I’m so excited… and I just can’t hide it

That’s right, THREE friends (so many I can barely count that high) are coming to Oklahoma for a visit. Not only are they coming for a visit but they picked the first weekend in May to come and really get the authentic Oklahoma experience. I’m planning on sending them a packing list that includes helmets, football pads, suits of armor, the usual.

So pretty much this blog is working like a charm, despite the fact that I haven’t written a post in about 2 years. Since it worked so well WITHOUT posting, I figured I’d start posting again and ensure that we get many, many, many more visitors (mom and dad, I’m looking at you). Maybe at least twice as many. Go big or go home.

In all seriousness though, now the planning begins! I’ve already decided on a trip to the boathouse for a zip line ride (if it’s good enough for Rumble, it’s good enough for us, am I right?) and breakfast at Kitchen (still one of my faves). I’m also hoping the Plaza is doing their first Sunday shindig. Anyone know if that is still going on? They are going to just miss the Festival of the Arts and the Memorial Marathon which is too bad since those are two of my favorite springtime events.

What other suggestions do you guys have?

Oh, also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! If you haven’t yet, make sure you wish her a happy birthday!

First off, thank you to everyone for the calls, texts, emails, voicemails and general love and prayers! Alex and I are truly blessed to have such fantastic friends and family. I wanted to write up a post with some ways to donate in case you all are looking to help out. A lot of you suffered through Sandy last year and know that every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference to those who have lost everything.

1. The easiest way to donate is to text text REDCROSS to 90999. That will add $10 to your cell phone bill and go directly to the Red Cross. The Red Cross is currently coordinating a substantial amount of the relief efforts in Moore. *If your parents still pay your cell phone bill you might try option 2 or 3 instead.
2. The Humane Society has taken on the bulk of the displaced animals from the storm. They are working hard to reunite dogs and cats with their families and for those of you with a pet, you’ll understand how devastating this is. You can donate here, http://www.okhumane.org/donate, to help them buy food, collars, leashes, crates, etc. for the animals while we look for their owners.
3. Our CrossFit gym is participating in a fundraiser for the Red Cross this Saturday. All proceeds go directly to the relief efforts (so just like option 1 but paying with a credit card instead). You can donate online through this link – http://www.gofundme.com/301e3w .

And if any of you are thinking, there is no way I am ever coming to visit now, just take a look at this post. http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/best-things-about-living-in-oklahoma

 

Sad day for Oklahoma

Yesterday evening I started to write a post about how I didn’t cry for the first time ever when the sirens went off (it was much funnier than that, I swear). I didn’t get around to finishing it and while I made it through the sirens again today without tears, the tears that came after have been so much worse than anything I could have imagined in my three tornado seasons in Oklahoma. I’ve spent the last eight hours watching or listening to local news and my heart aches for the families that have been impacted by this tragedy.

To the teachers that laid on top of their students to save their lives or who ushered middle schoolers out of the classroom to the nearest safe place (which we all know is like herding cats), you are the true heroes today. I could write pages about the incredible outpouring of generosity and desire to help displayed today by the amazing people of Oklahoma but instead, for now, I would just like to acknowledge and honor Moore’s teachers. Thank you for your service, your dedication and your love for your students. I am amazed and awed by the stories of your courage and selflessness today. Thank you.

Whole Tornado Kits

It has recently come to my attention that the Whole Foods in OKC is offering tornado survival kits. In case you are needing sustainable, green, local, organic emergency rations, Whole Foods has you covered. But seriously, we have to be the only Whole Foods in the country that offers this right? I am legitimately impressed by their proven commitment to local communities. When I saw it I pictured a family huddled in their storm shelter wondering why they were snacking on organic kale chips and pomegranate raspberry sparkling water instead of Cheetos and coke like everyone else in Oklahoma.

One thing that concerns me is the fact that the “tornado tote” proposes to keep you and your family fed for three days. Not sure why Whole Foods is confusing tornados and a zombie apocalypse. If you end up in your shelter for three days you are doing something wrong (or you’re that woman that got stuck in her tornado shelter last year). Not even I’m that paranoid.

