Eye Candy: United States of Autocomplete

Last week was ski week, and since I assume that I will still be figuring out who I am and what I do when I get back, I've scheduled another Eye Candy post for today. We'll be back to our regular blogging schedule tomorrow.

I will always maintain that maps make the best decorations. This isn't really about beauty, but when I saw this on kottke.org, I couldn't resist: The United States of Autocomplete. She made a map labeling the states based on what came up in google's autocomplete feature. That's just a partial over there on the left. The whole thing's amusing.

Eye Candy: Lizard

It's ski week for the kid here in California - aka winter break (the 2 week break around Christmas is holiday vacation and spring break is in April), aka a random week off in February. Due to the insanity this causes in my schedule, I'm scheduling a series of Eye Candy posts for the week. Enjoy!

My husband recently took a business trip to Barcelona. He brought me back a little lizard replica of the Gaudi sculptures in Park Guell. It's totally adorable! They function as water collection mechanisms, which is why this one looks like it's drooling. I don't know very much about Gaudi's work, but this makes me want to know more.

Eye Candy: Candy Blog

It's ski week for the kid here in California - aka winter break (the 2 week break around Christmas is holiday vacation and spring break is in April), aka a random week off in February. Due to the insanity this causes in my schedule, I'm scheduling a series of Eye Candy posts for the week. Enjoy!


I get to read a lot of fun blogs in the name of market research. One of them is Candy Blog - she reviews candy from all over the world and takes quite gorgeous photos. My daughter was given some French candy in class one day and lo and behold - Candy Blog had reviewed it!

She's quite forward asking people to not use her images without permission, which is why there's no actual photo in this post, but click through to her flickr photostream. It's definitely worth it!

Eye Candy: Disneyland Posters

It's ski week for the kid here in California - aka winter break (the 2 week break around Christmas is holiday vacation and spring break is in April), aka a random week off in February. Due to the insanity this causes in my schedule, I'm scheduling a series of Eye Candy posts for the week. Enjoy!

We're headed to Disneyland today for a long weekend - February is the perfect time to go. No lines and the weather's still pretty good. One of the things I really enjoy about Disneyland is the retro futuristic style of the ride posters. Well, the ones in Tomorrowland are all retro-futuristic. The others in the park have a style that matches the particular part of the park, as evidenced by this Haunted Mansion poster:

It's wonderful that the art all matches in a retro style that is still different for each part of the park. You can see more posters by searching for Disneyland posters on google images.

Eye Candy: In Focus

It's ski week for the kid here in California - aka winter break (the 2 week break around Christmas is holiday vacation and spring break is in April), aka a random week off in February. Due to the insanity this causes in my schedule, I'm scheduling a series of Eye Candy posts for the week. Enjoy!

photo by Jason Lee/REUTERS

One of my favorite photography blogs is In Focus at The Atlantic. It's done by Alan Taylor - who used to put The Big Picture together at Boston.com. He gathers together the best photos on a theme for the day - the above was from a post about Lunar New Year. It's always full of drop dead gorgeous photos about current news events. I definitely recommend it.

Intiman Theatre

A rather alarming email came through our inbox last week: The Intiman Theatre in Seattle is in dire straits - they've been financially mismanaged and, while they've restructured their management team and worked on a large part of their current debt, they still need to raise $500,000 in the next 6 weeks - by March 31st!

Why should you care? Because they Do Good Work. The Intiman has won Tony awards, I saw great plays there when I lived in Seattle, Susan is a big fan, and it's where EtsyRain holds their spring & fall shows. Which means you can get our lollipops there! (At least two weekends a year.)

How can you help? Buy tickets to one of this season's plays. Buy a subscription to most or all of the plays. Make a donation. And then tell everyone you know in Seattle to do the same thing.

Eye (and Mouth, and Brain) Candy: Fractal Cookies

This Evil Mad Scientist post is a couple of years old but was totally new to me when a friend from my math-y past sent it along. It’s pretty geeky… instructions on making fractal cookies, specifically the Sierpinski carpet tile pattern:

(source)

I'm novice at making anything other than chocolate chip cookies (What? I love them) and therefore not very practiced at working with this kind of dough and making the component strips as neatly as it seems you'd need to. So I’m a little intimidated to attempt this. They’re pretty amazing though, so I’ll file this under “someday” or maybe wait until Kate visits and insist that we tackle it jointly…

Have any of our readers ever attempted something like this? How’d it work out?

