Kudos to the workers at the Starbucks near Pendleton Pike and Sunnyside for not only being one of the few area Starbucks that had power and were operating this morning, but also for keeping a cheerful disposition despite the overwhelming crowds who were in desperate need for caffeine since they had no power at home to make their own coffee.

Support local radio by heading to Locals Only tomorrow for the WITT fundraiser.

Binford Farmers Market

Last year, our main farmers' market was in Broad Ripple. As this year's markets begin, we thought we'd check out the Binford Farmers' Market at Binford and 62nd Street. We went fulling knowing that it is still early and many garden goodies just aren't ready yet. We were, however, surprised to see how many vendors were there. We did a quick loop and then were ready to buy some asparagus. We can't remember the last time that we had such fresh asparagus. It was delicious steamed without adding a thing to it. Now, we have to go back this weekend so we can make some Parmesan asparagus pesto sauce.

How cool- win a chance to be drawn in a Batman Comic.

Ft. Harrison State Park: Bliss for $4

Need some zen? Head to 59th St and Post to the Fort Harrison State Park. We love this place and feel so lucky that it was kept as a park and not developed with houses. This is a great place for nature lovers, runner, walkers, and cyclists. There is a big asphalt loop called Harrison Trace Trail in case you don't like to venture into the woods. If you like a hill, you can walk or pedal up to the horse barns. If you like walking in the woods, they have several terrific trails such as the particularly scenic Fall Creek Trail with the Fall Creek Boardwalk and Observation Deck. As you may have gathered from the name, you are walking along Fall Creek on this trail so you get to enjoy the sound of the water and you might see deer or hear exotic birds. Just this past week, a couple of nice ladies alerted Mrs. WYA! to the fact that a trio of woodpeckers were in the area that she was headed towards. It is hard to believe that this amazing respite is just minutes from 465. They are currently building another playground area but we hope that they don't have plans for too much more development. We think it is pretty perfect the way it is. We actually wish that they'd close it as a park and just let us live there.

It was like worlds colliding to see Charles Gibson, Katie Couric, and Brian Williams all together on Good Morning America this morning. You know the networks are serious about helping cancer research when they put their news anchors together. They are teaming up with the Stand Up To Cancer organization and will all simulcast a fundraiser on September 5th. Check out the Stand Up To Cancer website, if not to launch a personalized star for someone for as little as a $1 then to watch the hilarious, irreverent Larry David on the homepage.

Dammann's Lawn and Garden Center

After years of seeing their ads in the Indianapolis Star, we thought we'd see if this local business carried moss rose plants that we have had a hard time finding in years past. Not being people who enjoy spending their time driving all over the city to look for things to buy, we emailed Dammann's inquiring if they carried these. To our great glee, they replied to our email before 8AM that same morning and, to our even greater glee, they said that they did. So, this past weekend, we headed to their 30th St. location and were agog at the amount of flowers and plants that they managed to fit into the little piece of land that they have at the corner of Franklin and E. 30th Street. Kind and knowledgeable employees led us to the large selection of lush moss roses. That was our only purchase, that day anyway. As the weekend continued and our new found enthusiasm for gardening grew, we went back on Monday and picked up lavender, rosemary, sage, tomato and pepper plants. We are not natural green thumbs so this is all pretty new to us but we couldn't help but to get carried away when we smelled the rosemary and sage plants. We'll see if we can maintain our horticultural enthusiasm throughout the summer (and we'll see if we can maintain the lives of these plants) but it felt good to give Dammanns our business and it is a joy to browse there.

Occasionally, we regret that we canceled our Showtime (however not when we hear that they are getting rid of Conrad and Heylia for the new season of Weeds). So, we were grateful to discover that they offer full episodes of some of their great show like This American Life.

Married to or partners with a chef? It is so trying for the significant others of chefs that this lady started a blog so people would have a place to commiserate about it.

