This (Oklahoma) City That I Love

I've lived in the Oklahoma City area for nearly a decade. It's no secret that I struggled for quite some time with allowing myself to love the area. Just when I'd begin to refer to OKC as "home" I'd compare it to my former hometown, and as most of you know, comparisons can be a slippery slope to discontentment.

Moving on - Somewhere in that ten years, and after I got over my stubbornness, I developed a love for OKC. I mean, how could I not?
I am guilty of overlooking OKC's greatness more often than I would like to admit, and I take for granted the fact that I live in such a blossoming hub of entrepreneurial and sports greatness.

There are far too many wonderful local eateries, shops, museums, etc... to list in this one post. Thankfully I have friends who love to explore as much as I do, so I've had the opportunity to visit several of these fine establishments. However, there are so, so many standard OKC standbys that I have never experienced.

Here's where I need your help. I've started compiling a list of local attractions I absolutely need to visit. No more putting it off. PS - if you want to join me in any of these explorations, by all means, please do!
Also, don't judge me too much by the lack of places I have visited. I'm trying!

1) Ice skating downtown (Luckily, 'tis the season!)
2) Big Truck Tacos (I know, I know. It's completely inexcusable that I haven't been here)
3) Mutt's Hot Dogs
4) Iguana's (Again, inexcusable)
5) Cheever's
6) The Wedge
7) Paseo Grill

So, basically it's inexcusable that I haven't been to any of those places, but I'm determined to try them. I will keep you posted on my progress. I'm sure you're thrilled about that!

OK, you guys. Let's hear those recommendations! Aaaand GO!

Forgetfulness - Housesitting Edition

I don't typically consider myself a forgetful person, but for some reason whenever I housesit my brain shuts down during the packing process.

It could have something to do with the fact that I usually "pack" in a 5 minute period of time.

Whatever the reason, I've forgotten some fairly important things.

(PS - That's Missy in the picture above. She likes to survey her empire (aka: yard) when she gets the paper in the morning)

Shoes: Once during the summer, I moved into a house wearing flip flops. I had all my work clothes for the next couple of days, but I had neglected to bring work shoes. That resulted in a trip home at midnight to grab shoes for the duration of the trip.

Makeup: Kind of a necessity for me during the work week. Luckily the absence of said make up was discovered on a Saturday, so I was able to retrieve it prior to Sunday. Hooray!

Socks: Not the end of the world, but my feet were fairly cold for a day.

Mousse: This resulted in a pony tail day.

Shampoo/conditioner: Another pony tail day.

Tights: Again, not the end of the world. Just another one of those, "Seriously, Emily!" moments.

Underwear: that was an interesting day.

Hair dryer: I woke up, took a shower, went to grab my dryer - discovered I'm a loser who forgot something important. I don't like going to work with wet hair, so I finished getting ready then drove across town to my place to get the hair dryer and finish the hair process.
I still got to work early. BOOM!

There have been many, many more items that I have forgotten, but most of them were little things that don't really make a difference in the getting-ready process (earrings, iPad, etc...)

This has nothing to do with anything I just said, but I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and food! I expect to see many, many delicious food photos in the next week.

Side note: I'm glad that the trees still look like this. I will never get tired of these colors.

Movies of Christmas

Let me just start this out with a disclaimer:
If you are one of those people who does not believe in talking about Christmas, listening to Christmas music, or decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, then you had best stop reading this post now. Because I intend to discuss my love for all of those things right now.

I've been listening to Christmas music at work for a few weeks now, but last week officially marked the beginning of holiday baking at the homestead, so Christmas music and movies have infiltrated normal life, as well. Last Tuesday I baked a pumpkin cheesecake while listening to the Christmas stylings of Mariah, Amy Grant, Karen Carpenter, and Nat King Cole. If that's not a party, I don't know what is.
Last Thursday I baked gingersnaps, snickerdoodles, and brown sugar cookies while Sleepless in Seattle played in the background.

My family, not unlike the majority of American families, has Christmas movie traditions. We always try to watch at least 3 of these each Christmas season, which for us begins beginning to mid November. We usually get through two while stringing popcorn and cranberries (CHRISTMAS!)

While You Were Sleeping

This isn't technically a Christmas movie, but it starts out during Christmas, so it totally counts.
"Ummm, sir. It's an Express. And it's FAST!"
Pretty sure I had a crush on Jack when I was a young tween.

OK, I might still have a crush on Jack.

 

Elf

I can't list all of the ways I love this movie. There are just too many. My co-worker and I quote this movie throughout the entire year. (Well, we paraphrase: "I'm in an office! And I'm singing!")

 

Home Alone (1 and 2)

We've probably watched Home Alone 2 more than the first purely based on the fact that we own the 2nd, but that doesn't mean I don't love the 1st installment. I'm sure many people think it's cliche or overly-silly, but I lovelove it.
"Kevin, you're what the French call 'Les Incompetents.'"

 

Sleepless in Seattle

Here we have another movie that's not really Christmas but kind of is all at the same time. For those of you who don't believe in watching this movie during the Christmas season, I have

three words for you:

"Harses, Harses, Harses."

 

 

White Christmas

 

OK. You guys.

I can't tell you how hard it was for me to pick one image to display for this movie. They are all perfect.

Luckily I was born into a family where a strong love of White Christmas had already been established at the time of my birth.

My childhood Christmas memories are of traveling to my Grandma's house and watching (and quoting and singing and dancing along with) White Christmas with my Grandma, Aunt, Mom, and cousins. One year, two of my younger cousins (guys) won a talent contest by recreating the "Sisters" number as performed by Bing and Danny.

Yeah, we love White Christmas.

And there's no way I could pick one quote from the movie. I would just end up typing out the entire script from beginning to end, and I'll spare you from that.

 

 

Remember that one time I told you that I had a hard time picking just one picture from

White Christmas? Well, I settled for two, and that was a struggle.

 

What are your family's favorite holiday movies?