Either way, nice job Whole Foods. Now I feel like we can officially welcome you to Oklahoma.

Kitchen no 234

Alex and I have spent way too much time at Kitchen no. 324 lately. I can’t help it, one sip of their delicious cold brew coffee and I was hooked for life (or at least for every weekend from now until eternity). Plus we may have seen a certain Thunder center there a couple weekends ago that has incentivized us to continue to visit every Sunday at 10am in case he should miraculously appear again and perhaps sit next to us and subsequently become our best friend.

Anywho, since we’ve gone there about five times in the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to craft the perfect breakfast. It involves:

A) cold brew coffee
B) two poached eggs
C) the most phenomenal bacon of all time (seriously, and they give you like 5 pieces to an order so it’s almost enough to share but not quite)
D) Brussel sprouts with hazelnuts

Alex swears by the eggs with pesto but I would really recommend the combo above. Or just a couple orders of bacon. I think I could live just off their bacon.

Okay, enough about the bacon.

Do yourself a favor and go get some coffee and some bacon at kitchen, your tummy will thank you.

Sage loves Oklahoma

In a surprise come from behind victory, the sage plant from last year has survived the coldest months of the year and come out on top of the garden plant race to summer victory and subsequent combustion.

Not only did the sage plant survive, it is now taking care of business with some new buds.

Looks like we can add sage to the list of stuff that loves Oklahoma next to myself, freedom, Kevin Durant’s backpack and extreme weather events.

In other news, here’s why we can’t have nice things.

Took the time last weekend to reorganize the backyard in preparation for the two weeks of nice weather we will get before Dante’s inferno arrives. Here’s what the chairs look like now:

Thanks Millie, glad you’ve been making yourself comfortable while you’ve been hanging out in the backyard.

PS- if any of you need some sage, you know who to call.

Where’s the goat?

Alex and I went to see Jurassic Park 3D yesterday (which was amazing by the way) and while we were watching, I kept thinking about how much Jurassic Park is like Oklahoma.

– The illusion of safety until disaster strikes
– Waist-high Jeans and really big hair will never go out of style
– It’s best to get a car without a sunroof since it is the optimal entry point for T-Rex’s and/or baseball size hail
– A healthy respect for the power of nature is never unwarranted

But seriously, here is the forecast for tomorrow.

“A few tornadoes”. Like a few is no big deal. That’s like telling Lex and Tim that a “few Velociraptors” in the kitchen is no big deal.

So anyways, if you’re looking for me tomorrow, you’ll find me hiding in the basement as per usual. The rest of you should be doing the same. And as Samuel says:

Hold onto your butts, spring is just getting started.

Sneak peek- Packard’s new American kitchen

Got to take a quick look in Packard’s New American Kitchen yesterday and snagged a copy of the menu. Love the decor and the drink menu looks fantabulous. Took a couple quick pics while we were snooping. Didn’t get to check out the roof deck but it looks awesome on their Facebook page!! Can’t wait to try out the Hot Mess when they open next week. Tequila and jalapeños, yes please!

Kitchen no. 324

‘Tis the season to… open new businesses?

*Image from Good Egg Dining Group email.

Kitchen no. 324 had a soft opening this week serving breakfast and lunch and will be open to the public TOMORROW MORNING. They’ve been posting mouthwatering pictures of their food options on Facebook and Twitter and I can’t wait to go try this amazing looking meaty-vegetably thing:

*Photo courtesy of Kitchen no. 324

The Gazette profiled Kitchen last week and you know when Good Egg is involved that it is going to be good (hello Sunday brunch at Cheevers). Plus, they take Keep it Local, although the Keep it Local site doesn’t say what their discount will be yet.

On another note, I am extremely sad that I somehow completely missed the appearance of “Saxy” Santa. What a travesty.

I hope everyone has a peaceful, beautiful, white Christmas (which miraculously might actually happen in Oklahoma this year!).