Road Trip... Pendleton

Being the contrarians that we are, while the rest of the world traveled towards Indianapolis this weekend, we traveled away from it. Just a short little jaunt down Pendleton Pike to Pendleton (oh, that's why they call it...). A left on IN-38 led us right to the historic downtown area, passing some really adorable homes on the way. That road becomes State St. and it is the main drag for the shops. We easily found free parking and made Arts-Antiques our first stop. It is a good sized antique shop and we have to brag about our purchase, which is pictured above, the book Tawny. It turns out to be a scandalously fun read from 1936 but, even if the story wasn't good, the gorgeous cover is worth way more than the modest $3 that we paid for it. We continued down the street browsing at Burmeister's Antiques, Evey's (where we were pleasantly shocked to see that they carry Teavana tea), Crafts From the Heart, and then to the wonderful Word for Word bookstore. We love an independent bookseller, especially one who sells used books (and at such great prices). It is a big, well-organized store with some great art adding a lot of punch to the walls. We happily gave these nice merchants some business and then crossed the street to visit Finders Keepers where we found some highly aromatic soy candles. We then crossed Main St. to find another source for old fashioned candy, aptly called the Old Fashion Candy Shoppe. Then, it was time for lunch at The Cabbage Rose. Having never been to Pendleton before, we chose this based on the fact that the shopkeeper at Gaia Natural Foods recommended it and it is in a Victorian house. It is a gorgeous spot and while they have some innovative dishes to please diners looking for a lighter, healthier lunch (such as the Veggie Lover's Club) they please the heartier eaters with selections such as the amazing hand breaded tenderloin pictured here. Plus, most excitingly, they offer tater tots as a side option. THAT'S RIGHT- TATER TOTS! You might not have had them since elementary school and, believe us, these are way better than the ones the cafeteria ladies were dishing out back in the day. We tried to grab a menu for you but the carry-out menus were gone; undoubtedly a sign of this great restaurant's popularity.

We then decided to walk off lunch at the nearby Falls Park (pictured here). It's a pretty spot and we were amazed at how far back we kept walking and finding more trails. We saw many savvy bikers who already know about the trails that you can check out here.

As you look for fun closer to home this summer, put Pendleton near the top of the list.

Crown Hill

Happy Memorial Day! Sure, there is grilling to be done, pools to visit, golf to be played, and a fun to be had but we like to take some time to visit Crown Hill Cemetery around this time of year. If you think that you have no reason to visit Crown Hill just because you have no family buried there, you are missing a lot. First of all, it is gorgeous. The grounds are so lush (and sprawling) and you very well might see a deer there. Secondly, it is very humbling to walk through the Field of Valor and the Confederate Mound (where they have a Civil War Memorial Service today starting at 12:45PM). Don't think that a visit here is morbid though. The third reason to visit is the craftsmanship of the monuments. Many of the sculptures are just jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Lastly, there are guaranteed celebrity sightings and how many places in Indianapolis can claim that? Well, guaranteed to see their final resting places anyway. A stop at John Dillinger's grave is a must. You might also want to see Booth Tarkington's, Col. Eli Lilly's, and Lyman S. Ayres (yep, L.S. Ayres). At the very top, past Robert Irsay's (where we like to think that he can see the new stadium) you must go to James Whitcomb Riley's monument if for no other reason than to experience the view.

Rice with green curry- Tasty and meat free

Whether you are eating less meat to save $$ or just to be healthier, we've played around with some products from Thai Kitchen (we aren't shilling for them, their products are just easy to find at our local Meijer or Kroger- and we are all about easy) and came up with this tasty and healthy dish. You'll need:

2 tablespoons of Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste

1 can "lite" Thai Kitchen coconut milk

1 15.5 oz can cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup frozen peas

1 8 oz. package sliced mushrooms

Jasmine rice

1. Steam 2 cups Jasmine rice
2. In large skillet, combine curry paste w/can of coconut milk. Bring to boil.
3. Reduce heat, add mushrooms, simmer and stir. Cook until the mushrooms are at your desired tenderness.
4. Put in the frozen peas (they won't take long to cook)
5. Add can of cannellini beans
6. Ladle over Jasmine rice and enjoy!

This article makes us feel a little guilty that we spent last weekend reading a Dark Shadows book and re-reading a childhood favorite Cherry Ames book. What's on your must read list?

And, speaking of Dark Shadows, there's an annual festival and they're preparing for a Dark Shadows movie with Johnny Depp?! Happy days in Collinwood.

Nostalgic sweets and more

Ah, we love nothing more than to turn the big band music station on the TV (that's channel 435 on our Comcast dial), flip through The Vermont Country Store catalog and imagine that we're in another era. They have goodies like "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo and the original Snoopy Sno-Cone machine. They even ask for your suggestions for beloved beauty products or old timey foods that you have a hard time finding now. They have a big selection of some sweets that you probably used to enjoy as a kid and might not have thought about for awhile such as Sugar Daddy, Necco Wafers, Mary Jane, Chuckles, Now and Later, Slo Pokes, Mallow Cup, Bun Bars, and Zagnut. Do any of these sugary delights bring back memories? Is there another treat from your childhood that you liked to find again? Locally, a good place to find these is at the Noblesville Logan Village Mall. There is a room up front with lots of nostalgic candy (and some good birch beer in the cooler).

