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.

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A Homemade Life. Two Free Copies Here at TDT.

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

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Toilet Reading

Ever shopped for books in a bathtub?

Or on a toilet?

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

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Things to Do With the Kids in Tulsa This Week

Looking for something to do with the kids this week? Get out your calendars and get ready to take notes, because I have a few ideas.

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What to Do With the Kids in Tulsa on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It's a day of remembrance and hope. It's a time to observe the life of a man who wholly devoted himself to the ideals of peace and quality and, in the end, had to sacrifice his life for his glorious dream.

There's another translation of MLK Day for all of us, especially we who have munchkins at home: It's a three-day weekend for the kiddos. Problem is, many of us don't get to sit this holiday out from work.

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Redeeming Storytime

We've all been to storytime, and let's be frank: More often than not, it's boring. It's a way we moms feel okay about passing the time. After all, there's the added bonus that we're edifying our children with age-appropriate literature, but still. Between yawns, most of us are fantasizing about what's on TV back at the house, whether we want to admit it or not.

Momma's Saturday Book Club is different.

Learn how on my blog at Ttownmoms.com.

Show Me Your Books

I'm always looking for a free ride. In this new life of mine as a mom, I'm always looking for ways to replace goods and services we pay for with cost-free ways to get things done, whether it's the grocery shopping or movie rental. I give myself double super secret probation points for finding local free stuff.

Just as I'm never far from a bargain bin, I'm never far from the library. Each of the 25 branches of the Tulsa City-County Library, five of which are open seven days a week, offers a plethora of options for picky freeloaders like me. Check it out.

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TDT Holiday Gift Guide: Gardner's Used Books

I hope you're not tired of hearing me talk about Gardner's Used Books, because I'm certainly not finished talking about it.

My favorite used bookstore just started its 12 Days of Christmas Sale. Yesterday craft, holiday and cook books were buy one, get one free. Today, all horror and true crime are buy one, get one free. Later in the week all hardback books, no matter the genre, will be buy one, get one free. This madness will persist until Christmas - actually, well beyond Christmas.

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This Week in Tulsa Parenthood

In case you missed me this morning on the 2NEWS Midday Show giving the rundown of things to do with your kids in Tulsa this week, here are a few things to tuck into your calendar.

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Julie Powell Comes to Tulsa

Booksmart Tulsa has done it again, folks. As if bringing one of the most popular bloggers in the U.S. to Tulsa wasn't enough, co-creators Jeff Martin (an author of a books himself - two, actually) and Dwelling Spaces owner Mary Beth Babcock have partnered with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma to bring Julie Powell to T-Town to show off her brand-spanking-new book, Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession.

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TDT Holiday Gift Guide: ABC in Tulsa

At the risk of earning a resounding, "DUH!" from all you thoughtful, dead-sexy readers out there, I'd like to say that both research and experience will prove that kids learn stuff from books.

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TDT Holiday Gift Guide: All That Is Dwelling Spaces

Since the little gift shop at 119 S. Detroit Ave. is first in the minds of Tulsa's most savvy local shoppers, it might as well be first in the inaugural Tasha Does Tulsa Holiday Gift Guide, too.

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Momma's Book Club: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Whatever you're doing tomorrow with your kids, I bet it's not going to beat building a meatball tower at Joe Momma's Downtown.

Save that tired stack of board games for some other time. This Saturday, you have some serious reading, pizza tossing and meatball eating to do. Get to Joe Momma's at Second and Elgin by 11:30 to grab a seat and catch the fun at this first-ever edition of Momma's Book Club.

Crafting masterpieces from meatballs and pizza dough is fun, sure, but reading is one of the best and most important things you as a parent can do with your child. Study after study has shown that children who read regularly with their parents do better in school - not only can they do a bang-up job on a test, but they're often more creative, too. These kids tend to have less behavioral problems. They're known to share closer a bond with their parents. They're also better looking and take their middle-aged parents on more Caribbean Cruises after they earn their degrees from Ivy League universities at completely no cost to you.

The contents of that last statement have not been approved by any authority whatsoever, but I'd bet you a beer that everything there is true.

