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25
Oct

Pumpkins for my punkin

posted by rachel, October 25, 2011

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Can I say that it’s an annual tradition for us to visit the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch if it’s only the second year for us to do it? I think so. Last year was such a blast that we made it a point to go back again this year. It’s the perfect place for a boy to have a grand adventure. Speaking of boys, did you know that mine is going to be FOUR this week? FOUR! That sounds so old to me. Definitely not a baby or a toddler. He’s a kid. A big kid who loves to play pretend and eat peanut butter & Nutella sandwiches.

Definitely check out Parkhurst if you’re in the OKC area and are looking for something fun and fall-ish to do.

What kid doesn’t love a big ol’ tractor to climb all over?

My favorite part was when he climbed into the pig pen (literally) to pet the teeny tiny piglets. They were almost like puppies. And somebody had tossed popcorn into their little pen. Oh, and he climbed into the bunny hutch again too! He was particularly enamored with the bunnies this year.

I love my two manly men sitting on the hay bales, waiting to ride the rope swing.

What is this face?

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Let's Chit-Chat { 2 }

20
Oct

Blogger’s Night Out v2.0

posted by rachel, October 20, 2011

Artwork

Calling all Oklahoma bloggers! We’re doing another Blogger’s Night Out and we want YOU to be there!

Rococco’s in North Park Mall on Friday October 28th at 7pm

Please please feel free to tweet and/or e-mail anyone who may be interested. This is more of a come and go mingle thing versus a sit down dinner. We’ll have some door prizes to give away as well!

If you’re interested in coming, would you please let me know by commenting on this post or dropping me an email here? That way we can have an idea of how many to expect.

Let's Chit-Chat { 17 }

3
Oct

Regatta Festival – OKC

posted by rachel, October 3, 2011

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Never in a bajillion years would I have ever guessed that Oklahoma City would be hosting a regatta festival. But with the regeneration of downtown in the past few years, things have changed and then boom — there’s a thousand people downtown enjoying the night sprints. We attended it a couple of years ago, but with the completion of the new boathouses sponsored by Devon Energy and Chesapeake, things have ramped up quite a bit. Heck, even the Winklevoss twins showed up this year! (And if you don’t know who the Winklevoss guys are, it’s time to queue up The Social Network on Netflix.)

Friday night was date night for the Mister and I, so after an earlybird dinner (seriously – we were done by 5:45. Blue plate special, anyone?), we cruised through downtown to the river where the sun was starting to set and Oklahoma looked particularly beautiful. I’m just loving where our city is headed!

Let’s have a party up here sometime – wouldn’t that be grand?

Let's Chit-Chat { 0 }

30
Sep

Night out in Norman

posted by rachel, September 30, 2011

Last night, we took a little trip down to Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma, where Simon and I graduated. It’s funny how things change. By the time we had graduated, both of us could not wait to get out of there. It was time to move onto something bigger, something better. But now time has passed (holy cow, time has really REALLY passed) and we’re all nostalgic for how wonderful our time was there. And it really was. Bike rides all over campus, late nights eating cheese fries in the Union, throwing xacto knives across the VisComm room onto the cork wall (yes – we really did that) as we were playing darts. It was good times.

I like to see how Campus Corner has evolved in the (gulp) 7 years since we’ve lived there. One of my favorite new (to me) little places is the Crimson & Whipped Cream bakery. I love the play on OU’s fabled colors. And the baked goods are pretty delightful, too! Pumpkin whoopie pies, anyone?

I’m kinda obsessed with their mason jar light fixtures.

We got to have supper w/ Uncle Braden and Mimi at Pepe Delgado’s – the gold standard for any Mexican food in my book (NOT that TexMex junk everyone seems to like around here!).

A boy and his beloved Mimi. Aren’t they sweet?

As we left, we just cracked up at this crazy bike sitting outside the bakery. This is quirky Norman at its finest.

Let's Chit-Chat { 10 }

6
Sep

Why I like blogging

posted by rachel, September 6, 2011

Life is all about relationships. College — design school, in particular — was so enjoyable to me because of the like-minded community of designers I was surrounded with every day. We were always questioning each other, sharpening each other — iron on iron. So when I got booted out into the real world as the single designer in a small apparel company and then my subsequent jump to freelancing, I was lonely. There was no one to bounce ideas off of and there was no Twitter, no blogs, no nada. Or if there was, I didn’t know about it. This was (gulp) seven years ago and the internet was a different place. You certainly didn’t admit to anyone in real life that you talked to people on the internet. It just sounded … weird. The response you’d get is: “Well, it’s probably a shady old dude living in a shack in the mountains posing as a hip young designer. It’s only a matter of time before you’re found out and axe murdered.”

All that to say, I love what social media and blogging has created, especially for the freelance designer in the past few years. There is community – there is corroboration — there is friendship spouting up where maybe there wouldn’t have been otherwise. In the past two years especially, I have been overwhelmed at how happy I am in my freelancing role. I even said to Simon a few weeks ago, “If only these tools had been around when I got started, I wouldn’t have been so depressed!”

So, once I started meeting up with other Twitterers & bloggers in real life, I was so excited. We have the best community of bloggers here in Oklahoma City and once again, I feel that connectivity between creative minds that I’ve been missing since college.

A few weeks ago, I got to together with Danielle for a playdate w/ our boys and she brought up the idea of doing a blogger’s night out. I’d previously had a really fun brunch a few months back with a few other bloggers and since then, our scope has only widened. We organized a Blogger’s Night Out at Cheever’s this past Friday night, and it was such a success. We even managed to get several local businesses involved and once again, I was blown away. One of my passions is supporting local businesses and I believe much of that is forging good relationships w/ the owners. For example, I’ve loved getting to know Susan Kropp, who owns Chirps & Cheers in Edmond. Susan is so perky and positive, and she has excellent style. Her shop is divine, and I thought she would be a perfect business to include. She blew me away with her generosity and adorable goodies AND she even wants to host us at her shop one night. And that was just the beginning of the generosity. Carolyn (my sister-in-law who owns Uptown Kids) donated these awesome Aden+Anais blankets to each & every one of us. Too too generous.

Anyway. All that to say, I REALLY hope we all get together soon because it was just too much fun. And I also hope that we add more great bloggers to our ranks!