Broken Bow and other Tales

Happy Late Thanksgiving and Merry Early Christmas!

I hope you all ate a lot of yummy food and were surrounded by family and friends on Thanksgiving.  I sure was and it was a great day.  Now, a week later, I am finally settling down and getting ready for Christmas.

Having just moved to Oklahoma from the desert, I LOVE Oklahoma.  This state actually has seasons.  On my drive to work used to see all the trees in pretty fall colors, and then BAM, the day after Thanksgiving it got cold and rainy and now, winter, all the trees are bare and to me, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."  I love how in my small town I drive down Main Street at night on my way home from work, and Christmas lights are on the buildings and street lights and its wonderful.  I love it.  I just love it!  The air is cool and crisp and I am able to bundle up with a warm cup of whatever and wear my hand knit warmies outside.

Speaking of fall and Thanksgiving, Bob (my husband) and I had planned this hiking trip the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I had to work that Friday after, so Bob picked me up from work and we drove to Broken Bow, OK in the far southeast corner of the state about 12 miles from the Arkansas border.  We were planning on going on this amazing 6 mile hike in Beaver's Bend, the National Park just outside of town.  But alas, we got rained out.  We could hear the thunder and rain all night long and into the morning.  So we just drove around, drove around the town and park and got some great pictures of the fall colors and lake.  We even drove in to Arkansas.

Beaver's Bend is beautiful, a true gem. It has a lake and there are so many trees.  When we were first moving to Oklahoma, I was thinking dust bowl.  Oh now, from what I have seen this state is GREEN!  Lots of hills and trees and wilderness. Beautiful all year long.

After driving around, we found a winery and wine store.  Oh yes, we HAD to stop.  But after we ate lunch across the street at the pizza place/bar "The Grateful Head"  Really good pizza and beer and Bob was more than content watching the game on the big screen.  After lunch we went to the wine store across the street.  Girls Gone Wine.  A winery and store that is HUGE and popular and they even offer tastings, when we were walking in, we almost got run over by this lady making a bee-line to the tasting bar.  I also eventually made it there and it was good wine.  I bought 2 bottles.  Yum!  Will definitely have to go there again.

When we got back in town later that day, I made a point of stopping at my favorite store in Downtown Ardmore, The 9, to get some last minute Christmas decorations including a wreath.  I made it a point because it was Small Business Saturday, if you haven't heard about it, you must do it next year and/or purchase from you local small business this holiday season.  As Small Business Saturday is just that, the Saturday after Thanksgiving where you go Christmas shopping at your local small business, which I think is a much better idea than shopping at the big box stores, because I think it supports your town better by keeping small business running fostering a sense of community.

Ok, off my soap box.  Since last weekend I have just been home, working on my gift knitting which is going good.  In addition to my gift knitting, I am also making a Chemo Cap to give to my friend to bring to our local cancer center so they my distribute them for Christmas.  I hope somebody loves it and it keeps their head very warm.

Bob and I did go into the city yesterday (Oklahoma City) and have lunch with his friend, wife and their 2 adorable kids.  We also went to my two favorite places in the whole wide world. Whole Foods and Target.  Oh civilization, I was so happy to be back.  I missed you Whole Foods!  

Ok, I have rattled on enough, as you can see I have been busy and knitting and decorating and enjoying my first Christmas season in Oklahoma.

See you all soon.

What a week!

Wow, it has been quite a week since I saw you last.  Well, not really, just my usual week, so here are the highlights.

First of all, thanks everyone for taking a look at my blog, and if you were wondering about the title, I am not the best with clever titles, so if you can think of one, I would love to hear your suggestions.


As I type this, my Executive Assistant Sammy Cat is sitting on my lap, wait he just climbed off to sit on the desk and watch someone walking down the street.