To supplement the current reading program you share with your kids, or to foster one that has fizzled or is just getting started, will be a reading of that book every cool kid wants on his bookshelf these days, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

In case you didn't know already, the book has been adapted for the silver screen. That's where Riverwalk Movies comes in. If Saturday is a lucky kind of day, you could win passes to see the movie edition of CWCM in Jenks. There will be other door prizes, too, including gift certificates to Dwelling Spaces and Joe Momma's.

Joe Momma's owner Blake Ewing (who, along with his beautiful wife, Julie, helped to bring into the world son No. 2 a few short weeks ago) has a knack for gathering the right people in the right places, and this event is no exception. Dwelling Spaces, along with Booksmart Tulsa and Riverwalk Movies, are helping to host the event.

“I was raised to love books and reading. It’s important to me that Joe Momma’s has a part in encouraging other parents and children to read. We have a great relationship with Dwelling Spaces so we decided this would be a fun way to do something positive together,” he said.

And how. This will be the first child-centered book event for Book Smart Tulsa (or, as I like to call it, Not Your Grandma's Garden Party Bookclub). BST will be providing parents with a list of children's recommended reading at the event, too, so be sure to get in on that.

Plans for future Momma's Book Club events will be centered on other popular children’s books, including “Where the Wild Things Are,” and “A Christmas Carol." Each event will feature a special story time for the kiddos and book recommendations for parents. Like the September event, October and November’s Book Club get-togethers will coincide with the theatrical release of the movie version of the story.

Did I mention that this event is free to attend? No kidding. Would I lie to you in front of the kids? Maybe. But in front of the pizza? Never.

What to Do in Tulsa This Weekend

This weekend is looking like it's gonna be a soggy one, but that's no excuse to sit inside on your behonkus from now until time to leave for the office Monday morning.

There's plenty – and I do mean plenty – of ways to have a smashing time in T-Town this weekend. As heard this morning on the KRMG Morning News with Joe Kelley, here are all the reasons why not to spend the next three days shacked up with Netflix and last year's leftover Orville Redenbacher.

Tasha's Picks for the Weekend of Sept. 11

Friday

Wood Window Workshop
When: Friday-Saturday
Where: Brady Heights; Parish Church of St. Jerome, 205 W. King
Take DIY to the next level and learn the basics of historic wood window restoration from Bob Yapp, Master Carpenter and former host of the syndicated radio show The House Doctor, in one of three half-day workshops: Friday, 8am-12pm; Friday, 1-5pm; and Saturday, 8am-12pm. Cost is $10. Refreshments and materials will be provided. Reserve space by RSVPing. Hurry!

Saturday

Something for the Dudes: Bluegrass and Chili Festival
When: Now through Saturday
Where: Claremore Expo Center
Who doesn't love chili? Celebrate the reason for the football season northeast of Tulsa this weekend with some of the hot and spicy stuff, along with plenty of free, live music by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and Mountain Heart and others. Look for the Mid-America Regional Chili Cook-Off, the festival market, arts and crafts, an open car show and the Kiddie Korral so you can burn your mouth out in peace.

Something for the Ladies: Divas Gone Wild
When: Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 4pm
Where: Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum, H.A. Chapman Event Lodge
Don your favorite cocktail party duds and go wild with some of Tulsa's best musical talent (including Rebecca Ungerman and Fiawna Forte, two of my very favorites), all to support the HIV/AIDS education efforts of H.O.P.E. of Tulsa. Tickets start at $15.

Sunday

Kings Champion Medieval Faire
When: Saturday, 10am-7pm; Sunday, 10am-6pm
Where: Chandler Park in west Tulsa
Looking for children's activities and demonstrations in Medieval arts by the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronsim, plus all other manner of Medieval-related stuff? Chandler Park is the place for you this weekend. Coincidentally, it's also the place for a 1/4-scale pirate ship – just in time to get good and prepared for Talk Like a Pirate Day.


Community

Chapters Literacy Fundraiser
When: Friday night, 6:30pm
Where: Hardesty Regional Library
Shocker: One in six adults cannot read the prescription label on a medicine bottle, understand a newspaper article or enter complete information on an application. The Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service exists to blow this statistic asunder, and this Friday night, you can help. Plus, you'll get to hang out with local authors Tim Tingle, Jeff Martin and Teresa Miller. Tickets are $40.

