Hump Day Dinner #34: Crusty Croissant

Andrew and I were on our way to Houston on Wednesday, so we weren't able to make it to Wednesday night dinner. This was the second one in a row that we had to miss. We were super bummed, as we hate it when we miss out on hump day dinners. Plus, I have been wanting to try the Crusty Croissant. Anyway, we will definitely be at dinner this Wednesday, so keep a look out for this week's review and maybe even a review on Louie's and the Crusty Croissant. 

Until Wednesday, 

-N

Happy First Day of Advent!

Andrew and I have been in Houston for Thanksgiving. So, I apologize for not being able to blog over the past few days. I promise you that I have a TON of posts lined up ready to go (six to be exact). I don't have time this evening to write much, but I will try to get them all up tomorrow night. So, stay tuned. 

In the mean time, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I wish you all a Happy First Day of Advent!

-N

Christmas is in the Air

This weekend, I was able to wrap most of our christmas gifts. I bought this wrapping paper from Crate and Barrel last Christmas and it was the best paper to wrap with. I'm going to have to pick up some more when I'm in St. Louis. Here are some photos of the finished product. What do you think? 

We are working to finish off four more gifts, but after I have wrapped those, then it's onto baking. Yeah! I love the holidays!

Hump Day Dinner #33: Louie's Grill and Bar

Unfortunately, Andrew and I couldn't make it to Hump Day Dinner this week. It made us really sad that we couldn't make it, but Andrew didn't want to get everyone sick. Andrew has been sick with the flu for the past week and he was still contagious when Wednesday rolled around. He is getting better, but he is still very weak. If you could keep him in your prayers, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

-N

J'aime Paris!

I've got an itch. Over the past week or so, I have really wanted to go back to Paris. I'm not sure what it is about that city, but I absolutely love it. One day, I would love for Andrew and I to own an apartment in the city of love. I can always dream, can't I? :). 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to go back Paris for a couple of years. Maybe my itch will be cured when we book our flights to the U.K. this weekend. Let's hope. 

Don't Neglect the Turkeys!

My favorite holiday of the year is Christmas. I love it! I think this year, I have been obsessing a little bit too much about this holiday. Every holiday though has it's time and place. It seems that each year Christmas gets earlier and earlier. Macy's had all of their decorations up before Halloween! Then on November 1, it looked like Christmas threw up in Wal-Mart. At that point, Christmas was still more than 50 days away. I guess people are getting into the spirit earlier this year. On my way to work, there are even several houses with christmas lights and nativity scenes up and on. It's crazy. I bet you anything that we have valentine decorations in the store before the end of Christmas day. 

I think more people need to remember that we still have Thanksgiving Day to celebrate next week. After all, this is the holiday that we celebrate the things that we are most grateful for. Anyway, if you start to get picked up in the holiday spirit, remember don't neglect the turkeys. They have feelings too!

-N

Cuffed Trousers

My grey cuffed trousers are going to be the death of me. Last week, I had not one or two near death experiences, but THREE near experiences in ONE day. Can you believe it? 

First Experience:

- I was walking from my cubicle to a colleagues office when my heel got caught inside my cuff. This happened outside another colleague's office and the filing cabinet caught me. It was so bad that my cubicle neighbor thought his cubicle wall was coming down. 

Second Experience:

- This one was inside Target. Yes, I know...a public place. I was taking a look at the ornaments in Target, when my infamous heel caught my infamous cuff and I fell to the ground. Thank goodness I didn't go splat, but instead I fell to my knees and hands. I was SO embarrassed, but I was grateful no one was around me. 

Third Experience:

- I was exiting my colleague's office, after we finished a meeting about the upcoming holiday campaign at work, when my heel once again caught my cuff. I didn't crash to the ground this time, which was a good thing. From my colleague's office though, it looked like I was a goner.

Needless to say, my grey trousers are going to my alterations place, so they can remove the cuff. Let's just hope I can survive this week without falling. 

Wish me luck,

-N

Hump Day Dinner #32: Lola's at the Bowery

Lola's at the Bowery

5 E. Brady Street

Tulsa, OK  74103

918-592-7995

This evening, we ate at Lola's at the Bowery for hump day dinner. This places was awful! It wasn't just one thing that was terrible though, it was everything! The food, service...you name it! 

Where do I begin? Let's see, we sat down to eat around 6:30 p.m. and we didn't leave until 8:00 p.m. Our group has been known to stay for long periods of time at a restaurant, but that's because we have great conversations. The conversations were not the blame for us staying so late this evening (even though we had a great conversation), it was because we waited over an hour for our food. When we FINALLY received our food, the quality of food was dreadful. Let's just say this, I ordered a side of rice and you couldn't even identify a single grain of rice. It was a scoop of mush, literally. 

