2008 Okie Blog Awards

Over the past few weeks, Oklahoma bloggers' votes for the best blog in the state were cast and tallied. Now, the results are in.

The best blog in the land is Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, a blog which I confess to reading pretty much obsessively. Ree Drummond's Confessions, where routine posts on her life on a working cattle ranch garner hundreds of comments, is great evidence for the argument that people aren't interested in Oklahoma because of its world-class museums or behemoth event centers. Not that they aren't great, and not that I don't love them myself, but they're all over the place.

Rather, it's the things about our neck of the woods that can't be found anywhere else - parts of the state where there are more cows and horses than people, real-life cowboys descended from generations of the same and acre after acre of gently rolling prairie - that draws attention from the world over. Good job, P-Dub, for directing eyes from all over this big, wide world to little ol' Oklahoma. I'd love to know the number of people who have decided to make Oklahoma their next travel destination thanks to the beautiful photos of the landscape on that blog. No wonder Drummond also took the Best Looking Blog award.

Several of my other favorite blogs won awards, too. Batesline.com took Best Political Blog. Rocks in my Dryer won Best Writing and was the runner-up in the Best Family Blog category. DoubleShot Coffee Company won second in the Best Commercial Blog set, and Tasha Does Tulsa took the Best Culture Blog award for the second year in a row.

*Blink blink* Squee!

I'm so humbled to have won the approval of my fellow Okie bloggers not just once, but for two years running. I love writing this crazy blog, and I'm so glad you all think it's pretty good, too.

Thanks, y'all.

Sorry. I always manage to ruin a tender moment.

Contest Winner!

As most everyone who reads this blog knows, there was a little contest happening here yesterday. At stake: an I Heart Tulsa t-shirt in the size and color of the winner's choice, along with an Okie Grown coffee mug, both from Dwelling Spaces.

Oh, how I loved my sneak peek into your plans for Valentine's Day. Rest assured I'll be eating the most amazing Italian food in town at Biga Vino e Cucina with my husband Saturday night, thinking of each of you as you lovey-dovey your way through your V-Day plans.

Creepy, huh?

And now, the contest winner! First, I submitted to Random.org the total number of eligible comments on yesterday's post (click to enlarge):


Random.org spit out:


The third comment on yesterday's post was:

Congrats, Carrisa! Love your blog, by the way. E-mail me at tashadoestulsa@gmail.com so we can talk about your prizes and how to get them to you.

Those of you not so lucky in this contest can still be lucky in love. Head to Dwelling Spaces for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your hip, happenin' squeeze! Owner Mary Beth has set up a table of V-Day goodies to make gift procuring easy:

Be sure to check out the Dwelling Spaces goods made by other local makers like Felix & Jayne and Stelabird, too. Such. cute. stuff.

Thanks for playing, all!

You Feelin' Lucky?

Know what I love best about Dwelling Spaces owner Mary Beth Babcock? She's a hip, happenin' gal, and darned nice, too. Also, her store, Dwelling Spaces, is my favorite source for locally made goodies, including the Tulsa-centric t-shirt line by Louis & Cluck.

You know - the I Heart Tulsa and Don't Hate the 918 shirts.

Are you like me and have somehow managed to go without one of these shirts since they caught on like wildfire in the T-Town area a few years ago? Even my newborn had one before I did. My friends would laugh and point, jeer and scowl at me for being so uncool as to not own an I Heart Tulsa t-shirt while blogging about how much I love it here. That was, until I finally bought one a few weeks ago.

I was late to this little party. Just a tad.

To those still existing without a Louis & Cluck shirt: Endure the pain no longer. All you have to do is answer the following question in the comments:

What are your plans for Valentine's Day?

Well, technically, you have to do more than just answer the question. I have to enter in the number of comments on this post 24 hours from now (Tuesday at 8 a.m. Tulsa time) at Random.org, and your comment has to bear the lucky and very random integer. Okay?

Did I mention the winner also gets an Okie Grown coffee mug? It's true.

One entry per person, por favor. The contest ends at 8 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Good luck!

