolate sweets, so that wins every time. However, that is completely biased considering I’ve yet to try the vanilla bean one.
Pitting those two flavors against each other isn’t fair for a multitude of reasons, but my top reason being that they serve different purposes. What those purposes are can be up for debate at a different time because more importantly, dark chocolate and vanilla are not the only flavors.
My next flavor discovery was during the -ber months, and it completely changed the game, bumping dark chocolate ganache to second place: pumpkin spice.
Pumpkin spice sheet cake -
You haven’t left my mind since the moment you entered my life.
Four months with you isn’t long enough,
but I understand your need for longing.
You can only be brought upon this earth during certain seasons,
and I am so glad that season has bestowed upon us now.
We’ve met again and every moment will be savored.
She (pumpkin spice sheet cake) came at a time that everyone goes into a craze about her flavor profile, one that I struggled to get on board with. She was and is just another marketing tool for fall - but she is one that caught my attention.
Mr. Joe got me hooked on this one.
When -ber season was coming to an end, so was my beloved pumpkin spice sheet cake.
I had just thought that the joy of a new flavor had dissipated until I laid my eyes on someone new: gluten free yellow sheet cake. Her fight for first place persists, but it isn’t difficult competition considering I see her year-round.
Not only does my gluten intolerance hold huge weight when it comes to this competition, but the gluten-free sheet cake actually possesses the texture, moisture, and flavor that the other gluten-full sheet cakes hold. Let’s be completely honest, in most scenarios, the absence of gluten is obvious. However, that is not the case here. She (gluten-free yellow sheet cake) provides me the joy of a sweet treat without hurting my stomach. For that, she wins.
More seasons, more fun
Fall flavors aren’t for everyone, and sometimes neither are chocolate, vanilla, or yellow. I didn’t forget that other seasons have their own moments, too - they just didn’t have a moment with me, but they fully deserve recognition.
Come spring time, lemon and carrot made their debut. Even summer rolled around and showcased strawberry. While I typically love all of these flavors, they didn’t make it to my ranking.
The seasonal sheet cakes bring me joy, knowing that I can try something new and talk to the girls about it. The only one who’s caught my attention thus far has been my girl pumpkin spice. I’m not ashamed to admit it. She is just that girl!
Conclusive thoughts
My love for a sweet treat will never die, and my love for the Trader Joe’s sheet cake continues to feed that feeling. Not only does she stir riveting conversation with others, hosting friendly debates on which sheet cake is best, but she is the perfect ending bite on any given day.
If you haven’t tried the Trader Joe’s mini sheet cake, what are you doing? Oh yeah, did I mention that she’s mini? Let’s talk about it: which one is your favorite?
xoxo,
kaels
too bad ain’t me <3
The Second Coming: Is Second Puberty a Real Thing?
Being a woman in your early 20s
updated: Jan. 2026
Scrolling through TikTok, I came across a woman who was discussing the idea of a “second puberty”: how women in their early twenties, typically around twenty-three years old, undergo a “rebirth”.
I had originally come across this concept at twenty-three years old, thinking I was going through a second puberty. Though I do believe in the idea of a second puberty, I don’t think it happened at that age - that was solely my “rebirth”.
It’s now been three years since I originally came out with this piece, and I have a very different perspective on life. I believe that now I am truly going through “second puberty”, being in my mid-20s.
The “Rebirth”
Early 20s can be seen as our “rebirth”: most of us are navigating a whole new chapter in our lives.
Reflecting on my life at twenty-three, I was navigating through life as if I was a whole ass adult. As much as I wanted to cosplay adulthood, I definitely wasn’t at that point yet. If I’m being honest, I still don’t feel that adult. It’s nearly three years later, but that’s the point: we’re continuing to learn and grow, at whatever stage we are in our 20s.
At twenty-two/twenty-three, I was fresh in the workforce, pretending as if I was grown. I had no idea what I was doing, what I truly wanted, or where my future was headed. That’s not to say that I don’t have those same thoughts, but I can confidently say that it’s in a much different light: I am more accepting of the unknown.
My “rebirth” was simply for understanding that I have a whole life ahead of me. For me, it’s where I started to learn more about myself and a stepping stone for where my life could potentially go. I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew that I had things to work on and things I wanted to do.
The “Second Puberty”
The “rebirth” was a difficult, yet necessary transition into adulthood. I don’t have all of the answers to navigating your 20s, but I have a better understanding of what it means to be in this phase of life.
The hardest part about my “rebirth” was the growing pains. My challenges were presented on a wide spectrum ranging from being new to the workforce to navigating adult friendships to understanding family dynamics. All things that we’ll dive into, later in this series.
Now that I’ve come out the other side of this “rebirth” and am entering the “second puberty”, there are a handful of things that I am certain of.
Self-love is an important kind of love.
Be authentically yourself - learn more about who you are and don’t be afraid to showcase yourself.
Your friendships are of utmost importance - community is important.
Take any and all opportunities that come your way.
Nothing is ever that serious, especially in the corporate world.
This list is bound to change, but being in your 20s, it’s all about learning, growing, and changing. Though we’re not going to dive into the meaning of this list, we’ll definitely touch on all of these subjects later in this series.
For now, let’s continue to understand how we can get through the “second puberty” and if it’s a real concept.
Getting through the “second puberty”
The ultimate tool to assist a huge shift or new chapter - in this case, the “second puberty” - is self-reflection. I am a big proponent for journaling, in whatever capacity that may be. For this, it is really useful for self-reflection.
Not only does it allow you to have moments of reflection, but it can help you on a path forward, whether that’s creating goals or visualizing your future.
Reflecting back on my early 20s, or my “rebirth”, there were so many lessons learned and mistakes made. My biggest lesson was learning: what it means to be a good friend and a good person. There were things that I’ve done that I’m not proud of and it had a lot to do with the people I was surrounding myself with.
It took some reflection to come to that conclusion: that me and some friends didn’t align in values or goals. Though those were hard conclusions to come to (ultimately shedding old friends), they were necessary to becoming the person I am today.
A big part of getting through “second puberty” is learning from our mistakes. We have to realize that making mistakes is part of being in our 20s. We have to allow ourselves to make mistakes and to have failure because it allows us to learn, grow, and form a sense resiliency. Use those moments as tools for growth, rather than setbacks.
The truth about the “Second Puberty”
So, is “second puberty” a real thing? Scientifically, no, but socially, yes! Things are awkward; we’re learning more about ourselves, we’re noticing changes, we’re trying to make new friends—all things that I can confidently say I’ve experienced during puberty.
It is difficult, but with self-love, self-reflection practices, and strong friendships, it’s more bearable to get through.
Don’t forget, this time is ours—have fun, get to know yourself, take yourself on dates, meet new people, try new things, and put yourself out there. Do it all! This is truly prime time—our time— to live our lives, but to also learn from mistakes.
Here’s to always being baddies, practicing self-love, and proving the haters wrong.
xoxo,
kaels
too bad ain’t me<3