He Who Walks Alone Walks Faster

He walked right into my store!

That's right! That picture there is of me and the infamous Walking Man! The Walking Man and I got to spend the day together talking and shooting the breeze. He's over here in MA on some family buziness, and he gave me a call to arrange a visit. He decided to take the trip to my store and when he entered The Candy Bar, the big bear hug he gave me told me just about everything I needed to know about this most lovable character.

It was immediately like I had known him my whole life!

We spent the first few hours "shooting the shit" about life, God, relationships and family. I even solicited his sage advice about parenting and before I knew it we had devoured  the better part of a very enjoyable afternoon. The Walking Man even got to meet my mom, dad and FRICK!!! And you should have seen her face as he bear hugged himself right into her heart.

He told me the story of how he got the name The Walking Man, and about his life before he came to reside in his beloved (I'm kidding) Detroit. I always love meeting up with my Blogger buddies, but this visit was extra-special, as The Walking Man is one of my most very favorites. It's always nice to be able to put a face to a blog, and his kind face and warm heart belies his tough looking exterior and his sometimes serious prose.

I consider myself very lucky to call him my friend. I miss him already!

I'm Off Like A Prom Dress....

Happy Friday bloggers!

It's the kickoff to vacation week here in the burbs and we are off again! We all headed to Gotham City, or New York as it's known, because this weekend is for accepted students at NYU. Frick is pumped and Frack is pissed. (he'd rather be golfing in Florida) The only request he had was to go see "Spiderman Turn Off The Dark" on Broadway, to which we all agreed, so he can't be that pissed.

So that means that The Daily Dandy will be on hiatus from today, Friday, April 13, 2012 and will return on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

I'm pumped too. I'm going to see the Statue of Liberty because I've never seen it up close. Yup, and I wanna go eat at Eataly, and I want to go to St. Patricks, (maybe Sunday Mass?) and Saks Fifth Avenue and of course, Bergdorff's and Barneys. I've just got to go to Dylan's Candy Bar, don't I?

My bestest friend in the world lives in NYC, so I'll be seeing lots of her and I have another close friend there and then theres THE MAD TEXTER!! Corey James, I'm coming for you. I want to meet you one day at The Evolution Store in SoHo. My inner Goddess of The Skull LOVES it there, and I must buy myself a souvenir. (it's also directly across the street from the Kardashian's Dash store, so we can go over there and have a field day ripping them).

Needless to say I'm excited.

Have a great week bloggers, I'll see you on the flip side and take a moment to enjoy some city life!

Who Knew Cameron Was A Kansas City Fan?

I'm a little behind schedule bloggers, because I got home last night at 1:00 am after Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. Sitting behind me was the guy from ABC's Modern Family, Eric Stonestreet. I don't watch Modern Family but I read enough rag magazines to know who he is and to know he is hilarious on the show.

He's absolutely adorable, and I kept turning around and staring at him (I know, soo rude) because I wasn't quite sure if it was him or not. He was slightly unshaven and I might not have even known who he was if weren't for people taking pictures of him.

Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to tell you. This morning I was working out a bit later than usual and I caught the Rachel Rae show. Today she had her "Thanks-give-away" show spectacular and she was giving away lots of great stuff. Oh yeah, she was giving away designer cookie baskets, Sears gift certificates, Dyson vacuums, watches, Kindle's, bikes, designer cookware and lots more. It got me to thinking about how all the talk show hosts today all vying to create the next "Oprah's Favorite Things" show frenzy with crazy giveaways. Ellen has her "12 days of Give Away" and Dr. Phil and Nate Burkus have been know to stow some goodies underneath the audience seats.

It's like a sweepstakes to become the next heir to the talk show taping Gods, and here's the thing...I WANT IN!!

How do I get tickets to Rachel Rae's "Thanks-give-away" show next year? I am a huge Rachel Rae fan and a true-blue magazine subscriber to Rachel Rae Everyday Magazine. (I don't throw them away and I file them by month). Count me in for the next one!

And Ellen? I guess if I had to I could fly out to LA to see my niece, nephew and his lovely wife next year and see a live taping of Ellen's "12 days of Giveaway". You certainly wouldn't have to twist my arm.

Who wants to come next year? Cmon, it will be fun and we'd have a whole year to plan it. New York or LA? Who's coming? Let's DO it together bloggers!

Candy And Corey's Excellent Adventure

So New York City was a great trip and like all great trips it was over before we knew it. Frick, My Guy and I headed out to the Big Apple early Saturday morning and after a GPS snafu that landed us in Brooklyn, (we input New York, New York instead of Manhattan) we made it to our destination an hour off schedule. This, of course, killed any opportunity for an afternoon matinee, so My Guy bribed Frick and I with some Benjamin's and the promise of a few hours to kill spending them in Times Square.


