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About

Hey there! We’re Dana (mom) and Brendan (son). We currently live in Phoenix, Arizona. We run the blog Sweet Shoppe Mom, where we write about everyday life with teens. We want to be the resource for busy families with tweens and teens. We want to help answer your questions about what should I do with my kids? or what should I cook? how can we make our household run better? or help, I don’t understand what my teen is talking about.

iFly Scottsdale with teens

Dana’s story
@sweetshoppemom

Dana Vollmer Sweet Shoppe Mom

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, I moved to San Diego for college at University of California – San Diego and stayed for 15 years minus one year in New York for graduate school. I moved to Arizona in 2006 and traded in my career as a molecular biologist  for the sweet shop business in 2007 when I opened Simply Sweets Cake Studio (that’s the Sweet Shoppe in Sweet Shoppe Mom). I then fell in love with blogging and social media after experiencing the power of it in successfully building my cake business. In 2012, I launched Sweet Shoppe Mom with plans to document building my own shop in Scottsdale after sharing a commercial kitchen for so many years while balancing motherhood.  However, running my own shop and being a parent didn’t allow for much time to blog about the personal side of the business so posts were sporadic.

In 2015 I decided to close the storefront so I could be more available to my son and was once again able to focus on blogging. As my son become a tween and now a teen, I noticed there was a lack of parenting blogs that address raising tweens and teens and we have continued to share our experiences and tips with our community. I shares my passion for cocktails, whiskey, local restaurants, and travel, on my second blog Cocktails and Cactus.

Dana Vollmer foodie

My sweets have been featured on the Martha Stewart television show, Phoenix Magazine, Arizona Brides, and Raising Arizona Kids. As a business owner, I was featured on GoDaddy’s national real customer campaign (television commercials, social media and corporate website), Raising Arizona Kids website and KTAR radio station. While I have closed up shop, I continue to find ways to make food fun using my creative cake decorating skills and love to share. For years this was the fun bento lunches I created for my son but unfortunately no teenager will show up school with a cute themed lunch so those days are gone. So mostly these days I used my skills for holidays and celebrations.

I love a good organizing project and my label maker is my favorite gadget. I love Anthropologie and am obsessed with shoes, especially boots yet I’m working towards a minimalist wardrobe (minus the shoes, lol). NYC is my favorite place to be but I also love the beach and the mountains. Bacon, BBQ and bourbon are my loves when it comes to eats and drinks.

About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with several food allergies including dairy. Because it is such a common food allergy and intolerance, I love to share eating dairy-free tips because so many people have asked how can I be a foodie with my food allergies. Happiness used to be a fresh baguette and a selection of cheese but once I gave it up, surprisingly I didn’t miss cheese. In fact, it helped me to discover really good food. Food has to be made with the best ingredients to taste good when you don’t smother it with cheese and cream sauce. Local restaurants are better able to accommodate food allergies and opened a whole new world to me.

Brendan’s story
@wheresbnow

Brendan teen influencer

Brendan is a teen (14) starting high school in the fall In Phoenix, AZ. Born in San Diego and moved to Phoenix when he was 6 months old. In his younger years he was a huge Scooby Doo fan, Nerf obsessed and loved collecting rocks out in our gorgeous Arizona deserts. He’s been playing baseball since he was 4 and just finished a successful but short (due to Covid-19 shutdown) baseball season on the middle school team.

Nerf blaster fan

In his teens years, he has put aside Scooby but still loves Nerf along with airsoft, Xbox (gamer tag @qfah), and TikTok (@qfahiscracked). He loves to visit NYC and to fish the lakes of Michigan. He’s a foodie and has judged 3 local food competitions (Arizona Taco Festival, Hotel Valley Ho’s Show Stopper Shake, and Hot Chicken Festival).

He’s becoming a fashionista, often dressed head to in Hollister, and loves the hypebeast and urban streetwear.

 

Santa Photo 2019

Contact Us
 
Have a question or just want to say hello? We’d love to hear from you. Are you a brand and want to work with us? Please visit our ‘work with us’ page.
 
sweetshoppemom@gmail.com
858-609-9605
@sweetshoppemom

mailing address:
Dana Vollmer
625 W. Deer Valley Rd
Ste 103-258
Phoenix, AZ 85027

 

paint night with teens

 

 

 

 

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Hi there and welcome to Sweet Shoppe Mom. My name is Dana and my son is Brendan, also known as B. Welcome to our blog where we chat about every day life with tweens and teens.

more about us

#chucksandpearls Were you wearing them yesterday? #chucksandpearls Were you wearing them yesterday?

I’m still taking in all that happened yesterday. Hopeful for what lies ahead. Breathing easier with an administration focused on unity and equality.  One that is making dealing with this pandemic a top priority. One that is making science a priority.

