New Friends from Maryland!

Hi Friends,

I have to share a fun story from Lola’s Sugar Rush! The other day, this charming young couple walked into the Sugar Rush. Right away they said, Hi Lola! as if they’d known me forever. I did not recognize them, but I treat everyone who comes in the shoppe as if they are old friends, so of course, I greeted them with a sense of familiarity too.

Turns out, they had traveled all the way from Maryland just to see my nostalgic candy store!

According to the husband, he and his wife fell in love with pictures they saw online of Lola’s Sugar Rush and came all the way out to Colorado just to see my little candy store!

As many of you know, I have spent the last five years visiting the best candy stores around the world, and incorporating the very best of each into the creation Lola’s Sugar Rush.

I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to know the old-fashioned candy store I’ve created has now become a destination spot for candy aficionados like me!
It is sweet moments like meeting “my new friends from Maryland” that remind me every day that I am living the dream!

Thanks for all your sweet support!
Lola

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Sweet Jelly Belly Fun!

Every year, my daughter and I take a girls’ trip somewhere fun. This year, she and I decided to go west to the San Francisco Bay Area and its famous Jelly Belly Factory!

Like school girls, we both giggled when we drove-up Jelly Belly Lane and saw a Jelly Belly covered Volkswagen parked in front of the factory.


The inside was like a sugary Disneyland, with bright colors, a huge line for the factory tour, and oodles of people packed into the restaurant and store, eager to buy all things Jelly Belly!

The tours are offered seven days a week, except for holidays and we’re told more than a half-million people visit every year! Candy vendors like me are afforded a closer look. We received a private, behind-the-scene tour designed to give us an in-depth knowledge of these gourmet jelly beans!

Our very special visit included an up-close and personal tour on the factory floor, where we discovered bins filled with rainbows of brightly colored Jelly Belly Beans, huge machines, and Jelly Belly food scientists, making all the magic happen! It was like being in our own episode the Food Network’s Unwrapped!

Steam baths, sugar showers and a resting period mark the beginning of this magical process. After which, all the Jelly Bellies wind-up in an "engrossing pan," a copper dryer-like device, where they are flavored with syrup and coated with sugar. From there, each one goes on to be polished to a shine and emblazoned with the famous Jelly Belly logo.

The whole process takes 7-10 days and they churn 1.25 million Jelly Belly Beans a day!

In our hour-long tour, here are some other fun facts we learned:

*Jelly beans are one of the most popular candies in the world.
*Cherry is the #1 selling flavor.
*Buttered Popcorn is the most popular
*Pear (my personal favorite) is the 4th most popular.
*There are 50 official flavors.
*Each Jelly Belly bean has four calories and zero fat
*If a bean isn’t perfect it is called a Jelly Flop. Instead of going to waste, they’re sold at a discount at the Jelly Belly Factory shop. Misshapen or not, these colorful little treats are just as yummy as the ones sold for retail.

The sweetest part came at the end of our tour when our delightful guide gave us tons of samples. We are now true Jelly Belly fans!

To take a visual tour, shop on line and learn some more fun facts visit: www.jellybelly.com.

If you are ever in Fairfield, California, which is just north of San Francisco, this field trip is a must for candy lovers!

Speaking of road trips!
Some of you know that one of the many fun things we do at the Sugar Rush is throw birthday parties where the little ones decorate aprons, cupcakes, eat ice cream, pick out their favorite candy to take home and share lots of laughs and fun with their friends.

We recently got a call from a daycare/learning center full of too many tykes to transport to the shoppe. So we decided to take Lola’s Sugar Rush to them! Mary, the manager of the shoppe and I braced ourselves for a very harried experience. Turns out, the kids were an absolute delight and I think Mary and I had just as much fun as they did!

If you are looking for a unique birthday experience that your kids will remember for the rest of their lives, check out the details on our Parties page and give us a call. After all, the only thing better than being a kid in a candy store is being a kid in a candy store on your birthday, surrounded by all your buddies!

Sweetly yours,
Lola

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Sweet Talk

Summer is here! We are so excited to spend these warm, sweet days with all of you. Also, I just have to share some of the fun things that have happened in the last few weeks!

First... The Sweet and Snack Expo in Chicago was quite an experience. Mary and I laughed a lot, met new friends and now have decided Chicago is one of our favorite places to visit. Of course we tried tons of new sweets and found some old favorites that are coming back. Now we're working hard to get them into the shoppe for all of you to enjoy this summer.


If you happened to be flying American Airlines back in May, you might have caught our Lola's Sugar Rush mention in the American Airlines Inflight Magazine. We were picked as one of the places to visit for your favorite hard-to-find sweet treats. I can't tell you how many tourists have come to downtown Littleton and into the shoppe as a result of seeing this article! It is so exciting to see new friends wanting to take a small piece of Lola’s Sugar Rush back home with them. Our t-shirts, hats, and other signature items are flying out of the shoppe.

