FRIDAY FAVORITES...INDY EDITION

I am still coming off a great trip with my mama to Charleston. It was a gift from her for my birthday. I will share all about that fabulous trip and our first visit there next week. Prior to the trip, we had some great fam time in Indy. My favorites today are some great Indianapolis spots and the fun we had.

Bottleworks Hotel

Such a piece of history! This Hotel is the old Coca-Cola bottling company that was the largest Coca-Cola bottling plant in the world! The architecture is stunning, and they have restored as much as possible for one of Indianapolis’s newest and coolest hotels! This whole area is now known as the Bottleworks District, and the entire area is being revitalized. They have everything from a food court called the Garage to a movie theater and they are adding all kinds of restaurants! You may have seen a while back when we went to PINS,

A duckpin bowling and entertainment establishment. We plan on going back to this area this Summer.

Hotel helping me Celebrate all month long, lol

All the doors are Coca Cola Red

 

Fountain Square

We had only ever really been downtown Indy but on the outskirts, there are some little districts like I told you about the Bottleworks area that are amazing and one of those is Fountain Square! We had tacos at an amazing little Mexican restaurant, shopped some plant stores for the girls, a vinyl record shop, some vintage resale and sat in the middle of the highway on stadium chairs that someone had put there, so unusual.

Cake Bake Shop

As you know, I got lucky enough to go to the Cake Bake Shop with my dear friend Kellyann in February. One of the boys’ girlfriends and I share birthdays two days apart, so she made reservations for us to keep on celebrating on Good Friday. Such a lovely time, wonderful food, fabulous desserts and best of all sweet company and such a gorgeous environment.

My Dress HERE (LOVED IT)

Breakfast-n-Blooms

WOW! The crabapples were in full bloom down there and I was tickled “pink” to see these and snap this pic on our walk to breakfast. This  means it won’t be long until they’re in bloom here.

Vionic Shoes

Mr. Nine and I had she fun with our newest Vionic Shoes. They were the perfect pairs for walking around Indy. One of the boy’s girlfriends shot some pics in the Hotel and they turned it so cute! Mr. Nine in his Lucas Sneakers and me in my Thrive Mule. I loved mine so much that I wore them for the recent flights too.

Additional Outfit Deets:

Ball Cap HERE // Leggings HERE //Sweatshirt HERE // White Shirt HERE // Jean Jacket HERE // My Shoes HERE // Mr. Nine's Jeans HERE // His Shoes HERE

Moving

And a bit of bittersweet involved in this post, these two are moving to Baltimore, Maryland in a few weeks. This girl is going to complete her 2 year Pharmacy residency at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and our son was lucky enough to get transferred from his Amazon management job to a Baltimore location as well! This was our last hurrah in Indianapolis with us all for a while. Going to miss these kids so much! You know I’ve already been researching things to do in Baltimore, lol!

And a Pic at Check out of course

Have a great weekend friends! Going to get my ferns today. It is going to be 84° here tomorrow but don’t get too excited, back in the 30s next week…. what up Indiana weather?

Linking up with  Friday Favorites  // Metamorphosis Monday

xoxo

THOUGHTFUL BIRTHDAY IDEAS

"It's Your Birthday. We gon' party like it's yo birthday!" 

~50 Cent

Still love that hip hop classic! Anyway, it is my birthday today.

Now, besides that, as I have said before I would much rather give than receive.

I absolutely LOVE celebrating birthdays of friends and family. It is so great to be able to make the day special for them. I am sure we all have some very memorable birthdays and some we would like to forget...

Here are some thoughtful birthday ideas for those you love that won't break the bank but will make the recipient feel special knowing the meaning and love you put behind it.

1. LIST of Why we LOVE Them 

This is my actual list I gave to my father last year on his 70th Birthday. I got the idea from one of my sweet sons, who, a few years ago, gave me a jar filled with 40 pieces of paper on why he loved me. It is one of my most cherished gifts. I sent this to my dad and he said it touched his heart. If you are having a party for your loved one, perhaps you could read it out loud. Many people love going down memory lane and this is a special way to capture the way you look at your loved one.

2. BALLOONS, BALLOONS, BALLOONS

Why your child is sleeping, carefully fill their room with helium balloons, so this is what they wake up to!

or I Love this one...

On a wall close to where they will see it when they awake, put cash or coins into several balloons and blow them up. Tape to a wall or pin to a large, long piece of cork board. Imagine the delight of popping all of those!!

3. BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST

Many people plan a special dinner or go out to a Birthday lunch. I think it is neat to have a special breakfast ready. What kid or adult, for that matter wouldn't LOVE any of these creative and cute breakfasts? Start their day off in a fun way and it sets the tone for the whole Birthday Day!!

4. SMALL TOKENS 

I love the idea of just something small for kids, spouses, teachers, friends, neighbors or co-workers. I especially like gathering a few things to make a "Container" Gift. The little tin buckets you see at Target in the $1 bins or at Dollar and craft stores are perfect for this and Don't cha just love the tag saying "Hope Your Birthday is Buckets of Fun!" I also like to re-purpose mason jars or washed jelly jars. Remove the label with goo gone, clean well and Wha-La, you have a container for your little gifts. For the Party in a Jar for a boy, put candy, a Hostess Cupcake, balloons, blow horns, coins, markers, small toys and cars. For girls, how about nail polish, stickers, socks, jewelry...the possibilities are endless. How about the last one. Hair ties in a jar entitled "I'm HAIR for you anytime" This could work for more occasions than Birthdays!

 Pics from a "few" years ago. A surprise Birthday party my mom threw for me. Loved the red shoe on top of that cake. The cake was cute but my mom will tell you too, it sucked! Worst tasting cake ever!! 

Sorry, cake lady. 

Now I am hungry, time to dig into some "Good" cake, my mom's key-lime Birthday pie, and down an egg roll and friend rice!

May your next Birthday be as special as YOU are!!

xoxo

"The way I see it, you should live everyday like it's your birthday."

~Paris Hilton