One would not necessarily think of Indiana as a shopping mecca. However, whenever I visit Noblesville/Indianapolis, I leave with WAY more stuff than I came with. Sometimes it's clothes; sometimes it's housewares; more often than not, it comes from the antique mall.
This year's trip was no exception. When I wasn't busy running 13.1 miles - and injuring myself - I managed to pick up some adorable clothes and accessories.
The yellow polka dot top and the vintage pearl drop earrings in this pic are both courtesy of Retro 101, a vendor in the Logan Village Mall in Noblesville. The blouse was $5.00 and the earrings were $4.00. (The pencil skirt was actually a $12.95 buy from Forever 21 a couple seasons ago.)
This great red and cream striped cotton top (it has adorable ruched sleeves) came courtesy of Francesca's Collections in Clay Terrace. The silver "ball and chain" earrings were also a vintage score from Retro 101.
The killer score didn't end there - I also got a beautiful vintage clutch and some great costume jewelry. I spent way less than I would have spent in antique or vintage stores out here. Indiana may not be the hippest place in the world, but for what it's worth, I always come back a little more hip.
Even though I live with a native of the Philippines, I have not been exposed to a lot of Filipino cuisine. Noe and I have done a few experiments, most notable our ever-evolving Adobo recipe (which we think we're getting pretty good at). Other than adobo, we haven't really tried out any other recipes yet. So when Joan (Noe's sister) told us about a Filipino restaurant in Indiana that she swore "tastes like mama's cooking" we had to check it out.
Exterior of Eduardo's
Eduardo's doesn't look like much on the outside. It's in a pretty run-down section of town. It's actually pretty confusing, because the sign next to the door says "Charlie Bigg's Chicken" - you have to look at the door itself to see "Eduardo's" spelled out in barely visible red letters. Inside, it looks like a (remarkably clean) fast food chicken restaurant - which it is. Apparently, the owners do a lot of regular weekday business with the fried chicken and fish crowd. However, when they started putting their Filipino dishes on the menu, a new crowd started seeking them out.
The owners actually have a Filipino catering business and a cart that they take to fairs and events. Seeing how well the food went over at these events, they decided to add several Filipino dishes every day to their otherwise standard fried chicken menu. On weekends, they have a whole buffet spread of Filipino food, but we were there on a Tuesday afternoon, so we had about four dishes (rotating daily) to choose from.
The woman behind the counter (one of the owners) was kind enough to let us sample everything before we made our decisions. Although the pork adobo was excellent, Noe and I were both swayed by the beef caldereta.
Beef Caldereta
Beef caldereta is basically a tomato-based beef stew that includes vegetables such as onions and peppers and is served (like many Filipino dishes) over white rice. Eduardo's caldereta was extremely flavorful - I definitely could taste some garlic, and there was some spice I couldn't exactly pinpoint in the background. It was warm and filling and perfect for a cold winter's day (which is exactly what we were facing, weather-wise).
Noe's brother Jan ordered the adobo, which, with it's pickle-y vinegar tang and subtle soy sauce flavors, did not disappoint.
Pork Adobo
We all ordered pancit noodles, which I had never heard of prior to this trip. Pancit noodles are skinny rice noodles, fried with soy sauce and a bit of something else (citrus? I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it added some depth to the soy) and served with some shredded meat (in this case, chicken) and thinly chopped vegetables.
These noodles were amazing. I could probably eat them for lunch every day.
Pancit Noodles
We rounded out our meals with some mini lumpia (egg rolls) - which the Eduardo's staff fried up specially for us so we could have them extra-fresh and extra hot.
Lumpia
I couldn't resist finishing off my meal with a dessert. I ordered flan. I have a love-hate relationship with flan. Sometimes it can be slimy - more like Jell-O than a custard. I am pleased to report that Eduardo's flan was of a non-offensive consistency. In fact, it was almost creamy when it hit the tongue.
Possibly the best flan I have ever had
I have to give one more mention to the cleanliness of the building and the friendliness of the staff. I have been in sit-down restaurants that haven't been as clean and where I haven't been treated nearly as nicely as we were at Eduardo's. Ask questions about the food if you're not sure about something - not only will you get an explanation, but you'll probably get to try before you buy.
Noe enjoying his meal at Eduardo's
Eduardo's may not look like much, but if you're in the Indianapolis area and are interested in Filipino food (or if you're just looking for a warm, filling meal or an interesting alternative to Chinese, Thai, or other rice/noodle-type cuisines) I would highly recommend it. The three Filipinos in our group all gave it two thumbs up. Don't let the fast food atmosphere fool you - this is quality comfort food, island-style.
Eduardo's 2412B East Raymond Street, Indianapolis, IN 46203-4557
(317) 788-9615
Here are some pictures from my half-marathon this weekend in Indianapolis, IN - I finally broke the 2.5 hour mark! I know it's slow, but it's good for me.
