UCLA’s cupcake princess

Perhaps in conventional circumstances, when a princess goes to war against a general, we expect the one with the bow in her hair to lose.

And so it was easy to dismiss 2009 UCLA alumna Dorothy Tong, the self-proclaimed “Cupcake Princess,” when she competed on season two of Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.” After all, the final competitor standing between her and victory was Bruce Zipes, a gruff New Yorker who wore camouflage and called himself “The General.”

Tong opened Cupcake and Cookie, an online bakery specializing in her trademark cookie-filled cupcakes and cupcake-filled cookies, only a month before appearing on the show.

UCLA alumni launch fashion line Château Davana

Diana Kohan literally ditched studying for a final to watch a fashion show.

“I left my stuff in Kerckhoff during finals weeks and walked into Ackerman and I saw this insane runway show … with models and dresses and music and everything and I got really emotional,” Kohan said.

Disinterested in her psychology final, as well as school in general at the time, the UCLA alumna saw this fashion show put on by UCLA’s Fashion and Student Trends club as the catharsis for her decision to pursue fashion as a career.

Having grown up making her own clothes and taking sewing classes, Kohan was always interested in fashion, but didn’t think of it as a possible career path until she discovered the fashion club at UCLA.

Drink in the richness of some of Westwood’s most savory hot chocolates

For those who don’t like coffee or tea, there’s always been a simple, classic hot beverage to fall back on: hot chocolate.

Rumored to have been created by the Mayans more than 2,000 years ago, this delicious drink is the alternative to more caffeinated and potent choices.

This week, I went on a quest, a journey to hot chocolate Mecca, to sample and rate the hot chocolate at all the nearby Westwood cafes. So the next time you’re studying in Westwood and feel the urge for something chocolate, you know what to order.