Yankees

While in Williamsburg we happened into one of the largest Yankee Candle stores in the country: I now know what Heaven will smell like!  There are two flagship Yankee candle stores - this one and one in Massachusetts.  These two flagship stores have every scent that Yankee makes, as well as a few that are exclusive to the city (below)...

The candle selection seems endless, and there are so many candles that they're divided into sections, such as food or nature or holiday.  The holiday selection held as many candles as some Yankee candle stores hold in their entirety.

 Below, Tim was looking at one of the super-sized Yankee candles.  Those have three wicks, and I can only imagine their burn time.

 In addition to candles, this Yankee store had mini-stores within it.  There was a room full of Snowbabies, another full of blown glass ornaments, another with Jim Shore figurines, another with Byers Choice pieces, etc. etc.  But by far, John's favorite was the nutcracker room!  Ever since we saw The Nutcracker Ballet in Cincinnati a few Christmases ago, John has collected nutcrackers and is always interested in seeing new and distinctive kinds...

 And this one was arguably the largest nutcracker John had ever seen!  Want to take a gander at how much that nutcracker cost???  (Answer at the bottom of this post.)

Anna and John took GREAT delight in the book where children could actually add names to Santa's Naughty and Nice List.  Anna took tremendous pleasure in adding her own name to the Nice List, while John took much pleasure in adding another boy's name to the Naughty List.  Who shall remain nameless, because some of you might know him.  :)

But one of the coolest parts of the Yankee store had to be the "Yankee Holiday Park."  An area in the middle of the store had been turned into what looked like an outdoor village with a huge Christmas tree surrounded by mini candles in the center.  You walk across a bridge into the "park," where the sky was lit-up like the sky on a clear night, and the lights twinkled just like the night sky.  But best of all, every four minutes it SNOWED.  Seriously!  Little flakes of snow would fall out of the ceiling!

All the joy of being outside in the cold snow at night at Christmas...

Except you don't have to be outside in the cold snow at night at Christmas.

I had more pictures that I anticipated showing you, such as the Yankee Candle birdhouses, the display of college team Yankee candles, the cafe that served delicious fudge and carmel apples.

But that's where tragedy struck .  

I had accidentally left my camera bag unzipped and BANG.  I heard my camera crash to the ground and she died right there on the Yankee Candle Store floor.  She was a good and faithful camera the last few years, and she gave me many good memories.  We tried to resuscitate her, but she was gone.  I'll miss that little Canon Powershot...

However, if there's any good time to break a camera and need a new one, I must admit that a few weeks before Christmas would be that time.  And if there's anyone who's a good person to break her camera and need a new one,...such as a certain Nikon CoolPix that's on sale at Walmart right now... it would be me.  Me, who has the sweetest, kindest, handsomest, smartest, bravest, most generous, most thoughtful, most caring HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, a husband who has THE BEST taste in Christmas gifts for his wife.

Just sayin'.  

XOXO  Kara

p.s. - The lifesize nutcracker was $3,000.