High Five for Friday

Happy Friday to you!  I hope you all had a wonderful week.  Can you believe Christmas is just 2 weeks away?  The time flies between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I have a lot to catch you up on, so here goes.


1.  Thanksgiving.  How was yours Megan, you ask?  It was a real kick in the pants.  Cars dying, sickness, not everyone able to make the big feast...............the list goes on and on.  It wasn't anyone's fault.  Just the way things happen sometimes.  Mom had a terrible stomach bug pretty much all weekend.  We delayed Thanksgiving to Friday hoping she would feel like eating some.  Which she did but got sick again on Saturday.  So I spent the whole weekend at home.  I did get caught up on some sleep.  I got a little bit of time with the nieces so it wasn't all bad.  I am noticing a trend I do not care for.  Me doing most of the cooking.  (Mom does help.  Dad peeled potatoes.)  It is just exhausting and then no one wants to do the dishes.  Family can we PLEASE go out next year?!

I was so proud of my bird.  I take great pride in my work.

Our table.  So thankful.

This lil miss took great interest in helping me cook.  She did great with the pecan pie.  I was thrilled!!!

Selfie

Selfie

Sometimes you fall asleep before dinner is served.

The slumber party that did not happen.  The one on the left wouldn't lay down and had to go in the pack and play to sleep.  The one on the right joined me in my bed and literally climbed my back ALL NIGHT LONG!  She's a nut!

2.  Poor Baby K's birthday fell on Thanksgiving.  As a fellow holiday birthday girl, I wanted to make it special for her.  Mom ordered her an adorable cake.  (Grandpa picked it up and took all the credit.)  We had decorations and presents as well.  She made out like a fat pig........Peppa the Pig!  It is a cute show the girls are in to.  All the toys were Peppa and the cake and decorations were Bubble Guppies (another TV show.) Baby K was SOOOOO cute when we sang and gave her the cake.

Gammy helping

Big sister comes to help!

My Grandma Carr always gave the non birthday sibling a gift to me and my brother growing up.  So of course Big Sister needed a Peppa the Pig.

CAKE!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to you!

Honey I gave her a big piece and let me tell you.  She ate almost all of it.  Of course she only had a roll for dinner.  It is tuff being 2!

3.  If you follow me on any of the social media sites, you know I am Martha Stewart's protege.  I had my house decorated for the holidays before I left for Thanksgiving.  I got my parents done and helped my friend Lee do his.  I LOVE to do it.  Here is some of my work.  I will do a full blog overview in the future of all my Christmas decor.

We three trees................These are the 3 I did.  Mine is on the far left.  It takes about 3-4 hours to do.  9 strands of lights and tons of ornaments.  If you didn't know I love the color pink because it just makes me happy.  Mom and Dad's is in the middle.  And Lee's is on the right.

Miss Bailey under the tree.  It is her first Carr Christmas!!

4.  I like to eat.  I like to eat out.  This week I tried 2 new restaurants.  The first one is King Ribs BBQ.  My co-worker and I went for lunch.  Rib Tips special for just $8.68.  I am drooling just looking at these pictures again.

Rib tips with potato salad and coleslaw.

The second place I tried was Harry and Izzy's.  For those of you local to Indy, you know this is a spin-off of the famous St. Elmo's Steakhouse.  I went for a friend's birthday.

Floor to ceiling wine cellar

Their famous shrimp cocktail

Wedge Salad

Filet

Prime Rib and Fried Green Tomatoes

Brownie sundae

Wine

Birthday girl

Elizabeth and Ellen

Me and Lee

So now I am not going to be eating until the holidays after this delicious week of food.  And my wallet is quite empty!!!  Tis the season!

5.  And because he is already mad at me for posting this picture on social media, I am going to share here.  My Dad and his love.  Bailey.  She ADORES him.  And he's just a cranky, old man.  I guess he has a thing for blondes.  Because every blonde dog we have ever had, loved him the best.  Sometimes Bailey is the only one who likes him.................I kid!!!!  Like I said he's a cranky, old man.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Today I am linking up with:

Restaurant Review: Marco's Restaurant Lounge

I want to share with you a little hidden gem in Indianapolis.  This restaurant by far my favorite here in the city.  And it just so happens to be in my neighborhood.  It is called Marco's.  It is on the little higher end of the budget but it is totally worth the treat.  I got the chance to eat there 2 times in October.  Once with Mom and once with my friends.  I wanted to share with you a little about the restaurant.  Enough of my chit chat.  Let's get on to the food!!!

Me and Mom on her last trip to Indy.

So many delicious things to choose from.  One thing I didn't get a picture of was the calamari.  It is so good, I didn't have time to snap a picture.

French onion soup

Wedge salad.  I dream about this salad weeks after eating it.  It is that GOOD!

Prime rib.  I am drooling looking at this picture.

Mom's veal

Brie stuffed chicken.  I am telling you.  That sauce.  Literally melts in your mouth.

Moscato.  So fruity and sweet.

You will always leave Marco's stuffed.  With most meals you get a soup and salad.  It is so worth the money.  A lot of us locals know about Marco's and like to frequent there. I can tell you both times I was there on a Saturday and it filled up fast.  So I definitely suggest making a reservation.

They do offer some specials throughout the week.  Monday $5-6 martinis, Tuesday 6oz. filet dinner for $11.95, Wednesday half off wine bottles, Thursday half off their special martini list.  My favorite is to go on Saturday for a big juicy prime rib.  One of these days, I would love to try their lunch menu.  It is a little cheaper and has some great options.  

As a former hospitality employee, the one thing that truly makes me love Marco's is the staff.  Since I have been going here, the staff has not changed.  Which means they don't have a lot of turnover and they treat their staff right.  They work together and seem to have fun doing it.  Whatever they are doing, it is working.


Support your local economy.  EAT LOCAL!!!!!

Marco's Restaurant Lounge
2380 East 54th St.
Indianapolis, IN  46220
(317) 251-7000
Restaurant Hrs: Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm, Friday 11am-11pm, Saturday 5pm-11pm, Closed Sundays
Marco's Restaurant Lounge Website


Check out my other restaurant reviews:
Bearcats
La Margarita

Restaurant Review: La Margarita

Several weeks ago my friend Ryan was in town.  We were in the mood for Mexican and Ryan came across La Margarita in Fountain Square.  It is a fairly new restaurant that has opened up and had great ratings online.  We decided to give it a try. 

I would call it a more upscale Mexican restaurant.  The service was so amazing.  All the waiters in the restaurant swept the tables, so not one dirty dish was left or glass unfilled. We were both impressed.

Sign outside

They start you out with a basket of chips and 3 salsas.  I enjoyed trying them but liked the one on the top right the best.  And not to worry!  Free refills on chips and salsa.  We both fought over the same salsa.  (Ryan is my brother from another mother.)

Ine mine miney mo, which one do I try first

We started out with the chile con queso.  It wasn't too bad.  Kind of just tasted like pizza sauce to me. Super cheesy.  Nice presentation.

Appetizer

Ryan had the Carne Asada which are steak tacos.  We were both intrigued with the arroz verde which is green rice.  It made for a pretty plate and he said tasted good.

Ryan's meal

I had the chicken quesadilla.  It again was just okay.  It didn't taste any better than I could make at home.  The guacamole was very fresh tasting.  All ingredients used had a very fresh quality to them.

My meal

I wish I had tried the shrimp tequila instead.  Being that they are a tequila bar and serve over 200 different kinds, that might have been the better choice.  Had I not been between paydays, I would have tried a tequila flight.  And Ryan also might have had to carry me out to the car.


Support your local economy.  EAT LOCAL!!!!!

La Margarita
The Murphy Arts Center
1043 Virginia Ave, Suite 1, 46203
Indianapolis, IN  (317) 384-1457
Restaurant Hrs: Tues-Thurs 11am-10pm Fri-Sat 11am-11pm Sun 11am-8pm (Bar is open later) Closed Monday
Parking:  Street meter parking on front and side.  Additional parking lot in back.
La Margarita Website


Check out my other restaurant review:
Bearcats

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  Was it just me or was this the longest week ever?!  Maybe because it was a slow week for me.  Not too much going on but I'm okay with that.  Here are five things from my week.  I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy this mild weather here in the Midwest!!!

1.  I was a guest blogger this week at Indy Restaurant Scene.  I got an insane amount of people who visited my blog from this post.  It was so exciting!  I am looking forward to doing more guest blogging in the future.  I think this is a great way to get my blog out there.  If you missed my guest post please go here.  I reviewed Bearcats in Indy.  And remember to eat local!

Top:  Grouper Po Boy  Bottom:  Pork Tenderloin

2.  I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite famous kitties.  Grumpy Cat!!!  Her real name is Tardar Sauce.  In all honesty she really isn't Grumpy............

She became an internet sensation because of her 'grumpy' face.  Grumpy makes all kinds of appearances.  (She is a very well behaved cat.  Mine would freak out traveling everywhere like her!)  This past weekend she was on QVC for Christmas in July.

Grumpy was selling her stuffed animal. My Mom texted me when she saw her on and said turn on QVC NOW!!  And there was Grumpy.  I had to have her.  Being my sweet Mom she bought her for me.  The rest is history.  I'm the best crazy cat lady ever!!!  You can purchase Grumpy here.

3.  My co-worker and I are trying to go out to lunch once a week.  Just to get away and enjoy some time outside work.  It is nice to catch up and talk about things other than work.  This week we were both craving a good home cooked meal.  So we went to Cracker Barrel.  We both had chicken and dumplings with all the fixins.  YUMMY!  (Okay so sometimes I eat at chain restaurants.  You caught me.)

Why am I showing you this box of Nerds I picked up at Cracker Barrel?  I wanted to share a story with you about why I bought them.  When I was little, my Grandpa would always take us kids to a park in Newburgh, IN.  It also had a lock and dam area where we would watch the barges go through.  It is one of the great memories I have with him.  We would play on the swings and hunt for beavers in the woods.  Afterwards he would take us to an old fashion General Store and let us pick out some candy.  I always got Nerds.  As I was waiting to check out at Cracker Barrel, I saw this box and thought of my Grandpa.  He died when I was 8 and we had such little time together.  In that moment all my memories came flooding back.  (Sorry Mom grab some tissues.)

4.  I treated myself to some new earrings this week from Lisa Leonard Designs.  She is one of the bloggers I follow and I feel like I know her.  She has an amazing company that makes all kinds of jewelry.  When I saw these earrings on instagram, I just knew I needed them.  I love hearts because it is one of the symbols of my sorority (Sigma Kappa.  One heart, one way!)  They arrived Thursday and are just beautiful.  I can't wait to wear them!

5.  My beautiful city Indianapolis.  How I love them.  Indy is a great place to live.  I have been here for 8 years now.  I feel like I know the ins and outs.  I kind of feel like Carrie from Sex and the City.  How she always said she had a relationship with her one true love, New York City.  That is how I feel about Indy.  That is why I named my blog NapTownDiva.  IndiaNAPolis.

Lately we have had a lot of violence in our lovely city.  Shootings, killings, robberies, drugs, just all kinds of violence.  In the last month we even had a cop that was killed.  It is just sad.  But what I am seeing is neighbors and law enforcement coming together.  Watching out for each other.  This is just another reason why I love this city.

I'm linking up with The Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday.