I've Done It Again

I've signed up for another run. This run is the McNellie's Pub Run and it's four miles long. Eek. I know that I will be ready come race day, but it's going to require a little bit of work on my end. Today, I ran 3.25 miles, so I only have 0.75 miles to go with 11 days left until the race. The race is on Saturday, November 8 at 3 p.m. at McNellie's downtown. Everyone is welcome to attend! It should be fun. 

Hump Day Dinner #29

This evening we were supposed to eat at Memories of Japan in Broken Arrow for our Hump Day Dinner. Even though I wasn't going to eat tonight, I was equipped with my granola bar and ready to observe the experience. Little did I know though that there was a change of plans. Instead of eating at Memories of Japan, the hump day dinner crew surprised me by having a birthday celebration at Longhorn Steakhouse. Supposedly, Andrew and Eric have been partners in crime this week planning last night. They definitely had me fooled because I really thought we were going to the sushi restaurant. Anyway, the evening was perfect. Delicious food, wonderful friends and some decadent cupcakes from the new cupcake bakery, Kupcakz. I've never had anything like this before, so it really meant a lot to me. Thanks to everyone in the Hump Day Crew for making last night special, especially Andrew and Eric for masterminding the entire plan. I really appreciate it.

Here are some pictures from Hump Day Dinner #29:

Jenn and Mark throwing the peace signs:

Jenn and I:

The delicious cupcakes from Kupcakz:

A group picture - From left back: Mark, Eric, Nick, Andrew and Matt. From left front: Abby, Brittany, Me, Jenn and Meaghan.

Don't worry, I'm not going to forget about the reviews. As soon as I'm back from Kansas City, I will give you a review on Longhorn Steakhouse and Kupcakz.

Until then, stay warm!

-N

Kansas City!

It's only 1.5 days until Andrew and I head to Kansas City for a long weekend. I can't wait! We leave Thursday afternoon and we will get back in town on Sunday. I'm really excited explore a new city.

Weekend Review

Andrew and I had a really good weekend, but it went fast. Why do the weekends always fly by? We were able to have a fun and productive weekend though. Here is what we did...

Oktoberfast:

On Saturday, Andrew and I went out to Oktoberfast at Hallett, which is about 40 minutes northwest of Tulsa. Now, Oktoberfast isn't the famous beer drinking festival, but instead you watch people race Porsche's around a track. The event is sponsored by Porsche Club of America (PCA) and people from the surrounding states come to Hallett for the event. It was definitely fun to watch the cars on and off the track. It's so funny to just walk around and watch the love people have for their cars. Here are some pictures from the event. 

Getting ready for the race to start. 

And they're off!

This was my favorite car of the day. 

These cars are stripped down to the bare necessities. The drivers are obviously driving these vehicles for the speed and the hand-ability of the vehicle (the true reason to buy a Porsche) and not because they look pretty. 

This is looking inside a track Porsche. 

This is a door handle. 

Here is a picture of the Porsche's that were at the track with us. Andrew's Porsche is the middle one and the other two are the Zaloudek's. 

Pumpkin Time!

Since, we were having friends over for dinner on Sunday, we decided that it was time to pick up our fall pumpkins from Carmichael's in Bixby. This place is the best place to buy pumpkins. You can find everything! Baby pumpkins, giant pumpkins, pumpkins with worts, gourds, squash, hay...you name it! A co-worker recommended it to me last year and it's the perfect place to buy your pumpkins. Anyway, we purchased two smaller pumpkins to place on each side of the fireplace.  

Fall Decorations:

Andrew was able to bring down my fall decorations from the attic this weekend. Since, I had the pumpkins, it was time to bring out the rest of the fall decorations. I still have to make my glitter pumpkins and gourds though. Let's hope I can finish this project by Thanksgiving.  I will post photos of the fall decorations soon. 

Pikefest 5K:

I did it! I finished my second 5K. I felt a lot better after this race, than I did at the Zoo Run (my first 5K), but I came in a little slower. Here are my times so far...

Tulsa Zoo Run: I reported that I came in at 34:15, but my time chip said that I came in at 35:15. 

Pikefest 5K: I came in at 35:30

The temperature was perfect for this race, but it was quite windy. So, I'm blaming the wind for my slower time :). 

Good Friends and Good Food:

We had our friends from our Wednesday night dinner group come over for dinner on Sunday. It seemed like it had been several months since we had anyone over, so we thought we would have everyone over for an italian meal. The evening was fun and it was nice to have a full house of friends. 

