Tag Archives | Oklahoma
5
Mar

The Rebirth of Downtown OKC

posted by , March 5, 2012

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Seventy degrees has me pulling out all my spring clothes and letting Jude wear shorts. The weather has been so blissfully lovely that we’ve found ourselves heading to the park more often, and with the renovation of the downtown OKC Myriad Gardens, we’ve been anxious to explore all the new nooks & crannies. The children’s area, in particular, has one of the coolest playgrounds I’ve seen in a long time with some extremely unusual play equipment.

The cranes have finally been removed from the new Devon building (below). I find myself looking forward to this year’s Arts Festival as it seems the energy of downtown is only increasing with each completed project.  Simon and I have this little fantasy that we might have some cool little loft in the area that we could hang out at on the weekends, or for New Year’s, the Arts Festival…  I fantasize about it being all white with modern furniture and pops of color in the accessories. Or, in contrast, a 1920s tiny bungalow that we could fix up with white marble countertops and exquisite hardware.  We would walk back & forth to the coffee shop or to the park.  Doesn’t it sound lovely?
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Jude always sneezes right when we go outside. I adore this photo below.

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The garden area was complete with an actual cabbage patch. I kept looking for the little babydoll faces. #childofthe80s
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Man, my pants look totally neon in this photo!
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At first glance, this “slide” kinda made me nervous, but it really was pretty safe, and it was interesting to see the different ways that the kids interpreted it.
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Of course, it was 10x more fun when his little cousin Piper showed up to play.
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The tile thing that the kids are climbing on in the photo below make different chime sounds when they stepped on them. Just like BIG! #childofthe80s  Yes, that’s right – TWO 1980s references in this post!
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Big Wipeout-esque balls.  Please tell me I’m not the only one that looks at giant balls and thinks ‘WIPEOUT!’
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This photo would be 10x greater if there had been another photo showing me slide out of the G like a hot mess.
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I adore all of the French bistro furniture that dots the landscape of the entire park.
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What do you think about urban living? Could you live downtown with kids?

Let's Chit-Chat { 28 }
10
Feb

Blogger’s Night Out. Or, That Time We All Got Eyebrow Waxed

posted by , February 10, 2012

Lest you think from my title above that we were hazing all the new BNO attendees, our third Bloggers’ Night Out was held at the fabulously fantastic Makeup Bar. Let me tell you, those girls know how to throw a party. Not only were they offering the aforementioned waxing, but there was all kinds of amazing food, and free makeovers!

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In honor of our exciting night, I printed up envelopes for everyone to put their newly-acquired business cards in. And I also stuffed all the cards with invitations to my Oscar party.

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I curled my hair up a la Whoorl and put on my best mix-and-match patterns.
Also, mad props to @whoorl for the curling iron tutorial this week.

I’m gonna admit, I was a leeeetle bit nervous about pairing up so many crazy patterns. But then I thought, what the heck. Life’s too short to not have any fun with my clothes. Plus I’m pretty obsessed with that skirt that just came from Asos yesterday. What I wore: Asos skirt // J.Crew outlet top (similar) // Marc Jacobs scarf (similar) // Stella & Dot necklaces.

 

Yours truly getting a smoky eye last night by the super-sweet, knowledgeable staff at the Makeup Bar.

Let me just say how thrilled to pieces I was when I walked through the door and saw a fantastically enormous group of women having a smashing good time. Our already-awesome group has grown exponentially, and it was exciting to see so many new faces.  Admittedly, despite the full-on-socializing mode hangover I’ve been feeling from Alt, it’s still hard to enter a room full of unknown faces. I heard from a few first-timers that it was a little bit intimidating to walk in and not really know that many people. Hopefully we can help circumvent that the next time around by implementing a few little improvements.

Susan also told me that she and Danielle tossed around the idea of doing roundtables to facilitate discussions on blogging from some of the, erm, blogging veterans. We I cracked up in the car on the way home that maybe we could call it the Teepee Summit? Or the Bison Summit? Or the Bison Powwow? Um, no.

Interested in checking out any of OKC’s finest bloggers? I’m biased, bien sur, but here’s the list I’ve got:

Danielle from www.elleinadspir.com
Alison from www.shopcrawlr.com
Caroline from www.iamagreedygirl.com
Brigette from www.settlingwest.com
Evie from www.evie-s.com
Sally from www.sallyspins.com
Whitney from Whitney Kolb
Lauren from Lauren Corbyn

I know I’m forgetting several people, so if you would, please comment below & I’ll add you to the list ASAP!  See you all at the Oscar party!

