Take a trip to Candyland at Lolli and Pops - PH DRAFT

You don’t need a golden ticket to visit Lolli and Pops, Tulsa’s newest candy store and the closest thing to Wonka’s factory I’ve seen.

With everything from grocery stores to gas stations displaying racks of candy, it can sometimes seem hard for a chocolate bar to be special. That will change the moment you walk up to Lolli and Pops, located near the food court and Macy’s at Woodland Hills Mall. I was lucky to get a tour of the store, opened in February, by owner Sid Gupta.

Tulsa currently has the only Lolli and Pops store in the nation. The shop offers more than 600 different types of gummy and sour candies, chocolates, and gumballs plus nostalgic candies and bottled sodas. You name it, they probably have it. If they don’t, they’ll order it for you. Gupta told me during our tour that his team evaluates around 10,000 types of candies available worldwide and selects 600-700 for the store.

He literally traveled around the world not only in search of unique candies from Belgium, Japan, Australia and Spain but also the unique décor of the store. The stain of the wood floors, colorful Italian lighting fixtures, and other fine details were specifically chosen by Gupta to evoke a specific feeling of both nostalgia and wonder. The gold lettering of the store’s logo and hand-stenciled chalk display signs throughout the store (hand drawn by famous chalk artist Dana Tanamachi) add to the old world feel.



It’s the small touches that make this place special. At first glance, this large display in the middle of the store may look like just a stack of candies. However, this dark wood display cabinet is modeled after a late 1800’s apothecary seed cabinet. Lucky for us, its drawers are overflowing with the nostalgic candies we loved when we were younger.

The store’s design is wonderful but come on---you want the candy report! Three rooms spoke off the main nostalgia-themed room. The Wonka Room is brightly colored and houses all the fruit flavored hard candies, sours, and a floor-to ceiling display of Pez dispensers. Bulk candy is all weighed and priced by the pound.

The Gummy Room is just what you’d imagine. Fifteen flavors of gummy bears (try the sour apple!) plus dozens of fun shaped gummies in a rainbow of colors.

I could have spent all day in the Chocolate Room and was clearly distracted since I forgot to snap a photo. Chocolate covered fruit, nuts, nougats and creams---it’s hard to choose what to try first. Surprisingly, the candy that most stuck with me were these chocolate rocks. Though not much to look at, these crunchy nuggets were just like the crispies in the middle of a Crunch bar covered in creamy milk chocolate. I think they’d look cute at a construction themed birthday or worked into a gingerbread house display. Or in a bowl on my lap while I snacked and watched a movie.

The candy is the main star here but Lolli and Pops has a delicious display of truffles and cupcakes. Gluten free and sugar free items are available by request and sometimes special order.

Not only does this store have a much different feel than your normal mall store, it’s different than any store I’ve seen in Tulsa. It’s a destination. An experience. It would feel just as special for a children’s birthday party as it would a unique first date.

I plan to swing back in before my next girls’ night. Candy cocktail, anyone? I'm loving this candy cocktail party theme on A Beautiful Mess blog. These drinks would also be tasty made with ginger ale or sparkling cider.

photo from A Beautiful Mess blog

My trip to Lolli and Pops was inspiring and I find myself thinking up new ways to incorporate candy into my party décor. Help me out—what’s the most creative way you’ve used candy to brighten up a party or project?

Natalie's second birthday!!

It seems it has been about a year since I last updated Natalie's blog! But I'm back talking birthdays again. This time-- the big T-W-O! Natalie loves singing songs she learns at at school, from her TV shows, from her toys and books so we knew music should be a big part of her birthday bash. She is also quite the dancer and has good rhythm. Mike plays old doo-wop songs for her and she bops right along. So dancing--another must at her party. Then, after a Pinterest binge (are you on Pinterest--ADDICTING), I realized there were several cereal themed recipes I had bookmarked to try and it suddenly all came together---a PJ Dance Party!

Dad picked out the tunes, all from the 50's and 60's, and we were able to play them on the big screen TV in the living room - Hello, Mary Lou by Ricky Nelson----very danceable!

We selected some fun PJs and dancing shoes for the birthday girl. (Wish they came in mommy sizes!)

I played around with cereal themed food that her buddies would also be able to eat and want to eat. Here, I gave a go at cake pops-- funfetti cake, funfetti icing, dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with fruity pebbles. Messy, but yum!

Cereal "thank you's" to our friends who stopped by plus a fun bowl with a straw built in. Who DOESN'T love fruity pebble milk!?

Natalie's vibrant personality called for bright colors so punch pink and neon green it was. My iPhone pics aren't very bright but trust that the house was colorful. Ha! You can do a lot with tape and few rolls of streamers. Case in point:

The full food table clockwise from upper left: juice and milk boxes, cinnamon toast crunch cupcakes, fruity pebble cake pops, rainbow fruit salad, and sausage balls!

 Here is the sweet birthday girl! 

Natalie was sick on her birthday so we had to bump it in to March. Luckily, most all of our school friends were still able to attend. I think the head count was about 10 toddlers plus mommies and other good friends. The pictures look a little blurry--and it FELT a little blurry--but we piled the kids in our living room to play. A tent, a tunnel, a kitchen plus a few instruments--we had a great time!

I love seeing all the brightly colored PJs! Every outfit was so different and fun.

Natalie LOVED singing Happy Birthday!

Blowing out the candle was a little scary though.

Thoughtful presents from our friends--so many creative gifts!

And the birthday princess. She makes my heart melt!

She never slowed down once during the party and kept the dancing up long past when our friends went home. Every day feels like a little party or celebration with this kiddo, but we had an especially fun day with our friends celebrating birthday number TWO!