Rainforest Restoration Foundation Dinner
When: Friday, 6:30pm
Where: Tulsa Zoo
Love turtles? Who doesn't? Dine at the Zoo this weekend to benefit the conservation of the Giant Amazonian River Turtle and the development of projects targeted at preserving biodiversity and community in the threatened Ecuadorian rainforest. Tickets are $50 and are available by e-mailing the Rainforest Restoration Foundation.

Swing, Rattle and Roll
When: Saturday, 6:30-11:30pm
Where: Cains Ballroom, 423 North Main
The 2009 Emergency Infant Services annual fundraiser will honor that tradition so close to the heart of this city, Western swing. Don't miss the chuck wagon-style dinner and live auction, and bring your dancing shoes – oh, and $125. But, hey, it's for a good cause, and it'll be rip-roarin' party – plus, $95 of that ticket price is tax deductible.

Urban Indulgence
When: Saturday, 7-10pm
Where: Hard Rock Casino & Resort in Catoosa
100+ beers, wines & spirits. Live action gourmet stations. Desserts from nearly 40 of Tulsa's sweetest restaurants. (Stay with me, there's more.) $1000s in prizes & giveaways. The chance to win a Takamine guitar signed by Oklahoma's own Toby Keith. Special guests Kerry Vincent, Judge of the Food Network CHALLENGE, Mrs. Oklahoma International and Elvis. Who else could throw a party like this but Urban Tulsa Weekly? Tickets are $25, and proceeds from the event benefit Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children & (ironically?) the American Diabetes Association.

Playdate Reloaded
When: Saturday, 8pm-2am
Where: FlyTrap Music Hall, 514 E. Second Street
What is Play Date? It's an alternative to the typical night out, that's what. There's drinks, food, music and Hungry, Hungry Hippos. As the saying goes, you don't stop playing because you get old; you get old because you stop playing. Admission is $10.

Third Annual Restaurant Week
When: Sunday-next Saturday
Where: All over Tulsa
The week of good food at an even better price kicks off just in time to ward off a case of the Mondays. Dine on a three-course, prix-fixe (or fixed price, meaning you get a number of meal choices under the umbrella of a certain price – in this case it's $12.95 for lunch, $29.95 for supper) at selected Tulsa restaurants, including Avalon Steakhouse, The Brasserie Restaurant & Bar, KEO and Palace Cafe - some of my very favorites. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma's Food 4 Kids Program.


Music/Festivals

Free, Live Music at LaFortune Park
When: Friday night, 7-9pm
Where: LaFortune Park, in LaFortune Gardens
There should be good, dreary weather lined up for some smokey blues Friday night with Wanda Watson. Might want to pack an umbrella in that picnic basket.

India Fest
When: Saturday, 11am-5pm
Where: Expo Square in Central Park Hall
I love Indian food perhaps more than is legal, and I've been waiting for this festival all year. Sample a wide array of food (!), music and dress at this festival, which benefits the India Association of Greater Tulsa. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for kids ages 4-11. Parking is free.

A Taste of East Tulsa: Celebrating Family and Culture
When: Sunday, 1-5pm
Where: Green Country Event Center, 12000 E. 31st Street
Family, music, dance, resources, fun and, oh yes, lots and lots of delicious food. This celebration of the 10th anniversary of the East Tulsa Prevention Coalition is sponsored by the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa and the East Tulsa Prevention Coalition and is funded by CSAP Drug Free Communities.


Home

Tulsa House Beautiful Show
When: Friday, 2-9pm; Saturday, 10am-9pm; Sunday, 11am-6pm
Where: Expo Square, QuikTrip Center
Remodeling? Renovating? Or, if you're like me, accidentally demolishing? Time to hit the Tulsa House Beautiful Show. There will be dozens of vendors who specialize in everything from landscaping to lighting design waiting to help the DIY-impaired beauty their dwellings. Adult admission is $6, kids 12 and under get in free. Get $1 off admission by visiting the Expo Square Web site.

Green Homes Tour
When: Saturday-Sunday, 1-6pm
Tour the first LEED Gold Certified single family home in the Tulsa area, at 1536 E. 35th Place. Admission is $5. Whether you are an authority on the environmental impact of green living or you are new to the concepts of being green, all of Tulsa is invited to tour this home and learn how green building is a benefit to you and your community. By the way, this 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 3,381-square-foot Southern Living Dream Home costs $649,000. Who said green was cheap?

