On today's Dopest we're covering:
BFF Indy — the women's community that started with a Bachelorette watch party and grew to 20,000 members
Lapis Lily Market — Indy's self-proclaimed neighborhood trinket dealer just opened a storefront at the Stutz
Penrod Arts Fair — 350+ artists, live music, and the best Saturday you'll spend at Newfields all year
Thanks for reading!
-Hillary
The Dopest Sponsor — Trevor St. Aubin | Realtor
Homeownership Is More Possible Than You Think
Everyone online has an opinion about why now is a bad time to buy. The headlines are loud and mostly wrong. Buying a home in Indianapolis is still one of the smartest moves you can make. Trevor has been helping first time home buyers in central Indiana for years and broke down the process step by step.
📞 317-809-3088 📧[email protected] @trevorstaubin
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Via @bff.indy
👯 The Dopest Community — BFF Indy
In 2021, FrancesMary Loughead moved to Indianapolis knowing absolutely nobody. She worked remotely, had no family nearby, and found herself doing what most people do when they're lonely and desperate — downloading apps. It didn't work. So she tried something else: she noticed a bunch of women her age in Indy were watching The Bachelorette, and she threw a watch party.
That watch party became weekly hangouts. Which became brunches and winery trips and dinners. Which became BFF Indy — a community built around the idea that making real friends as an adult is genuinely hard and somebody needed to do something about it. Within the first year, over 20,000 members joined. Twenty thousand. From one Bachelorette watch party.
BFF Indy runs about seven events a month — weekly walks, book clubs, activities, brunches, and more. The kind of calendar that gives you no excuse not to show up to at least one thing. If you've moved to Indy recently, work from home, or just feel like your social life could use a reboot, this is your sign. Put your phone down and talk to real people- who knows, they may just be your new go to group!
The Dopest Tip: Just go to one event. That's all it takes. The whole point of BFF Indy is that showing up is the hard part — everything after that is surprisingly easy.
Via @trinketclubindy
✨ The Dopest New Shop — Trinket Club
Amber Gyselinck-Snyder has been collecting trinkets since she was ten years old selling Beanie Babies. She calls her customers "trinketeers." She calls herself the neighborhood trinket dealer. She is not wrong.
Trinket Club opened in August at the Stutz, right next to Amelias — a full storefront stocked with hundreds of trinkets, stickers, and jewelry, with trinket events every Saturday. It’s a storefront that brings whimsy color, and laughter with silly little things and I think we should all appreciate what that offers our city. You might think a trinket business is ridiculous, but I disagree. Amber built her own literally little trinket world by doing what she loves and sharing it with the world, and shocker…there’s actually a market for it. It goes to show silly little things might have a little bit more value than you’d think. It’s reassuring that our up and coming midwest city gets behind the goofy and non traditional businesses.
Amber also hosts regularly gatherings called Trinket Club: events where people bring their favorite tiny objects, dress up for a theme, swap knick-knacks, and listen to each other tell Trinket Tales — stories about the objects they love. At her first swap, 250 people showed up. She now caps it at 140 because things got wonderfully out of hand.
Life is a little too serious. Make a craft. Buy a ghost magnet. Chill out.
📍 The Stutz
The Dopest Tip: Follow @trinketclubindy for the next swap event — they sell out fast and the themes are fun.
Via penrod.org
🎨 The Dopest Art Fair — Penrod Arts Fair
This Saturday, September 12th, Newfields transforms into the largest one-day art fair in the Midwest. The 59th Annual CBIZ Penrod Arts Fair brings over 350 juried artists and galleries to the grounds — paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry, mixed media — alongside hundreds of performers across multiple stages, 50+ arts nonprofits, a children's area, and local food and drinks. It is great day to an Indy local and it happens once a year.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Kids 10 and under are free with an adult. Free parking at the Indiana State Fairgrounds with complimentary shuttles to and from Newfields.
📍 Newfields, Saturday Sept 12 · 9AM–5PM · Kids under 10 free
The Dopest Tip: Buy advance tickets — $5 savings and you skip the door line. Park at the State Fairgrounds and take the free shuttle. Arrive early for the best artist access before the crowds build.
The Dopest This Week:
September Floral Workshop | Solely Wine | Thursday | 6:30
Figure 8 Race | Indy Speedrome | Thursday
Indianapolis Indians Vs Omaha Storm Chasers | Victory Field | Friday
Hot Air Balloon Festival | Conner Prairie | Friday
Niko Moon | Nickel Plate District Amphitheater | Saturday
Jonathan Van Ness | Old National Centre | Sunday
Indy is always up to something. So are we.
See you next week! — Indy's Dopest
Got a friend who thinks Indy is boring? Forward this. We'll take it from here.