Road Trip Recap: What we saw

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. June ended on a high note with a road trip to Chicago! My friend invited me to travel with her family to explore the Windy City while her husband attended a conference.

We had a fabulous time and the weather was a welcome break from the extreme Oklahoma heat.

Here's a quick recap in photos of where we went (all taken with my cell phone).

We toured the Field Museum of Natural History, home of Sue, the world's largest and most complete T-Rex:

We explored Navy Pier and the nearby beaches of Lake Michigan:

We did a lot of walking and sightseeing, including a special trip to the Harold Washington Public Library:

Check back tomorrow for a post about some of  the delicious food we sampled!

I Scream, You Scream

We All Scream for Ice Cream!!

Who doesn't love that cool, refreshing taste of creamy, dreamy ice cream on a hot June day in Okieland?

I have to say I honestly don't trust people who do not like ice cream. There MUST be something wrong with them mentally or emotionally or psychologically or nutritionally. One of those afflictions for sure!

There are a lot of different flavors that I like - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cake Batter, Banana Split, Strawberry, Butter Pecan, just to name a handful.

Also, I don't discriminate against brands, give me Braum's or Blue Bell or Baskin-Robbins or Marble Slab or Edy's or Haagen-Dazs, I will eat them all happily.

Just like you shouldn't have a favorite child, you shouldn't have a favorite ice cream brand. You should love them all equally.

But I do not. I have one ice cream brand that I love over all others.

Come closer, I'll tell you my favorite. . .

Can you guess?

Are you dying to know?

It's made by two men in my most favorite state in the Union - Ben & Jerry's!

In 2007, the hubby and I took a wonderful trip to Vermont and I dragged him to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT. It was fabulous and a great stop on our trip!

I recently discovered a new Ben & Jerry's flavor that I absolutely LOVE - Red Velvet Cake. It features pieces of red velvet cake and red velvet cake batter ice cream with a cream cheese frosting swirl.

If you like red velvet, it is a must try! Now that summer is officially here, grab a scoop or two and enjoy!!

Miscellaneous Monday Musings

June has been a weird weather month so far. We have had record-breaking heat, severe storms, lots of wind, and last week's unexpected hail storm.

Today, the weather anchors have been salivating, warning that conditions were ripe for severe storms and urging us all to be "weather aware."

So far, we have had some rain and we even had a few minutes of small, pea-sized hail. I can't remember the last time it has hailed twice in less than one week! The bright side is that the storms are supposed to cool temperatures down for the rest of the week.

Can you tell I am a "glass half full" kind of girl?

**********

Summer television is pretty much a wasteland, but I have been able to find some entertainment anyway.

Matt Bomer (from White Collar)

ABC's The Bachelorette is usually guaranteed to be somewhat of a train wreck between the tears, the testosterone, and the "most dramatic" rose ceremony. This season is especially annoying with Ashley the dentist as one of the most bland Bachelorette's in recent memory.

USA's White Collar is back with a new season and it offers clever characters catching the bad guys in New York City. The show is a fun concept with the lead character being a (reformed?) con man who must help the FBI catch white collar criminals. Plus, the eye candy of Matt Bomer is an additional perk!

Finally, I am looking forward to Rookie Blue starting up again on ABC this week. It premiered last summer and was the surprise hit of the season. It is filmed in Canada and features rookie cops learning the ropes from seasoned partners. It is fun, flirty, and light - the perfect summer show!

What are you watching this summer?

Happy Father's Day!

Silence is Golden

Monday we had the opportunity to see the Alloy Orchestra as part of the annual OK Mozart music festival. The festival takes place in Bartlesville, but for the first time, organizers decided to include an OKC series with several performances held at the Rose State College Performing Arts Theatre.

The performance was unique and wonderful! Here is a description from the OK Mozart website to explain this outstanding group and the performance:

Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash and grind soulful music from these unlikely sources. Performing at prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the US and abroad (The Telluride Film Festival, The Louvre, Lincoln Center, The Academy of Motion Pictures and others), Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era.

Using 13 differently tuned horseshoes, 157 plumbing pipes, pots, pans, junkyard findings, musical saws, as well as accordions, clarinets, keyboards and drums, The Alloy Orchestra will perform live at the Rose State Performing Arts Theatre. The performers will accompany a screening of Fritz Lang's seminal 1927 film, Metropolis.

I don't think I have ever watched an entire silent film before. Metropolis is a captivating story about a futuristic society full of drone workers who live empty lives that are ruled by the upper class. Even though there are no words, the cast was talented, especially the female lead played by Brigitte Helm. 


The film was brought to life by the musical talent of Alloy Orchestra. Their sound effects and musical scores elevated tense moments in the film and added a flair of whimsy in the lighter scenes. The performance was amazing and one-of-a-kind and fun entertainment to highlight an otherwise boring Monday!

It Came From the Sky

Just about an hour and a half ago, we were sitting at home, watching a show online.

Suddenly something loud hit the roof.  

Thunk.

Then, as if the heavens had opened, it was thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.

We looked at each other. We looked out the window.
Hail? HAIL!

Quick! Turn on the weather!


It  probably hailed about 10 minutes and appeared to range from quarter size to ping pong ball size to golf ball size.

Luckily the damage was not nearly as bad as the hail storm that hit here a year ago and necessitated new roofs, windows, and even cars.

This storm knocked a lot of limbs and leaves loose from the trees and Tom's old car took a few dings, too. Luckily we had the newer, nicer car parked in the garage.

Wedding Recap

I went to a wedding this weekend in the Joplin, MO area. My husband's cousin's daughter was the bride and it was a big celebration of many of my in-laws. Luckily, they are a good group to be around!

It was a lovely wedding and a very fun reception, even if my low-quality cell phone pictures don't quite do it justice! The reception was held at a beautifully renovated building in downtown Joplin. The space had an art-deco vibe and was the perfect location for a wedding reception.

Pre-wedding pic with my mother-in-law

Loved the bows on the cake

Sweet bride who was a Dancing Queen!

The hubby's aunt and her husband showing the crowd how to dance

Mother-in-law got to catch up with  Mother of the Bride (also mother of 6!)

Hubby's brother dutifully posing with Art for a pic during the reception