I had been looking forward to my birthday weekend for months. Visiting Kentucky and then exploring a whole new city, plus getting to see one of my favorite music artists? Sounds like a recipe for a fantastic weekend to me. And that’s exactly what it was.

First, I took the long drive down to Kentucky. It was a little under 11 hours for me to get down there by the time you factor in all of my stops. I had decided to try an audiobook for the first time with the long drive, and I am really glad I did! The day seemed long but also a little nostalgic as it has been a while since I’ve made that drive. The audiobooks, podcasts, and phone calls really helped along the way. Once in Lexington, I was greeted by one of my favorite gals, her husband, and their two pups.

The next day my friend and I both took vacation from work so we could spend the day together. I went and did a workout right away at 6:30am at one of my favorite gym’s ever, VFIT. I used to go there when I lived in Lexington and absolutely loved it. The owner (Matt Veigl) is fantastic to work with and his workouts really make your mind and body work together. If you’re interested in training with him in person or remotely, check out his website: Home - VFit Gym - Lexington, KY Personal Training & Group Fitness. 

After getting a good workout in, my friend and I made breakfast and then sat around her kitchen island and started on a 1,000-piece puzzle (don’t judge me). We put Love is Blind on the TV and worked on this puzzle for about 3 hours before taking a break to do some shopping. We decided to stay in for Friday evening’s meal instead of going out, so my friends husband whipped up some homemade pasta and we had chicken alfredo with some broccolini on the side. It was so good! Our dinner wouldn’t be complete without dessert,  so we got some mini bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes.

The next day was a 3 hour drive up to Indianapolis to pick up my friend flying in from Kansas City. We checked into our hotel and then ended up grabbing a drink and some appetizers at The District Tap just a short walk from our hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Nothing like a fruity drink, nachos, and a good yap session to prep you for a night out. We started at Clayton’s Country Bar where there was live music. After a couple of drinks there, we headed to Tin Roof which also had live music. Both places were good! It was the day after Halloween too so people were still dressing up. We saw so many really great costumes. The night ended with a quick Taco Bell stop before heading to bed.

Sunday (my birthday) was spent exploring the city until the concert later that night. We went to Restoration Hardware (link here), White River State Park, and then spent some time walking downtown checking out different local sights and stores. We then stopped for lunch at a place called Kilroys Bar N’ Grill. The waiter we had was so fun and I even got a free dessert for my birthday! It was a cheesecake with some bourbon carmel sauce and some berries on top. Literally amazing. After lunch we went back to the hotel to chill for a couple of hours before getting ready for the main event of our time in Indy.

This trip was planned around a Jonas Brothers concert (if you don’t like them I simply do not want to hear it). My friend and I have birthdays that are just a few days apart and when the Jonas Brothers announced their tour, we simply couldn’t resist. We ended up in Indianapolis because we couldn’t find any other dates that worked for locations closer to us. The concert was at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (where the Indiana professional basketball teams play), and I was pleasantly surprised with how great our seats were without having been there before. We were in section 12, row 15, seats 20 & 21, which were right on the aisle. Plenty of room for dancing. We had the absolute BEST time. Franklin Jonas & the Byzantines and the All-American Rejects opened for them which were both really good openers. Yelling “Gives you Hell” at the top of my lungs was oddly therapeutic lol. This was my fourth time seeing the Jonas Brothers but my friend had never seen them before. They played lots of their iconic old classics plus some songs from their new album (if you haven’t heard it yet I 10/10 recommend). Although we didn’t get a special guest for our show, we did get Big Rob for “Burnin Up” AND we got to hear Kevin’s new song that isn’t released until later in November (yes Kevin has his own single coming out) so I take that as a win. I could do an entire blog post about what a good concert does for my soul…... I will say though that the Jonas Brothers put on a really good show. They are super fun and always really interactive with the crowd. Couldn’t have asked for a better end to my birthday.

On Monday before dropping my friend off at the airport, we grabbed brunch at a place called Garden Table. We had some fantastic brunch food and they even had juice flights!  It was the cutest little spot to enjoy our final hour in Indy. Once dropping my friend off at the airport, I started on my 7 hour journey home. I ended up taking an extra day of vacation just to enjoy a day at home to get organized and feel better about the rest of the week. Kind of like my Sunday reset, but on a Tuesday instead. It was much needed.

Life really is too short not to do the things you love most and spend time with the people you love most. I hope this post inspires you to book a mini trip with a friend or significant other or even solo. You won’t regret it!

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