A Day at the Indiana State Fair

Have you attended a State Fair Before?  Why did/do you go?

My top four reasons for going this year:

1. Seeing my little cousin show her Alpaca. (Not going to lie I want one)
2. The exercise you get walking around. (remember I am on a mission to lose weight)
3. Getting a funnel cake (not a part of #2)
4. Getting out and doing something fun

The Husband’s top four reasons for going this year:

1. Food
2. Food
3. Food
4. Food

Yeah, he gets a little expensive at the fair.  At least it is only once a year.

Overall I had a great time and I was definitely worn out by the end of the day.  Making a mental note to myself here that we will go back during the day on a week day again.  Lines are not as long and there are a lot less people there.  You are not competing to see things with people and can move along at leisure.  Plus you get a sweet parking spot.  We literally walked right in.
If you plan on attending the State Fair in Indiana there are some discounted days that you can check out, just be aware that there will be a lot of people on those days.  If you decide to go on a day that is not discounted you can still buy discounted tickets for $7.00 at CVS.  Just remember you will still also need to pay $5.00 for parking.

So if you are looking for something to do, then go and check out a state fair this summer!
Stay tuned for my future adventures.  I see painting pottery, a trip to Bloomington and a trip to Las Vegas in my future.  What kind of adventures are in your future?

Date Night With The Husband

I really do have a husband...although he has only been referenced in my blogs lately and they have not focused on the things that we have done together.  I guess Life Adventures in Indiana has mainly been focused on my adventures as of late and not our adventures. However, in my defense he has been working a lot of overtime, so we have been like two ships passing in the night.  Like I how I passed the blame on to the Husband?

I decided to do something about this!  The perfect opportunity presented itself and there would be no overtime on Monday night, only husband and wife time.  No excuses, no ifs, ands or buts!  You might be asking what did I do?  Well I scheduled a date night and made a reservation, destination Sullivan's Steakhouse in Indianapolis.  If you are familiar with this restaurant then you might be thinking to your self, oh what a big spender, what is the special occasion.  I was not a total big spender and there was no special occasion, except for wanting to get dressed up and spend quality time with the Husband.

I will let you in on my little secret.  Check it out http://www.northsidenightsindy.com/   Multiple restaurants are participating in this and it is $30.00 per person for three courses! See, I can be pretty smart. ;)  Of course be prepared for your total to be over $60.00, there is the cost of drinks, any additional items you might order and of course the tip.  Still we spent only a little over $100.00 for a meal, for the both of us, that typically would run around $200.00 or more.

The money was well spent as the Husband had never been there before and apparently, according to him he liked their FB page a couple of years ago, when I was talking about how I had been there a few times and about how much I loved it.  So he can now cross that off of his food bucket list.

Seriously the Husband cracks me up.  While we were finishing our meal I told him that he is spoiled, that I never should have introduced him to fine dining in the past.  He looked at me and said "No I am not, I need culture."  He realized his mistake right after he said that, I looked at him and repeated what he said, "You need culture? So you would like to attend an opera, the ballet..."  Before I could finish he said "Food culture".  Yes, folks that is the Husband, everything is about food with him.  You take him to a Broadway show and he does not appreciate it but you take him to a steak place where the bill is over $200.00 and he calls it culture.

So my fellow adventurers take the time to spend with your significant other whenever you get a chance, especially if you are becoming two ships passing in the night.  Splurge a little on a nice night out together where you can get dressed up and feel sexy!

Until next time...when my blog will probably revert to being about me because let's be honest life really is about me.  Right???

Wine and Canvas

She had me at wine.  Wait....what is this canvas thing?  You want me to paint on that?  Actually, you want me to paint at all?  I have never painted on canvas before or really painted at all.  Unless you can count painting by number, which I did as a child.

So what am I talking about?  My friend and I were planning a night out without our husbands and her kids and she suggested Wine and Canvas.  She had been before and said she had a great time.  She assured me that anyone could do it because they walk you through it.  Now, if you have met me then you know I am not at all crafty or artistic.  I wish that I was...I wish really hard sometimes but unfortunately I am not and never have been.

