Tech Savvy Mama

Parenting in the Digital Age

My Sweetest Love Story: A Long Love Affair with See’s Candies (w. giveaway)

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This giveaway has closed! Congrats to our winner, @busymomto5!

I’ve had a lifetime love affair with See’s Candies. As a native Californian, I grew up visiting the pristine white shops that filled my nostrils with heavenly smells of chocolate upon opening the door and taking a step on to the black and white checkered floor for my chocolate fix. The white walls of the store were always lined with neatly wrapped 1 or 2 pound boxes of sweets. Certain times of the year it was hard to resist the seasonal selections like gorgeous velvety heart shaped boxes of chocolates and other Valentine’s Day gifts ready for the taking.

Neatly arranged chocolates wrapped and ready to go were no match for my longing to choose my own selection of sweets, packed by the See’s ladies. In my See’s Candies store the same two ladies always worked behind the magical counter that held small dishes of each type of See’s candy. Waiting in line for one of the ladies to help me was torture. Staring at the case of candies required patience and careful studying of the many choices.

Upon reaching the register, one of the ladies always greeted me with a smile and a sample and asked me what I would like. As I munched on my sample, I rattled off my selection. Sometimes I’d get a single piece with an all day Butterscotch Lollipop. Other times my neat white bag would be a little larger and contain pieces like a Butterchew, Lemon and Pineapple Truffles, a Butterscotch Square, and perhaps a favorite for each member of my family. It was bliss in a bag!

A few pieces of candy at a time were a treat but it was even more special to visit my grandmother on Sunday mornings to find that she had been gifted with a 1 or 2 pound box. As a teen, I spent many Sundays chatting with her and my mom over countless boxes of chocolate. Whether I was planning a shopping date with my grandmother, updating her about school, or just listening to her and my mom discuss family matters, the mornings with our box of See’s filled my head with a knowledge that only comes from an intimate relationship with See’s- learning the identifying marks on each piece of candy to determine its hidden filling.

See that box above? The Bordeaux are the round ones with sprinkles, Lemon Truffle is triangular with the white criss cross pattern, and the Raspberry Cream is the dark chocolate circle with the circle on top. Don’t mistake it for the round milk chocolate one with the same markings. That’s a Strawberry Cream! I can tell if I am picking up a Marzipan or Cocoanut, Chocolate Butter vs. Scotchmallow, and can spot a Rum Nougat in a heartbeat to avoid it like the plague!

Despite our intimacy, unfortunately See’s Candies stores and I are now separated. I had to move and See’s refuses to move to the East Coast. Our separation is difficult on me. I must admit that the mall kiosks that come at certain times of the year are no substitute for the real thing. I miss the aroma of chocolate hitting me in the face upon walking into a retail store, the intimate knowledge of the See’s ladies who greeted me as a child, and the ability to hand select just a few pieces but at least I can pick up a box to pass along my intimate knowledge of the See’s Candies markings to my own daughter who is slowly learning which ones are her favorites.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m partnering with See’s Candies and the Clever Girls Collective to provide one very lucky winner with their own See’s Candies Red Signature Box (heart box pictured above) containing two pounds of delicious chocolate that will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day! To enter, share Your Sweetest Love Story in the comments and include your e-mail address.

Extra Ways to Enter
Do you really, really want to win? Here are some opportunities for extra entries, in addition to your comment with Your Sweetest Love Story:

  • Visit the See’s homepage and sign up for the newsletter and leave a comment letting me know you have done so.
  • Tweet about this contest using the #seescandy tag. You can Tweet daily and post the link to your Tweet in the comments below!
  • Blog about why you want to win the Share Your Sweetest Love Story. You must link back to this post as well as to the See’s homepage. Post the link to your blog post in the comments below.

Enter now! Deadline for entries is midnight, PST, Friday, February 5th. Winner will be randomly chosen and notified by e-mail.

This blog post was written as part of the See’s Candies and Clever Girls Collective Share Your Sweetest Love Story campaign. For this post, not only did I get to profess my undying love for See’s Candies as my Sweetest Love Story but I also will receive $50 and my own 2 pound Red Signature Box of chocolate to enjoy.

Thanks for reading Tech Savvy Mama through your feed!

Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. suburban prep says

    I became engaged on Valentine’s Day. While that is wonderful I think that the fact that 4 yrs prior on Valentine’s Day this same person sent me flowers anonymously was the big thing. I had actually thought that the flowers were meant to go to someone else. I wasn’t dating anyone at that time.
    My husband (Now) said that he felt he had to do this otherwise he was going to lose his nerve. He said he wanted to date me.
    I didn’t know who sent the flowers for three weeks. I found out just as I was going to go on a much needed vacation with one of my sisters. When I came back the one who sent the flowers and I went on our first offical date.
    In November we celebrated 11 yrs married.
    msgb245 at gmail dot com

  2. christina says

    I actually have two love stories to share because both are very dear to me.
    When I was a first year senior (I had two senior years) in college there was a very cute transfer student who was in two of my art classes. I was really attracted to him and one day mid semester I decided to take a chance because I thought he was a very good person. I started to leave him anonymous notes in his art locker. They were one or two lines taken from different songs that referred to smiles because I thought he had the greatest smile. I left two a week for about a month. A few of us in the art department decided to go see The Addams Family movie. We had made arrangements and I was supposed to pick this cute guy up and go to the movies. At the last minute everyone in our group canceled so it was just the two of us. Since it was right before winter break I took a chance knowing that if he didn’t reciprocate my feelings I’d have two weeks at home to ride out my embarrassment. I made a tape (yes, tape) with all the songs that I took the lines from. After the movie I dropped him back off and when he got out of the car I rolled down the window and told him he forgot something and threw the cassette tape at him and took off. The next time I saw him in class he said “So it was you.” And so it began.

