November...now you see it, now you don't

I have gotten settled into Indy and I really like the city, so far.  I don't have to venture far to get where I need to go; pretty much everything is on the north side and off of 86th St.  I haven't had to use my GPS yet!  Well, ok, once to get back from the mall because there was construction and I was confused about which entrance I came out of.  But, other than that, I haven't gotten lost!  Today, however, I did have to go to three different Walgreens before I figured out which one my prescription was at.  It's really confusing when there is one on every corner.  

Tree in my apartment complex

I have turned in the second draft of my final grad school paper and I'm looking forward to finishing it!  That has taken up my time, so I haven't really explored the city yet.  I want to go downtown, to Broad Ripple, and Mass Ave.  Downtown has some cool buildings and monuments.  Broad Ripple and Mass Ave are neat little shopping areas.  I might wait for a nice day since it's about to get cold :)


So even though I have been living here for almost a month, I have only been in the city for about 2 weeks because I've been on the road again! (cue musical interlude)  I had to go to NYC for work...rough life, I know :) While I was working, I had a little bit of down time to play.

The view from NYU: Washington Square Park.  You might remember it from August Rush.

Mmmm, chocolate.  Max Brenner is amazing.

 Chinatown has gotten a lot more sophisticated since I was there last time.  If you want a fake LV, Michael Kors, Coach, or Tory Burch bag, you just have to walk down the street.  Just listen to the people standing around and they will repeat the brand names over and over.  If you want one of them, just ask and they will promptly whip out a laminated catalog of what they have.  When they tell you the price, offer them half.  I offered a little more than that and it was eagerly accepted, so I totally should have offered more.  Oh well, next time :)

My super shady back room deal from Chinatown.

HP ad in TSQ!

The Lord and Taylor window display.  I love the light bulbs.

One of my faves.

I love cities at night.  Seriously, look at those gorgeous lights!

Christmas tree abstract.  When my mom saw this she asked why it was blurry.  I told her it is art.

On our way home...look who is in the background!  I hope you were nice this year!

This year was my first time celebrating Thanksgiving away from my family.  It was outrageously expensive to go home for Turkey Day, especially when I'm going home for an extended Christmas break in like 3 weeks, so I went to see one of my best friends and her family in Chicago.  

Atkins approved pumpkin cheesecake. YUM!

The official vodka of the Klipp family.

Racing cars, a favorite Klipp family pastime.

Thank you to Carrie's dad for finally putting on my license plate holder!

All-in-all, a great first month in Indy!  Maybe when I stop traveling I will attempt some real cooking instead of burgers on my George Foreman...

Hoosier State of Mind

I recently moved from the land of Oz to the Hoosier state.  I will begin blogging again, but I'm not making any promises on the regularity of the posts :)  I'll chronicle my life as a first-time apartment dweller and new Indiana resident.  Well, that might not be official, yet, as I still have a Kansas driver's license.  


Fun Hoosier Fact: They call it a BMV instead of a DMV because it is a Bureau, not a department.  Also, I have suffered my first kitchen injury.  It's really my own fault for buying such sharp, serrated knives.  Well, that, and the fact that I was cutting cherry tomatoes mid-air instead of on a cutting board with a steak knife.  I guess I won't treat those as paring knives in the future.  I'll probably cut on a flat surface, too, just to be on the safe side.  My mom would be so proud!


If you want to see pics of the new apartment, click here.


There's no place like home!
A

Spain 6: Last Spanish Update

#42 Start a day with churros with San Gines

Que delicioso!

Yum!

#68 See the Plaza of Neptune

This is where Atletico de Madrid celebrates all their wins

#24 Enjoy the art at the Prado

I really enjoyed having a personal tour guide!

#17 Eat a calamari sandwich in the Plaza Mayor

Delish

We love crossing things off the list!

#20 Eat patatas bravas in Las Bravas.  Ok, this was at the Plaza Mayor, but Di says these are better than the ones in Las Bravas, so I'll take a half point.

#9 See the Cibeles Fountain

This is where Real Madrid celebrates all their wins!

#4 See the Crystal Palace

#3 See the sculpture of the fallen angel

So dramatic..

#22 See the sunset at Templo de Debod

Gorgeous

So random to have Egyptian ruins, but so pretty

#99 Search for the best mojito in Madrid

We found the best one at this random, 1950's American diner -looking restaurant.

#93 Wander through Plaza 2 de Mayo

#92 Have a botellon in Plaza de Espana

Well, we were in Plaza 2 de Mayo and there weren't very many people around, but we did the most important part of the botellon: buy bad Spanish beer from a random woman selling it from her purse.  Yum.  This was only a half point.

Di and I with our bad beer.

This concludes the list!  There are few that I did, but no pictures.  It was a crazy, fun week and I can't wait to do #101:  Do it all over again.  With friends.

Until next time,

Spain 5: Un dia en Toledo

Who knew you had to wait in line to get tickets..boo

Since we had time to waste because we missed the train we meant to be on, we were able to cross some items off the list...

While trying to find the train memorial, we stumbled upon these lovelies...

#2: See the Memorial to March 11

Inside the circle is a big plastic column with words in all different languages.

#1:  See the gardens at Atocha

This one took a little searching, but we finally found it.

Friend Di with the gardens.

TOLEDO!

We love the Man of La Mancha!

Getting us lost...

Gorgeous architecture...this really doesn't even capture it.

Awesome cloisters

I swear, I don't look for inappropriate things, they find me.

Until next time,

Spain 4

Paella isn't on the list, but how can you not eat some??

Hola Paella!

Adios Paella...

#67: See the Goya frescoes in the Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida

Photos weren't allowed.  Clearly, I don't follow rules well!

#64: Try the grilled chicken at Casa Mingo

I literally don't know why you would even try anything else here.  Sorry I'm a terrible tourist and didn't get a picture of the actual chicken and hard cider.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it...

#28: See the Guernica at the Reina Sofia.

Please click here to read about this amazing painting.

#46: Visit the Thyssen

#66: Roar with the lions in front of the Congreso de los Disputados

Once an ADPi, always an ADPi <>

#99: Enjoy the graffiti

#91: Meet an old friend for coffee

I mean, wasn't this whole trip about meeting an old friend??  Di doesn't like coffee, so I had coffee with a new friend, Laura!

Cafe con Leche...yum!

#35: Listen to jazz at Cafe Central

Ok, so we went during the day and there was no jazz.  I counted it as a half point.

#21:  See the Don Quijote and Sancho Panza statue in the Plaza de Espana

#15: Eat a sweet treat at La Mallorquina

Chocolate Napoleon 

#10: Climb to the roof of the Circulo de Bellas Artes

#41: Eat Indian food in Lavapies

Surprisingly lacking in spice, but still delish.

Numbers 28, 46, 66, 99, 91, 35, 21, 15, 10, and 41 were all done in one day. Plus a few sites that weren't on the list...

Until next time,