Tulsa Preservation Commission Open House
When: Saturday, 2-4pm
Where: The Parish Church of St. Jerome, 205 W. King
The benefits of preservation will be explored in a talk by Bob Yapp, and you'll get the chance to applaud the 2009 TPC Preservation Award winners. The open house is free and open to the public. Psst - Refreshments will be provided.


Other Stuff

Gallery Showing: Jason Yang
When: Friday night, 8-11pm
Where: Ida Red Boutique, 3346 S. Peoria Ave.
If you have a thing for pop art, you'll love Jason’s colorful, iconic art, boasting lots and lots of color, playful imagery and homages to vintage memorabilia, and unique depictions of everyday life. Stars Go Dim will be on hand to play an acoustic set at the show.

Art Blast at Gilcrease Museum
When: Saturday, 10am-3pm
Where: Gilcrease Museum
Bring the family to Gilcrease to check out the new exhibition, “Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations.” Here's what else there is to do: Create 18th-century inspired arts and crafts from Cherokee and British cultures; enjoy a puppet show and outdoor games on the Green; Listen to a Cherokee storyteller from the Cherokee Heritage Center; search galleries in a scavenger hunt that traverses Gilcrease Museum and Philbrook Museum (free shuttles will run 11am-3:30pm between both museums, by the way). Admission is free for families with children, thanks to BofA.

Fall Hot Loops
When: Saturday, Sept. 12, 7pm
Where: Loops, in Utica Square
These shindigs, the ultimate of girlie parties, are nothing short of legendary. Be there for the unveiling of the fall Hot Loops wall, with patterns and fibers galore; a spread of munchies, including the Burnt Butter cupcakes that reportedly no one can resist; deep discounts on the purchases of the evening; an exclusive, bling-tastic party favor worth more than $20; and (whew!) pomegranate margaritas. What more do the yarn addicted need? All this for $25. To reserve your spot, call 742-YARN. Space is limited.

Cops on Donut Shops

When: Friday-Sunday

Where: Krispy Kreme Tulsa, 71st and US 169

This year marks the fourth annual effort by Law Enforcement Torch Run and Krispy Kreme to put cops in precariously high places for the benefit of Special Olympics programs across the U.S. Why not snag a donut this weekend and toss the change skyward for a good cause?

Rilla Askew @ Gardner's

When: Saturday, 3-5pm

Where: Gardner's Used Books & Comics, 4421 S. Mingo Road

As a dyed-in-the-wool book nerd, Rilla Askew is one of my faves. Not only is she an Oklahoma Book Award winner and the 2009 recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the Academy of Arts and Letters, but she's going to be at Gardner's Used Books & Comics this Saturday, signing books. Gardner's has several of her books in stock, including "Fire in Beulah," "Harpsong" and "Strange Business." September is National Literacy Month, and Gardner's is celebrating by hosting a book signing with an Oklahoma author every Saturday, so keep your ear to the ground for more bookish goodness from 44th and Mingo.

Sports

College Football
When: Cowboys, Saturday, 3:30pm; Sooners, Saturday, 7pm
The Big 12 Oklahoma teams are at home this weekend, with the Cowboys take on the Cougars at home in the new Boone Pickens Stadium at Lewis Field in Stilly, the Sooners face Idaho State in Memorial Stadium in Norman and the Hurricanes are at New Mexico, while the Hurricanes take on New Mexico in, you guessed it, New Mexico.

Tasha Does Tulsa | Run Training: Take Two
When: Saturday, 10am
Where: RiverParks (meet on the Pedestrian Bridge overpass over Riverside Drive)
We're running a little more and walking a little less this week at RiverParks. Meet us on the overpass by the Pedestrian Bridge, and be prepared to run in the rain. As long as it's not freezing, drizzle is the best running weather.

Turkey & TATURS 50K/25K/10K Trail Race
When: Saturday, 6:30am
Where: Westside YMCA at Turkey Mountain
Turkey and TATURS – Get it? Heh, heh. Back to business: The 50K starts at 6:30am; 25K at 7; 10K at 7:30 in the urban wilderness area that is Turkey Mountain.