    Four years later we got married.

    The Huz is not very romantic, but he’s pretty clever when he tries. I appreciate flowers but can think of better ways to spend money. I am a working artist and use many different materials. One day he came home from work and had one hand behind his back and said “I got something for you.” I told him he shouldn’t have wasted his money on flowers and he brought his hand forward and had a dozen glue sticks! It was awesome, just perfect.
    Christina
    cgwms2000[at]yahoo[dot]com

  3. beyond says

    When I couldn’t deal with any wedding preparations for our (very spontaneous) wedding anymore, my almost-husband spent two days visiting rooms all over Manhattan to find the perfect one with the perfect view for our 24h honeymoon. He did, and then we had the loveliest honeymoon ever.

  4. Jen says

    As I put my 16 month old son to bed tonight, I sang him a lullaby and kissed his head. He turned his head towards me and I realized he was returning the kiss! So sweet.lamnet

  7. Heather says

    I am not much of a romantic… but 🙂 My husband and I met and started dating when I was 16. In fact I moved in with him at 17 and we were married as soon as I turned 18. That was more than 15 years ago. We laugh that we made such good choices at such a young age.

  10. Ellen Jackson says

    My husband has done some wonderful things, but the best Valentine’s gift he ever gave me happened during a walk on the beach. My puppy, Bailey, somehow got confused and started running in the wrong direction, trying to find us. My boyfriend took of after him and chased him for 15 miles(!) until someone finally caught Bailey by the collar.

    He then took us both out to a Valentine’s dinner at a nearby dog-friendly restaurant. That was where he proposed–to both of us!

  11. FelicityatCUbes says

    Not a valentine’s story, but when I met my husband it was truly love at first sight. We were in the San Jose Airport on our way to run a marathon for the Leukemia Society. We trained with different teams, but without TNT would never have met. By the end of our first day together, we were finishing each other’s sentences and when we took the elevator to our separate rooms, I truly did not want to get off at my floor. At the end of the marathon on our second day of meeting, he told me he loved me for the first time. It’s been almost 12 years from that day, and the love has only grown.

    Tweeted as well @felicityatcubes

  12. Poppy Lane says

    Every year on Valentines Day my dad gives my a small red heart box of Sees Candy. When I moved away for college, my box would arrive by mail, and still to this day, despite having a husband and three boys, my Dad still sends my Valentine. See’s candy is my favorite! I waited in the car while in labor for 40 minutes the day before Mothers Day so my husband would have it to give to me! all in the name of deliciousness!

    I also signed up for the newsletter!

  13. The Laughing Mouse says

    thus far, my sweetest love story is not the guy who nearly forced me into my first kiss by threatening to not get me home in time for curfew. or the **significantly** older guy who used me for other things, willing though i was, I was too young to realize what was going on. It was probably the guy who bought me a dozen miniature multi-colored roses on sweetest day because he was sweet and he liked me. The guy who walked me to my door and gave me what I, to this day, consider to be my *true* first kiss with me standing on the cement step and him on the ground and giving me a friend hug and pulling back into that Hollywood Theatrically perfect close-ness and kissing the most perfect kiss ever. Ever. Still gives me butterflies. That is my sweetest love story, for now. I’m signing up for Match this weekend, so hopefully I can top that soon!

  14. @busymomto5 says

    i met my hubby 23 years ago. I met him on my very first day of college! Who knew then that we would have 5 kids and still be in love. My DH loves chocolate and i would love to win these for him!

  15. Bonggamom says

    Sorry, my sweetest love story doesn’t happen on Valentine’s Day. Alfie and I met at the office and we had a joking/flirtatious relationship. One day a co-worker wrote up an invitation to our wedding on the board room whiteboard. We all laughed about it… and never dreamed it would actually come true!

  18. Kendra says

    Before we were married, one Valentine’s Day my husband (then-boyfriend) made me a video card. It was hands down the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. The short iMovie features photos of us doing all our favorite things together, and has an interlude in the middle where he videotaped me one day being silly on the beach and writing our initials, D+K, equaling a heart in the sand. We eventually wed and the symbol at our wedding was a D and a K together, and the equation has totally stuck since then.

  20. Anne J says

    After my husband and I got married we bought a house and went to redecorate it. We were painting the master bedroom, and took down the big mirror over the vanity so that we didn’t have to worry about painting behind it. He took paint and painted a big heart with John + Anne inside it, and later we hung the mirror back up over it. I like to think it is still there, even though we moved years ago.

    ajolly1456 at gmail dot com

  23. Lynette says

    I love to hear my 90 year old grandmother tell me about the time when she was 17 and giving a graduation speech. A handsome young man came up to her afterward, introduced himself and they spent the rest of the evening talking. She says he had stars in his eyes. That man was my grandfather, and he and my grandmother had over 60 years together. He also used to tell me about falling in love with my grandmother and said she was “like an angel”. My grandmother still gets the sweetest smile when she talks about my grandfather.

  24. amweeks says

    My sweetest love story is about the night my now-husband proposed to me. He came home from work and was in a foul mood! Which was worse because it was my birthday. I finally went to bed around 10:30. At 12:01 am, he came upstairs and proposed! He said that he had planned on propsing on my birthday, but it had been a horrible day at work…and he never wanted to associate a bad day with the day he asked me to marry him!

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