 

 

 

Let's Chit-Chat { 28 }
30
Jan

Anthro Opening in OKC

posted by , January 30, 2012


Getting new retail (or restaurants, for that matter) in Oklahoma City gets people pretty excited. Known historically as a city of people who are more than willing to travel for fashion, it’s long been the norm to have to book it to Dallas to get the good stuff. The internet has changed that, but sometimes there’s nothing better than going in-store to feel fabrics and getting to try on a load of stuff.

Unless you have a 4-year-old in tow. In which case, get thee to the internet. Quickly. And preferably with free shipping, natch.

With the development of the Classen Curve and subsequent arrival of our Whole Foods (squeal!), sometimes I look around and think that I can’t believe how much this city has changed in the past ten years. NBA teams! Hipster groceries! Modern architecture! And now our Anthropologie has arrived.  I received an email a few weeks back from the Anthro PR people inviting me to the opening party this past Thursday night. I about spit out my iced tea and then emailed a hasty reply (OMG! YES YES YES YES YES!). And then in true Pencil Shavings form, I strategically planned my outfit.

I gotta say, Anthropologie is killing it this season. There are so many good finds and the line for the dressing room was literally 45 minutes long. Since I was child-free, I grabbed a handful of clothes I’d been eyeing and meandered toward the line.  I’m madly in love with all of the gorgeous primaries this season; the perfect shades of yellow, flame red, and cobalt blue are nothing short of perfection.

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I wish I could find a photo of the yellow scallop silk blouse that I grabbed, and just in time, because it was clearly the crowd favorite that night judging by its repeat appearance in the equally-long checkout line.  I had seen Caitlin Creer in the same blouse at Alt, and then was kinda sad when I couldn’t find it online. It was my one lone purchase of the night and totally worth standing in line to check out for 30+ minutes.  However, check out that gorrrrrrgeous green Court dress by Moulinette Soeurs (bottom left photo above). I wish to high heaven I had pulled the trigger on that dress. There isn’t a body that wouldn’t look amazing in that. It is that good, y’all.  Another favorite find were the Joe’s Jeans Cavalier skinny pant. They’re super soft & very stretchy; even though they’re definitely a skinny jean, they are ridiculously flattering even on my curvy, pear-shaped frame. I’m putting them on my list for sure.

Here’s some of my other current Anthro faves.

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dresses: Cynthia Rowley Citric dress // Conspicuous Shell Dress
tops: Washed Chambray Buttondown (another OKC crowd fave) // Maeve Fresh as Air top (gorgeous in kelly green in-store)
skirts: Maeve Nubby Stripes skirt // Maeve Buttered Tweed skirt

Big thanks to the Anthropologie team for inviting me!  I am so glad you guys are here to stay!

Let's Chit-Chat { 4 }
9
Jan

Current Project: Speakeasy

posted by , January 9, 2012

It’s been awhile since I’ve shown a project that wasn’t related to my Etsy shop in some way. I’ve been so busy running my own show that I haven’t had time for many other outside projects!  This was a postcard invitation that I got to design for the OKC Orchestra League’s Symphony Show House. Every year they do an “undecorated party” where people can view the current year’s decorator’s show house in its “before” state.   Simon is the chair this year for the party, and it will be housed in an absolutely gorgeous 1920s-era house in Heritage Hills.

Simon’s been working really hard on pulling it all together to make it better than ever before. Not only will there be a variety of ah-mazing silent auction items, but he’s managed to lure several local chefs (from restos like Ludivine, Rococo, Stella, etc.) into participating as well. I LOVE supporting local businesses, and we have some exceptional restaurants here, so it’ll be exciting to see how it comes together.

The goal of the invitation was to give the idea of a theme without going overboard cheezy. So often themes can get out of control! I wanted the invitation to express the feel of the 1920s without blatantly screaming “FLAPPERS!!!” It was fun to experiment with a variety of type styles to get just the right mix of vintage and modern.  For budget reasons, we went with a postcard design and included pertinent details on the reverse.

Get more info on the Symphony Show House & the Speakeasy party here at their site.

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25
Oct

Pumpkins for my punkin

posted by , 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.

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

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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.

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I love my two manly men sitting on the hay bales, waiting to ride the rope swing.IMG_4271

 

What is this face?

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