If you fell in love with that new Counting Crows CD, check them out on Good Morning America tomorrow.

International Tea and Coffee

We have blogged before about the massive selection of teas International Tea and Coffee has. There is usually good music and beautiful art on the walls. But the art we discovered one morning there was art of a temporary nature. It was breakfast, and it was beautiful.

For our tea selections, we chose Red Clover and Bancha. Red Clover is an herbal tea and can best be described as summer in a cup. Bancha is a green tea and one of our all time favorites. What is better than a hot cup of tea at the beginning of a chilly May morning? Accompanying it with a dish called "Asian Sunrise". Before my pot of Bancha finished steeping, before I made it through the first section of the Indianapolis Star, my plate arrived at the table. The "Asian Sunrise" is a hearty little breakfast, but in an energizing way (as opposed to a full order of biscuits and gravy-I need a nap kind of way).

Hot noodles are tossed in soy and sesame oil, with peppers, onions and mushrooms, and are placed on the plate to act as a bed for two fried eggs, with the yolks cooked hard, but still retaining the bright yellow, just like dual suns waking me up. It comes garnished with a tomato slice, and a few slices of cucumber.

At $5.75, this is now one of our favorite ways to start a day.

This is why you teach your pets their address but you also teach them to not be afraid of the police.

The super talented Beck has his new song streaming for free on his website.

Midland Arts & Antiques Market

We'll take browsing at Midland any day over hitting any other local mall. Even if you don't think you have an interest in antiques, you should head downtown and take a look around. First of all, they are in an incredibly cool old industrial building which is just nifty in and of itself. Also, there are some really artistic people behind the scenes here because they definitely have a way with displaying the goodies. They make very inviting "rooms" with their wares and you can really see how you could make some of the pieces work in your home. Plus, works by local artists are interspersed throughout so that really makes things interesting. The above picture is of an Indy car that they had there made out of Lite-Brite bulbs. It was pretty cool and worth the trip to take a look. If, by chance, you are looking for Moderntone dishes (as we were this past weekend), this is a good place to find them. Of course, it's a good place to find all kinds of things that you might not even know that you need so plan a trip downtown to visit Midland.

Does it make anyone else really happy that there are still some big hat Arby's signs around? This one is on Pendleton Pike.

The Tamale Place

So, awhile back when we talked about La Bamba, Ro left us a comment suggesting that we try The Tamale Place for a good tamale. We took that comment seriously and vowed to get all the way over to Rockville Rd. as soon as we had a chance. Well, we didn't have to go nearly as far because it turns out that they were one of the food vendors at this past weekend's Broad Ripple Art Fair. We chose a Spicy Chipotle Chicken tamale, and Ro was absolutely right. This was one great tamale. We weren't expecting great things, since they would have prepared the tamales on the west side, brought them to Broad Ripple and let them spend time in a steam table, but the tamale was perfect. Served in the traditional corn husk, the masa (the corn meal exterior) was nice and moist, and the chicken had just the right amount of heat and smokiness. At $2.75 each, they are pretty much a meal in itself. We can't wait to get to their location on Rockville Road to try them all.

Yay-we just got our Yogi Tea samples that we requested in the mail today. We got a bag of Green Tea Pomegranate, Berry Anti-Oxidant, and Mexican Sweet Chili PLUS a 50 cent coupon. We love tea and we love free things. Don't forget to request yours.

Know someone who perservered after losing a spouse or parent? You have until this Friday, May 23rd, to share their inspirational story with State Farm and possibly win 10K for them. You just have to write a 1000 words or less telling their story. What a great program to honor someone who has overcome such a loss.

City Market

We here in Central Indiana are blessed to have some really great Cajun food such as Zydeco's and Yat's. However, to the best of our knowledge, we had been lacking a muffuletta sandwich- that is, until now. Head to Constantino's in the Indianapolis City Market for this olive lovers' dream. The meats were generous and the olive salad was spread thick, just the way it should be. Constantino's put their own spin on it by putting it in the panini press, which was a much appreciated spin, indeed. It's $9.75 but keep in mind that the picture here only shows 1/2 of the sandwich that you will get. We inhaled the other half so quickly that we forgot to get a picture. You also get your choice of chips or pretzels with it. Have no fear if you are not a downtown Indy worker, they are open on Saturdays.