Me and Thomas modeling my shirt and hat at the Expo
My internet access is extrememly limited at the moment, but I wanted to give a quick shout-out to the city I am currently visiting, Indianpolis, IN, which in recent years (i.e., since Noe and I became serious) has become one of my favorite cities in the U.S. Here's some reasons why: Good Restaurants Indy has good restaurants of both the independent and upscale-chain variety. As much as I preach out against chain restaurants, I have never turned down dinner at P.F. Chang's. This particular visit to Indy included a trip to the Weber Grill, found only in Indianapolis, Chicago, Schaumburg, and...well, I forget the fourth location. The appeal of the Weber Grill is that everything is cooked on giant Weber grills. I had garlic shrimp and they were delicious. Add some French Sauvignon Blanc from the fairly extensive wine list and you've got a meal.
Good Shopping Sometimes I miss having everyday access to certain stores. The Fashion Mall in Indy satisfies my craving for Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel, and Sephora (among others). Several monogrammed coffee mugs, some Barefoot Contessa cupcake mixes, and a tube of DuWop Lip Venom later, I was on my way.
Tons of Colleges I like being near a college campus, and Indianapolis has several. In the city limits alone you have Butler and IUPUI. Ball State is an hour away in Muncie. If we lived in Indy, I would be in grad school for sure. Did I mention Letterman went to Ball State and they have good communications, journalism, and PR programs? Who ever thought I would be longing to go to school in Muncie, Indiana...Go Cards!
Tennis is big here. In the summer, Noe and I went to see pro players including James Blake, Robby Ginepri, and Sam Querrey play in a tournament that was part of the US Open series. We were able to watch them on the practice courts from less than ten feet away. Tennis clubs are in abundance here and tons of people play on leagues of every ability. I would probably still be playing tennis if we lived in Indiana.
As much as I have learned to like Connecticut, I suffer a bit of a setback ever time we head home. It will get worse when we get off Noe's turf and back onto mine (Michigan). However, Noe and I have finally reached a level of contentment on the east coast where a trip home won't send us tailspinning into a three-week depression as it might have last year. We've found a lot of good things where we're at and have definitely learned to appreciate it.
However, if given the opportunity, I can't say we wouldn't move back. We're midwesterners at heart and every trip home reaffirms it.
...does not win the race but it DOES finish the half-marathon. Because I am slightly insane, I decided the best way to make myself get back into shape was to sign up to run a half-marathon.
This was not my first half-marathon; it was actually my fourth. I ran the Detroit Free Press race in October 2006, the Country Music Half-Marathon (seriously) in Nashville last April, and the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon - the same one I decided would kick my ass back into gear - last May.
I have referenced the fact that I have let myself get out of shape in this blog before. This is not an exaggeration. While I may not have gained a zillion pounds or look that much bigger, I have lost all my muscle tone and most of my endurance - both things I had when I ran my previous half-marathons.
I started "training" for this race a little late - like a month ago. Two miles were kind of a stretch at that point. I expanded it into three, then four, but I did not log a single run over five miles while preparing for the mini - and those five miles were not the smoothest I'd ever run, either. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned. (Of even more concern was the fact that I spent about two hours downloading songs and arranging my "Amy's Running Mix" playlist on my iPod for ultimate motivational order only to find out that headphones and earbuds were banned from the mini.)
I lined up in my corral with a feeling of trepidation. 25 minutes later, when I finally crossed the starting line (35,000 people makes for a bit of a chaotic start) I wasn't feeling much better.
After a mile of dodging the walkers (START AT THE BACK - THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!!!) I was wondering exactly how the hell I was going to establish any kind of pace.
And then I got going.
I was feeling good when I got to the 5K mark, and I felt even better when I got to 10K. I thought maybe I would walk for a minute or two before I hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (the highlight of the Mini's course) because I believe that one does not walk on the Speedway - but I felt good enough to keep running.
I ran my 2.5 miles around the oval and came out thinking maybe I'd walk a bit then, but I felt so good that I figured I'd at least run to the 9-mile mark. I hit nine thinking "Gee, maybe I should under-train for every race!" and continued running toward 10.
At 10.5 things started to go downhill.
Suddenly I felt like I was running in a pair of flip flops instead of sneakers. I was acutely aware of my feet hitting the pavement - hard- with every stride. My calves starting cramping up a little and my old ankle injury threatened to make an encore appearance. I wasn't exactly tired, but my body was shutting down.
I stopped and stretched out (and got annoyed as I watched people pass me) and then tried to continue. It wasn't much better. I re-laced and retied my shoes and started again - not much improvement. I sort of limped across the 11-mile mark, got my Gatorade, and then VERY slowly plugged away at the last two miles.
Of course, I sprinted the last quarter-mile (like that was going to make up for three miles of almost-walking) and almost plowed over the idiot with the microphone who happened to be standing in the middle of the street in front of the finish line. If he hadn't jumped out of the way, I would have just run in to him - I had too much momentum going to stop at that point.
Anyway, my finish time ended up not being incredibly horrible - about 2:40/2:45. Really, it wasn't much slower than anything else I've run. And although my knees were in agony for the remainder of the day (and well into the evening) I didn't seem to be much worse for wear.
The moral of the story? It felt GREAT to be back doing something athletic and mildly competitive. I want to be back in shape. Proving that I could still do this wasn't good enough because I know that if I can do it in this kind of shape that I can do it better.
