Besides loving cake I’m also a huge fan of some good tasting candy.

Dylan’s Candy Bar is so awesome!  And you don’t have to go all the way to New York to partake in the deliciousness that is Dylan’s.

Dylan’s Candy Bar is owned by New York socialite Dylan Lauren, the daughter of Ralph Lauren.  She’s a huge lover of candy and one day decided to open up a store with all of her favorite’s, new and retro.

A girl after my own heart.

The store resembles a hipper and yummier Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  When you enter it takes your eyes about a minute to digest and focus as you are hit with a million colors and areas to explore while songs like ” Sugar Sugar” play from every speaker.

You can get any candy under the sun there as well as host parties and events, and they will create a party on the go for you to have directly in your own home!

You can make your own candy jewelry, design your own chocolate sculpture, create candy mosaics and decorate candy door hangers.  It’s super fun for kids but equally as fun for adults.

I have the honor of co-hosting my friend Eden’s bachelorette/bridal shower next month and I thought ” wouldn’t it be fun to get some stuff from Dylan’s Candy Bar.  They have so many cute things, for instance: a martini glass filled with candy or a fun chocolate Bouquet of Tulips or the marital bliss chocolate bar.

Dylan’s also have not as cute but kinda naughty things like: candy garters, candy ladies undergarments….and sorta scary….candy men’s undergarments! Seriously, who came up with the term ” Posing Pouch”?????  Eden’s totally getting that!

There is also a section called ” Kosher Candy”…what the?  I’m not exactly sure what that means coming from them but I checked it out and it is definitely stuff I’d eat!

Now I’m just waiting for them to create some candy sections along the lines of  ” Candy That Makes Your Thighs Look Awesome” or ” Candy That Triples Your Bank Account” or ” Candy That Makes People Ask For Your ID Before They Can Let You Into the After Hours Bar”.

OMG, when I first saw this I thought it was some sort of baby torturing device. 

They featured the Tummy Tub on the Today Show and I thought it was a piece on “What not to do to your baby”  but Matt Lauer was smiling so after I saw his face and that he claimed this to be a good thing I settled down.

The segment on the Today Show had multiple babies on pedestals with their moms and dads standing behind them proudly, while their baby was placed (shoved) into this plastic container.  The Tummy Tub  looks as if they intended to put the Tupperware top on it, but as usual someone put way too much into the container.

The first few babies featured on the Today Show looked happy and normal, then they showed a set of twins, both in one tub with their limbs locked around each other, faces an inch apart, looking as if they were thinking “how the hell did we get back in this situation?”. 

The very last baby they showed was absolutely adorable and absolutely too big for the tub.  She was jammed in so tight she could barely move at all and could actually blow water bubbles the water level was so high.  I’m pretty sure after she was in there a bit she was most likely water logged and that they probably had to cut her out.

Now whenever I think of the Tummy Tub I just laugh out loud.  I love the look of this thing!

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when my future sister-in-law Christine put this on her GeezeIt List.  The baby is smiling in this photo so I assume it is comfortable.  I think it looks like it is brining in there.

Of course I had to buy this for Christine’s new baby.  Not just becasue she asked for it or because she put it on GeezeIt (brownie points), but because I can’t wait to see her baby in this thing.  I’m not sure why it’s called the Tummy Tub and not the ” Baby Tub” or ” Wash -a -Baby” or even “The Baby Soaker” since it seems to do more then just wash their tummies.

I actually found a demo video on YouTube so you can see for yourself how the Tummy Tub works.  After watching this though, I’m pretty sure the Today Show didn’t follow the water line instructions and the kids were much bigger than this one, I think they were like 18 and a half! Just kidding…click here to see the Today Show clip.

I’m so excited to meet the new baby and I’m pretty fired up to see the Tummy Tub in action.  Now if they just made these for adults, maybe with vodka and a splash of cranberry juice.

However, I think those warm feelings would have been diminished after the year my mom invited the playground bully to sit next to me and have a slice.  I’m still upset that he was able to sit there and participate in the deliciousness that was mine, especially after he just tried to lock me in the bathroom.
 
I like cake when I’m happy, when I’m depressed, when it’s to celebrate anything and to celebrate nothing.  I’m actually bummed at weddings when they forgo the wedding cake for something lame like plated desserts or a dessert buffet of things other than cake. 

I have a dream of opening a store that just sells slices of wedding cake.  Don’t you think you should be able to get wedding cake at a time other than when you are at a wedding? Maybe that’s just me.

