Wednesday, March 31, 2010

One Boy, ONEOK Field. Plus, DrillersFest This Saturday.

DSC_0076

Have you seen what's been going on at North Elgin and Archer?

A Downtown Deal for Sports Fans This Weekend

rgv_tul_091205_04

Guess who has a post for us today, TDT readers. Ed Sharrer, the most frequently seen individual in all of downtown Tulsa. Why is he the most frequently seen individual in downtown Tulsa? Because he loves it there, that's why, and he's one of the most resourceful guys around if you're looking for something to do in the area. He'd also like you to know that he's an international man of mystery.


Take it away, Ed!

So let’s get this out of the way right up front: any event that involves a ball and keeping score, I’m there. Four out-of-shape, middle-aged guys playing doubles tennis at the neighborhood park? Sure, I’ll lean on the chain link fence for a few minutes.

Having said that, I’ve been to enough sporting events in my life to have my gameday expectations firmly set on “Realistic,” if not outright “Jaded.” So when I received an email from the Tulsa 66ers pro basketball front office touting a package that seemed too good to be true, I figured it was just that.

Here was the sweetheart deal: four premium seats, four hot dogs, four sodas, two popcorns… for $44.

The Situation

Springtime

Spring has officially sprung here at the Ball house.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Pioneer Woman's Lodge. It's Waiting For You. With Love and Longing.

Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman

Turn out the lights, hang the clothesline and scrub those recycling bins until they sparkle, Tulsa. Earth Day, on April 22, is fast approaching, and you don't want to be caught with your insulation made of old denim pants down.

A lot goes on in Tulsa for Earth Day, but I, blogger geek that I am, am excited about one in particular: Empty Bowls 2010.

A Homemade Life Winners: Announced!


Most everyone in the local bibliophile world knows Molly Wizenburg is coming to Tulsa this week. She'll be at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, at 1304 N. Kenosha (click here for a map), this Thursday to talk about her book, A Homemade Life.

Thanks to the folks at BookSmart Tulsa, I got to host a contest last week to give away two copies of Molly's book. All contestants had to do was tell me their favorite food memory.

And make me laugh and cry and...hungry.

Hawaiian Shirt Weather

Downtown Tulsa

There's only one type of clothing appropriate for the kind of weather we're having in Tulsa this week.

Downtown Tulsa

Downtown Tulsa

Downtown Tulsa

The Hawaiian shirt. 

As my son would say, duh. 

Downtown Tulsa

Monday, March 29, 2010

Easter Egg Hunts and Events in Tulsa, 2010 Edition

DSC04199

Easter is gaining fast, Tulsa, and you know what that means.

Yeah, it does mean that my dad will be performing his annual suit-and-tie showcase at his church this Sunday, but it also means that it's time to hunt Easter eggs.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Biscuit Bedlam: Ree Drummond Versus Trisha Yearwood

Oklahoma Biscuit Standoff

Well I was south of Detroit City
I pulled in this country kitchen
To try their brand of barbecue
The sign said finger-lickin'
Well I paid the tab and the lady asked me
How'd I like my biscuit
I'll be honest with you ma'am
It ain't like mama fixed it.
-Alan Jackson, "Where I Come From"

The Irish have a saying. It goes, "Boxty in the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can't make boxty, you'll never get your man."

We here in Oklahoma are fine and good with boxty, a traditional Irish potato pancake, but if we had a poem about how to win a man through his stomach, I'm pretty sure buttermilk biscuits would be a central theme.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Canebrake Winner: Announced!

The Canebrake

Thanks to the generous folks at The Canebrake, an environment- and awesome-conscious resort near Tulsa in Wagoner, TDT got to host a killer contest last week. At stake was a voucher for Sunday brunch for two at the resort, a food-lover's dream.

Oh Daddy-O! with Tulsa Children's Museum

Oh Daddy-O! With Tulsa Children's Museum

I studied jazz for six years of my life, so I know that it's an art form that's really open to analogy, but I'd never heard it put quite like this: Jazz, my friends, is like ice cream.