No matter what side you’re on, history was made. This is election will be really be the first one my son remembers. First female Vice President, first black and first South-Asian VP.

#madamevicepresident #kamalaharris #bidenharris2020 #inauguration2021 #wediditjoe
#nationalbagelday has me thinking about NYC ✈️ #nationalbagelday has me thinking about NYC ✈️🚕

Rainbow bagels at @chelseamarketny from my trip a few years ago

#bagel #nyc #visitnyc #nycfoodie #nyceats #travellust #travelfoodie #instayum #rainbow #nycbagels #foodholiday #
Kicking off New Years day with festive 2021 pancak Kicking off New Years day with festive 2021 pancakes.

Happy New Year!! 🍾 We survived 2020 and I’m excited to see what 2021 brings. Looking forward to planning the year and setting goals (both personal and business).

#2021 #pancakes #breakfast #instayum #pancakeart #arizonamom #momofteens #momofteenagers #momlife #funfood #whatsforbreakfast
Merry Christmas 🎄 We skipped Santa photos thi Merry Christmas 🎄 

We skipped Santa photos this year (way past the believing in Santa years but its still a fun tradition...hopefully next year). #flashback Friday to Bs 1st Christmas (2006), and then 2017, 2018 and 2019.

#christmas #christmas2020 #teenlife #momofteenagers #teenagersareawesome #boymom #momofboys #thisis14 #highschooler
Merry Christmas Eve 🎄 How are you doing? Scram Merry Christmas Eve 🎄

How are you doing? Scrambling to get things ready for tomorrow or enjoying hot cocoa by the tree? We mommas take on so much of the holiday prep so I would expect most of us are still getting things ready.

I wanted to share MY two best tips for holiday prep and I’d love to hear YOURS

Tip 1 - Santa Sacks. We invested in these years ago. Pop in the gift and pull on the drawstring and you’re all set. We use these for gifts from Santa and wrap the others. Time saver and saves a ton of wrapping paper, thats a win!

Tip 2 - Put a lock on a closet and turn it into your gift closet. No worries about your kids discovering their gifts AND easy to find all your gifts. Who is still searching for gifts they can’t remember where they put them. A closet in a guest room or office is perfect.

#christmas #christmas2020 #momofteens #arizonamom #christmaseve #holidayprep
B and I had a blast playing with @superimpulse’s B and I had a blast playing with @superimpulse’s #tinyarcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and #microarcade Frogger. So fun and an awesome idea for stocking stuffers.

We put together a huge list (over 100 ideas) of stocking stuffers for teenage boys (link in bio). They can be so hard to shop for and not so helpful when you ask for ideas.

#superimpulsepartner #videogames #frogger #teenagemutantninjaturtles #boymom #momofboys #momofteenagers #momofteens #teenagersareawesome #arizonamom #stockingstuffers #christmas2020 #giftideas #giftlist #giftguide
What holiday item do you collect? Did you know # What holiday item do you collect? 

Did you know #nutcrackers are a German tradition thought to bring good luck and fight away evil spirits?

Having trouble finding spaces to display some of my holiday decor as many of my surfaces are covered with plants now 🌱❤️ and then I realized these wall shelves were perfect. I stashed away the art that is usually sits on these shelves (and hides the huge doorbell box and security system glass sensor) and replaced with our @traderjoes #adventcalendar and #nutcrackers 

#holidaydecor #nutcrackercollection #myhome #arizona #arizonamom #christmasdecor #momofteens #momsofteenagers #boymom #christmas2020
Do you know a super fan of The Office? We’ve put Do you know a super fan of The Office? We’ve put together a #holidaygiftguide with over 20 fabulous gift ideas (link in bio)

B is a super fan. He has watched the series at least 10 times on @netflix. He was super excited when his @pewpewlasercraft personalized name plate arrived.

#theoffice #giftguide #boymom #momofteens #momofteenagers #giftguideformen #giftguideforteens #teenagersareawesome #dundermifflin #dundermifflinpapercompany #thatswhatshesaid
This is freshman year, 2020. He’s on a zoom wit This is freshman year, 2020.  He’s on a zoom with his class. Chatting on a call with classmates who are also virtual. Also planning his run for class president. One thing 2020 has taught him is technical skills and multitasking.

Do your kids sit in unusual positions when studying/virtual schooling? For 2020, what ever works. He has a 4.0 and all caught up on assignments. He’s staying to connected to his classes and friends. School is still open for in-person but we decided to switch him to virtual after Thanksgiving because we thought numbers would rise (and they did). 

Oversized poofy chair from @costco It was going to be a Christmas gift but I decided to give it him early since he’s home now 🎁 

#coronalife #2020 #virtuallearning #highschooler #teenlife #momofhighschooler #boymom #momofteens #arizonamom #teenagersareawesome
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