My DVR is filled with TV shows that are about making and decorating cakes.  They do the most amazing themes, colors and layers.  I find myself at 1am watching them struggle to put the final touches on a Jeep cake, or a 6 ft pink and gold cake.  I always want them to tell us what the cake ended up costing and what it tasted like.  I need that closure.
 
I also love to make cakes.  I can make them from a box or “from scratch”.  If I make them from a box I usually go with the yellow mix with chocolate frosting.  If I want to make it “from Scratch” I reach for “The Cake Mix Doctor“
 
Recently I found this cool glass cake stand that will showcase your beautiful new dessert very nicely. I envision a fabulous pastel pink triple layer cake in there.  However, mine do not look like the ones on the cake shows.  Instead my cakes have 3 cans of sloppy icing on it…similar to what a car looks like buried in 6 inches of snow. 

The effect is the same though.  Apparently, on consumption of cake I bounce around like a child with some sort of hyperactivity enjoying my sugar high and accompanying endorphin rush.  Mark recently asked me if  there such a thing as a diabetic cake with no sugar added.

I do recognize that sometimes (very rarely) it might not be an ideal time for cake.   For instance, if you have no time, no inclination or no room on your waistline.  When that time comes you can find some small comfort and perhaps get a similar effect by purchasing a cake flavored candle.
 
This candle and a glass of wine might make you feel just as satiated.  This candle and 3 glasses of wine might make you think you actually ate cake!

The answer to my mini drinking crisis has arrived!  My dad came back from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago with my new favorite beverage holder and I’ve put it on my “The Things I Like List”.  This chiller holds up your martini (so you don’t have to) while also keeping it crisp and cool…..Sweet! You can get the chiller set in a few different places but Sur La Table has a great deal, 4 for $20.

As if this couldn’t get better, I came up with the great idea of partnering the martini chiller with my Cool Jewels ice cubes.  These ice cubes not only serve a purpose but they make a statement and your friends will think your cool.  I mean blinged out drinks are the new thing right?  You can bling out your phone, your shoes (why are crocs not more attractive) and your body so why not your cocktail.  You’ll be the hippest house on the block.

 I like to add food coloring to my tray so the jewels really stand out (see picture below).  You can do different colored jewels for different guests so that they can remember which drink is theirs when they’re on their 2^nd, 3^rd or 6^th martini. If you want to get really creative you can put a little olive juice in the Cool Jewels tray and then drop a jewel into your martini glass.

I think that these glasses are the perfect size for someone like me since I am reliably informed that I get toasted pretty easily, 2 stiff drinks max to get me lit.   With these guys I can have 2-3 and probably remember the evening and not have to make any apology calls the next morning regarding my inappropriate behavior which I have become notorious for.

Apparently you can also put things like ceviche or caviar in these glasses as well.  I’m not sure mine will ever see food, but it’s nice to have options right?

Now if they can just make a stand that keeps me cool and holds me upright all night during a party then I’d be all set!  Wait hold on a sec, that already exists, it’s called a wingman!

My profession for most of my life has been as a Corporate Event Planner and I have traveled the world for work.  I loved the places I visited, the people I worked with and being able to have a different view from my mobile office each month.  Luckily, Hawaii is a destination I frequented.  The Grand Wailea is a stunning hotel and is the epitome of what you would expect to experience while on a Hawaiian vacation. 

One year while visiting Maui for work, I extended my trip and Eden flew out to meet me for a few days of fun and relaxation.  When she arrived at the Grand Wailea and looked out at the view she started to tear up (she works very hard and hadn’t been on vacation in years).  I had to quickly pay the bellman so he’d leave as he was confused by the fact that Eden had gone from super happy and chatty to standing in one place staring into the distance and crying.  It actually was eye opening for me to see Eden’s reaction as I had started to get jaded visiting the islands 3-5 times a year, I forgot how lucky I was and this helped me to stop and appreciate my fortunate circumstances. 

Eden and I spent a lot of years being each others significant others since it took us some time to find ” the ones”.  We had so many dinners together that we got tired of throwing down 2 credit cards and entertained the thought of getting a joint account to make things easier.  Maui was just one of many romantic vacations we went on together.  Eden referred to this trip from then on as “our honeymoon” (well minus the marriage certificate and the intimacy).

I was lucky to have Eden as my companion for many reasons, she’s easy to travel with, she’s fun and upbeat and she has a better back then I do.  A few years ago I injured my back and the doctor said I couldn’t lift anything heavier than a pencil so Eden became “ Sherpa Eden” and schlepped our luggage everywhere we went. She actually ended up doing this for years for me while my back continued to heal, what a good friend.  By the way, a sandwich weighs more than a pencil, think about that!  How did I not lose a ton of weight?

I guess Eden had a pretty good experience on our trip to Maui because she is going back and has listed her honeymoon fundraiser on GeezeIt. 

Eden & Aaron’s Honeymoon is a great way for the soon to be newlyweds to have friends and family contribute to their honeymoon fund to help cushion the cost of their trip. More money = more Mai Tai’s and Lava Flows.

I’m very excited that Eden and Aaron found each other and I look forward to participating in the celebration of their marriage later this year and then sending them off to Maui. Once again, Eden is in need of a relaxing vacation, and she now knows where to go to get it.  I think that her actual honeymoon ( with the wedding certificate and the intimacy) will far outweigh and surpass “our honeymoon” and at the very least Aaron will probably carry her luggage.

While researching hotels in midtown that have good deals and seemed cool ( we wanted to stay somewhere new this time for fun), I came across a hotel promising to be the best nights sleep you will ever have in New York (The Benjamin Hotel).  That is a loaded statement!  I figured if you think you can promise me that or my money back then I am definitely in!  Then I noticed that they had a Sleep Concierge and…wait for it…. a complimentary Pillow Menu with 12 different kinds of pillows you could chose from to make you as comfortable as possible…what???? And, you can swap your pillows anytime you want or add pillows…you can try them all.  They also have double paned glass and the softest sheets and plush beds.  I was sold!  I thought about this place for months in advance. 

When we checked in I was so hoping that the hotel didn’t disappoint us. At the front desk they asked if we would prefer to upgrade to a king since we currently had a queen for an extra $90 for the weekend, but we opted to check out the room first to see if we thought it was worth it.  We got to the room and it was very nice, and large by NY standards so we decided to stay. I immediately went to the Pillow Menu, then I realized we needed a King Bed.  Both Mark and I ordered the Body Pillows which are 5 feet each and felt like they came with a body in them…. they were awesome.  When we eventually got into bed we had both sides flanked with the 5 ft body pillows, 4 down pillows and 2 temperpedics.  I couldn’t move but I didn’t care.  I assumed Mark was on the other side of my fort but because I was sunk so deeply into my lovely sheets and in my pillow cocoon I couldn’t hear or feel him breathing or moving.  The only time I questioned our choice was when I rolled over and the body pillow fell to the ground with such a thud that I thought it was an actual body.

I was so proud of our hotel choice that when some friends asked why we weren’t staying at the hotel the bride and groom suggested, I was pleased to have the story of the pillow menu to tell them about.  Well, I was pleased until I found out later that night that the wedding hotel (The Bryant Park Hotel) supposedly had a Sex Toy Menu!  Really? I mean I wasn’t expecting to be upstaged by that. We were in the rockingly loud bar of the Bryant Hotel, shouting over the music, trying to have normal conversations and not feel old by yelling ” what?” over and over again when they told me about this hotel’s menu.  I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice with the Benjamin Hotel or if I now felt like I was missing out.  Then I started to think about this new menu…I mean what kinds of stuff did they have and what did one do with it once they ordered it…do you keep it, do you return it (gross) and most importantly how much do you tip the guy that brings that stuff to your room?  I could just picture how that phone request would go and you know I would have to do it because there is no way Mark was going to make that phone call.  ” Um, ya hi, this is room 1201, we’d like to order a few things.  Let’s see, how about the flavored body oil, but do you it in anything besides strawberry as I’m allergic?  Also, does the chocolate body paint come in non-fat or sugar free? And, are the handcuffs the hard metal kind or the ones with the soft pink feathers as I don’t see a picture here?” 

(BTW, I never saw the menu so I’ve no idea what was on it, this is just what I’m making up for effect and my friends had a great time at The Bryant Park Hotel.)

I entertained the idea of switching hotels for about 10 seconds and then went back to my cocktail and conversation figuring it would all workout.  When we got back to the hotel, I ordered the Upper Body Pillow, the Water-Filled Pillow and the Magnetic Pillow and had an even better nights sleep than the night before.  I’ve put the first 2 pillows on my GeezeIt List and not the Magnetic pillow beacause after all the pillows in the bed I never actually got to the lay on that one:>(  But the other 2 were so great I want them in my own bed at home!