Friday, March 26, 2010

1-2-3 Imagine! With Elmo and Friends. Plus, Save $3 on Tix.

At 1-2-3 Imagine! With Elmo and Friends

One word: Mesmerized.

EcoFest

Ecofest

It's official, spring has sprung. You know what that means: It's about to get all kinds of green up in here.

The best way to get your green on this season is at the first-annual Ecofest at the northeast campus of Tulsa Community College, 3727 E. Apache. A slew of activities and information will be available for free starting the morning of Saturday, March 27, at 9 a.m.

A Recap: Tulsa Blogger Meetup

Tulsa Blogger Meetup, Second Edition

Last night's Tulsa Blogger Meetup was the best yet.

TDT Friday Advice Column: Romantic Stuff to Do in Tulsa

Me, Downtown

As someone who blogs about things to do in Tulsa, I field lots of questions about the city and all the stuff there is to do within its borders.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

What To Do in Tulsa This Weekend

LaFortune Park

As heard every Friday morning on the KRMG Morning News with Joe Kelley, here's a bunch of exciting stuff to do in Tulsa this weekend.

TONIGHT: Tulsa Blogger Meetup, Second Edition

Just a reminder: It's tonight.

Tulsa Blogger Meetup 2

See you there, my fellow bloggers, blogger wannabes and the blog curious. Come one, come all for great food and even better banter.

Job Creation

Job Creation

"That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in. Where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Um, helping, oh, it's got to be about job creation, too." -Sarah Palin

No, I wasn't counting on bathing the dog, bathing the baby, vacuuming the floors and cleaning out the fireplace this morning. But, thanks to the Toddler Job Creation Program, that's exactly what I got to do.

Here's an equation to illustrate:

[(Awake two-year-old) - (Pixar-sponsored distraction)] + fruit juice at snack time + jack russell terrier (thirty seconds of mom updating her blog / fireplace full of ashes left over from last weekend's snowy weather) =  MOMMY JOB CREATION

Go ahead. Put it into your calculator. Or, ask Sarah to help you. The numbers all work out in the end.

A Homemade Life. Two Free Copies Here at TDT.

Molly Wizenburg and A Homemade Life

I've been holding a little secret under my hat for the past few weeks.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Order Up: Tulsa Blogger Meetup, Foodie Edition

Blue Dome Diner

Anyone who has eaten at Blue Dome Diner knows that it's not your typical, run-of-the-mill diner.

Blue Dome Diner

The diner food there is choice, of course. But there's a finer, gourmet side to this Second Street chow stop and caterer.

Blue Dome Diner

But, it's not the hoity-toity, display-case-only type of gourmet food.

It's the kind you wanna eat with your fingers.

Blue Dome Diner

As most of you know, the second-ever Tulsa Blogger Meetup will convene at Blue Dome Diner, at 313 E. Second (in downtown Tulsa on Second Street between Detroit and Elgin Avenues) tomorrow night. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

To cut down on confusion, hurt feelings and general anarchy, Brian and Jennifer, the catering and culinary geniuses at Blue Dome Diner, have offered us a killer, all-house-made catered menu.

Check out the options:
  • Black Bean Burger (vegetarian)
  • Turkey Burger
  • Traditional Burger
  • Or, one of each as a sliders plate
Sides:
  • Blue Dome Diner's famous Tabouli
  • Potato Salad
  • Veggie pasta salad
  • Home fries
See? A little something yummy for every tummy. Each plate with a burger choice and a side is $10, including water, tea or pop.

What I need you to do, Tulsa bloggers, is this:


  • Step 1: Decide which burger you want or if you want the sliders plate.
  • Step 2: Choose your side.
  • Step 3: E-mail me your order (simply click the link) and do it quickly.