Oklahoma holiday gift giving guide

So Christmas is officially two weeks away and if you’re like me you put your Christmas tree up two weeks ago and you’ve been rotating between 96.1 and 104.1 and turning the radio down when both have commercials on and humming jingle bells to yourself. Oh, you haven’t been doing that? Well neither have I obviously, that would be weird…

Anyways, since it’s the most wonderful time of the year, it means it’s time to buy presents for everyone on your list, even the people you don’t really like that much. For the Oklahoman in your life who has everything, here are a few ideas from some of Oklahoma’s most awesomest local businesses to get you started (every product listed below contributes in some way to the local economy, except Thunderstruck, but I had to include that for obvious reasons, plus KD gets a percentage of those sales and then spends all that money at OKC 7-11s and Game Stops buying sprite and video games).

-One of the best gifts you can give is the gift of deliciousness and on the deliciousness index Flint, Vast and Ludivine are all perfect tens. Get a special someone a gift card to one of these delicious restaurants. All three also have extremely magical cocktails so even a small amount would be great to go grab appetizers and drinks.

-You can’t go wrong with tickets to a Thunder Game. Two tickets to the New Years Eve game will probably win you brownie points for life (*hint hint*). Looking for something a little less pricy? How about considering the Thunder’s rowdier, boozier, more violent little cousin who lives right across the street, the OKC Barons.

-Too cheap for tickets to a Thunder Game? How about a Thunder T-shirt that says, I love you, I love the Thunder but I won’t pay to take you to a game. Well the t-shirt doesn’t actually say that, just your face, when you give that t-shirt to your friend or family member. Here are a few excellent options all created by local designers and sold in local boutiques.

• Westbrook Shirt from DNA Galleries
• Thunder Icon Tee from Tree & Leaf (I LOVE this one)
• Best in the West tee from Shop Good. Maybe if we all wear this around enough it will happen again this year.
• And one of my personal favorites from Blue 7, We are never, ever getting back together.

*Plus, Shop Good and Blue 7 which are usually closed on Sundays will be open the next two Sundays before Christmas.

-A great stocking stuffer or dirty santa gift is the Keep it Local Card. I’ve written about the glories and wonders of this card before, so check it out for more info. The one odd thing about this year’s card is that the Scissortail Flycatcher and the 2013 look disturbingly like a mockingjay and the 13 districts from the Hunger Games. Did anyone else notice this? I think someone over there at Keep it Local is subtly hinting that only the strong survive in Oklahoma. Maybe I’m just a little too obsessed with the Hunger Games, that could also be it.

*Photo courtesy of Keep it Local.

– Another option is a t-shirt to showcase your Oklahoma pride. Bonus points if you get this for someone who does not actually live in Oklahoma and in actuality has very little Oklahoma pride.

• Local 405 Tee from Shop Good.
• I tornado Gary England from Tree & Leaf. Since I really do tornado Gary England, I would proudly wear this around. He has gotten me through some tough times in my life.

– Elemental coffee might make one of the best cups of coffee in the entire city. Fortunately, you can go check it out for yourself and then head to their online store to purchase your favorite brew for a friend. Forgo the Starbucks card this year and invest in a gift that supports OKC and is also delicious.

– A great gift for the young and the young at heart is Thunderstruck on DVD (Kevin Durant’s big move into Hollywood). Even if you aren’t a Thunder fan, this movie still comes with some great life lessons and hilarious hijinks.

– Everyone knows the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach and nothing makes a stomach happier than gluten-free cupcakes from Green Goodies. I consider myself somewhat of a cupcake connoisseur, and these are hands down the best cupcakes I’ve had in Oklahoma City. They have non-gluten-free (aka gluten-abundant) cupcakes, coffee and soft-serve ice cream as well.

– Lastly, there are many, many great charities in OKC, a few of which I have profiled here (Maisha, Pets & People and the Central Oklahoma Humane Society and the Chad Peery Fund). Nothing is classier than giving a gift in a friend’s name for the holidays. That’s what it’s all about anyway right?

Did I miss anything? Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Happy shopping!