June has also proved to be the month to celebrate. We have had so many young friends celebrate their birthdays here with us. I truly believe that the birthdays celebrated here will be remembered forever. What child wouldn’t want to be surrounded by wall-to-wall candy, cupcakes and ice cream! Throw in arts and crafts, photos, and candy to-go and you have a celebration they will never forget.


As you know June is also the beginning of summer weddings. It is exciting to know so many of you are selecting to do candy buffets for your guests. Please keep us in mind during your planning. Our Sugar Babes would love to help you select your candy and share ideas to make the special day be even sweeter!

And always, please know you can connect with us on facebook and twitter to hear about all the new things happening at Lola’s Sugar Rush and in the candy world.

Sweetly yours,
Lola

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Summer fun in Downtown Littleton Colorado

Hello Sweet Friends!
Now that the snow has melted and the days are longer and warmer, you simply must discover all the fun things Lola's Sugar Rush has in store for the dog days of summer! The streets of Littleton come alive this time of year! Beautiful flower baskets lining the streets are in full bloom. The sidewalks are alive with festivals, music, merchants, families and good friends!

Spring proved to be very busy. Custom Easter gift baskets and candy flew out the doors throughout April. With the help of loyal customers, friends and family, we celebrated our 1-year birthday of Lola's Sugar Rush the first weeks of April. In May, we had an unexpected, but very special visit from Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden's wife. What a thrill to have her in our little sweet shoppe, only one year after opening our doors! (on your next trip in, find out what she bought!)

Now that I've filled you in on everything that has gone on in the last couple months, let me give you the skinny on all the fun things coming up here at the Sugar Rush and in downtown Littleton this summer. (for more details on events listed below, click on links)

May 6, 2010: "Ladies Only Sample Tour" Stroll through the historic downtown Littleton and experience all there is to offer from our merchants. Fabulous freebies will be given away from dozens of stores.

May 8, 2010: "Old Town Market ~ A Whimsical Artisan's Emporium." Walk, talk, dine, shop. Takes place every second Saturday, from May through August. Lola's Sugar Rush will be selling yummy $1 sundaes under our white tent during the May 8th Market. Don't miss!

July 15, 2010: "Treasure Hunt" Every third Thursday, beginning July 15th, look for and find the treasure chest "hidden" in plain sight at various businesses throughout downtown Littleton. The treasure is a cool gift basket filled with goods and certificates from many downtown Littleton merchants.

June 19, 2010: "Wild on Main Block Party" Don't miss this year's 6th annual all-day festival! The four blocks of Main Street will be closed off and the traffic will be replaced with food, music, dancing, games, displays, fireworks, and educational booths as the Littleton Community celebrates itself.

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American Chocolate Week-Celebrating All Things Chocolate

Hello Sweet Friends!

This month we're celebrating all things chocolate at Lola's Sugar Rush!

While most places traditionally celebrate all things green in March, we celebrate the dreamy, decadent, richness of yummy chocolate, during the third week of this month, which I am confident everyone knows is American Chocolate Week!

Once that sweet week is over, we keep celebrating, because March 24th is National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day! Probably one of my very favorite chocolates of all time!

These tasty treats, introduced to the U.S. in 1927, instantly take me back to when I was a young girl, and my mom and dad would buy Raisinets every time we went to the movies.

They were good then, but now that I am able to handpick the very best chocolates for the Sugar Rush... Wow! All I can say is, if you haven't tried our hand-dipped, chocolate-covered raisins, you haven't lived! I also invite you to come in try all of our fabulous varieties of chocolates at Lola's Sugar Rush!

Finally, as if we need another reason to celebrate the joy of chocolate -- a recent study from the Netherlands showed that eating the equivalent of one-third a chocolate bar ever day, could lower our blood pressure and reduce the risk of death by up to 50%!

Need I say more!

Happy American Chocolate Week and National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day Sweet Friends!

Sweetly yours,
Lola

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Watch Lola's Sugar Rush get "Unwrapped" by the Food Network Soon!

Many of you may remember that the Food Network filmed two segments of its popular series "Unwrapped" right here at Lola's Sugar Rush last fall. I promised to let you know when these episodes would air.

Well, we've just gotten word, that those two shows are tentatively scheduled to air on February 22nd and March 1st! The first show is titled, "Crazy Containers Unwrapped" and you can catch it on February 22nd at 7pm and 10pm on the Food Network Channel.

The second show is called, "Tubular Treats Unwrapped" and it is airing on March 1st at 7pm and 10pm.

On a personal note, I have to say thank you to the show's host, Marc Summers, executive producer Tom Giesen, field producer Lisa Crowell and the whole crew of Unwrapped who made this such a wonderful experience! They were all consummate professionals and so much fun to work with. It was an honor to have Lola's Sugar Rush chosen as a colorful and fun, sweet backdrop for what has long been one of my very favorite shows on television!

I always sign-off by saying, "Stay sweet" but this time it's probably more appropriate to say, "Stay sweet and stay tuned!"

Sweetly yours,

Lola

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