The Treasury Theme

If you've noticed an uptick in our treasury production lately, well, there's a reason for that. We've joined a treasury team - The Treasury Theme. It's been a lot of fun and a great excuse to browse all of Etsy's gorgeous virtual aisles. Susan and I both love to create beautiful treasuries and there's a curation aspect to it that appeals to the librarians in us. So come on over and take a look at what we've put together!

Have a Coke and a Smile

Photo from Wikipedia

Whenever people ask me, "What does nutmeg-creme taste like?", my typical answer is: whatever nutmeg reminds you of. We've heard from our customers that it tastes like everything from egg nog to banana bread.

Personally, I think it tastes like cola. Coke to be specific. People (including Susan) tend to look at me a little funny. You can see them thinking, Coke doesn't taste like nutmeg. However, wikipedia backs me up! No one knows exactly what the Coke recipe is, but there is nutmeg or nutmeg oil in all of those possible recipes.

I'll continue to maintain that our Nutmeg-Creme lollipops taste like cola. What does nutmeg remind you of?

Custom Lollipops for Weddings and Events

Engaged couples of Seattle, have you seen us in Seattle Metropolitan magazine’s Bride and Groom Winter 2011 issue?

On pages 72-79, check out the four creative dessert tables styled by Matthew Parker Events, and photographed by Lara Ferroni. This Charming Candy lollipops are part of the gorgeous, mouthwatering “Cake and Candy” theme dessert table.

Matthew presented the green and yellow lollipops as if they were flowers in a garden, by placing them in a whimsical curved piece of foam which was decorated to look moss-covered. It’s an effect that we find both organic and —dare we say—charming.

On top of all this wonderfulness is the fact that we are now able offer custom labels for bulk orders, as shown in the pictures! The labels aren’t huge, so they won’t accommodate lengthy text of course. Check out how awesome a pair of initials looks:

Whether you’re in Seattle or anywhere else: If you’re planning a wedding or a party for which you’d like to have customized labels, send email to thischarmingcandy@gmail.com and we’ll talk! We’d be honored to create something memorable for you.

Have an Adorable Valentine’s Day

This picture is too cute not to share, no matter if you're celebrating Valentine's Day or anti-Valentine's Day.

Photo by Becca Bond Photography 
Styling and printable party decorations by Anders Ruff

And of course – heart-shaped Cinnamon-Cherry lollipops by This Charming Candy!

Eye Candy: Jello!

I'm not a big jello fan, but OMG THIS IS BEAUTIFUL.

That's the Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco to Oakland. The artist, Liz Hickok, does fabulous work... in jello. She's part of a show at SFMOMA through April 2011, so get your butt over there to see more!

We found her via Dessert Girl, who often showcases delicious art (and tasty desserts).

Treat Yourself Right

We’re very pleased to tell people about Liberte Skin Wellness – an aesthetician in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Liberte recently approached us about buying lollipops so that she can give them to clients to enjoy during their appointments.

The fact that she would seek out locally-made, sophisticated flavors as treats for her clients illustrates the depth of caring that infuses her business. I treated myself to an appointment with her last month and can confirm that she is certainly skilled, but more importantly, she is warm and caring, and makes you feel like the center of the universe while you are with her. Check out her Yelp reviews for more.

I mean, if you’re going to have a hair removal treatment anyway, why wouldn’t you want to eat a lollipop during the process?

photo by Kevin Keeker

Someone Else's Lollipops

photo from The Kitchn

The Kitchn is a great food blog, and I may or may not visit its sister blog Apartment Therapy when I need a visual pick-me-up.

They had an interesting post last Thanksgiving about how to use apple cider, pecans and cranberries to create cute little lollipops with embedded cranberries and pecans. They suggested tying them to the tops of leftover boxes, or handing them out as your guests went home.