Thanks to Mary Beth at Dwelling Spaces for providing the goods for this giveaway. Stop by her shop at 119 S. Detroit or in the Philcade at 511 S. Boston and let her know she rocks the 918, y'all.

A Writer's Paradise

I won't claim that I'm good at writing, but it's pretty much my favorite thing to do. This is the third year I've managed to pay the bills by throwing words together, so I think it might be safe to say that I'm a writer now.

Ew. I just read aloud what's after that last comma, and it still gives me that feeling that I've cussed in church. Reckon I'll try again next year.

At any rate, I love to put a pen to paper. But, like my other love in life (food), there are pens and paper (canned ravioli by Chef Boyardee), and there are pens and paper (your Italian grandmother's homemade spinach ravioli in bechamel sauce). Just as one who has never known the labor of love that is a stock from scratch and the vast difference between the taste and feel of the homemade stuff and Swanson's, a writer hasn't really written until he has scrawled a note on Crane's paper with a fountain pen boasting an 18-karat gold nib.

Let me tell you: It's like buttah.

Pengaro's, on the west end of Utica Square behind the new location of KoKoa Chocolatier, is my supplier of all fine writing stuff, above pictured pen included. For my birthday the year I landed my first job as a newspaper reporter, Aaron bought me this pen - the Waterman Charleston, a retro fountain pen inspired by art deco design. I'd had a few of those jobs for which it's a lot easier to be grateful for the experience than to love going to work everyday, so the pen was to commemorate my arrival in my a career field I could be excited about.

I loved it because I'd always wanted a real fountain pen. Plus, it looks like a building in downtown Tulsa. What's not to love about that?

I've returned to Pengaro's many times since I became a fountain pen owner. Today I stopped by to grab a Valentine's Day card for my husband, the man who opened up for me the world of Waterman pens and Noodler's Ink (which I think is still stocked by Gadget Company, once in Utica Square near Pengaro's and now at 18th and Boston).

Pengaro's has quite a collection of quality greeting cards. This is just the Valentine's Day stock:

Despite that I was wrestling with a tired and hungry baby-child, I managed to find the perfect one (by Wild Indigo Design):

The inside says, "Thanks for always holding on!"

As with food shopping, buying from local vendors has its benefits. While you might not have your choice of 250 cards that play love songs by your favorite hair band, you get quality, attention to detail and service with a personal touch from a card vendor like Pengaro's.

Plus, Pengaro's sells really beautiful, heirloom pens. Did I mention that already? Try to find that at the Wal-Marts.

QT, How Do We Love (and Hate) Thee?

My earliest memory of QuikTrip, a Tulsa-based convenience store chain that has been a fixture in the area since 1958, involves a preschool-age me begging my parents for a Squirt (I really just wanted the plastic bendy straw) on our way out to have some weekend T-Town fun.

My most recent QuikTrip experience was not so carefree. I was poking along through the parking lot at a southeast Tulsa location just last night when I noticed some weirdo at a gas pump who was not only gabbing away on his cell phone, but was also smoking. I couldn't believe my eyes. As I gawked at what was happening before me, Aaron had the presence of mind to yell, "Oh my God, DRIVE AWAY!"

I have many other memories of QuikTrip bookended by these happy and not-so-happy experiences. My favorite was probably the morning my dog and I woke up to a QT taquito on my doorstep. After some sleuthing, I found out this spicy sunrise scene was the handiwork of this Okie blogger. That whole experience was weird, but it was so, I don't know...delightfully QuikTripy. I think of it at least every other time my dog has to pee, which is a lot. Our lawn is what you might call well-seasoned.

In an informal, impromptu survey of several TDT readers, the stand-out thing everyone loves about QuikTrip is its staff. Those surveyed said QT cashiers are the friendliest in town. That they seem happy - enthusiastic, even - is no wonder. QT has consistently ranked in Fortune's Top 100 Companies to Work For list - the company ranked 27th this year, up from 28th in 2008. Benefits, wages and the QT company culture are reportedly huge draws.

