What to Do in Tulsa This Weekend

If you're still not feeling the holiday spirit, I have the perfect remedy: Simply walk out of your front door at some point this weekend. With all of the festivities going on this weekend, you're bound to run into some holly, jolly-like thing to rosy your cheeks.

If you've been hearing sleigh bells since Halloween, there's plenty going on in Tulsa this weekend to give you some relief for your holiday fatigue. If it's a concert that you're pining for, some artsy goodness or a good movie, it's all happening in T-Town between now and suppertime on Sunday.

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

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Tasha Does Tulsa, Valentine's Day Style

I'm sitting here with a glass of sweet wine, uploading my photos from the evening of my fifth Valentine's Day as a married chick and my first as a mom.

It was a great time. I roamed T-Town not just glad to get out among the living, but also proud to know I had a diaper in the secret compartment of my purse, along with a toy starfish and a binkie. Just in case.

Romantic, eh?

Our first stop of the evening was the cozy little dining room at Biga, a restaurant at 4329 S. Peoria by one of the best chefs in town. We had lobster ravioli and these amazing, perfectly cooked scallops; then, some cannolis. After, a short nap, because that's the only way to recover from a dinner so ever-loving GOOD.

"Hey, honey, wave to the Tasha Does Tulsa readers!" Heh.

So, Skate Date. I was really looking forward to busting it on the ice, but alas:

Ack! The chaos! My agoraphobia! The port I had with those cannolis! It was pure craziness, I tell you.

Oh! Horses. A carriage. No restaurants or clubs within view of the main entrance of the BOK Center. Idyllic!

But what a main entrance it is. Wow.

There's nothing like good coffee to assuage one's sadness at not having the opportunity to embarass oneself by wiping out in front of hundreds of strangers.

Oh, cute little coffeehouse Valentine's cookies, how I loved you. Blue ones, too, even though I didn't quite get the color choice. And that's okay.

I love The Coffee House on Cherry Street.

Apparently, so does everyone else in town. That place was packed tonight.

We ended the evening with our standard rummage through the bargain bins at Borders before heading home for one last game of "chase" with our little man.

I love how that game always ends in the same way.

Valentine's Day 2009: Success! Even if we didn't stay out all night or bring the house down or whatever it is the kids are saying these days.

Have a good rest of the weekend, everyone!

Valentine's Day Round-Up

Want to do something fun and hip with your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Dinner and a movie just not going to cut it? You're my kind of people.

In my opinion, the whole dinner-and-a-movie date is pretty much the worst ever. I mean, think about it. You're stabbing and masticating and otherwise pre-digesting in front of someone you're supposed to try to impress at some corporate food-serving establishment, and then you go sit in a dark box for two hours, saying not one word to each other while you try to guess if it's the right time to start making out.

Now? No? Okay. How about now?

No, thanks. Me and mine prefer Valentine's Day plans a little more, well, off the beaten path. We like to look for fun and romantic things to actually do together.

Everything going on in the name of love in T-Town this weekend that's listed below beats the pants off of the formulaic V-Day date. You won't even need a crowbar to free your shoes from the gelatinous ooze on the floor of some 3,798-screen movie complex. And indigestion from those "house special" empanadas, which you're pretty sure you saw in the freezer section next to the Totino's last week at the Wal Marts? Fuhgetaboutit.

If you like food and wine, head to Stone Bluff Cellars in the beautiful hills near Haskell for their Valentine Weekend Lunch Sweetheart Special. The lunch, which costs $25 for two, includes a half Stone Bluff club sandwich, a cup of Chef Mikael's savory soup and a decadent dessert. The special runs 11 a.m.-3 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and 1-3 p.m. Sunday. If you want to make it a party of four couples or more, call (918) 482-5655 to make reservations.

Love to cook, but don't want to spend the evening at your place? Make reservations for the Valentine's Day weekend cooking class with Chef Sean at Cowboy Sharkies, just north of 61st and Memorial. The setting should be intimate enough, since seating at the class is limited to 20. The class, which runs $30 per person, begins at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday night. Call (918) 280-9000 to get set up.

Always wanted to be part of one of those idyllic love scenes on a big, frozen pond, skating along in the arms of your sweetheart as the icy wind gives you an earache? Pine no more. Head to Skate Date at BOK Center. The event, which marks the first time Tulsans will skate on the arena's 17,000-square-foot frozen floor, will be held 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday inside the BOK Center. Concession stands will be open, and long-stem roses and photos will be available in the lobby. Skaters pay $9 (kids and those with their own skates pay $5). After everyone's bum is thoroughly bruised, head outside for a 15-minute horse-and-carriage ride through the streets of downtown Tulsa. Rides are available 5-10 p.m. and cost $25 for a group of four, or $20 for a couple.

Have a wild kind of love? Good for you. Now call 669-6634 for your reservation to Tulsa Zoo's "Wild at Heart" Valentine's Day event. Woo her (or him!) with a decadent evening with fine cuisine and cocktails provided by Taste of the Wild Catering, and take a spin on the dance floor. After, enjoy a twilight train ride. If you're feeling really wild, look for the special presentations by zookeepers on the finer points of love and lust in the animal kingdom. The seduction - yours, not the animals' (I hope) - begins at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night. There is limited space, so call ASAP.

Nothing says love like profuse sweating and rapid heart palpitations - at least, for all you lovey-dovey Tulsa runners out there. Start the day by heading down to Veteran's Park at 21st and Boulder for the 2009 Sweetheart 5K and 10K Runs. There's still time to register, so visit the Fleet Feet Sports Web site to learn more and sign up.

Calling all you lovers who like to play dress-up! Head to the Valentine's Masquerade Ball at The Collective. Get in the doors for $5 (just $3 with a mask or costume - mask-making supplies will be available at the party, so no worries if you couldn't dig one up beforehand) and see DJ Baby Ruthless (Dallas, TX) and local favorites Skeeter, Nutter, Frequency and Emmanuel Rivers. The party starts at 8 p.m. and benefits the American Heart Association.

UPDATE, Feb. 13//Just found another wine event! This one, at Whispering Vines Vineyards and Winery in west Tulsa, involves a murder mystery, with a wine tasting before. The show, which costs about $60 per person and includes dinner, starts at seven. Call (918) 447-0808 to beg for reservations, since my bet is there are only a few seats left.

And Tasha said: Let the lovin' begin.

Is the BOK Center Everything We Thought (or was told) It Would Be?

Maybe it's because I haven't been out of my house for five days. Or, it could be because I ate beans for breakfast. Either way, I feel like connecting with you folks today.

Now that the BOK Center has been open for awhile, I wonder about its impact on the community thus far.

Have you been to an event at the BOK Center? Was it everything you thought it would be? If so, why? If not, why not? What has the BOK Center done for Tulsa's "cool" factor, if anything?

Has the BOK Center improved the quality of life in the Tulsa area?

Discuss. See you in the comments.