While I'm not sure we can recommend making your own (it would be bad for business), we love the inspiration!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We wanted to share one last Valentine's Day picture from the Anders Ruff photoshoot. I love how they're both coveting that lollipop!

Photo by Becca Bond Photography

styling & printable party decorations

 by Anders Ruff

featuring our Cinnamon-Cherry Lollipops

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is next Monday! Place your orders today, and we'll ship your candy first thing tomorrow morning, thus ensuring that it will arrive on your (or your sweetheart's) doorstep on or by Monday February 14th!

Photo by Becca Bond Photography

styling & printable party decorations

 by Anders Ruff

featuring our 

Cinnamon-Cherry and Bubble Gum Lollipops

Susan Hears Explosions in the Sky

No, the city is not under attack (thank goodness). But lately I’ve been really getting into Explosions in the Sky, an instrumental rock band from Austin, TX who happen to make a lot of beautiful music for the show Friday Night Lights – which is fabulous, by the way, and everyone should watch it, but that’s another topic for another day.

I got Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place for Christmas and I am nearly unable to stop listening to it. I like it even better than the other album I already had, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. Their songs are emotional, moving, and usually follow a kind of build-build-build-EPIC LOUD-quiet format.
Music critics seem to call this style “post-rock”, a term that kind of makes me want to hurl. I don’t know, it seems pretentious. On the other hand, I’m not sure what would be a better label for it. A few months ago, I mentioned liking a similar band called This Will Destroy You. So, I guess I’m into “post-rock”, you guys.

Whatever, check them out. They’re awesome!

a fan video by YouTube user otherwisepandemonium

There's still time! Order lollipops for Valentine's Day before February 8th!

Spicy!

photo by Kate Degelau-Pierce

I love spices. I love World Spice. I love adding spices to my food from putting garlic* on my fries to sprinkling extra red chile flakes in my pasta to sticking a cinnamon stick in my hot chocolate and so much more.

My favorite cookie recipe uses cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice for flavor. SO GOOD. I've spent some time trying to convince Susan that we should replicate them in a lollipop, but it's not made it from the list of potential/brainstormed flavors to an actual collection yet. Yet. (Recipe after the jump below.)

photo by Kevin Keeker

In the meantime, you'll have to try one of our many spice-including flavors, like Cinnamon-Cherry or Tangerine-Clove. There's still free shipping on our Spice Rack, if you want to try more than one and like free shipping!

There's still time! Order before February 8th for Valentine's Day.

* I'm not sure if garlic is technically a spice, but man does it make fries taste good.

Lollipop Shelf Life

Take a look at this beautiful Pistachio-Marshmallow lollipop… It’s got little wrinkles!

photo by Kevin Keeker

We occasionally get asked about the shelf life of our lollipops, and whether lollipops can “go bad”. The lollipop pictured above is about three months old.

They don't expire in the sense of being dangerous to eat, like expired milk. But eventually, the surface always gets a little sticky and a little wrinkled from the wrapper. You may have experienced that with cough drops or other hand candies. It’s inevitable and harmless. Once you eat through the thin layer of stickiness, the candy texture feels normal again.

That's why we ship them in a zip-top bag and recommend that you keep them in it, to give them some extra protection. We've found that they can last up to a few months at room temperature in airtight storage without becoming too sticky to unwrap. Also: please don’t store them in the shower :-)

Best Valentine's Day Story?

Photo by Becca Bond Photography
styling & printable party decorations
 by Anders Ruff
featuring our Cinnamon-Cherry Lollipops

My best Valentine's Day story is my husband's and my first Valentine's Day that we spent together. He was living in Los Angeles and I was in Michigan. We'd been together for not very long, and decided that we should meet somewhere in between - we picked Santa Fe.

We had a great weekend, and Valentine's Day was Sunday so it all worked out. However, we had somehow managed to not make dinner reservations. And did I mention that it was Sunday? Which meant that places like grocery stores were closed. Getting food turned out to be a problem. We had some extra granola bars from our hike earlier that day, so our first Valentine's Day dinner consisted of granola bars, a random grapefruit, and water. Mmmm.... We look back and laugh at ourselves now.

What's your best (anti-)Valentine's Day story?