Weekend

So this weekend, I was able to cross several things off my list and that made me really happy. Thursday evening, Amanda and her beau, Jim, came over for dinner. We also made signs for several friends that were running in the Mini Marathon on Saturday. Saturday morning, Amanda was knocking on my door at 7:30am and off we went! We didn't really have a plan which was quite liberating for me. I'm usually very uneasy when there isn't a plan in place. However, we knew we had plenty of time. We found a spot to stand about 1/4 of a mile away from the finish line. It was so inspiring to see all the different people finish this 13.1 mile race.

So I'm not sure if you are aware, but it is very difficult to look for one person in a race that has 35,000 participants. I kept looking and looking for my friend, Ally. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take her to do this race. I kept getting this feeling that I had missed her. Then I reached into my sweatshirt pocket (PS it was below 50 degrees with 30mph winds). I felt keys in there. I thought that's weird and I pulled them out. They were Chris' keys. Whoops! And he needed them for work in less than an hour. I immediately got on my phone to call him and guess who runs by and sees me? Ally! So I thrusted up the poster as she ran by. She says that she saw it, but I wish I had been paying more attention. Here's the sign I made her:

All and all, she did great finishing the race. We tried to wait for Amanda's friend, but after 4 hours of standing in 30mph winds, we were freezing. We left and missed Jaime by 30 minutes. Boo. But we are so proud of her! She definitely "trained not to suck at life!"

Saturday night, Chris and I used one of my Groupons to go see the play None of the Above at the Theatre on the Square. I had no idea how small the theatre was! I knew it only sat 60 people, but they have three rows of tables and then the stage is literally right there. Its very intimate. I loved the play.

Sunday, Tim came over to grill out with us. We finally used the grill! We had a couple beers, grilled some burgers and potatoes and then the boys went to go play disc golf. Here is a picture of what heaven looks like! :-)

Date Night

Once again, Dana is pressuring me to blog. Haha. I thought after high school, I wasn't supposed to succumb to peer pressure. Yet here we are! On Sunday, my dad was driving from Kansas back to Virginia. He stopped at our place for the night. Chris was making his famous steak sandwiches. They are so good. If you ever get a chance, make him make these for you. He makes the horseradish sauce from scratch! We were missing some key ingredients and so my dad and I went over to the store to grab them.

We got the things on our list and headed to the check out line. As we were standing there, I noticed the candy bar section. I wondered if I still had the magic touch. So I said "Dad, what are those machines over there? Have you ever seen those?" While he was saying "Huh?" and "What?" I snuck a candy bar onto the belt, hidden amongst our groceries. We made it all the way home until we were unpacking everything. I pulled it out and said "Thanks for the candy bar!" We all got a big kick out of it. Ah memories.

Last night, Chris and I joined a friend of mine, Ally to attend this event called Paul Poteet's Gotta Eat. Paul Poteet was a local weather guy here with a big personality. He got fired from the tv station and moved into radio. Eventually, someone saw his potential and got him involved in this new venture. About twice a month, he picks a restaurant and they have a social event. Come by for beers, free apps, etc. Last night it was at the Cinema Grill on W 86th St. We got free apps and a free movie, Date Night. It was hilarious! I definitely reccomend it. If you get a chance, go to one of these events. Paul is super nice and we had a great time. I believe the next one is the 19th at Urban Element on Mass Ave.

Wine and Art

I can't remember if I have blogged about Groupon yet, but it is this amazing website. Normally, I like to sign up for those e-mails you get all the time from companies with supposed discounts and deals. But most of the time, I end up just deleting the e-mails before even opening them. Not Groupon. Groupon has a deal of the day but it is not on an item. It is on a service. Most of the ones we get for Indy are spa packages, theatre tickets, restaruant gift cards, etc. But you get them at a major discount. I highly recommend you go to this website Groupon and find your city. It is totally worth it. I have been using it to have an opportunity to try some pretty unique things at a discounted price.

For instance, last night, I and five other ladies went to a wine and canvas party. Here's the website for you locals: Wine and Canvas . Basically, you show up and you get a canvas and a bunch of paint. A local artist goes step by step and shows you how to paint a famous painting. They picked Starry Night by Van Gogh for this particular class. It was held at a restaurant where they had specials on wine and margaritas for our group. Perfect! So I sipped a margarita and documented my process. Please be kind with your opinions. I am, in no way, an artist. I only did this class b/c it was $17 and I thought it would be fun to do something new.

They had us draw the main objects in the painting with a pencil and then go over it with blue paint. This is the only point where my steeple actually looks like somewhat of a steeple. My houses got a little messed up, but oh well.

We moved onto the greens and started painting the grass. It was really interesting to see how these small strokes eventually became the painting. At this point, I was seeing a lot of white and not a lot of Van Gogh.