I was willing to give it a try.  I knew that I could will myself to be artistic.  I put my big girl panties on, took a big gulp of wine and started to paint.  The time flew by and before you know it I had a picture that resembled the photo below.



I did it, I actually painted something that looked somewhat decent and on canvas to boot!  I was so excited. Apparently when I told my friend I could not paint she did not know that I had NEVER painted before.  She was impressed at how well I did for my first time, or so she said.  Maybe she was just being nice.  Either way I am making my husband hang it up in our hallway.

So if you are interested in trying this then check out www.wineandcanvas.com.  They have multiple locations, not just in Indiana but across the U.S.  I plan on going back and making my husband go to do the couples session.

For now I will dream of one day becoming a world famous artist.  Hey, I did say dream!

Awesome Weekend

This weekend was awesome!  I really had a great weekend!  Lately I have been feeling stressed with work, things that I need to get done and just life in general.  I am not sure why I have been feeling this way but this weekend I enjoyed myself and tried to relax.

It was a busy and fulfilling weekend.  I will break it down for you.

Friday - My parents and I bought a DealChicken for $23.00 per person to go and see the Fever (Indiana's WNBA team) play at Conseco Field house in their third game of the playoffs against the Lynx.  The deal included tickets, a hot dog, Pepsi and a t-shirt.  Not a bad deal!  The Husband is not really a basketball fan and since he had an all day class the next day, which was a 2 1/2 hr. drive away, he decided not to join us.  So off my parents and I went on Friday night to attend the game.  And what an awesome game it was.  The Fever slaughtered the Lynx!  Our seats were fantastic!  I really enjoyed going to the game.  If you have never been to a Fever game or a WNBA game, I suggest you go.  These ladies are really good and I think I enjoy watching them more then I do the men!  Since I knew the game would end late I had already decided that I would stay at my parents house that night.  After the game we headed home to their house and then watched and episode of Law and Order: SVU.

Saturday:  Since the Husband had class on Saturday and my mom was off of work we had decided to have a mother/daughter day.  Originally we had thought about going to one of the covered bridge festivals but since the weather was crummy and we knew that it would be super busy on Saturday we decided to forgo that plan.  Instead we went to a small craft fair (it was not that great) and then headed to my place to work on some things.  Yes, I am still unpacking some boxes!  We got a couple of misc. boxes unpacked and some stuff put away.  We actually had a very productive day and I felt so much better about getting some things done.

Sunday:  Originally I was going to babysit for some friend's two little girls but they ended up not needing me to watch them.  So I ended up making spaghetti with my husband for lunch and watching a bit of tv with him. I was going to do some more housework but since he was working on some homework I actually ended up falling asleep and taking a nap.  It was nice to be able to relax and do that!  When I woke up he was still working on homework so I decided to leave him in peace and head over to my friend's house (where I was originally going to babysit) and hand out with her and Ladybug (her three year old daughter).  Ladybug is so adorable and entertaining.  We planted rocks, yes I typed rocks, drew on the driveway with chalk and blew bubbles.  After that I met the Husband at my parents house and we went with my parents to dinner at Apezza, we had purchased a Groupon. The food was excellent there, no complaints.  It is somewhere that we would go back to.  Then it was back to my parents house.  The Husband headed home and I stayed to watch the fourth fever game with my parents.  Hoping that they would win.  It was a close game, I think my blood pressure spiked but the ladies did not disappoint and it was a win!  They won the playoffs.  Then it was back home.

So I am glad that I am feeling very relaxed, even though it was a busy weekend!  Of course I am sure you noticed there were some deals in there.  You know how I love my deal sites!

Watch for a post soon about our Cincinnati trip from a couple of weekends ago.  I am falling a bit behind on my blog posts. :-)

Hope that everyone else had a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Recovery, Please Apply Here

Whew!  I think that I am still recovering from the weekend.  I believe that I need a weekend of relaxation after the busy weekend that we had.

First I am going to start off by saying I had an awesome weekend, even though I am still recovering.

