Birthday 2011

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. Deric and I had more going this weekend than we have in the last three months combined (only a slight exaggeration). Here's the play-by-play:

1. Saturday morning. Started off the day right with more cinnamon rolls than I care to remember. Decided not to go with original plan of Climb Time Indy due to distance/gas prices and rental fees. Looked at hotel rates in downtown Indianapolis instead. Got bummed out because hotels are way more expensive than I realized. Deric had the genius idea to try "name your price" on priceline.com. Put in a bid for $50 on a luxury room anywhere downtown. Expected to have our bid denied, but surprise! Jumped up and down with excitement, then started packing.

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2. Checked in at the hotel. Wandered around the adjoining convention center and ended up at the Home & Garden Show. Not real exciting, so we wandered around the hotel, checked out the pool, and decided to go swimming later. Started calling restaurants for reservations, but everything was booked until at least 8:00 (3 hours later). Decided to wing it and try for seat-yourself tables.

3. Walked down to PF Changs, which was a madhouse. Saw a Phoenix Suns player. Went around the corner to Bella Vita and luckily got a table immediately. Ate my weight in breadsticks and Coke. Too full to eat my entree, so I tried my best but boxed most of it. Window-shopped in the mall to walk off the carbs.

4. Made our own photo booth to document the night. Checked on the pool periodically and waited for all the tiny kids to go to bed. Froze our you-know-whats off in the pool, even though it was inside. Headed for the hot tub to thaw out.

5. Sunday morning, woke up to Deric's personalized rendition of Happy Birthday (which, for the record, is nothing like the actual song). Got Starbucks from the hotel lobby and ate it along with muffins from home. Showered and packed up; got ready for the Pacers game at noon.

6. Met up with Deric's parents and aunts and uncles. Climbed literally a million stairs to our seats in the stadium. Pretended to care about the game, but watched the mascots most of the time instead. Used binoculars to people-watch. Thoroughly enjoyed myself :)

Look close and you'll see the Chicago Bulls mascot dancing behind one of the event staff.

 He wouldn't leave the poor guy alone and had the whole stadium dying of laughter.

Inflatable mascots. Wish I had a video of them dancing the Evolution of Dance. 

Kept falling over just like people in those inflatable sumo suits.

7. Lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Again, filled myself up on bread and Coke.

8. Went to Dave Barnes in concert. Enjoyed his comedy in between songs more than the actual songs (although they're great, too). Met up with Laura, one of my best friends from high school.

9. Came home and about passed out on the couch. Realized I'm too old to be doing so much in one weekend;)