My Five Favorite Places in Tulsa

 This was in my draft folder from early 2012 and never published it....so here you go. Kind of fun to look back on a time stamp. I'd add in 2013 that I love the Brady District (Guthrie Green, Chimera, Rusty Crane, etc) but this is kind of fun.

I've lived in Tulsa for over 3 years now, and have discovered some great places that have become a part of my whole Tulsa experience. So, here are my five favorite places in Tulsa in no particular order. They are:

1) Drinking a grasshopper at Shades of Brown. My comfort blanket. I went here probably 4 nights a week when I lived over on Brookside. I used to get vanilla lattes, but now I've switched over to grasshoppers. I have many cherished memories from times spent with friends talking about life, playing games, or just wanting to be somewhere with people around. Some of my most valued friendships I have blossomed at Shades. I've always seen people there that I know at Shades.

2) Cafe Ole in Brookside- If ever a way to enjoy and evening (or lunch) on a patio, its at Cafe Ole. They have mouth-watering fajitas, creme-cheese queso, drinks, and ambiance. Their patio has a fireplace that's on in the fall and winter. I lived one block from the place, so had easy access. I went there many times alone my first year in Tulsa. About a year ago, I went there for my birthday with friends, and it has been an almost weekly staple from then on.

3) Walking around the Fairgrounds at the flea market.

4) In the Raw Sushi- Sushi is a new love. It started when I lived in Grapevine when my neighbors invited me to join them for sushi one night. It was good, but my craving for sushi really took off in Tulsa. I first started going to Fuji, but In the Raw is now my favorite.

5) The Mayo Hotel- I've always been interested in restored buildings, and the Mayo is an old world hotel that makes you feel like you are staying in Chicago or New York, not in Oklahoma. I've walked through and sat in the lobby many times thinking about how it would have been in the 1920's when it was built. One of the treasures is its ballroom on the 16th floor. It has spectacular views of downtown, and a nice place to take a date. They have a coffee shop and nice restaurant in there as well. I'm glad I ran into it.

Snow and such

Christmas season is in full swing in Tulsa. We have had a blanket of snow on the ground the past several days and more snow was falling as I came home from hanging out with a friend tonight. With Christmas music blaring in the car, it felt festive indeed.  I've always been a winter guy. I'd take 25 degrees over 95 degrees any day, although I still get really cold sometimes.  I came home tonight after being outside and ran into my bed and hid under the covers for 30 minutes trying to warm up.

I enjoyed a nice weekend. I got to celebrate one of my favorite people in the whole world... Tall Kyle. His birthday is on the 15th, but we went out early to celebrate since he has family coming in town next weekend. I have always admired this guy- humble, soft spoken, genuine and wise. We desperately need more Kyles in this world.  I've traveled to Europe with him and am just blessed to have known him since that first trip to Pops with him back in 2011 (April I think). We met him at Red Rock Canyon Grill, the de facto birthday place to celebrate. He had chosen 4 guys that are his close friends to join him. We dined on ribs and chicken and had a Luger's Bavarian cake to celebrate. Afterward, we went over to Lindsey's house to hang out a bit. On Saturday, Kelly and I went to downtown to eat at Hey Mambo. We had delicious pear, honey, walnut and a cured ham pizza. After that, we walked around Guthrie Green and looked at the Christmas lights- so pretty. We walked over to Chimera after that and had a cozy latte. It was a very fun night indeed, especially after just watching Baylor win the Big 12!

One random side note- something I've been wanting to do for a long time and not doing it for an excuse after excuse reason was memorize scripture. On Sunday, I got to celebrate learning 25 new verses by heart. Our goal is to learn 52 verses in one year, so its cool to being halfway there. I have found so much value in being able to quote scripture in my head. Some of the verses that convict me the most often are "set your mind on things above, not on earthly things" - Colossians 3:2 and Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God that brings salvation to those who believe, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." Great reminders!

OK- I've been trying to get up to do some cardio by myself in the mornings to keep as much fat off as possible as the holiday season "rolls" on. I've been able to do some 5Ks but there is no comparison to going to a spin class.  I'm going to try to get out of bed to go see my favorite instructor Ann. 5:45 is early but it will be worth it!