I started Saturday off by picking up my mom at her house and driving over to my grandmother’s retirement community.  You see it was family day at her retirement community.  Now often, in a loving way I refer to my husband as a five year old.  That afternoon was my day to act like a child, I mean after all I do not have kids to do some of these things with so why not do them on my own.  I guess I should explain.  For family day there were many activities going on, some of which I did not get a chance to partake in.  My highlight of the afternoon was the balloon lady who was making different balloon items like Elmo, Cookie Monster, flowers, ect.  My choice, yes I wanted something, was a flower corsage.  And a flower wrist corsage I got and I wore it proudly on my wrist.  My next favorite thing was the photo booth they had there, once I discovered the photo booth I promptly took pictures with both my mother and my grandmother.  Yes, I did stick my tongue out in some of the pictures and I might have given them bunny ears too!   

Fun times were had by all, including my aunt, uncle, cousin, cousin’s wife and their two little ones.  Then around 2:00 p.m. it was time to leave, I needed to take mom home so I could get home and get ready for our next event.

On my way home the Husband called and said he had a surprise for me. He had booked a hotel room downtown Indianapolis at the Omni Sevrin .  Sweet!  I could get ready at the hotel and then we could walk over to the Gleaner’s Food Bank Fall Harvest Gala.  

When I got home we quickly packed a bag and we were on our way downtown.  We checked in and got ready.  Man, does the Husband look good in a suit!

Every year one of my good friends purchases a table at this event.  Gleaner’s Food Bank is a wonderful resource for those that need food in the state of Indiana.  Not only do they support food pantries, but they are also very involved in having food pantries in the schools and a backsack program for students.  Words really cannot describe how awesome they are and how awesome their volunteers are.

We had a wonderful time there and it was so nice to catch up with my friend, as it had been awhile since I had seen her.  We really appreciated her inviting us to attend with her. 

Then it was time to go back to the hotel.  Did I mention the fact that my shoes were KILLING me?  I was not sure how much farther I was going to be able to walk.  So the Husband, being the awesome man that he is, walked back to our hotel, waited to get the car out of valet and drove over to get me.  I love this man!  Afterwards, we decided to change, me in to some more comfortable shoes and we took a walk over to Buffalo Wild Wings.  The Husband was like, there are all of these places downtown and you choose to go to Buffalo Wild Wings.  <Shrug> what can I say, I really wanted some popcorn shrimp and it was 11:30 p.m.

The next morning, Sunday, we decided on checking out later to avoid all of the Colts game traffic.  So we were able to relax for a bit.  It really is a beautiful hotel!

After that, it was not home bound we were headed.  Nope, we were headed over to mom and dad’s to pick them up to go and use our Groupon to get some pizza, tokens and to miniature golf at Ben & Ari’s in Fishers.  We all had a great time; you would have thought that we were a bunch of teenagers.  Mom ended up winning by one point, Dad and I tied and the Husband lost.  He kept saying that he won because he had the highest score.  Ha!  I actually think his golf lessons hurt his miniature golf game.

So do you see now why I said I need a weekend after the weekend? 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there!  I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend or day with your family.

We actually celebrated Father's Day on Saturday.  My dad is retired now so he works at a gold course.  I know many people are jealous but not me.  Anyways, since golf is obviously a popular way to spend Father's Day he was going to be working today so we opted to celebrate on Saturday.

We were hounding him for a couple of weeks leading up to Father's Day to see what he wanted to do.  He finally came up with a list and brought it with him to the baseball game on Tuesday.  I was very impressed with some of the items he had on his list.  Just to name a few he had canoeing, zip lining, segway tour, Wright Patterson Air Force museum (Dayton, OH), Men In Black III in 3-D, dinner at Mississippi Belle, ect. and of course golf (not impressed with this).  I was impressed because usually we go mini golfing or bowling and then cook out.  The Husband's vote was for the museum, mom thought this sounded like a good idea as well and I said whatever made dad happy, I would be good with.  So it sounded like we were going to the museum.