If you think the food sounds appalling, wait until I talk about the service. I have not had such bad service in a long, long time. The service was atrocious! Throughout our entire meal, our water's never got refilled, until we received our checks; we had to ask for a bread basket after waiting at least 45 minutes (keep in mind every other table had a bread basket) and to top things off, our waitress was very rude. Instead of walking around the table to take my order, she wanted me to shout my order across the group, while a band was playing 15 feet away from us. If common sense and courtesy prevailed, she would have walked around the table to take each person's orders. In addition to everything else, when we asked our waitress for something, her excuse was that she could only carry so many things at a time. It's funny on how she didn't seem to have a problem being attentive to her other tables though. 

The only positives of the restaurant was the atmosphere, interior decorating and the bread. The interior decorating was really cool. It reminded me of being in a theatre because of the red velvet curtains and the lights. Plus, the copper tables were neat as well. Also, the fresh flower arrangements on the bar were a nice touch. Instead of focusing on the aesthetics of the restaurant though, it's a shame Lola's didn't take more notice to the food and the service.

Anyway, let me step off my soap box. Needless to say, I was not very happy with this restaurant, but you have to take the good with the bad.  Would I eat at this restaurant again? Absolutely not!

McNellie's Pub Run

I forgot to let you all know that I decided not to run in the McNellie's Pub Run yesterday. I know that I was ready physically, but I was worried about rupturing my blood clot. I ran only two miles on Friday night and my tooth area started to hurt. So, I figured it would be best to take it easy for a few days. Don't worry, I will be sure to run the race next year. 

-N

The Best Diet Ever!

So, I've found the best diet ever. Do you want to know what it is? Getting your wisdom tooth/teeth out. 

Since Thursday, I have only been able to eat half of my meals and drink half of my sodas. (It's amazing how much faster you drink a soda with a straw!) Andrew has always been a fast eater than me, but it seems that he is even faster now. Yesterday, we went to Ron's and he finished his burger and most of his fries before I even finished my chicken sandwich (and I still had fries left to eat). Normally, I'm the world's fastest pasta eater and Andrew finished his meal before I finished my pasta on Friday night. This just shows you how slow I eat now. 

It's funny because I have never separated my foods into soft and hard goods until recently. Soft foods are definitely my friend now and I'm literally scared of hard foods like potato chips. Today for lunch, Andrew and I went to McAlister's and I thought I was ready to graduate to a veggie sandwich with potato chips. Boy, was I wrong. I only ate half of my sandwich and ten chips the size of my pinkie fingernail.  I think the veggie sandwiches are on the back burner for a while, which is a very sad day because I LOVE subway. I eat at Subway at least a couple of times a week. I guess this week is going to be interesting to see what I end up eating for lunch. 

Overall, the recovery hasn't been too bad. No pain really. It just stinks that you can't eat your favorite foods. I know that I'm a very picky eater, but the foods that I do eat, I LOVE! It's driving me crazy that I can't eat or drink like a normal person. I did some research on how long it will be before my holes are healed and it could be several weeks and even a couple months. This is disappointing. Oh well, what can I do? I can't ask the dentist to put my tooth back, so I guess I will put my big girl panties on and just deal with the situation. At least I will continue to lose weight, even though I don't want to lose weight. 

Anyway, if you have any feedback, recommendations or tips on this post wisdom tooth recovery, feel free to drop me a comment. 

-N

I'm Toothless :(

Today I had to get one of me teeth pulled. Not just any one of my teeth though, but my wisdom tooth. Yuck! Over the past 10 days, it had really been bothering me to a point that four Advil a day wasn't helping to relieve the pain. So, last Thursday, I went to the dentist and we made an appointment to get my tooth pulled. Do you see #17 in the diagram?

That was my tooth! My wisdom teeth have grown in straight, so I was able to get the tooth pulled at the dentist's office. The entire experience was weird. It wasn't the dentist (he was nice), it was just the experience. I think it had something to do with me not knowing what to expect. They gave me nitrous, which made me relax and tingly all over (only when I remembered to take deep breaths though....I was having a hard time relaxing). Plus, they gave me two injections that made half of my mouth numb. Now, if you want to talk about weird, that was such a strange feeling. I felt that my face was swollen to a size of a basketball, when in actuality it was perfectly normal. It was funny because I kept on having to check myself to see if I was drooling this afternoon and I couldn't feel my ear to put my headphones in my ears. Needless to say, for about four hours this afternoon, I felt pretty bizarre. Overall though, it wasn't too bad. I just hope the recovery goes well. 

Before I checked out, I was able to see my tooth. Those wisdom teeth are beasts. The roots are so long. I think the tooth fairy should start to leave money based on the size of the tooth. If that was the case, I would have been raking it in tonight. 