SATC and SJP fans (if you are a fan, you will know those acronyms), don't miss Sarah Jessica Parker on Inside the Actor's Studio on Monday the 19th at 8PM on Bravo. Also check out the June Vogue for the gorgeous photo spread featuring SJP and Chris Noth, or just check out this Vogue page and click for the 3 minute video "behind the scenes" of the photo shoot.

Scenes from the 2008 Broad Ripple Art Fair

We hit the art fair today thanks to the Broad Ripple Gazette (see previous post). First of all, we were baffled that more people weren't taking advantage of the shuttle bus that runs from Glendale to the Fair. The area surrounding the Indianapolis Art Center is so crazy while the Fair is going on that we can't understand why people squeeze their cars through crowded, narrow neighborhood streets in hopes of finding a parking spot. The shuttle stops at various places but we especially like the overflow lot of Glendale. The bus only stops at the location that you catch it at so you don't have to put up with it making a lot of stops picking people up/dropping them off. Plus, it only costs what you choose to tip.

Aside from that, here are our pick hits from the Art Fair. In 3D Mixed Media we liked Lynn McDonald (Booth #99). In ceramics, we liked the work of Michael Macone (Booth 413) that is pictured here at the top left. Always the bargain shoppers, we liked that some of his pieces were in the $18-$22 range. In the Oil/Acrylic Painting category, we liked Geoffrey Harris (Booth 203 pictured at the top right here), Susan Hodgin (Booth 68 pictured at the bottom left here), Gayla Hodson (Booth 41) and Joani Rothenberg (Booth 412).

All in all, there was some beautiful work and we could tell that there were indeed "35% more new artists"as they had advertised and we appreciated the fresh blood.

We went to the Cottage Home Tour a couple of years ago and highly recommend it. It is going on today and Sunday. We loved discovering a neighborhood that we didn't even really realize was there. Everyone was so warm to us too. We didn't make the move there but they sure tempted us. Kudos to people who move into these older neighborhoods and give them love.

Tasty treats from Saraga continued

Well, we tried another one of our recent Saraga Grocery purchases- cooked vegetable bun. In a word, YUM! Wheat flour dough encases cabbage, carrot, and onion. You'll find them in the frozen section, you get 3 in a package and they are easy to prepare in a pot, in the rice cooker, or in the microwave as we did. Another slam dunk from Saraga.

We agree that we could all take up less space, and definitely buy less stuff, but 640 square feet for a family of 4 plus a dog??? SALUTE to this family.

YOU CAN BE IRON MAN!!!

This is a neat little contest that costs you nothing to enter. Check out this site and enter here. Hasbro is offering 3 lucky Grand Prize winners the honor of having an Iron Man figure made...with their face!!! In addition, you get the VIP treatment at the Hasbro HQ in Rhode Island to pick it up. Hurry, the contest ends 9/30/08.

Calling all grill masters

Send Mario Batali your best grilling recipe with a video demonstration and maybe you can tailgate with him, and Rachael Ray, at the Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on November 2nd at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mario seems like he'd be reeeeeeeeeeaally fun to tailgate with.

Jewelry, local and beyond

We weren't really sure if we were going to go to the Broad Ripple Art Fair this year or not but, after winning tickets to it along with the cool t-shirt pictured (thanks Broad Ripple Gazette!!), we will be heading there this weekend. We will be sure to check out jewelry booths there but, in the meantime, we really like these asymmetrical necklaces from K. Ritt.

Interesting interview (just hit play for May 13th, hour 1) with fitness guru Jim Karas who says spinning is evil and no one should ever run a marathon again.

Some people are getting very crafty with their knife skills (and one of them made the cutest lemon ever).

Freebies alert

Tomorrow, May 15th, not only can you get a free iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts but you can also get a free "southern style chicken biscuit" (AM) or "southern style chicken sandwich" (PM) with the purchase of a medium or large drink at McDonald's.

Since we seem to be having a Fort Wayne theme day, we will take this opportunity to recommend the blog http://childofthefort.blogspot.com/. If you spent any time at all in Fort Wayne during the 70s and 80s, this is a must read. You can even identify with it if you are just a child of the 70s and 80s. We have a tendency to be nostalgic and sentimental anyway so we just love it. It also prompted us to dig through some of our old boxes and pull out the gems pictured here. Mrs. WYA! always wanted to grow up to look like Margie from this ad in her comic books, despite the fact that she wasn't blond and didn't have white go-go boots. Did anyone else read the Summer Weekly Reader, order books from Scholastic, or read Dynamite magazine?