That about sums up the weekend. It was relaxing, fun and productive. You can't get a better weekend than that. 

Last night, we received an e-mail with this week's Hump Day Dinner restaurant choice. Tomorrow, we will be eating at Memories of Japan in Broken Arrow. I will be sure to give you a full report tomorrow night on how everything goes.  

Until next time, sweet dreams!

-N

Now for the Good News!

Go TU:

TU played an amazing game this evening against UTEP. The Golden Hurricane won the game with an ending score of 77-35. GO TU! 7-0 baby! 

Andrew and I weren't able to make it to the actual game, but we did watch the game on the television. Even though it's not directly related, here are some pictures from the homecoming game two weeks ago against Rice, that I have been meaning to post. 

The new stadium is awesome! 

Friends at the game. 

Pikefest 5K:

I'm running my second 5K tomorrow. The race starts at 2 p.m. at TU. Wish me luck!

Coming soon: An update on my second 5K and a recap on the weekend events. 

Sweet dreams everyone!

-N

Hump Day Dinner #28

Today is Hump Day Dinner night! Now, I bet you are wondering,  what on earth is hump day dinner? No, it's nothing dirty. Andrew, myself and several other of our friends eat out every Wednesday night at a restaurant that is unique to Tulsa. We started this dinner to enjoy more of Tulsa's hidden secrets, as well as to enjoy each other's company. We started our dinners back in April and we have been enjoying our dinners every Wednesday's for more than six months. Our group will be anywhere from four people to more than ten people. It varies per week. Here is our motto though. 

"We the Sufferers of Wednesday, in Order to form a more perfect Week, establish Friendship, insure good Food, to provide for the hunger of our Members, promote the general Moral, and find the hidden Secrets of Tulsa's community and culture, do ordain and establish this... The Hump Day Dinner."

Now, why is it called "Hump Day Dinner?" Well, the name comes from the day of the week. Since, Wednesday is the "hump" of the week and it's downhill from Wednesday, this gives us the name "Hump Day Dinner." 

This evening, we enjoyed Hump Day Dinner #28. We were going to eat at Doe's Eat Place at 15th and Peoria, but decided to eat at Hideaway Pizza instead, after we took a look at Doe's menu. It was funny because before you even opened the menu, there was a chart that told you how long it was going to take for a steak to cook. For a well done steak, it was going to take at least 45 minutes. When you continued to read the menu, you found out that there was only steak and shrimp on the menu and nothing else. Plus, the steak at Doe's was the price of a steak at Mahogany's. Needless to say, we were all hungry and decided that it would be best to eat somewhere else because we couldn't wait an additional hour for our meal. So, we headed on over to Hideaway for pizza, which was the perfect meal for a cold, fall evening. 

Wednesday evenings are always a fun night. Even though we have been eating together for several months, it amazes me on how we can still hang out and talk for hours. There really isn't better than good food and friends. I should know where we are eating next week by Monday. I will keep you updated on what we decide. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Until next time, bon appetite!

-N

I'm a Newbie

I have decided to take a seat on the blogging bandwagon. For a long time, I have been thinking about joining the blogging world, but what would I write about and who would even read my blog? I read blogs all the time and love how you can give your friends and family a glimpse into your day to day life with photographs, etc. This is what I hope to accomplish with this blog. It seems that you don't have to write a lot, just whatever is on your mind. So, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm not sure how long this will last, as I have never really been a one to keep a diary, but I am definitely going to give it a try. I just ask you to have patience with me, while I try to get a hand on this blogging thing, and to enjoy the ride. 

Well, here goes nothing...

Hi! My name is Nicky and I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma with the love of my life, Andrew, my wonderful husband. In my life, I have a very supporting family that I love dearly, a group of fantastic friends that mean the world to me and a job that I love. I like smoothies, flip flops, high heels, pilates, running, traveling, Cirque Du Soleil, baking, interior decorating, Christmas, chick flicks, photography and shopping. I don't like ants, snakes, oranges, red meat, cooked vegetables, lazy people, drama and people that drive slow. Andrew and I are TV junkies. We have so many favorite TV shows that we had to get a second DVR because of the scheduling conflicts. So, I have many favorite TV shows, but my absolute favorites are Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Lipstick Jungle, Brothers & Sisters and Chuck. 

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into my life. Hopefully, in the upcoming posts, you will learn more about me and watch my journey, as I try to live my life to the fullest. 

-N