Anyway, I'm hungry, so I'm off to deal with my new fear of eating. 

Wish me luck!

-N

Congratulations Obama!

Yesterday was definitely a day for the history books. We elected our first African American President. Congratulations Barack Obama!

At the end of the evening, I was very pleased with the outcome. I really think that Obama is going to bring the change that this country needs. Even though I'm not sure where I stand on a lot of political issues, I feel in my gut that America made the right choice. With amazing public speaking skills, the ability to be sincere and relate to the everyday person when he talks, these are definitely some of Obama's strengths. Now, he might not be as experienced as McCain, but I believe he is a smart enough man to surround himself with experienced leaders. Also, with Obama being a younger president with a fairly young family, it seems that he is going to be able to relate to a lot more people. It's going to be a nice change to see children in the White House! 

Did you have a chance to listen to Obama's and McCain's speeches last night? They were both phenomenal! Serious kudos to their speechwriters. I really felt sorry for McCain though during his speech because he has put up such a tough fight. When he spoke last night, he was so sincere and I think he probably connected to more people last night, than during his entire campaign. If he had spoke the way that he had last night throughout the past year or so, the race would have been a lot closer. I can only imagine on how difficult it would be to lose a race like this, especially when you had so many things running against you that you couldn't control. If it hadn't been for Bush and the economy, I think the story could have had a different ending. 

Last night was a very exciting evening, especially as each polling place came to a close. We have made HUGE strides for both women and African Americans. Even though it has been a fun ride over the past two years, I'm definitely glad the road is coming to an end. Hopefully, we will see a women running for President in 2012. 

Anyway, let the countdown to January 20 begin. Only 80 days left. 

Sweet dreams!

-N

Hump Day Dinner #31: Saigon Palace

Saigon Palace

1938 S. Garnett Rd #A

Tulsa, OK  74128

This evening, we ate at Saigon Palace, which is an oriental restaurant at 21st and Garnett for Hump Day Dinner. I was expecting the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised with the restaurant. It was a really quiet restaurant, but the service was fast and attentive. I ended up having cashew chicken and Andrew had beef fried rice. With me being a picky eater, I thought the food was pretty good. Plus, the food was really cheap ($13 for two, including tax). The only downfall of the evening was the food came out in waves. So, it took a little while for everyone to receive their food. To be fair though, there were about 15 people in our group. The restaurant was no P.F. Changs, but it was pretty good for a whole in the wall restaurant. It's not my oriental restaurant of choice, but I would definitely eat there again. 

Rock the Vote!

Tomorrow is a very important election, so don't forget to vote. Since, I can't vote, I'm relying on all my friends to vote instead. I don't mind who you vote for, but let's just get out there and rock the vote! 

Happy Voting!

-N

P.S. I can't wait to see the results of the elections. 

Coming Soon: A review on the restaurant for Hump Day Dinner #31, Saigon Palace.

The Changing of the Colors

Fall has officially arrived in Tulsa. All day today, I have been noticing the beautiful colors on the trees. It seems that the colors changed over night. I love this time of year when the trees are full of yellow, red and orange leaves. The bright hued leaves are my favorite! Here are some photos that I snapped on our way to dinner this evening. Aren't the trees beautiful???

Enjoy!

-N

Hump Day Dinner #30: Baxter's Interurban Grill

Baxter's Interurban Grill

717 S. Houston Ave. #100

Tulsa, OK  74127

This past Wednesday, the Hump Day Dinner crew went to Baxter's Interurban Grill. What's an interurban grill? We haven't got a clue. We are still trying to figure it out. The restaurant is right down the road from the BOK Center. As we learned on Wednesday, this place is packed when a concert or an event is at the arena. If you want to eat there on one of those nights, then I would recommend you eating early or make a reservation. 

When I walked into Baxter's, it wasn't what I had imagined. The restaurant is located on the first floor of an office building and it's pretty large. Andrew and I had chicken tenders, fries and a side salad. The food was good, but it seemed that the chicken tenders were the same as "The Brook" chicken tenders (Now, this isn't bad because the chicken tenders were tasty, but it just wasn't original). One thing that was really delicious were the rolls. They were very soft. The service was pretty lack luster (It seemed that our waitress kept on forgetting about our table) and it was relatively inexpensive ($30 for two, including tip). Would I eat there again? Maybe, but only if I was going to the BOK Center for an event. 

Warning: Long Post Ahead! Kansas City Birthday Trip

Last weekend, Andrew took me to Kansas City for my birthday gift and we had an fantastic time! It was so nice to escape Tulsa and explore a new city. We did tons of shopping, had AMAZING food, relaxed and had no agenda. We just winged the entire trip and it was great. 

