Happy Holidays. We'll post again in the New Year.

Scenes from... Westfield, Indiana

We had never visited Westfield before a couple of weekends ago and we found it to be absolutely adorable. It was a frigid day but we managed to take some photos.

The Westfield Antique Mall (800 E. Main Street) has 2 big floors of treasures:

Stitches & Scones- what a great combination:

Downtown architecture:

We've heard good things about Marlow's but didn't have time to stop and try it this time.

Some gorgeous old homes that look like they have been there for awhile:

Easley Winery's Mulled Red Wine

This weekend, we discovered Easley Winery's mulled wine and it became an instant classic that we will have to get every year. We used to have a jar of mulling spice mix that we stirred into a mug of warm red wine that we loved but we hadn't really gotten around to buying a replacement since we ran out of that. While buying gifts at Easley, we picked up a bottle of Warm Mulled Wine for ourselves. All we did was warm it on top of the stove; the honey, apple, cinnamon, and nutmeg are already in there and smelled so good. It has now become an indispensable part of our holiday season. It just doesn't get any better than a mug of mulled wine, the glow of the Christmas tree, and an old holiday movie on TV (for us this weekend, it was charming Cary Grant in The Bishop's Wife).

Bargain books, CDs and DVDs from Daedalus

Book, music, and movie lovers (along with those who buy gifts for book, music, and movie lovers) should know about Daedalus Books and Music. We've received catalogs from them for awhile and, with their amazing prices on some items, we just couldn't resist placing an order with them any longer. Our recent purchase included the classic The Women DVD for $6.98, a two-fer DVD of Holiday Inn and Going My Way for $6.98, a Billy Taylor Trio CD for $5.98, and a gorgeous big softcover book of The Posters of Mauzan for only $9.98 (which is a huge savings compared to Amazon). They might not have everything that you are looking for but, with these low prices, you feel free to be more adventurous in buying things that you're not as familiar with (we'd never heard of Mauzan and don't know much about Billy Taylor either) so you can enjoy the thrill of discovering something new. While they don't offer the free shipping like so many online retailers are this season, a flat fee of $5.95 for standard shipping isn't too bad, especially the more that you buy.

Scenes from... Arcadia, Indiana

We braved the cold on Saturday to roam a couple of small towns and take pictures. It was absolutely worth it to see the cute buildings in Arcadia's downtown. Some of the buildings need some love but it is a very quaint Main Street. Arcadia has an arts initiative and their Arcadia Arts logo is displayed outside of artisans shops such as the Hedgehog Music Showcase, Scrappin for Schools, and Tabby Tree Weaver.

We love small town Christmas decorations.

On Washington Street, just off of Main Street, we stumbled upon the adorable Arcadia Cushman Company. We admit that we had never heard of Cushman Scooters but we peeked in the windows and they are very cute. The building is quite eye-catching with the scooter sticking out from the facade.

The railroad crossing on Main Street:

Wayne Newton at Hoosier Park

The Wayne Newton concert was just as much retro fun as we thought it would be. We had never been to Hoosier Park before and were happy to see that The Terrace Showroom was very intimate. We were surprised that so many musicians joined him on stage; some from his Las Vegas show and some Hoosier musicians who were tapped to play with him since it is a logistically challenging to take all of his musicians with him throughout the country. Everyone did a great job, particularly the back-up singers; Francis, Genevieve, and Darlene. Francis Lee was one of the back-up singers and Wayne told us that she is a very accomplished gospel singer. She sang "Amazing Grace" and her voice is amazing. We hope that we can find some of her solo work to download. Wayne's voice wasn't the strongest (he is 67), but we could not have asked for more energy or enthusiasm from him. He is the ultimate showman.

Here's Francis Lee bringing down the house with "Amazing Grace":
As the evening progressed the tie was loosened and Wayne dazzled us with his talents on the piano, guitar, banjo, and fiddle.

Nice article in USA Today about the IMA's Sacred Spain exhibit.

Strawtown Koteewi Park- Noblesville, Indiana

For us, it wasn't a hard choice this weekend between facing shopping crowds or taking a walk outside. We decided to take a break from our Ft. Harrison State Park routine and head north to the Kotweewi Park in Noblesville. While it isn't as woodsy as Ft. Harrison, the north and south loops had their own beauty and provided ample walking. We walked both loops and we walked for about an hour and 45 minutes. It was very quiet and not crowded at all which was quite nice.

There's not a lot of color outdoors right now so we were grateful for these greens and reds:

We like the contrast of the white on the trees:

The path was a little muddy but not too bad. It's a multi-use trail so bikers, walkers, and joggers are welcome.

Part of the path leads you under Strawtown Avenue: