Saturday in Tippecanoe County

I wanted some new photos for my blog/portfolio and Wyatt has been wanting to get out and use his camera more so we got up early and headed out to play around with some photos on Saturday.  We took a drive in the country and snapped some in the fields and enjoyed the pretty Saturday morning.  We ended up back on campus so we decided to take advantage of the pretty morning.  I changed out of my dress, feeling a little dirty from being out in the fields.  We enjoyed the quiet campus while we can because students will be back soon.  We ended up having breakfast/lunch at Triple XXX since we were right there!

It was a gorgeous day so we decided to head out to Wea Creek Orchard for their Sunflower Festival. This was the first year for it and I can see them turning this into an annual tradition.  They had food trucks, kids activities, vendors, their Wea Creek Orchard products (we got apple cider slushies!) and of course sunflowers! It was such a family friendly and fun event with demonstrations, tractor rides, etc. They even had a photographer setting up for mini-sessions in the sunflowers!

Holidays in Lafayette

Our Christmas parade was cancelled this year due to threat for severe weather but there are plenty of other activities going on about town this month leading up to Christmas.  Yesterday, Wyatt and I went downtown to stroll down Main Street.  I wanted to pop in at Scones and Doilies.  They have a spot inside City Foods and we haven't been there yet.  We frequently stop at their booth at the Farmers Markets in the summer.  It was just so cute inside.  I had to try a festive little gingerbread man! We walked around for a little bit longer, checking out storefronts and popping in the candy shop.  We stopped and quickly checked out the tents with vendors for the Dickens of a Christmas event downtown on Saturday but it was cold so we weren't out too long!

After our visit to Main Street, we drove over to campus to see the tree in the Purdue Memorial Union.  They have this giant tree in the Union each December but this was the first time I had been over to see it.  It was impressive! We stopped for a bite to eat at 9 Irish over on the west side before heading home to cap off our morning out and about checking off Christmas activities off our list.

Starry Night Festival

Starry Night Festival is this cute little street bazaar over on Purdue's campus.  The weather is pretty hit or miss for this time of year but luckily this year it turned into the prettiest fall day/night.  After spending the day in Indy, I came home and we went to the festival in search of food.  We stopped by the food trucks and each got tacos! I generally don't know any of the artists that come through with this festival but this year Andrew Ripp performed so we made sure to catch some of his set! I love the energy that surrounds this festival.  It's always buzzing with excitement and there are so many great things to do there!

St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Last night Wyatt and I attended our first concert together at the Elliott Hall of Music on Purdue's campus (our next concert there is Saturday).  We saw the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  I saw an ad for the event online a couple of weeks ago and purchased tickets on a whim.  It has been a long time since I've been to a classical music presentation and I jumped at the chance to see them in my own town.

The played two pieces last night.  The first was Piano Concerto No. 1 by Brahms with guest, Nikolai Lugansky, on the piano.  After the intermission, they orchestra performed Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich.  It was a wonderful concert.  

I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this on here but I minored in Music Studies at Indiana University which meant I was taking courses in Jacobs School of Music for non-majors, or courses students of the school took as electives.  Admittedly, I ended up choosing that minor so that I had an excuse to keep taking courses like History of Rock I and a course on the Beatles.  But it ended up being such a great experience.  I also took a Music of the 70s and 80s, Jazz for the Listener, Music for the Listener (my required alternate to a performance course since I do not play any instrument), and Music Theory.  I really enjoyed all of the courses I took to complete the minor.  I even sat in on a couple of History of Rock II classes with my roommate one semester.  They exposed me to so much more music and music history than I likely ever would have had on my own.  As part of some of my courses, we were required to attend performances and write a report after.  I went to several recitals in the music school because of these requirements.  If you live in or around Bloomington, there are so many free events that you should take advantage of because I know I wish I had gone to more!