Festivalpalooza '09

There are some haters out there who think Indy is a boring place with nothing to do. Apparently they have never been around on the second weekend of September. Ever the resident to wants to experience all my fine city has to offer, not to mention celebrating my last weekend of freedom from school, I decided to challenge myself to visit all six festivals going on in the city last weekend. Luckily I have a faithful friend who is always willing to take on such difficult challenges with me.

We hit two festivals on Friday night - accompanied by some other friends - then four more on Saturday.

Festival #1: Greek Fest

Best thing: By far, the food.

Worst thing: The crowd. Greek Fest moved to Carmel this year, and I'm pretty sure that all of Carmel was in front of us as we waited in line for our fabulous dinner.

Here's my pastry-

Festival #2: Oktoberfest

Best thing: The pretzel pictured below was really the only good thing about Oktoberfest.

Worst thing: Where to begin... well, I think everyone was at Greek Fest. And I don't know about you, but I don't go to Oktoberfest to purchase things like windows and Tupperware.

One pretzel; six people-

The gang at Oktoberfest: Jeff, Meg, me, Jess, Jenni, Rich, Kelly

(Kelly has mad self portrait skillz!)

Festival #3: Penrod Arts Fair

Best thing: Touted as "Indiana's Nicest Day," this is probably the best art fair around. Artists from all over the country bring their photography, paintings, jewelry, sculptures, and random instruments they use to play "Tears in Heaven" to this one-day event on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Worst thing: While fun to look at, the vast majority of the art is way too expensive to actually purchase.

Beautiful weather = big crowds-

Festival #4: French Market

Best thing: I was a first-timer at the French Market, and I must say, it was probably my weekend favorite. It was crowded, but not too crowded. There were crafts, food and entertainment. But the real highlight for me was the pizza. It was ah-mazing.

Worst thing: I can't really think of a worst thing about this one. Hm. I really liked it that much.

Incredible pizza-

Festival #5: Chinese Festival

Best thing: This was just the second year for the Chinese Festival, and it has some definite potential. It had a lot of cultural and educational information. (The other best thing was Jessica's comment on the way there, "Steph, we're going to get you a baby here!")

Worst thing: Nothing bad about this one either. It was a little smaller than the others, but props to the Indy Chinese community for celebrating their culture.

People doing Tai Chi-

Us-

Festival#6: Zionsville Fall Festival

Best thing: This festival was actually pretty impressive, though we probably didn't fully appreciate it since it was at the end of our journey. Unlike the others, which were all international, this one was much more representative of Indiana- corn, pork tenderloin, and all.

Worst thing: This isn't the festival's fault, but one can only see so many necklaces made of bottle caps.

Before heading home; after six festivals in 22 hours-

Couldn't Help Myself...

(Get your own here!)

Sunday Afternoon Project

I am a little bit in love with the wall art project I just completed. It was not only easy, but also inexpensive. I picked up these Mighty Magnet Photo Cables at a cute little store in Holland last weekend.

... and I found a lamp today, too! A productive day, indeed.

Fall Trip #1: Holland, Michigan

[I have several trips coming up this fall, so I decided I'd write about my three favorite things from each trip.]

For Labor Day weekend, Jess and I decided to go to Holland, Michigan. And here are my three favorite things:

1. Crimson Cottage Inn - This is pretty much the reason we decided to go to Holland. We found this place in a google search, and it was love at first sight. For days leading up to our trip, we would both look at the web site and daydream about this place. I can't say enough about how amazing it was. There were chocolate chip cookies just outside our room at all times. There was a great little picnic table in the backyard, where we sat well into the night, eating cookies, drinking wine and using a battery operated candle for light. (It was the perfect kind of camping.) The breakfast was fantastic, including things like baked French toast, sausage casserole, blueberry coffee cake, and white chocolate cranberry scones. The owners were warm and kind, and it felt like we were at a friend's parents' house. (You know, the friend with the parents you really like.)

2. Fenn Valley Winery/Crane's Pie Pantry Excursion - On Sunday, after a trip to the beach, we drove down to Fennville for a wine tasting. Unfortunately, the tours were full, but a nice old lady helped us navigate the many varieties of vino as we each tried five different ones. In the end, the two of us ended up with seven bottles between us (resisting the urge to make it to twelve, when we would have gotten a 15% discount). On our way to the winery, we'd seen several signs for pie at Crane's. And really, what goes better with wine than pie? Crane's was an interesting place. It's kind of like a primitive Cracker Barrel. First we went inside to the bakery, only to discover they only sell whole pies. Then we tried the outdoor walk-up window, to find that they only accepted cash (which we did not have). Finally we went inside, down a long hallway, then waited ten minutes for a table in the restaurant. Jess had blueberry pie and I had apple crisp. Well worth the confusion.

3. Not having a plan - A planner by nature (and not to mention it's what I do for a living), it was a nice change to not really have a plan. We visited galleries, sat outside to read, ate ice cream and discovered great restaurants- not to mention our time from about 5-7 pm each day when we sat on the bed and read People magazines or watched television.

All in all- a great little weekend getaway. I certainly see a return trip to the Crimson Cottage in my future!

Steph's Starbucks Challenge

[Disclaimer: I'm not writing this so you think I am awesome. I am writing to hopefully encourage you to make someone's day. Plus, chances are that if you read this, you already know how awesome I am! haha. ]

I'll admit it - I go through the Starbucks drive thru a few too many times a week. But when there are employees as awesome as Meredith and Ronnie, you just can't help yourself! Lately, my drink of choice has been a grande iced coffee with skim milk and one pump of vanilla.

A few months ago, I got to the window and was told the person in front of me paid for my drink. I've always heard of people doing things like that, but never thought I would be the recipient of such kindness. Fast forward to last week: a co-worker was two cars behind me in the drive thru and I bought her coffee. She was super-appreciative, and even wrote about it on her Facebook status. :)

I started thinking how a simple thing can bring such joy, and I decided that once a week I will buy coffee for the person behind me in the drive thru. Am I saving orphans in China or ending poverty or getting clean water to Africa? Certainly not. But I am making someone's day a little brighter.

I challenge you to do the same. (Ooh, I don't think I've ever issued a challenge on my blog!) Maybe you don't frequent Starbucks (gasp!), but I encourage you to find something you can do - regularly - to show a little lovin' to a stranger. What are your ideas?