We want to follow the advice of our speaker for the evening, Mr. Brett McKay of The Art of Manliness, and be the best guests the Blue Dome Diner has ever seen. A great way to do this would be to have our orders in by midnight tonight, March 24.

I know that's short notice, but I wouldn't lay it on you guys if I didn't know you could pull it off. And I know you can. So here it is.

A great way to keep me happy will be to bring sufficient funds with you to buy the meal you order. If you place an order tonight and tomorrow unforeseen circumstances arise to prevent you from consuming your delicious Blue Dome Diner supper and rubbing elbows with the best bloggers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, please e-mail me right away so I can adjust our ticket.

On parking: There should be plenty of it along Second Street, as well as on Elgin Avenue and Detroit Avenue. If turnout at this event is anything like it was at the first Tulsa Blogger Meetup, you might have to walk a tiny bit, but not far.

Cool? Cool.

See y'all downtown tomorrow night!

Fun With the Periodontist

Fun with the Periodontist

So I was sitting in traffic one day, biting my nails as was per usual for me back in my first few years of college, when I slipped.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Toilet Reading

Read to Feed Book Fair

Ever shopped for books in a bathtub?

Read to Feed Book Fair

Or on a toilet?

You know what? Don't answer that last one.

The Canebrake. Plus, Win Some Brunch.

The Canebrake

If you were to take a drive through Wagoner, a small county seat about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, and stumble upon this intersection, what would you think lies at the end of this mysterious road?

1, 2, 3...Puppies!

Puppies!

Please know that I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I really, really am.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Looking to Cut Loose, Tulsa Parents?

Tasha's Kid Tells All

The parenting gig, it can be tough. Know what makes it easier for my fellow local caretakers?

Ttownmoms.com, a social networking site for Tulsa-area parents.

Full Recovery

Golden Driller

Tulsa weather is looking rather glorious today and tomorrow.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

What I Did on My Spring Break: Camping

Spring Break Camp Out

After five school-free days of glorious weather, Mother Nature elbowed our ribs Friday night with a four-hour, forty-degree drop in temperature. Then, she tossed several inches of snow into the mix.

Mother Nature, she laughed. We parents, we grumbled. The kids, however, said this Spring Break week couldn't get any better. I mean, come on - five days of perfect playground weather AND enough snow to make snowmen until school starts again on Monday? This, they said, is a plum deal.

I'm decidedly a parent these days, but I must agree with the kids on this one.

We talked about going on a camping trip for this Spring Break. Unfortunately, we didn't get around to it until after snow made the idea of camping seem more like intense military training than a barrel of monkeys.

There was, as with most seemingly dark and murky things, a bright side to this.

Read about our camping "trip" on my blog at Ttownmoms.com.

What I Did On My Spring Break: Day Five

Spring Break 2010

Sometimes, especially on extended breaks from school, it's nice to just stick close to the house.

What I Did On My Spring Break: Day Four

Coleman Theater in Miami

Scandalous: We spent Day Four of our Spring Break vacation out of town.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The World Is A Playground. Especially Bass Pro.

Bass Pro Shop

Ladies, we've all been there (and, yes, a few of us had to be dragged, but we're feeling better now, thank you for asking) with the men in our lives. We've seen the name of the place show up on our bank statements next to amounts rivaled only by what we spend at the grocery store (okay, okay, I mean the shoe store). We've thought to ourselves how fabulous the cookware and clothing and furniture sections are, swearing to own up to the fact at birthday time when anyone other than our husbands ask us where to shop for our presents.

The place I'm writing about here is, of course, Bass Pro Shop.

But during the course of my relationship with the Bass Pro in our neck of the woods - it's in Broken Arrow, just off the Broken Arrow Expressway at 161st Street - I've discovered something. There's an unexpected treasure trove of things for kids to do under that giant metal corrugated roof, and a trip to Bass Pro is a fabulous way to spend a rainy day or a slow afternoon. Especially when the cast iron Dutch ovens are on sale.

Here's how my kid flips the party switch at the B to the P.