R.K. Gun & Knife Show
When: Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sunday, 9am-4pm
Where: SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby
If you love guns and knives you'll love this – all 500 tables of it. Adult admission is $10, kids get in for $3 and kids under 6 pay nothing. By the way, paid admission is good for both days of the show, so live it up with the weaponry.

American Miniature National Show
When: Now-Sept. 19
Where: Expo Square
We humans have a penchant for miniature stuff: miniature dogs, miniature people and, of course, miniature horses. Catch this show of tiny horses – big fun in a small package, as they're called – all weekend and into next week.


Movies

9
When: Opened earlier this week
The world's machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest, decimating the human population before before shutting down. It's all unicorns, puppies and sunshine from here.

Sorority Row
When: Opens Friday
Five sorority girls accidentally murder one of their sisters and are then chased by a murderer themselves. Yikes – sounds kinda like my personal favorite high school movie, Jawbreaker.

Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself
When: Opens Friday
Madea, America's most hilarious grandma, catches a group of juvenile delinquents and delivers to their aunt April, who wants nothing to do with the kids. Sounds like home to me.

Whiteout
When: Opens Friday
Kate Beckinsale hangs up her fangs and picks up a stint with the U.S. Marshals in Antarctica, just in time to investigate the continent's first homicide.

Soul Power
When: Opens Friday, 3:30pm
Where: Circle Cinema, 12 S. Lewis
An epic trip back to 1974 when the most famous R&B acts in the world put on a 12-hour-long concert to help promote Muhammad Ali and George Foreman's historic “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire. A plot and a half.

My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize (Plus, A Giveaway)

Tonight my favorite little downtown boutique, Dwelling Spaces, will erupt in a fit of literary glee with a fresh-and-never greasy side order of that Tulsa patriotism that's the driving force behind so many of the fun projects and partnerships thriving in this city right now.

Case in point: Local writer, social media aficionado and champion of books and all that is Tulsa Jeff Martin.

In case you didn't already know from Booksmart Tulsa meetings, The Customer is Always Wrong, his recent splash in The New Yorker (check out slide 3 of 5) and my favorite new local blog, Goodbye Tulsa, and his work to make Philbrook Museum a pioneer among the social media-treading public spaces, this Jeff Martin guy is quite a talented individual.

Let me count the ways.

Did you know that Jeff Martin:

-Was born in 1980?
-Made millions on the stock market?
-Lost millions on the stock market?
-Stopped a Chinese tank at Tiananmen Square?
-Managed Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential campaign?
-Co-wrote Aliens 2: More Aliens with James Cameron?
-Had a torrid and brief creative relationship with Disney's animation department?
-Disguised himself as a midget, joined NASA, and became the first-ever child in space, all in tribute to the Challenger space shuttle tragedy?

Who knew such accomplishment was roaming freely among us.

Back to what I was saying about the explosion of Dwelling Spaces tonight. Get there at 7 to celebrate the launch of Martin's latest book, My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize: The Fabricated Memoirs of Jeff Martin.

While the novel will always be my first love, I am totally digging on the memoir form right now. It's become such a huge literary space, at least to me, since I consider pretty much all the forms of social media, from the dinosaur that is the long-form blog (sorry, TDT.com, but it's true) to the microbloggyness that is Twitter, along with reality television, as belonging to or growing immediately from the memoir genre.

It's fun. There's just something about that line, "based on a true story," whether that's actually said or implied. It draws us in. It gives us a forum in which to try on another life, practically without consequence.

Anyway. Jeff Martin can write this thing, a memoir. If you're not reading him, you'll probably never manage Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential campaign or be the first-ever child in space or go torrid on Disney's animation department.

Want a free copy of My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize before pretty much everyone else? Simply enter the title of your favorite book in the comments before 4pm today (Tuesday).

If you put something that's in Oprah's book club, watch out - Jeff Martin will be hunting you, Lord-of-the-Flies style.

Be afraid.

I'll announce the winner from the My Dog Ate My Nobel Prize launch party tonight at Dwelling Spaces.

Happy reading, everyone.

Photos from Jeff Martin's home on the Web.

Click here for more about Jeff Martin at TashaDoesTulsa.com.