After a few late nights of stumbling back and collapsing into our pillow filled bed for the 3 hours of sleep we would get before having to get up and do it all over again, I think we made the right choice in hotels.  And, I’m pretty sure that when I drifted off to sleep surrounded by plush, soft, supportive and perfectly positioned pillows that Mark really was on the other side of them.

My niece is around 29 months old…I don’t have kids so I still think it’s funny that they count kids ages in months, I suppose it is because each month brings huge milestones.  It’s like dating , you start off  measuring the relationshsip in months and when you’ve dated for 6 months people are either like ” wow, you guys must be serious and doing well” or ” uh oh, this is the make it or break it point”.  Being in my mid 30′s, dating a guy for 6 months is like 4 dog years.  I’m now 12 dog  years into my current and hopefully last relationship.  I love my current dog, I think I’ll keep him.

Anyway, back to the point….My niece Sydney.  She rocks.  She’s a product of very funny and cool parents.  She has a very large vocabulary  and by 24 months she started to say things like ” that sign has 3 octagons on it”, ” no, you need to put www. on it first” and “champagne, that’s how I roll” (learned that one from me).  She is very interested and interesting.  She loves listening and playing music and actually looks sideways at me when I sing something off key – it’s very unsetteling and embarrassing when she does this.

We want to encourage her love for music, so we participate in sing alongs and watch the dozen or so musical shows she likes over and over again.  My sister Lisa is a great mom, she sends Sydney to music classes where she can express herself and enjoy singing with other kids.  She’s an only child and the first grandchild so when she sings we all beam at her.  Lisa has listed music lessons for Syd on GeezeIt: Syd’s Music Class.  I can just picture how cute those classes are, a bunch of parents sitting around thinking their children are musically gifted as the teacher sits there happily tone deaf.

The classes are pricey but a lot cheaper then Juilliard  is going to be in about 15 years.

I’m thinking about suggesting that Lisa change this item to an “communal item”, that way her friends and family can contribute to the classes and she will still have a few bucks left over for earplugs:>)

Just the other day I myself offered my services free of charge to 2 of my friends, each with 2 boys under 4.  I don’t have kids (yet), so I thought I’d come over, watch the boys, and my friends could get a few hours to themselves.  I underestimated my friends…they liked the idea of me coming over but not so they could leave, but so they could have someone to share a bottle of wine with.  My kinda mommies!

GeezeIt was created out of a conversation between me and my boyfriend Mark. While shopping one day at Bed Bath and Beyond for an engagement gift for friends of ours, I was telling Mark how when it came time for our wedding we’d be looking at some of this stuff for our registry. Mark, being from Scotland, was confused by the idea that one would create a list and ask people to buy things for them. He thought it was assumptive and a bit rude. He also thought that it was weird that I was in my mid 30’s and not struggling money wise and should just buy myself a juicer if that’s what I wanted, why wait for someone else to get it for me. While overwhelmed in the spatula aisle I started to see his point. I said “you know what, you’re right, I wouldn’t want to ask for china or flatware anyway, and I would and should list things I really need or need help getting”. For instance, maybe someone will donate their airline frequent flyer miles so we can upgrade on the flight to our honeymoon or we can list our favorite wines, or restaurants gift cards, or people can contribute to our honeymoon hotel suite which I’m sure while decadent and appreciated will be super overpriced and will be one of the only times we blow money on a place we are mainly sleeping in!

After 30 seconds of discussion and a quick look on the internet for a similar site with our ideas, Mark and I created what would come to be GeezeIt. GeezeIt, pronounced Gee-Zit is a Scottish term meaning “give to me”. Originally this site was called “All I want” until I realized I never bought the domain for it…oops…try explaining that to your partner (Mark) and your site developers, while trying to be taken seriously as a business woman. Mark scoured the internet, saved the day and went with the Scottish angle…nice work!

So fast forward 1 year and we have a fully functional site and Facebook application. GeezeIt is a place for you to make your own lists (public or private) for things you are interested in or would like to have, a place to list charities or fundraisers you support, a place to host communal gift giving ideas (get a group together to contribute to tangible or non tangible items) and a place to see what others are up to and perhaps socialize with them regarding their interests and likes. GeezeIt is a place where a former corporate event planner (me) and a hardware engineer (Mark) decided to come together and build a creative and hopefully useful tool that people will enjoy.

I plan to blog about things I like, things I think other people will like, current trends and what people are putting on GeezeIt. You can checkout my blog daily on www.geezeit.com  to see what’s up and if Mark and I are still a couple after trying to work and live together.