We stayed at the Aladdin Hotel, which is owned by Holiday Inn. This hotel's decor was ultra modern. It was definitely not your typical Holiday Inn. The customer service was impressive, but their beds were so hard. The hotel was located downtown, two blocks away from the Power and Light District and maybe 10 minutes from The Plaza, so the location was prime. Here are some pictures of our hotel and the room. 

The lobby of the hotel: 

Views from our room:

Power and Light District

This aspect of downtown Kansas City has recently been developed. The place isn't really hopping during the day, but at night you are surrounded by bars, music, entertainment and great food. 

For my birthday lunch, we ate at Ted's Montana Grill and had "naked" burgers (Hamburger for Andrew and a Grilled Chicken Burger for me). Yep, just the meat and the bun for us! These burgers were delicious...one of the best ever! It was so good, that I would have been entirely happy with just the burger and would have forgone the fresh cut fries. Also, this restaurant was very green. It was a nice thing to see. Everything was bio-degradable...the straws were even paper. Have you ever sipped a drink through a paper straw?? It's the weirdest thing ever. The straws were sticking to our lips. Needless to say, I prefer plastic straws :). Anyway, the atmosphere was very comfortable, the food was very reasonable ($25 for both of us, including tip) and the food was to die for. Without a doubt, I would recommend this restaurant if you were eating in the Power and Light District. 

For my birthday dinner, Andrew had made reservations at the Bristol. This restaurant was literally 3 doors down from Ted's. The Bristol isn't a new restaurant for us, as we normally eat there in St. Louis for family birthdays, but it was still yummy. It was very interesting to see the differences between the St. Louis Bristol and the Kansas City Bristol. The KC Bristol is a newer facility, has contemporary/modern decor and has very open. The STL Bristol has traditional decor, has been established longer and has a very intimate dining experience. Overall, the food and service was good, but nothing really to write home about. 

The Plaza

Over the weekend, we spent a lot of time at the Plaza. I LOVED the plaza. It's such a quaint part of Kansas City. You have all of the stores imaginable in a few street blocks. Everything from chain stores to unique, one of a kind stores. For example, on one street I was able to find a dog bakery, a paper store and a gourmet food store. I was in heaven! 

One of the things that I loved about the plaza was the architecture. The buildings were ornate and some of the buildings had decorated porcelain tile around the edges. They were really beautiful. When we were at the Plaza we saw several crews preparing the buildings for the Plaza lighting on Thanksgiving night. Each building is outlined in christmas lights. It's supposed to be very festive and breathtaking time of year. For the next time that I go to Kansas City, I would love to go around the holidays. Maybe this is something to think about for next year. :)

Another thing that I loved at the Plaza was Jack Stack BBQ. I was hesitant to try this place at first, but this place had the BEST BBQ. If you were wanting to find a place in Kansas City for BBQ, Jack Stack's is definitely the place to go. You walk into the restaurant and you can smell the smoke from the smoker. The smoke is sometimes so strong that you end up smelling like BBQ for the rest of the day. Anyway, I had the best grilled BBQ chicken sandwich and Andrew had the best sliced turkey and baby back ribs. It was truly delish! The restaurant was so good that we ended up eating there two times over the weekend. The restaurant decor could be described as western meets 21st century. It was very comfortable. I loved the chandelier in the middle of the restaurant. Also, everything was moderately inexpensive (It was about $23 for two people). Andrew and I highly recommend this restaurant. 

City Market

We ended up heading to City Market in the River District on Saturday morning, which was a few blocks from the hotel. If you can imagine a huge farmer's market, this is what City Market is all about. It was really neat to see everything that was offered and it was ridiculously cheap. Andrew and I both wished we had a farmer's market of this size in Tulsa. 

When we were there, we found a cupcake bakery called "Baby Cakes" that supposedly had delicious cupcakes. I decided on the vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting, which I guess in a cupcake world was reasonable priced ($2.37 including tax). I was really disappointed in the cupcake though. The cake was good, but I didn't really like the frosting. There was a ton of frosting and it wasn't really soft. Would I eat there again? Probably not. The Tulsa cupcake bakery, Kupcakz, was much better. 

Olathe, Kansas

Several years ago, Andrew and his family lived in Olathe, Kansas. Andrew lived there for about three years (sixth through ninth grade), so we decided to head back to see how things have developed over the years. Olathe, Kansas has boomed! There have such a large selection of stores and restaurants in one intersection. It's awesome. While we were in Olathe, Andrew was able to show me his old house, his old schools, as well as his old church. It was all great to see! 

Andrew's old house:

One of Andrew's old schools:

Overall, Andrew and I had a fantastic time in Kansas City. Even though we were sad to leave, we were glad to be going home. (I can't tell you how excited we were to have our own bed and pillows back :) )We can't wait to head back to Kansas City next year.