And who did I have the wonderful pleasure of meeting whilst there???

None other than my blogger buddy Corey James, aka, Mad Texter!! We had been texting each other on the ride in, Corey offering his moral support for us ending up in Brooklyn.


"Crooklyn?! Boy did you make a wrong turn. Enjoy the added tour and try to get yourself on the FDR on the Eastside."


Upon arrival at the W Hotel Times Square, WHICH TOTALLY SUCKED, (can you say dirty bathroom?I'm so disappointed) Frick and I wasted no time getting out with the cash burning a hole in our pockets. First stop? Forever 21. Remember, I was with Frick and Forever 21 is a 17 year old girl's dream destination. Not so much for me, but this trip was all about her, anyway. Corey James met us there, and I knew him from the moment I saw his handsome face descending the huge escalators in the center of the store. We bonded immediately and the three of us corralled about the tacky hookers dream store together.


I think Corey was in shock, to be honest, that cheap, tacky fashions could be all the rage for teenage girls, but as he surveyed the premises and the hundreds of young girls around, I think he understood that we weren't kidding. We even checked out the cheap guy fashions at Forever 21 and believe it or not, we each found something to buy! Then it was off to the mother ship.

That, of course being the Sephora in Times Square. Corey, being a true Candy friend, knew that Sephora would be on my list of shopping destinations.

CANDY: "We are in Times Square. Would it be possible to meet there somewhere?"
COREY:"I'll be there in 15. I'm sure you're going to Sephora first!"

CANDY: "You know me! Hahahahaha! Love it!"

We fought the freaks and tourists in the street, and Corey showed us how to navigate our way through a crowded New York sidewalk, and we made it into Sephora. Frick became completely enamoured by the new magnetic nail polish and decided to give herself a manicure right there. Corey and I touched, smelled, played and tried almost everything in the store. I, of course, spent almost my entire Benjamin on MAKE UP...Seriously I have issues. (do they have a product rehab program?) but I managed to buy a new Urban Decay Eye Shadow Palette that is all neutrals and to die for.

Corey bought some FAB Fresh Lemon Sugar roll on fragrance, on my recommendation, and Frick wanted just about nothing. We left there and sent Frick to Starbucks for Chai Tea Latte's and Corey James fell in love with this new beverage. I showed him how to download emoji free on to his iPhone and now when we text we can use cute ;) little icons instead of words. We spent a few more minutes together and then it was off to dinner for us. We begrudgingly said goodbye to Corey and hurried up to our shitty hotel room just in time to freshen up and leave for dinner.

Yesterday was all about Frick. We arrived at NYU early, had a nice lunch and walked a very nervous young lady into her audition. After about 2 hours Frick came out smiling, but said couldn't gage anything because her auditioner gave her no feedback whatsoever. She said she thought it went well, but in the interview afterward, she wondered if she rambled a bit on one question. And it wasn't like this was the most important audition she had ever been to. It's not like she didn't obsess about it the whole 4 hour ride home wondering if her responses to his questions were good enough., quick enough, and memorable enough. She felt like she was left there on audition island all by herself and I had to talk my little actor off the ledge. She did great and I know this because she had a huge smile on her face when she came down after, but the not knowing was wreaking havoc with her psyche.

Welcome to the rest of your life baby. This is one of those life lessons that I couldn't teach her. She had to learn for herself.

In life we don't always have someone there to reassure us of a job well done. We just have to believe in ourselves enough to know.

Big City Of Dreams

I'm sure you are all expecting a couple of great pictures of Beckeye and I from our fabulous NYC meeting, but I dropped the ball and forgot my camera and my iphone took some pretty bad ones, so you'll just have to use your imaginations.

NYC was great! The good weather gods were smiling down on us, and we arrived late Friday night to find a FREE parking street spot smack dab in front of my BFF's front door. (After we had already parked in a 24hr garage around the corner. I went back to get the car and had to pay $12 for a full 10 minutes. Welcome to NYC)

Saturday was a perfectly glorious day! One BFF had to work till 6pm so the other BFF and I had mapped out our retail therapy day. Before we left, in true NYC fashion, I crawled out onto my girlfriend's fire escape to breathe in the splendor of the city. I had been sitting out there for a few minutes, when I spied a simple everyday task being performed that I found most fascinating.

Someone's Nonna was hanging out the laundry. I gotta tell you, she had it down to a science. She lined up all the clothespins in the window sill and she expertly hung each item with precision and skill as she moved them down the pulley in a most efficient fashion. I was entranced, but was startled back in reality when I realized I had wasted almost 20 minues watching Nonna and the laundry show.