This is probably where I started to not like my painting. I thought I messed up on the sky's rhythm. It was a lot harder than you think to make things swirl. My brain wanted my hand to go one way with the stroke and it would go the complete opposite way. And now my steeple definitely looks like the Washington Monument.

PS There was a couple in the class from Norfolk, Va that I chatted with and turns out later I found out that Jacqueline, Kristen's sister, knew someone in my class. The girl also posted pictures of her painting and so we put two and two together. If only I had known during the class!

The masterpiece! I know its not exactly like Starry Night, but I'm calling this my interpretation of it. I was pretty impressed with myself though. Normally I draw stick figures. There is supposed to be more white in the sky, but the teacher was going so slow that I got bored and just did the sky the way I wanted to. Anyway, I just keep asking myself how long will Chris be able to hold back before he just has to hang this on the wall? I mean, this is probably going to end up in the Smithsonian. :-)

101 in 1001 Days

To help my motivation, I've decided to do Dana's 101 things to do in 1001 days. I worked on a list and with Chris' help, we have come up with things we want to do or things that I want to do. Here's my list that I will keep updated on here for myself and anyone who gives a damn! Ha!

101 IN 1001 DAYS – 4/26/10 TO 9/27/2013

Do at least 10 Groupons a year (0/30)
Go to a play in Indy
Attend a football game at another stadium
Go to the beach
Sightsee in St Louis
Sightsee in Chicago
Go to the aquarium in Newport, KY
Try 10 new restaurants a year (0/30)
Go horseback riding
Do a 5K
Volunteer 3 times a year (0/9)
Go to the Indiana State Museum and check out an exhibit
Go the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in Spiceland, IN
Work out on every single machine in my gym
Do the Mutt Strutt every year (1/3)
Take Hank on longer walks
Join the dog park
Hike in 4 national parks in Indiana (0/4)
Buy a bottle of Caymus wine to enjoy with Chris
Go the Mini Marathon to cheer on friends
Join the Ladies Beer Club here
Find a book club
Go to a vineyard even if it’s a dumpy one
Make a snowman
Grill out by myself
Cook a dish that involves stuffing (ie Crab stuffed chicken)
Attend at least one of the international festivals once a year (0/3)
Go to a Pacers game
Go to at least 3 Indians game each summer (0/9)
Bring a picnic to an Indians game
Go camping at least once a year (0/3)
Learn how to play cribbage
Make soup from scratch
Go to Comedy Sportz
Try 5 new beers
Go to a local brewery
Go to a Cubs game
Get a manicure
Wear a piece of jewelry at least once a week (0/143)
Blog at least once a week for 2 months (1/8)
Go to a fish fry
Make 20 new recipes (0/20)
Go to the Motorcross race
Attend Carb Day
Go water skiing
Play Bingo
Learn how to make sushi
Teach Hank to catch a Frisbee
Take Hank for a walk on the canal
Go for a bike ride at least once a month when weather is nice
Do a jigsaw puzzle
Read 5 books a year (0/15)
Bring my lunch to work for a month
Run a 10 minute mile
Get my teeth fixed
Learn how to play racquetball
Go to the Covered Bridge Festival
Scrapbook my first year in Indy
Do a clean-up in Indy
Go to Subway and not order ham, tuna, or meatball
Go tubing
Go to the driving range
Go roller skating
Go ice skating
Not eat potatoes for a month
Go sledding
Create a recipe book
Build a gingerbread house
Cook a turkey
Try 10 foods that I swear I hate and will never eat (0/10)
Send a card to 10 friends for no reason (0/10)
Go a month without drinking
Visit my grandma’s grave
Take a horse and carriage ride downtown Indy
Eat ice cream on Monument Circle
Read 15 of the war memorials downtown
Do a scavenger hunt
Go paddleboating on the canal
Read a book in White River Park
Take Hank on the Monon Trail through Broad Ripple
Start a fire in the fireplace on my own
Go to Brown County
Go to a concert at the Murat
Shop at Georgetown Market
Go to a show at Beef and Boards
Go go-carting
Go to the Indiana Museum of Art
Visit Benjamin Harrisons home
Go to the NCAA Hall of Fame Museum
Find a craft show to go to in Indy
Play paintball
Learn how to do a new craft
Take a spin class at my gym
Go to a Packers game in Lambeau Field
Go to a Blackhawks game
Go to the zoo
Watch a movie in the park
Go to a drive in movie theatre
Go to Jazz Fest
Make a scrapbook of our 101 accomplishments
Make a DVD of our 101 accomplishments

2010 Mutt Strutt

One of my sort of resolutions for the year was to get out more and do more things in the city. I've been here for 3 1/2 years and I haven't done half the things I've wanted to do. Actually, what I should do is the list that Dana filled out. Hmmm, I'll think about it. Anyway, this weekend, I signed up for the Mutt Strutt. It's a fundraiser for the Indiana Humane Society. It's held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (one of my favorite places!). Basically, you pay an entry fee, try to raise money, and then you get to walk around the track with your doggy.

