Bluebeard and Friends

Tonight we met up with Michelle Schwindler for a girls night!

She has been staying at Riley with Annabelle, and we figured she could use a bread!

Michelle knew of a new, artisan place, so we decided to give it a try!

We picked her up from Riley and headed to Fountain Square!

OUR STORY

Bluebeard is a restaurant and bar located in the historic Holy Rosary Neighborhood on the southeast edge of downtown Indianapolis.  Abbi Merriss has joined up with longtime friends Tom and Eddie Battista to create a unique food-focused experience.  The menu offers contemporary American cuisine featuring the best local produce and meat our farms have to offer.  The space, a renovated 1924 factory warehouse, features a family dining room, a bar room, and a courtyard.

We had a wonderful meal, and lots of talk and wine!

It was nice to take a step out of our hectic, stressful lives to just be in one another's company.

Great twin (plus sis)  night!

Christmas at the Gilberts!

We had a beautiful Christmas at Natalie and Greg's house!

The tree was absolutely beautiful and the house was decorated in country Christmas charm!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, along with the vintage nativity scene!

The Spode dinnerware set of the table arrangements!

Natalie had prepared a gourmet feast as usual.

We brought sides to round out the meal!

Mom was in town for the holidays and it was so nice to celebrate with her!

The happy Gilbert parents-to-be celebrated their last Christmas as a two-some!

The beaming Schwindler newlyweds were decked out in black and red!

The happy Marshall/Carter fiances were excited to celebrate their last Christmas as Miss & Mr!

We spent many hours together opening gifts, perhaps the most memorable being: PAJAMA JEANS!

What a great time with family!

Great twin day!

Annual Sister Christmas Shopping Day!

Our annual Christmas shopping trip was a huge success!

With Natalie being pregnant, we knew this would be our last trip as a threesome!

Of course we started the day at Paradise Bakery for our strategy session, then headed to the mall!

We hit up our favorite stores and then decided to go to the Keystone mall as well!

We stopped in to the Pottery Barn, Body Shop, and some other high end stores to add some flair to this year's trip!

Happy 29th Birthday!

We rounded out the shopping trip with a meal at The Cheesecake Factory!

They were so sweet to put candles on our cheesecake!

Great sister day with a sweet end!

Thanksgiving at Natalie's 2013

We had a great Thanksgiving at the Gilberts!

The food was incredible, as always!

We brought some sides and the Gilberts made the turkey and stuffing!

Natalie was struggling with her pregnancy a little, but she still managed to make everything perfect!

Gran was there for the celebrations!

One of the highlights was taking rides in the farm milk truck!

Grandma got such a kick out of this!

The rust bucket made it around the farm and back with no problem!

We had a great time together!

Great twin/family day!

BRENDAN JAMES in Indianapolis!

On this late November evening....

Brendan James was back in Fountain Square for the first time in over 5 years!
Tickets were only $10, and the music was priceless!

Brendan was his amazing, soulful self and played to perfection.
He played a lot of songs from his new album, Simplify, but also mixed in some past favorites!

 The music was moving, our seats were front row, and this concert was amazing!

Not only did we speak to Brendan, we also got hugs and an autograph! AND t-shirts!

Just hanging out with BRENDAN JAMES!!!!!! 

BEST twin night ever!

Michelle's Special Delivery Baby Shower!

Michelle is pregnant!

We were so excited to throw a baby shower for Michelle Schwindler!

Since she did not have a decided nursery theme (just the color scheme of pink and blue), we decided a classic stork look would be just the ticket!

We set the stage with a "special delivery" theme and kept with her color scheme for symmetry throughout the party!

Guests were met at the door with a special delivery bunting and a game!

When will be baby Schwindler's special delivery?

The next stop was the dining room to drop off their diaper parcels for the diaper raffle!

A neat add on to this area was the handmade diaper cake with monthly photo stickers!

The brunch theme made our menu a breeze!

We set up a spread of fruit cups, tater tot/smoked sausage skewers, muffins, petite quiches, and lemon tarts!

Of course there was orange juice, water, and apple juice!

But one of our best ideas was the coffee bar!

Located in the gift opening area, this allowed for plenty of refills!

Everyone loved it!

This is the first time we played the "Wishes for Baby" game.

Each guest filled out this card for baby Schwindler and we took their picture with Michelle.

Then we put them together in a photo album which we delivered to her on the day Annabelle was born!

The guest favors were stork packs!

Each guest had a candle with a custom "Michelle's Baby Shower" label wrapped up with ribbon and a chocolate stork!

 Everyone had a great time opening gifts, learning about Michelle, and showing off their bellies!

We had a great time putting together this shower for one of our best friends (sister really)!

Great twin day!

1st Annual Glamping Adventure 2013!

Our first glamping adventure was quite an experience!

We chose the White River Campground in Cicero, Indiana.

Ashley met up with Emily at Aaron Ruben Nelson, they loaded up the Kia and headed the 40  minutes to the site. 

Upon check-in the staff was a bit concerned we were camping alone, but we bought some firewood and headed to our site.

We had asked for the most secluded primitive campsite, which turned out to be inside a circle drive!

Although B-2 looks rather out of the way on this map, everything was pretty tightly spaced.

There were not as many walking trails or activities to do as promoted and it was mostly an RV park.

We decided it was not the most glamorous, private spot, but it worked!

It was nice to have a tree, picnic table and firepit already established.

Also, having the car nearby turned out to be really great for loading/unloading/refilling the air mattress.

After setting up camp with flowers, wine and our trusty tent and air mattress, we built a beautiful fire!

We really enjoyed sitting around the fire in the October air and talking about anything and everything!

We saw some beautiful wisps, but did not follow as they led into a creek!

Maybe our fate will appear again on our next glamping trip!

After the first night, the weather turned on us!

Rain came down on our tent day and night!  We awoke to half our tent full of water!

Determined to stay on our glamping weekend, we made the best of the soggy situation!

We ate our gourmet meals, laid on our air mattress, and planned Michelle's baby shower!

After spending almost all day Saturday cooped up in the tent, and all Saturday night awake listening to a thunderstorm, we were ready for home!

As soon as dawn broke, we packed up everything in the rain and drove back home.

Although it was pretty much a wash, we had a great time spending uninterrupted days together!

The food was fantastic, the company was even better and we remembered a part of ourselves from younger days!

Great twin weekend! (but we will make some changes for next year!)