Au Chocolat

Special K Chocolately Delight, fat-free milk, and Rain Forest Nut coffee.

I guess I had this cereal in honor of the fact that we were confirmed as attendees for the 2008 AllCandy Expo in Chicago! Yay!I wish I wasn't as excited about this as I really am, but as a life-long candy-lover (yeah, obvs!) I can't wait to live out my real-life Willy Wonka fantasies. (Note: This has nothing to do with Gene Wilder in purple top hat with matching velvet undies. ) It has to do with candy! Wall-to-wall blaring convention center glitz with enough free candy samples to put me in a diabetic coma. Gooooooo insulin!!

All the big name players will be representin': Mars, Hershey, Nestle, Cadbury Adams, NECCO (I freaking hate NECCO wafers though), Pez, Lindt & Sprungli (what's a Sprungli?), Wrigley's, Jelly Belly, and the Ferrara Pan Co. (Don't know Ferrara Pan Co.? You only think you don't. Hello Lemonheads, Atomic Fireballs, Boston Baked Beans, and Red Hots! I defy you to tell me you aren't familiar with any one of those.) It's not *just* candy though, salty snacks and granola bars will also be in the house (Jerky Snack Food, Utz). Hotlix will be there, and I'm not 100% certain but I think they make the tequila flavored lollipops with a worm in them. I don't even want to begin that discussion-- tequila does not have worms!! But I digress. I also want to see what is up with Oral Fixation Mints. (Oh, that was easy. I'm intrigued now.)

Naturally, I'm going wearing my Marketing Assistant/Buyer hat for Giovanni's Deli in beautiful Fair Lawn, NJ. The deli is thinking about branching out into the direction of gourmet chocolate and fine candy gifts, and we are going to check out what's innovative and available in the niche market of fine and unique candies. (That sounds pretty good acutally.)