Restaurant Review:  Here are two awesome ones in the Ardmore, should you live here or happen to travel by.  Edemame Sushi on Main Street:  I have not had sushi since I moved to Oklahoma and miss and love it dearly, so I finally decided to try this restaurant out on Friday night as my husband was out of town and I didn't feel like cooking (husband hates sushi and probably wouldn't go with me)  I must say, YUMMY! For a sushi restaurant in Southern Oklahoma, it was very good, as good as I've ever had.  I just had 2 rolls and some edemame, but everything was very good and very fresh.  The service was fantastic and the decor was quaint and nice.

The Cellar:  Also on Main Street on the corner of A St. NE.  I have been here several times and have not had a bad experience or bad meal.  I met my friend there for lunch yesterday we had a great time talking, eating delicious food and drinking delicious wine and chatting with each other and our fabulous friendly waitress.  I had the Fried Green Tomato sandwich with bacon, herbed goat cheese and Russian dressing with homemade chips on the side.  My friend had the Cellar burger also with homemade chips on the side.  Delicious!

(Sammy Cat is on my lap again, standing, deciding if he wants to sit down or jump off, oh, he sat down.)

Today, Husband comes home so I spent the morning cleaning, and since it is fall, I seriously cannot get through fall without making Butternut Squash soup.  I plan to make that this afternoon after I get back from Wal-Mart.  I found a new recipe and will post it with a review next time.  I am also thinking about making Piccadillo for dinner tonight.  If you have never heard of it, it is basically a Cuban version of sloppy Joe's, with peas and carrots mixed in.  I will also post that recipe later with a review, I personally love it but husband has never tried it and I love giving him new foods to eat.

On the knitting front, I am done with the body of my Acer Cardigan, a beautiful navy blue with cables and just need to do the sleeves now and order some buttons for it. I always go to Etsy.com to get buttons, I love that place.  If you haven't been it is like Amazon for crafty stuff, everything on there is either homemade, vintage or art or craft supplies, all from individual vendors, not big companies, but people who craft either as a business or in their spare time.  It is a great way to support the little people, you can even find local artisans and support them.

I am also almost done with my infinity scarf, I just need to decide if it is long enough for me and bind off and sew together.

I am still however working on my second diagonal lace sock.  I have decided to give myself until Thanksgiving which is a mere 4 days away.  After that, all these projects will be put on hold and I need to start working on my gift knitting if I have any hopes of getting it done by Christmas.

Well, I better go get ready to go to Wal-Mart so I can get home a decent time to make soup.

I will talk to you all later.

-Alexis

Hello there, here is my new blog.  A blog all about me and my life, my travels, my adventures in everything I do... Knitting, cooking, yoga, cats anything else I want to share with you all.

To start off, I am less than 30 days from the big 30 and getting nervous/excited.  I already feel the 30's upon me.  Second, I live in Southern Oklahoma with my wonderful Husband and 2 impossibly adorable cats, Sammy and Suki.

I love to knit, its actually quite an obsession/addiction, I also love to cook and travel and I love all things art.  Wow.  But mostly I like to have have fun and try anything new.

As I write this, I am thinking it is waaaay past my bedtime but I can't go to bed because I am downloading podcasts to put on my ipod so I have something to listen to at work tomorrow.  All knitting, history, travel and Freakonomics, I love that podcast and that book and movie).

13 more podcasts to go.  Then some music then bed!

Before podcasts, I paid bills.  Along with the utility bills, I paid a few student loans and credit cards.  I have to admit, like many Americans I played with plastic a little too much not to long ago (In my younger stupider days) and also racked up quite a bit of student loan debt as well.  It is nice to see those numbers go down, especially when you are working so hard to get them gone.

6 podscast to go.....  Ok, enough with that.  I also have to admit, I have been skinny all my life and along with turning 30 it is a little more difficult to stay skinny.  So I am working hard to lose about 10 pounds and keep it off.  You will here more of this as time goes on because sometimes like today, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a piece of chocolate cake.

Ok, no more podcasts left and I am really tired and have nothing left to introduce to you so I will see you all again soon, and maybe have some pictures up next time as well.