Week 23: Ladies Who Brunch [Score +14]

When did brunch become such an event?

I’ve always found late morning to be an awkward time for a meal, especially when I’m being too type-A and overthinking it.

How can one overthink brunch?

Like this: Sleeping in on the weekend, for me, generally means I’m up by 7:00 a.m. I wake up hungry, so trying to delay breakfast until a 10:30 brunch date is torture. So, do I eat just a little bit before going? That means I’m skipping lunch and will be hungry early for dinner. Do I need to eat dinner early, too? Just munch until then?

Being able to bring my beloved copilot along makes every one of my adventures more enjoyable. <3

Sheesh. Just enjoy the omelette, Amanda.

On a recent Saturday with perfectly blue skies and temperatures well below scorching, Mylee and I ventured into downtown Indianapolis to the Garden Table, a relatively new restaurant on Mass Ave. We met our intrepid friend, Kristin, for a laid-back, not-overthought brunch and girls’ day in the sunshine.

Mass Ave was hopping, as expected, but particularly so due to a bike race and cycling festival. Thankfully our ignorance about the event worked in our favor, and the crowd didn’t really descend until early afternoon.

After enjoying our meal, as Mylee happily people- and dog-watched while tied to my chair, the three of us wandered through some of the shops on the street. Mass Ave, which is home to a large number of small, locally owned businesses, is one of the most dog-friendly areas of Indianapolis.

Tinker Coffee Co. + Project Alianza = Awesome

Exiting one store within the cycling festival’s vendor area, we ran into Steve and Dylan of Tinker Coffee Co., a specialty coffee roaster that is now working with Project Alianza to feature coffee from a partnering farm in Nicaragua. Kristin sampled a couple coffees and “yummmmmed” with delight, and I sampled one and reaffirmed my dislike of coffee.

Meanwhile, when another friend of Tinker stopped to say hello, Mylee met a couple pugs who were also out for a walk. The smaller of the two, a young, nervous black pup, persistently barked in Mylee’s face, and she explicitly ignored him as not worth her attention.

Brunch timing might be awkward, but the event itself is almost always a delight. This day was no exception.
 

Score:

• Did something outside my routine: +1
• Left the house: +1
• Had a conversation with a stranger of at least 30 seconds: +2
• Had a conversation with a stranger beyond basics (i.e., work, hometown, what’s your dog’s name): +2
• Learned someone’s name: +3
• Copilot Mylee came along: +5