Then towards the end of the week Dad decided that the museum would probably be to busy.  The Husband was crushed but Dad said he would take him sometime this fall.  Mom figured since it was supposed to be so hot out and she did not want to spend the day out in the heat, that he would choose the movie and dinner.  She was wrong.  Drum roll please...he chose golf and dinner at Mississippi Belle (Soul food).  <Shaking my head.>  I had been so impressed but golf .  Really?  Come on Dad you golf almost everyday and work at the golf course, you have this awesome list and you choose golfing?  Not to mention the fact that I do not golf, I have no interest in the sport.  Dad tried to get me interested, I even took lessons in high school.  Sadly I was a disappointment and just never took to the game.

So like a good daughter I sucked it up and went to the golf course with them.  However, I was told I could just ride in the golf cart and watch.  Yay!  At least they were only playing at a nine hole, three par course, not the course my Dad works at.  Thankfully I had gotten a library card the day before and had checked out some books (remember we just moved.)  So off we went in the carts, on an extremely hot day.

Now I said I would suck it up but I did not say that I would behave entirely.  I of course had to make some comments throughout the game.  I mean come on, I had to entertain myself somehow.  Needless to say I think they learned a lesson and I will be left at home next time <evil laugh.>

Now what I failed to mention was that during the golf game the Husband's pants split in the front.  Hilarious by the way and not towards the end of the game but on hole #3.  We definitely had some good laughs at his expense.  Since we were going out to dinner after this we had to stop at Kohl's to buy him a new pair of pants, meanwhile he had duct taped the old ones.  He was very expensive that day, new pants and new shoes (tires) for Zippy.

Well the Husband was finally dressed and ready to go to dinner so we headed out to Mississippi Belle a restaurant in Indianapolis that serves Soul food.  I was in love, I was in grease and butter heaven.  Man was this some of the best food I have ever had.  I could hear my arteries choking.  The Husband announced that he wanted to come back for his birthday (in July), although today he mentioned that he wanted to go to Fast Times go karting, so who knows.  As if we had not had enough to eat on the way back to my parent's house we stopped at Handel's to get some ice cream.  By the time we arrived back to their house I think we were all pretty much in a food coma so we decided to stay the night.

On Father's Day, since Dad was working, Mom had decided that she would come over to our place to hang out and help with a little more unpacking.  No we are still not finished unpacking everything, it is a process.  The original plan was for her to drive out and follow us but then we decided she could just ride with me and Dad could come and get her later.  This way we could grill out and they could eat here.  So we did end up spending a little bit of time with Dad today.  We and by we I mean the Husband grilled out some very delicious steaks, while Mom and I got the sides ready and Dad watched golf.  I am beginning to think he needs to go to a golfer's anonymous group.

So I think my Dad had a great weekend and the Husband and I enjoyed ourselves as well.  I just want to know when it will be my turn to do something that I want to do.  Maybe next weekend, oh crap, that might not happen either since I think the air show is that weekend and I know the Husband would love to go. I will just say this, when it is my turn they will all pay!!!

Happy Father's Day!  Until next time keep on adventuring!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game...

Ahhh summer...brings the joy of being able to go to a baseball game, minor league that is.  I am not a huge baseball fan, never really found the game all that exciting but I do enjoy going to a minor league game every once and awhile.  It is great for people watching and enjoying the outdoors.

Tuesday night the Husband and I went to an Indianapolis Indians game, at Victory Field with my parents.  You know how I love a deal and my parents had picked up some coupons for a Tuesday night game, where you could buy one ticket and get one free.  Even better they paid for ours!  Now if the food was not so expensive at games it would have been perfect.  However, I did promise the husband if we went we could eat there, so that he could get a hot dog.  I can always lure the Husband anywhere with the promise of food.

So we went and enjoyed the game.  The weather was perfect and you could feel a breeze.  It was definitely a great middle of the week outing or I guess beginning of the week.  I have always enjoyed going to a game at Victory field but I do have to admit that the Slugger Stadium in Louisville is a bit nicer.

So if you are looking for something to do this summer either while in Indianapolis or Louisville think about going to see a minor league game.