Indy Fab Food #1: Yats

I've decided to take a break from talking about my house and start talking about another thing I can't ever get off my mind: food.

I love where I live, and it's time to show off reasons why I'm proud of Indianapolis.  I also want to be a better supporter of local businesses and restaurants, and that is my goal with the new "Indy Fab Food" column.  Here it goes.


Indy Fab Food #1: Yats

Yats is a small Cajun Creole chain with four locations in central Indiana.  The environment is bright, festive, and very New Orleans.  Each Yats has a daily blackboard menu featuring a variety of gumbos, etoufees, and creoles.  My favorite, the chili cheese etoufee, is always in popular demand... so it's on the board every day.  It has just enough spice and makes my mouth water at the thought of it.

Besides being completely delicious, the BEST thing about this restaurant is the amount of food you get for the price.  You can get a full order of your choice for under $6.00, and it's not a meager amount.  Each order also comes with a side of buttered bread--perfect for soaking up the last bits of the meal.  Can't decide what you want?  You can also do a half-and-half deal and pleasure your palate with two of the blackboard options at once.

Are you a vegetarian?  No worries.  There are always a couple veggie options on the menu, as well as seafood for the pescetarians out there (...like me!  The chili cheese etoufee comes with scrumptious crawfish).


My new house is only a ten minute drive from Mass Ave (a.k.a. Massachusetts Avenue), where one of the Yats locations happens to be.  I got some today.  Mmmmmmm.

Coming to Indy?  Keep Yats in mind.

Happy eating,

Kelly

Long time, no blog.

I took a little blog hiatus because I've been busy.  GUESS WHY:

I'M BUYING A HOUSE!

Yes, it's official.  Remember that cute, little, yellow bungalow I showed you?  That's the one.  White picket fence and all.  Two bedroom, one bath, hardwood floors, a fireplace with built in bookshelves on both sides, a sun room, a brick patio, fenced in backyard, two car garage.  Woot woot!

I've always loved the idea of decorating, but I've never had a space to call my own.  When I move in, I can do WHATEVER I WANT with it.  I can't believe it.  I can put a hole in any wall, can paint in any color, can put in any shelving, and it's all up to me.  Yes, I know this just comes with owning a house, but it's my first one and I'm super excited.

Of course, now that I'm starting to look at designs and colors and all, I'm going AAAAH!  There are so many different ways to decorate and I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet.  All I know is that I want it to be eclectic in style.  I don't want to pick a very categorized style because I like to change things up.  I also love how a room can look if there are pieces from all over the place that some how work together with the colors, fabrics, etc.  Here are a few samples I found online:

I just love pulling bright things from every which way and getting them together for a complete look.  In each picture there are a few different patterns going on at once, and all have bright colors.  The dining room picture is a bit too much, probably due to the busy walls.  I've noticed that in most eclectic designs the walls stay a pretty neutral color so the whole room doesn't seem too overwhelming.  Hopefully that makes paint picking easy!

I think this design aesthetic will be perfect for me because 1) I love displaying trinkets I've gathered through my life, 2) I love vintage artwork/paintings/furniture, and 3) I love to thrift shop for decorating pieces.

Whiiiiich brings me to my next point.  I have not gone thrift store shopping in a LONG time, and earlier this week I got my sister out of the house and we went to a vintage clothing store, and then to three different Goodwills.  End result: 15 dresses, 4 sweaters, 2 shirts, and 7 home decor items for.... (drumroll please.....) under $100!!!  I really recommend getting out now before it warms up again because we were able to snag so many comfy, casual spring dresses.  On average I think each dress was about 4 bucks.  SPECTACULAR!

Out of the decor items for my house, I also came across something I am going to take as a sign in my quest for pet pig ownership.  When I found it in an aisle at Goodwill, I ran up to my sister very excitedly and before I even showed her she knew it was going to have something to do with my pig venture.  The pictures will suffice:

Yes, folks, it is a black decorative pig head that I am definitely going to put by the front door and hang my keys on.  I am also going to decorate him with different seasonal hats.  You think it's ridiculous?  So be it.  It's just another sign that Thurman Merman is meant to be.

And on that note, I'm out.

Peace,

Kelly

Liven Up the G-Dub Learning Hub!

Hey everybody! As you know, I teach at an inner-city school in Indianapolis, and this means there isn't a whole lot of money to put towards wants and not needs.

Well, my students would LOVE a more decorated Learning Center. I work in there full time and have done my best to dress up the place... and it looks a heck of a lot better than it used to (you will see it on the site), but it still needs a lot of work.

There are thirteen days left to donate. Please help me get four bean bag chairs and a giant, durable purple rug for the room. The students will appreciate it, and I'll be sure to take some pictures of the result and put them up on the site.

PLEASE! Thanks so much:Liven Up the G-Dub Learning Hub!

Peace,

Kelly

Invisible children.

One of the reasons I became an inner-city teacher is that I wanted to expose disadvantaged students in the U.S. to global issues. It is likely that out of the many students I interact with every day, most of them have not left Indiana, and some have not even left the city of Indianapolis. How are they to know what is going on across the ocean when they haven't even been exposed to the issues in their own territory?

That is why I am hoping to set up a visit to my school from the roadies of Invisible Children. It's an amazing youth-created, youth-driven, and youth-focused grassroots movement to help the millions of displaced war-struck children of Uganda.

The movement started with three young guys, traveling to Africa with their cameras simply to experience an adventure. When they arrived, they discovered an African Holocaust taking place in Uganda. A rebel army leader was killing and mutilating the population, and kidnapping the children to create and strengthen his own rebel forces. The guys realized they had to do something.

They created a documentary, and spread the word. It came out in 2003, and since then, Invisible Children has turned into a non-profit that has made astounding social and political change for the people in Uganda--in particular, the children. When they first visited the country, thousands of children were walking barefoot for miles in order to seek refuge from the rebel army. Since the start of the movement, the commutes have practically stopped for good.

But there is still a lot of work to be done. The rebel army is still up and running, and the leader is still wreaking havoc on Uganda's people. Children who have been rescued from the rebel army are scarred from the abuse and the brainwashing, and the schools in Uganda need the funding to create proper education for the youth of the country.

While it is important that my students learn where to put their commas and their periods, it is also important for them to become beneficial citizens of the world. If they are able to become active participants in such a groundbreaking grassroots movement, hopefully they'll be motivated to start their own movements--small or large.

I'll let you know if the roadies are able to visit! If not, I still plan on showing the documentary to my students. Our theme this year is "Challenges" after all, particularly the "Challenge of Heroism," so what could be better?

Check out the video below, watch a recent documentary being shown by the roadies here, or go to the website to find out more.