Get our tips on my blog at Ttownmoms.com.

Videos (and Satire) for Your Snow Day Viewing Pleasure

Bored yet? How about some musical satire aimed at our local weather forecasters and the craziness of our weather?

Weather Preparation the Oklahoma Way


Crazy weather is nothing new for Oklahomans. However callused we think we are to news of the types of big and sudden changes in our atmospheric environs that we experienced from yesterday to today, we all, even (especially?) us natives, tend to go through a series of powerful emotions as the weather prepares to punch us in the neck.

The process goes a little something like this.

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Last Hurrah

More often than not it seems that the forces of weather here in northeast Oklahoma decide to have one last hurrah of freezing winter weather, just before spring starts.

Oklahoma Weather

A forty-degree difference from one day to the next. From sunshine and gentle breezes to freezing temperatures and upwards of six inches of snow. From spring to winter, just when, on the eve of the first day of spring, weather conditions should be trending exactly in the opposite direction.

I think that qualifies as a last hurrah.

Image edited from newson6.com.

What I Did On My Spring Break: Day Three

Blue Bell Creamery

Wednesday was an eventful Spring Break day. Not that the other ones haven't been. It's just that we were especially mobile on hump day.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

What to Do in Tulsa This Weekend

Camel Rides at the Tulsa Zoo

As heard every Friday morning on the KRMG Morning News with Joe Kelley, here's what to do in Tulsa this weekend.

What I Did On My Spring Break: Day Two

MidTown Meats

Day two of our glorious, college-nerd-style Spring Break (the kind where you don't go to Padre or Cozumel or anywhere like that but instead stay home to cuddle the books you've been waiting to read for six months) was a fun-filled day.

What I Did On My Spring Break: Day One

Camel Rides at the Tulsa Zoo

Thanks to the fact that two out of three of the residents of the TDT household are students this semester, Spring Break 2010 is packing a punch of awesome sauce right through our faces.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Search for the Best Chiles Rellenos

Chiles Rellenos

A few years ago, I began a search for Tulsa's best chiles rellenos. Last summer, after snagging an especially lovely haul of peppers from the kids at Bootstrap Farm at the Wednesday Farmers Market, I decided to expand my search to include my own kitchen.

I know it's early to be talking about the farmers' market already, but come on. I'm excited. It's officially late March and the markets open early next month. Get excited with me!

Get the recipe on my blog at Ttownmoms.com.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Ron the Shoe Shine Guy

Ron the Shoe Shine Guy

This is Ron. He’s probably one of the nicest people I know. But he’ll put a mean shine on your shoes if you let him.

Power Lunch: The Boulder Grill

The Boulder Grill

Though The Boulder Grill is on the ground floor of the new Holiday Inn Tulsa - City Center at Seventh Street and Boulder Avenue, the décor, service and quality of cuisine make it a restaurant that could have worked just as well as an exclusive, top-floor stop for downtown’s business crowd.

Read all about homemade tater tots and the Velvet Burger at The Boulder Grill on the Food page of this week's edition of Tulsa Business Journal.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Tulsa Blogger Meetup, Take Two

If you didn't make it to the first Tulsa Blogger Meetup (and especially if you did), be sure to come out to the Blue Dome Diner on March 25. It's there you'll find Tulsa Blogger Meetup, Second Edition.

Tulsa Blogger Meetup 2

Thursday, March 11, 2010

What To Do in Tulsa This Weekend

Expo Square, Tulsa County Fairgrounds

As heard every Friday morning on the KRMG Morning News with Joe Kelley, here's what to do in Tulsa this weekend.

What to Do in Tulsa on St. Patrick's Day

McNellie's Sidebar

Slainte!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Going to Gridiron

Tulsa Gridiron

As you may know, I hosted a little contest earlier this week here on TDT. At stake: Two tickets to Tulsa Gridiron, a 77-year-strong tradition in music, theater and lampooning of local and national news.

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