Adventures Ahead

Wow, we've packed a lot into this last week. Crazy busy time for both of us at work with multiple meetings going on. I had a three-day meeting scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday at a local hotel and then we had an unexpected board meeting crop up on Tuesday and a benefits meeting come up on Thursday. I missed the board meeting but I raced to the hotel to get things set up for the meeting Thursday morning and then rushed back to our office to get set up for the benefits meeting.

When I introduced myself to the guy who was there from our national organization he said he was surprised, he thought I'd had a conflict and wouldn't be there. I told him I did have a conflict but I'd finally figured out how to be in two places at once and that was going to come in so handy. LOL. I wish! That would be awesome. :)

And it wasn't just work that kept us busy either... four nights in the last week we've had company for dinner - three of them at home (which also means cooking!) and one of them at a new place that just opened in Deep Deuce, Urban Johnnie.




This place is owned by the same people who have Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler, an iconic OKC burger place for sure. They have some of the same items on the menu (like the Theta Burger, which everyone seems to love) but they have some other items, too - even vegan items! We were thrilled. The food was great, the atmosphere was cool (LOTS of TVs for all the sports fans) and it's a two block walk from our place. They have a great patio out front that will be awesome on the non-windy warmer days that are just around the corner.

Another night we had a business dinner and then, on the only evening left in the week, we made our way to the wonderful Colcord Hotel for the Urban Neighbors Annual Meeting where I was elected as one of the new 2014 board members!



I love the Colcord. Such a beautiful building and they've done a great job keeping things updated on such an old building, too. The hotel was built in 1909, just a few years after statehood, and was the first "skyscraper" in OKC. Hard not to love the marble walls in the lobby...



We actually started attending Urban Neighbors events before we ever moved downtown. We knew we would be there in a couple months and we knew we wanted to get involved - so we could meet others who lived nearby, discover some of the great places they meet/dine and so we could learn more of what downtown offers. It's been a terrific group to be part of and I'm really excited about being on the board.

We had Steve Lackmeyer as a guest speaker at the meeting. Steve is a columnist for the Daily Oklahoman and is probably the foremost authority on everything downtown. He gave us updates on a few developments, answered a lot of questions and praised the group for wanting to be even more active. He was really interesting.



One of the projects our out-going president mentioned at the meeting this week was a community garden. All the details aren't quite worked out yet but work will get started soon on the raised beds. I can't wait to see how all this pans out. I've had a few tomato plants and an herb garden but never grown much food besides that. Now that we eat a plant-based diet, growing vegetables seems like a perfect idea. I wonder if it might end up looking something like this?



I told the group Thursday night that a big part of my job is being a meeting planner so I hope that will help with some of my duties on the board. They have all kinds of committees I can work with, too... membership committee, business committee, social committee, social media committee, etc. I can't wait to get started and see where it goes. I suppose having time to do something like this is a direct result of our downsizing. Sounds like a win-win deal to me. :)



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Snowed in...

For the second time in the 2 1/2 months we've lived downtown, we're spending a Sunday completely snowed in. Yep, it's almost 3 p.m. and we're both still in our pajamas. I don't see real clothes or shoes in our immediate future. :)

All we've done today is watch Netflix, watch it snow, listen to the freezing rain hit our windows and marvel at the occasional bouts of thunder sleet. Well, all that and be thankful we don't have to get out in the elements and drive anywhere today. Can't forget that.

I did manage to make some really wonderful soup for lunch... potatoes, carrots, great northern beans, green onions, BBQ sauce and spinach. It was quite the interesting mix. Will definitely have to make it again sometime but I hope this is my last chance this winter... because that would mean it warms up soon and I'm no longer interested in making soup. Here's what it looked like though... very pretty.


It was pretty gloomy yesterday but we met some friends last night (the goddesses and consorts) at a new restaurant. Well, it was new to all of us. I'm not sure how long it's been open. I hadn't heard of it before a couple days ago when one of the goddesses suggested it. I was happy they had a couple of vegan items on the menu even though they included tofu and I've never been a big tofu fan. It was so good, however, I may have to change my opinion of tofu in the future... at least at Guernsey Park anyway.


They had the prettiest light fixtures in the waiting area...


I had the Kung Pao tofu and I'll definitely have it again. I'm looking forward to taking the heathen son there sometime because I know he'll love it, too.


After dinner we had the gang over for dessert. I'd made some vegan brownies and a vegan pineapple cake. I had intended to make a vegan cream cheese frosting for the cake but realized, right before I added it to the powdered sugar, that the vegan cream cheese I had was garlic and chive! Yikes, that was close. On the bright side, the cake was good without frosting. :)

We won't have our Urban Neighbors bowling league the next couple of weeks because of home Thunder games. I'm not sure if that's because the whole area will be so crazy busy or because at least half our bowlers have season tickets but I'm leaning toward the latter. :) Unfortunately, we'll miss the first week of bowling when it starts back because we will be at the beach that week. No, wait. There's nothing unfortunate about being at the beach, missing bowling or not.


This is our favorite view...


By the time we get back from the beach, it will officially be spring. There's so much we haven't done downtown yet that we're still looking forward to. And on a day when you're snowed in, spring just can't get here fast enough.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Block 42