Off we went. First stop, Bergdorf Goodman, where the shoe sale was 65% off!! Apparently the entire designer shoe wearing population of NYC was aware of this as well, because all that was left was the red-headed step-child of designer shoes, picked over and discarded. Sadly, we left empty handed. We did, however, manage to catch a white-trash, cash padded pimp and what I am assuming were his two ho's, buying at least 10 pairs of shoes for the girls as they giggled and caressed his bald head. I heard him say to the ladies, "I don't want you girls wearing these out on the streets, ya'll hear me?" Where else but the big city.

We visited Henri Bendel, then hopped a cab to Soho where we ripped that place up as well. It was about 3pm, and since we had not eaten any lunch, we decided to stop for some oysters and champagne. I stepped outside and gave Becks a ring on the telly, so we could plan our meet up time. The plan was to meet up at 7:30, but like most well laid out plans that get messed up by a few glasses of champagne, we were late. We had planned to meet down on the Chelsea pier on an old boat that is now a bar called The Frying Pan.

We arrived closer to 8:30, and it was a good thing, because Becks was running late too. I had already talked to Beckeye at least 4 or 5 times to assure her that we were on our way. The sun was just setting pink on the Hudson and the night was clear and picturesque. It was a beautiful sight. We saw our destination, which turned out to be 3 separate boats attached to each other, jam-packed with people. As I walked up to the line at the dock, I spotted Becks. In pure Candy fashion, I started screaming her name like an excited fool. I gave her a BIG hug, introduced her to my friends, and we were off to mix and mingle among the masses on the boats.

We managed to find a table amidst the chaos, (sorry for the pic, but the boat sways, although you don't realize it unless you are looking over at one of the other boats) and we chatted and had cocktails on the Hudson. I have to say it was really beautiful. Beckeye is AWESOME, and beautiful and funny and sweet and smart, as I knew she would be, and we talked about all of you and the bloggersphere. We talked about lots of things, and I found our conversation to be easy and interesting, as we never really ran out of things to talk about. After a while, the music got louder and we got tired of screaming and were all getting hungry, so we left and went to a GREAT Italian restaurant that Becks suggested and had a late dinner.

We sat outside in a quaint little back patio and had some really great food. Becks friend met up with us there and all 5 of us enjoyed each others company over some Sangria. The portions were huge and the appetizers were so great that by the time dinner was served, we were already stuffed. BUT, being the trooper that I am, I managed to keep going, and continued on with my meal. Can't let a fabulous meal go to waste, right??

At dinner we laughed and joked about the funny, stupid stuff, and I was now beginning to feel the effects of the "crash and burn" syndrome. The food had grounded me back to earth and I knew I was "stick a fork in me" done. Christ, I'm old. What do you expect? We wrapped things up around 12:30 and I knew it was a night for me, so I sadly said my goodbye's to Beckeye (who continued her night on. She's my hero). We decided that she NEEDS to come to Boston, (since she has never been) and she needs to come soon, so I can take her to the sacred grounds of Fenway Park. Becks admitted to being a huge baseball fan as a young girl, but since the Pirates are not gunning for titles every year, she has lost her desire for America's favorite pastime.

Here's hoping a trip to Fenway, "America's Most Beloved Ball Park" will change all that. Hell Becks, we'll even get you a Sox baseball cap so that the chances of you being beat up and mugged in your neighborhood while wearing it, will increase by at least 50%! Good times.

In all, it was a wonderful meeting and I'm so glad Beckeye and I met.

Now Becks girl, I'm talking to you, c'mon and let me show you my city!! AND this time, we'll take pictures...

Candy's Excellent New York Adventure

HOT BLOGGER HOOK UP!!!!

I am pumped!

I'm going to the BIG APPLE tonite with my girls for a little excellent adventure and to meet up with my very first blogger!!! WHOO HOO!! Somebody pinch me cuz I must be dreaming!!!

Yup, I have arranged to meet with the fabulous, world famous, most ingenious, truly gifted, one and only......


wait for it.....


BECKEYE!!

Oh yeah, Becks and I are going to paint the town purple and talk all about you people and various celebrity dribble and all kinds of important chick shit and such!!!! And there is the very good possibility that we will be meeting with BE Earl of The Verdant Dude too. (I'm still waiting on his email as to whether or not he is in)

Can't wait. This will be my very first blogger hook-up. I think my buddy Scope holds the record for the most blogger meet and greets, he's got to have at least 10, I think. That includes the love of his life, that he found in the sphere, his lovely lady, Cora. He gets extra special bonus points for that one!

Anyway, I'll tell you all about it on Monday and Becks and I will discuss the possibility of pictures. Or not, but I can guarentee there will be pictures....

So get on it people and start spreading the news......I'm leaving today........I want to be a part of it!

Have a great weekend!