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LIFE

8 winter staples you can get delivered

Olivia Lewis
IndyStar
Delivery services in Indianapolis are expanding so customers have fewer reasons to leave the house.

Let’s face it: After the first snowfall there’s just no reason to go outside again. It’s too cold, the ice is dangerous and by the time you take off all those layers of clothing it’s time to go back home again.

Thankfully, there are plenty of services in and around Indianapolis for those of us who look at the temperature outside and respond to that invite to go out with a  “Ha, no, it’s too cold.”

Here’s a list of things you can get without ever leaving the warm comforts of home.  Now, if only there were a way to order your friends, too. (Wait, I think that may be called Uber or Lyft.)

Liquor: Drizly delivers as far north as Cicero and south through Waterloo. The nationwide alcohol delivery service will bring beer, wine, liquor and an assortment of drink-related needs such as ice and plastic cups to your doorstep. Its website, drizly.com, also has a list of alcoholic beverage recipes.

Takeout food: Take a break from the usual pizza and Chinese takeout menus. Total Takeout, Grub Hub and OrderUp all offer a range of restaurants in your neighborhood. Total Takeout delivers from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and lets users search restaurants closest to their address and track the order. Grub Hub has a similar process, though it lacks a tracking system. OrderUp searches restaurants by category. Doorstep Delivery and Indy All Night are local delivery companies serving the Downtown area. Doorstep delivers al la carte menu items, and Indy All Night serves until 4:30 a.m. for $2.

Cookies: When those 10 p.m. cookie cravings hit, Insomnia Cookies has your back. The dessert company relies on customers' late-night sweet-tooth cravings to bring warm baked cookies to your home. The Broad Ripple location opens around lunchtime and doesn’t close until 3 a.m. However, the delivery area is relatively small, serving the university area, Broad Ripple and Meridian Kessler neighborhoods.

Groceries: Instacart, Peapod and Green Bean Delivery will do the grocery shopping for you. Instacart's main partner is Marsh supermarkets, serving the Downtown, Washington Township and Carmel neighborhoods. It also buys groceries from Whole Foods, Costco, Petco and Georgetown Market in Lafayette Square with a promise of one-hour delivery. Green Bean Delivery is known for its natural and organic produce. For purchases of $35 or more the company will deliver the groceries free. Peapod, an Ill.-based grocery delivery service, is available in the Indy metro area.

Instacart launches grocery delivery service in Indy

Clothing: The Five Four Club and Stitch Fix have taken online shopping to a whole other level. Customers register for the monthly clothing subscriptions and are sent a bag of clothing to browse, try on and either keep or send back. The Five Four Club (for men) and Stitch Fix (for women) are national companies that send clothing options based on a customer's preferred style. What you like, you keep. What you don't, send back.

Dry cleaning: Several dry-cleaning companies in Indianapolis offer delivery service. Classic Care Center has free pickup and delivery service. Fabric Care Center has a "hotline" for doorstep delivery, and Deering Cleaners Downtown has 24/7 "bizziebox" drop-off and pickup locations Downtown. Deering customers use their mobile phone to order the cleaning service.

Diapers:Treetop Baby and The Green Nursery are both Indiana-based cloth-diaper companies. Depending on time of day the Green Nursery can deliver same-day or at least one to two days with advance notice. The Green Nursery offers free delivery for purchases of at least $35. Treetop Baby does local delivery to Hendricks County and neighboring communities. Customers are asked to leave a memo or a note in advance for future deliveries.

Other: Google Express announced in September it would offer next-day delivery to Indianapolis customers. The overnight delivery service offers 16 Midwestern stores for patrons at a flat rate of $4.99 per order and a fee of $10 a month or $95 annually.

Google Express offers Indy overnight delivery

Jeff Swiatek contributed to this article. Call Olivia Lewis at (317) 444-6126. Follow her on Twitter: @TheWrittenPeace.