I was supposed to go with my cousin and her fiance and kid, but it was raining cats and dogs (no pun intended!) and she opted out. So I dragged Chris with me. Haha. He was not a happy camper about it, but he was a trooper. I really appreciated him going with me. I tried to take some pictures, but it was raining so hard, I was afraid of getting my iPhone wet. So here is what I did take. This is right at the beginning of walking around the track. There were still a lot of people there despite the downpour.




Hank was such a good dog the whole time. He just trotted along. He sniffed some butts and said hello to people and then just walked next to us the whole 2 1/2 miles. Yes, for those of you who aren't familiar with the IMS, it is 2 1/2 miles long with 9 degree banking in the turns. Most of the other dogs were either being pulled in wagons with umbrellas attached or had raincoats on. And by raincoats, I don't mean that they handmade something out of a trash bag. I mean, full on Paddington Bear type raincoats. Some of the little dogs looked cute in them, but seriously, people need to realize that they are still DOGS! Dogs like getting wet and playing in the mud. We just let Hank have free rein of rolling around in the grass and walking on the track. As long as he wasn't bothering anyone else.

Most of you know how my dad is so you can't blame me for my next picture. I had to take a picture of our seats for the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 so that he could be reassured that they were doing okay. We'll be sitting in them in less than a month. When I e-mailed him this picture, his biggest concern was how much dog doodoo was on the track. He said if Danica Patrick spins out, he knows who's fault it was.

After we walked the track, we went to go check out all the booths. Hank's vet was there and so we went and said hello. Other booths were giving away free tennis balls and frisbees. We won a $20 giftcard to some place (I'm not sure where as I was standing back to avoid the crowd). However, each of the booths made you stop and sign up for things. So this involved a lot of Chris going up to the booth and me standing back. The more we stood, the more I realized that I was in completely soaked clothes and getting progressively colder. We decided the throw in the towel after 2 hours of the track. This is Hank about 1/2 a mile outside of the track.

Poor doggy was too tired!!! We gave him a nice bath when we got home and then curled up in bed ourselves to warm up. Despite the rain, I had a great time and I'm glad I did it. I had been warned of dogs' paws burning on the track on hot days. I'm glad that it was rainy for my first time so that I could get a feel of what the event was like and how Hank is around about 1000 other dogs.

Indians Game

My company shares a suite with several other companies at Victory Field where the Indianapolis Indians play. They are associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I have been fortunate enough to sit in this suite several times a year since I started at Cannon IV. Last night, my entire team was invited to go. As soon as 5pm hit, several of us headed down to Mass Ave Pub for a couple drinks before the game. I think really Leigh and I were just hoping to see some of the firefighters that are in town for the convention. (Sorry Chris!)

Then we drove down to the field. Of course, we had to get another beer when we got there. So we were waiting in line and who did we see? Yeah Rowdie! So Leigh and I got our picture taken with him. You can't see him doing it to me yet, but he was tickling both of our ears. At least we hope it was a male inside the costume. It was very strange.



Although the Indians lost (they are in last place in their division). It was a pretty cool game. I always have fun hanging out with Cannon IV team. I might have been instigating Leigh to yell things at the ball players, but she won't care. Right towards the end of the game, Justin figured out that we could change the channel in the suite so that I could watch the draft. Yay!!! For about fifteen minutes. Booooo! Oh well, I'm very happy with the Colts pick. I never worry though because Polian always knows what he's doing.

Just for Dana Part II

Did you really think that one blog post would incompass my entire plans for the NFL season? Um, no way. One of the other reasons that I was patiently waiting for the schedule to come out was to find out when the Cowboys/Colts game was. Amanda and I had discussed the possibility of her coming out for the game to watch with me. Normally, Chris has first dibs on the second ticket since he pretty much paid for the tickets. However, he is having a friend come in town for the game and would buy some more seats for the boys while Amanda and I have a girls trip to a football game. Drum roll please! If all goes well with Amanda's schedule, she will be flying out to Indy around December 5th. Woohooo!! I love when friends and family come visit!

Its just too bad that Amanda will have to leave heartbroken just like Howard did when he came to visit. Sad day! Hahaha, no it should be good game and I can't wait to have her here so we can be dancing machines at Ike and Joneseys and then lose our voices while screaming at our men on the field.

PS Chris got the grill put together last night and it looks awesome. He did an amazing job and was rewarded with some ice cream cake! I'll take pictures when its outside and being used.