Readers also liked location convenience, well-stocked stores, QT food (Irritated Tulsan does these great QT food reviews - read the latest one here) and clean bathrooms.

While TDT readers said QT locations are "well-lit" and "feel safe," most mentioned the urge to do the watch-your-back glance when visiting QT as their least favorite aspect of patronizing the convenience store chain. Besides being wary of off-putting customers, some readers complained about what other readers loved: the food and the state of the bathrooms.

Either way, rare is the transplanted Tulsan who can deny feemin' somethin' fierce when they no longer have access to a QT. During my first year of college, I planned many of my trips back to Tulsa around when I would need to fill my gas tank. Gas stations in other towns - especially in small Oklahoma towns - tend to be these campy, dirty places that smell of Funyuns, Black & Milds and mop water. Compared to those places, QuikTrip is like The Gas Station on a Hill.

Wanna wax poetic about QT (or not)? Leave it in the comments.

To kick things off, a poem about QT by long-time reader and TDT contributor Chris Bouldin:

QT, how do I love thee?

Oh QT, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love your sausage rolls, your snazzy uniforms
For nothing says "love" like a red shirt on a dark Tulsa day

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
Your lighting, sweet tea, rooster booster, your guaranteed gas
If Jesus needed cigarettes at 2am, choose you, he might

Homeless men drawn to you like a desert mirage
They sit on your sidewalks; they worship at your altar
A beacon on a hill, part of my life's collage

I love thee freely, as men strive for right
I love your bathrooms, taquitos, egg rolls and smiles
I love the fact you are open all night

Three percent beer, excellent pay, an accessible corporate climb
Always looking out for me
Like an Asian massage parlor, QT, I will love you long time.

Amen, Bouldin. Amen.

Get Down with T-Town, Super Bowl Style

Not exactly looking forward to sharing that Ranch dip with your double-dipping in-laws? Ditch the house party and head out to one of the T-Town Super Bowl parties/viewing venues.

Joe Momma's Pizza, downtown at 112 S Elgin, complete with a 14-foot-wide TV. Now, that's a big screen. Plus, there is delicious pizza to be had. I recommend the Bacon Cheeseburger. 

The Brook, on Brookside. Get the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with mac 'n' cheese and thou shalt be saved. 

Leon's on the Restless Ribbon on Brookside, where there are (count 'em) 20 TVs. Not a bad seat in the house, I hear. 

Bru House on Brookside, with the chance to win free food and procure buckets of beer that are easy on the wallet.

SideLine Sports Bar & Grill at 61st and Lewis, where you can get $9 buckets of beer, cheeseburger sliders, bratwurst and jumbo dogs. Yums. 

Cowboy Sharkies, north of 61st and Memorial, featuring a Super Bowl buffet. Yay!

Dave & Busters, at 71st and US 169. Big Game + food + beer + Skeeball. Heck, yes. 

Help me out, folks. Sparing me the strip clubs and bars without a decent menu, let me know who else is hosting game-day festivities in the comments.  

Takes One to Know One

Yesterday we were stocking up at my home away from home, Sam's Club, when, in the salad dressings and canned meat (?!) isle, I overheard the following conversation:

Woman A, as she caresses a giant bottle of Kraft Ranch Dressing: "Wouldn't this be a nice birthday present to myself?"

Woman B: "Get yourself one. It's only $7.88."

Woman A: "I would, but it'd be gone in a month anyway."

I feel ya, honey. While I'm not a fan of anything Kraft, I could eat homemade buttermilk Ranch dressing on pretty much anything but ice cream. No matter how stuck up about food I try to be, it's not changing anytime soon that I would eagerly consume Ranch dressing intravenously if for some reason my mouth had to be cemented shut.

I blame the four generations' worth of Tulsan blood pumping through my veins for my inability to wholeheartedly enjoy a green salad without drowning it in that lumpy, tangy substance. There is something in our DNA that has culminated over the years into a weakness not only for loud, whiny country music and Cracker Barrel merchandise, but also for Ranch dressing. And, French fries dipped in chocolate shake.

Tulsans, what are your other guilty food pleasures that would make a Yankee swoon?