Bzzzzz....What's All the Buzz About?

It's about these beautiful candles, that's what it's about. I love these and I am loving everything about the company that makes these (Black and Light), along with several other wonderful candles. First of all, they are really fabulously-made candles....each candle requires up to twenty hours of intense handcrafted effort by skilled craftspeople. They are made using lead-free cotton wicks and premium food grade paraffin and they're fragrance free. Black & Light has partnered with The University of California Davis and their critical research on the honeybee crisis, and 10 % of their net proceeds from the sale of all bee candles are donated to this project.  In keeping with this effort and believing in the research (even though I'm allergic to bees....I do, however, understand and appreciate why they're so important!), Max's will also donate a portion of its sales proceeds from the bee candles to the UC Davis research project. I also salute Black and Light for their decision to hire mentally and physically challenged individuals to do their packaging. Oh.....speaking of the packaging....the box (which is black and white) that each candle comes in is really beautiful, reusable, and looks like a gift in and of itself. So, there you have it. Can you tell I'm excited about these? Come on in and see for yourself!

S.W.A.K.!

Time to pucker up! Yep, Valentine's Day is upon us and these are sure to bring a smile to someone's face! These "Poppin' Lips" from SweetBliss are dark chocolate and white chocolate confections filled with pieces of Pop Rocks and, in addition to being absolutely delicious, are fun to eat!

Going Once, Going Twice, Going......

.....but it's not gone yet! Yep, that's right. Max's end-of-season sale is still going on and we've decided to extend it through the end of the day on Saturday, February 14 (for those of you who are keeping track, that would be Valentine's Day!). We have select jewelry (yes, I said jewelry), home decor and chocolates on sale for anywhere from 30%-70% off, and you can take an additional 20% off of the already-discounted jewelry prices. There are still some great items, so I hope that you'll stop by and take a look. And, while you're here, check out some of the chocolates that we have specifically for the day of love!

She Is YOUR Queen of Hearts AfterAll!

How about something with a heart that is a bit out of the ordinary this Valentine's Day? Check out these great 18k gold heart earrings with pave diamonds, or the 14k "live wire" earrings (comes as a necklace on a leather cord, too!) from Dana David. These will look great with jeans and a sweater, or when you/she gets a bit more dressed up for the fabulous VDay romantic dinner she's going to have!
Get the hint?

How Sweet It Is!

Just as you might be coming out of your chocolate-induced holiday stuper, it's time for the next round! Valentine's Day is around the corner, and Max’s has a wide variety of artisan chocolates for your valentine (but you can have some too). From traditional chocolate meltaways and caramels to exotic flavors to spice up your holiday, you can’t go wrong.

From Knipschildt Chocolatier, choose a box of rosewater truffles, or a selection of chocolates with flavors such as red chili and tangerine ganache, lemon marzipan, and passion fruit. The chocolates are presented in heart-shaped or square boxes made of beautiful handmade paper in shades of red and pink.

Chocolat Moderne, from New York, never disappoints with their elegant chocolates in classic flavors with a twist. The Mysteries of Love collection contains five hand painted white chocolate hearts filled with dark chocolate ganache, raspberry, single malt scotch ganache, Poire Williams pear caramel and passion fruit cardamom caramel. Equally decadent are the chocolate covered vodka-infused cherries which, we think, are sure to stir up a little love.

V Chocolates, always a customer favorite, has dressed up their "to-die-for" caramels for Valentine’s Day this year. They come in a red croc-embossed heart shaped box, are totally covered in either milk or dark chocolate, and even the caramels themselves are heart shaped! They’re available in a 10 piece heart-shaped box of assorted caramels and dark chocolate truffles or a 26 piece heart-shaped box of assorted dark and milk chocolate caramels.

From California, Charles Chocolates presents a collection ofclassic raspberry, mocha and peppermint meltaways in a red velvet heart box.

And last, but definitely not least, from Sweet Bliss we’ve got dark chocolate caramel filled hearts, each hand painted with a special Valentine message or design. For that shoe lover in your life, we have the ever popular dark chocolate and caramel pump and purse set decorated with patterns inspired by the day of love. And the Poppin' Lips are back this year by popular demand! The white and dark chocolate lips hold a special surprise – take a bite and discover the tickly pop rocks embedded inside! Packaged in a lucite box with a red bow, Poppin’ Lips are a great Valentines Day gift for that someone who adds a little pop to your life.

So, there you have it. Lots of options for this Valentine's Day. Oh, and if you want to add a little something sparkly to your gift, we can help with that too!

WOW! Just Wait 'Till You Taste This!

Ok, so I will admit that there isn't much dark chocolate that I don't like. With that as my disclaimer, I must also say that there are some which I absolutely can't do without (remember, I'm one of those "have to have chocolate every day" kind of people!)! Our newest single-origin dark chocolate bar fits into that category. One of our chocolatiers, Askinosie Chocolates, has just come out with a bar made with beans from the Philippines. Turns out that the beans from Davao in the Philippines used to make this 77% dark chocolate bar come from the fist Filipino cocoa bean export in nearly 25 years. It's just one person's opinion, but I think this was worth waiting for! What I really like about it is that while it's got that great intense chocolate taste, it's not overly acidic. We opened a bar when it came in last week and everyone who tasted it wound up buying one! Ok, so maybe it's more than one person's opinion after all!