Shopoff's

Here's another Fort Wayne food tip. If you find yourself there with a hankering for a steak, head to Shopoff's on U.S. 24 West. This is high quality food without a pretentious atmosphere. It's attached to a gas station (which we think adds to its charm) but don't think that this is Travel Plaza food. They start with excellent ingredients and know how to prepare them. A recent trip there had our group greatly enjoying the 6 oz. filet mignon, and 2 specials of the day which were a stroganoff with perfectly cooked beef tips and a whitefish with a wonderful blackened seasoning. Don't go to that chain steakhouse, eat where the locals eat and visit Shopoff's.

DeBrand

For various reasons, we go to Fort Wayne more than the average Indianapolis resident so we occasionally opine on offerings that are there. We can't understand how the city of Indianapolis let DeBrand slip through its fingers. There was briefly a DeBrand candy store/cafe in the shopping centre across from the Fashion Mall several years ago. They make the best truffles ever, this is not opinion, this is fact. Everyone in Fort Wayne knows this (even Donald Trump knows this) and they have kept DeBrand in business for over 20 years. Of course, they offer a lot of goodies besides truffles, such as their exotic Connoisseur Collection which mixes chocolate with ingredients like chili powder, curry, and sesame. They have a great website that you can order from or, these truffles are so good, a chocolate lover would be completely rational making the 2 hour drive from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne just to visit one of their stores for a treat. Pictured above is our favorite dark chocolate truffle with an espresso that we enjoyed there over the weekend (isn't the espresso cup adorable?). We highly recommend this combination.

Taylor's Bakery

Mrs. WYA!'s Mom has a thing for white cake and she has fallen hard for Taylor's version of it. Personally, Mrs. WYA! doesn't understand the point of a cake that isn't chocolate, but that is just her opinion. The Mom says it should have angels on top of it because it is so heavenly. We love how we can just walk into Taylor's (we go to the one in Fishers but assume the Allisonville Rd. one is lovely too) the day we want to give it to her and they have several in the counter of varying sizes (mini, single layer, double layer). They already have pretty icing flowers but they also have room on top in case you want them to write an icing message on it, which they can do perfectly with lightening fast speed. We love the prompt, courteous service and we love that they have always had little samples out when we have been there. Of course, they have a dazzling array of other goodies but we have only gone there for the white cake. You'll have to let us know what your Taylor's favorites are.

The paid home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice

If these words sound familiar, you are already a Dave Ramsey fan. If not, you might enjoy getting to know him. We get so many messages everyday trying to tell us that we must buy something to be cooler, smarter, sexier, etc. It is nice to hear a voice saying you don't need that junk. You'll be cooler, smarter, sexier etc. without debt. There are several ways to listen to The Dave Ramsey Show. Locally, you can hear it on 95.9 FM from noon-3PM. You can also watch him in the evenings on the Fox Business channel from 8PM- 9PM (that's channel. 106 on our Comcast Cable). Now to listen to the whole 3 hour radio show via MP3, you have to become a member of My Total Money Makeover. However, you can download an hour of the show for free at iTunes. He's got a great voice and it is nice to combat all of the commercial messages we get with some good old common sense.

In case you are going to be in New York City on the 21st of June and like yoga, registration has opened for the annual Solstice In Times Square yogafest. That is right, do yoga in the middle of Times Square. Mrs. WYA! is going to be there and can't wait.

In case you can't wait for Iron Man 2...

Jon Favreau, the director (and cameo star) of Iron Man has written a 4-part mini-series called "Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas" Favreau really gets this character, and probably wants to keep proving it to us until sequel time. This series is sold monthly for 4 months, the first issue was released May 7, the next one is expected to hit the stands June 4th, to find a comic store near you, click here

If you are one of the many that poured into Iron Man, did you stay for the surprise scene after the credits and, if you did, what did you think?

In case you are off work today, TCM is having a Paul Newman day- hubba, hubba.

In Praise of Peewinkle

We admit it, we like a puppet show. However, we do not have children and we don't even know any to take with us to puppet shows. Luckily, Peewinkle's Adult Cabaret is back and it is this Friday, May 9th. We have seen the adult Peewinkle shows a couple of times but we don't think that they offered any adult ones for the past couple of years. Let's be clear, there is nothing salacious here. It is just that they offer a no kiddies show with wine and snacks. The shows that we have been to have been wonderful. You can tell that there is a lot of love in the productions and you can't help but to be charmed to be amongst other adults who think it is fun to watch a puppet show. You've probably seen Peewinkle's building. It is diagonal from the Slippery Noodle (we like to imagine that Peewinkle hits the Noodle after a performance). We are out of town on Friday, darn it, so we have to miss it but please let us know what you thought if you go to it.