Downtown Lafayette has many things to offer. One of the most nostalgic, and wonderful, things to do, is to visit McCords candies on the corner of Main and 6th streets.  Not only do they have a large selection of delicious handmade candy, they have a great menu of classic favorites, a real old time soda fountain with hand stirred colas, and seasonal favorites, like handmade, old-fashioned, candy canes at Christmas.

They have seating for lunch and a great specials for under $5.  It is yet another place that I like to visit often for lunch, snacks, and unique gifts too. My husbands’ grandma loves the hard candies, like anise and rock candy suckers. Kids go crazy for the jawbreakers, ranging from golf ball, to SOFTBALL size! When I did the photos for this post, the girl working the counter, said her brother licked one until his tongue bled! That is real dedication, determination and craziness! They have a special selection of sugar-free candy that makes a thoughtful gift for someone that prefers that. You can visit www.mccordcandies.com to learn all about the history and selections at this wonderful downtown Lafayette icon.

http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/Default.aspx?type=default

Oh Chipotle, how do I love you? Let me count the ways. I love you for your tacos, hard and soft, your bowls full of cilantro rice, vegetarian beans, grilled veggies and the freshest salsas, your guacamole that is unrivaled, your chips with a hint of citrus and crunchy dusting of salt, and your commitment to providing fast food with a conscience. I love you for caring where your ingredients come from, and for being right in West Lafayette, where I can easily visit you! Oh yes, and a special bit of my heart to you for having corn salsa. :)

Do yourself a favor and try this place if you haven’t! The enormous burrito is my last choice, go for the tacos or bowl with chips!!!!!!!

When my Grandma, Grammy to me,  passed away, I looked and looked for her recipe box but I couldn’t find it. My aunt had taken it, and it took years for me to finally get them to make copies of. I was so happy to have them again! I color copied them so they looked as close to the originals as I could get. They were all faded and yellowed from being around for so long, some had notes that my grandma had written on them. Her handwriting was so pretty and old-fashioned. When she was in school you had to write really perfect cursive. I loved her hands too. They were strong hands that had worked hard, but she would still do her nails sometimes. She was a doodler, when she’d talk on the phone she would draw really intricate doodles and her leg was always going to. My Grandpa said I was just like her, couldn’t ever sit still for a second. I am bouncing my leg right now as I write this too, I always do. I miss her so much. It helps a little to have things like this recipe book I made of her cards, and her wooden spoon that is displayed with it, in my kitchen, but I wish I could hear her voice again. I used to call her the minute I had any good news and the minute I had any bad news too. I hope she still sees me today and is proud of me for how hard I work to make a life for myself and my family. I hope she knows how much I remember her, miss her and love her, and that she, is who taught me, to be who I am.

***Yet another talented friend and local artist! :) You can also friend  her on facebook! She makes some of the cutest affordable packaged gifts that will make you the hit of any babyshower or birthday party!

Biancofiori Masonry Inc. provides quality masonry workmanship for residential, commercial, and industrial areas in West Lafayette, IN. We are a bonded and insured company handling all your masonry needs from existing work to new construction.

Commercial Projects Completed To Name A Few Are: Ashley Furniture,Casada Business Park,Chauncy Square in West Lafayette,Daughtry Plaza,PEFCU,St. Annes Roman Catholic Church,Prairie Lakes Apartments

References available. We provide free estimates, senior citizen discounts, and insurance work.

* I have known Rick for years and recommend his work, Call Biancofiori Masonry Inc. at 765-491-8051!

I can’t get enough vintage kitchen stuff. My best guess is it all started when I was really little and helping my Grandma in the kitchen. I loved it so much, being with her and making pies, noodles, caramel corn and processing all the stuff from the garden in the summers. I used to spend hours rearranging and organizing her stuff in her kitchen cabinets. I would wash every spice jar and put them all back perfectly lined up. She loved it. When she passed away I got several of her old kitchen bowls and some other odds and ends of hers. It’s the smallest, strangest things that can stir up a tidal wave of emotions about your most loved ones. I will always remember her, so kind and wonderful, teaching me in the kitchen, and me not even realizing she was teaching me the biggest things in life.

http://www.vintage-towels.com/

www.maximumedia.com/

When/how did you start DJing- same with the design.

I started messing around with keyboards and guitar pedals and looping devices when I was in high school. I didn’t really want to DJ, so I sat around in my bedroom and made noises. I have hours of cassette tapes of my experiments.

I have always drawn things, so the design and illustration part of my life and business I mainly fostered in college. I was hired by the Physics department to create 3D models of their laboratory experiments. All I had as a portfolio were some Photoshop images I created in my spare time. But, they hired me.

Did you always want to do these things or did it evolve out of something else?

I was always told that I would most likely end up doing something creative. So, it may be one of those “self-fulfilling prophecy” type things. But I always studied art and design and took advanced and summer courses in art throughout my schooling. Then, I realized I could actually pay bills through freelance website design I had learned in my Professional Writing class. So, yeah, I guess I was studying to be a writer or a rhetoritician and found that design took the higher suit and trumped my best laid plans.

How do they intermix?

I design states of mind. Whether that is on paper through colors and balance or the right font or some interesting photograph or on an audio track where I pick the instruments and mix them together with the right lyricist and the mastering levels at the finishing stage. Kind of an interesting way of looking at things, but I pride myself on being an artist as well as an entrepreneur. Balance to everything.

Do you have a hard time balancing the two?

Not usually. Occasionally, I will come to a block and have to really push myself into a project. But, typically, once I start things just work out. You can’t rush creativity. That is what I tell many of my clients, and they get it…but that doesn’t change the deadline. I stay up pretty late some nights trying to get everything just right.

What do you enjoy most about both things? Plans for the future…

I enjoy the process of creating. I enjoy the people I get to work with and be around on a regular basis. I also think my creativity develops the more I use it and push it to the max. I also like to do my own thing. For a large awards ceremony, I was sweating what I ought to wear. When I asked my girlfriend, she just said “wear what you always wear.” It was exactly what I needed to hear. Sure, it might be unprofessional to some, but I prefer to think that everyone likes to see people who have flavor, who can really express who they are and what they do no matter what the current trend or mode.

Tell me a little about how growing up with a family run business may have inspired you to be a young entrepenuer.

I watched my parents and decided that I could do it. We worked hard in all sorts of weather, so I guess I learned that I didn’t want to work that hard and found out through my trials that I could make it. I just had to keep my nose to the grind and adapt to things.

What jobs if any did you have with your family business…

I grew up the way any forester grows up, with trees. I dug them, cut them, pruned them, chopped them, studied them and burnt them growing up. I guess if anything, it gave me time to think and develop my imagination. Someone said the best philosophers are born with a shovel in their hand. Maybe the best artists are born with a tree spade in theirs.

There is something that makes someone drive themselves to be self-employed, it is never the easiest route, what made you choose this instead of furthering someone elses goals…

It’s like buying a house. Why not pay for your own home than rent from someone and pay their mortgage. So, I bought the house in 08 and have been working out of it for as long.

J. Noah Mattern
President | Art & Brand Director | Maximumedia
maxim@maximumedia.com
765.413.8923

Our value-added services include provision of unlimited support
consultation and technical assistance on our guaranteed products.