take me back to tulsa

did you know that tulsa is awesome? i had no idea.  i seemed to have stereo-typed the entire state of oklahoma (shame on me), so when we arrived in this beautiful metropolitan city, i was surprised in the very best way.

chris and i took one of our now signature 24-hour trips out of town.  

we stayed in downtown tulsa where building after building is in the art-deco style (tulsa boomed in the twenties).  art schools, city parks, small bars, quaint restaurants, gallery after gallery after gallery.

it reminded me a little of ft.worth: a "big" city with a small town feel.

we stayed downtown, ate downtown, went out downtown.  for dinner we cozied up to the bar of the restaurant tavern, where we shared bacon-maple popcorn, the devilled egg trifecta (horseradish, wasabi and bacon), and roasted chicken.  we drank local brews (tulsa has breweries, of course they do!). 

 it was divine.

the year ben was born, i saw robert earl keen perform six times.  since the birth of our babes, we have had to be more selective about which shows we choose.  we see him annually at bass hall in ft.worth, which is so nice, but robert earl keen is meant to be seen in a dancehall.  

cain's ballroom is just that; a dancehall with history on the walls, plenty of room to twirl and stomp, and bartenders who sell you a six-pack at a time (on the rings, mind you) so you don't have to miss the show by standing in a bar line.

genius.

art, good food, beautiful architecture, and a historical honky-tonk.

how could i not fall in love with tulsa.

have you ever been?

what did you think?

greatest hits

so sorry i'm tardy for the party (that was for you, sarah).  i left town on my normal greatest hits day (more on that another time).  i'm getting bored talking about myself.  i wanna know about yooooooou.  leave me a comment and tell me how you're doing.  k?  thanks.

here's a sneaky peek at last week:

 1) i ran in a race last saturday.  a very, very cold 10k.  i warmed up (because i am a sweat machine), but my poor cheerleaders were frozen solid.

 i was a little nervous because i had felt like poop leading up to the race, but on the day of i woke up feeling great.

 we ran over the margaret hunt-hill bridge (gorgeous) and throughout the design district.  a great race overall.

2) my ladies met for dinner at the gin mill to hand-over all of their hard-earned cash money.

 who has two thumbs and is planning our mystery girl's trip this year?

this girl!

{one thing i dislike about age 33: all of a sudden my upper arms have the same girth as an offensive lineman's neck. what is that about?}

3) an after-school stop at the lake to see the ducks.

super-grover had the time of his life.

he sat on stumps, attacked innocent pigeons,

carried around heavy blocks of cement,

and harrassed geese.  i was just waiting for them to harrass him back.  he got lucky.  this time.

4) you may already know, we signed our big boy up for kindergarten.  i was a weepy fool, but managed to keep it together for the actual meeting.  it was a close call.

looking forward to: spring break.  not really, my schedule stays the same although my kids are out of school.  it makes scheduling a little trickier.

how was your week?  what are looking forward to?

love,

coco

kindergarten

how, how, how can we possibly be signing this little boy up for kindergarten?

my heart may just explode.  momma's not ready, nosiree.

greatest hits

i feel crummy.  fuzzy-ears-scratchy-throat-nagging-cough crummy.  it won't get better, but it's not getting worse.  how that for glass half full?

this week has been a good one, and i even forgot to drag the camera to a breakfast date with chris' sweet god-mother and her daughter, and again to a farewell dinner with the boys' fire-fighting-superhero uncle matt.  he is leaving for a mission overseas for an undetermined amount of time (so your prayers and happy thoughts would be much appreciated).

here's a peek at the rest:

1) we did a little birthday party research at a new bowling alley in town (bowl & barrel).  it's a go.

 2) a trip to our favorite park is always nice.

 3) that bathtub is a one-way ticket to crazy-town.  aren't baths supposed to be relaxing?  not in our house.

 4) the tree swing that santa brought was finally hung.

 {he scares me to death}

 {i think ben likes it}

5) i just wanted to document on camera the mountain of laundry and the zombie-children in front of the television.

looking forward to running accross the margaret hunt-hill bridge tomorrow morning and hanging with my ladies tomorrow night.

how was your week?  what are youlooking forward to?

love,

coco

snapshots: new desk

i started this blog with the promise that i would post all about our new house.  

ummmm, yep, that never happened.

i am so, so proud of the (tons of) work we've done to make this house us.  but i hestitate because i in no way want to seem (or feel) braggy or that i am showing off.  and i completely understand that not everyone gets excited about clearance curtains from anthropologie or desks made out of scraps.  but man, i sure do.

so i have decided to share snapshots of my favorite parts of this house, one room at a time. 

up first: our new desk.

somewhere in bloggy-land or in a magazine, god knows how long ago, i saw a picture of a farmhouse style table with metal legs.  i took a mental snapshot and filed it away in my brain next to that print of a tupac quote i want to hang in the boys' bathroom.

oneday, as i often do, was perusing etsy and searched "metal table legs".  my search results determined my immediate need for a new desk.  so i began planting seeds: in chris' head first.  i was just throwing my idea out into the universe and letting it digest and settle.  i mentioned it to my dad and next my pawpaw, then i waited.  soon, i heard the glorious words, "pawpaw found some wood scraps in the back of the shop to use for the top of your desk".  BINGO!  my plan worked.

back to etsy i went to order (very affordable) table legs, and within a week, my 88-year-old pawpaw had built and finished my dream desk.

my requirements were: no drawers, large surface area, a light/distressed paint finish.

because i wanted this piece to lighten up the other heavy, dark furniture in the room, they (and by they, i mean the professional painters in the family) decided to bleach the wood.  pawpaw bleached it several times and then treated it with vinegar.  he acheived the distressed look by drybrushing the desk lightly (which means applying very little paint to a dry brush and lightly grazing the surface), splattering it (with a toothbrsuh) and beating it with a chain.  in another genius move, chris painted a panel of wood to match our wall and baseboards, then installed it behind the desk to hide all of the computer cords.  you don't even know it's there until you are up close.

thus my perfect desk was born.

i bought a sunburst mirror at target with a giftcard, an upholstered desk chair (also with the help of a gift card) from marshall's, grabbed a lamp from the garage, and viola!

what do you think?

i think i am in love.  with a desk.  and that i should be committed.  to the looney bin, of course.

8 mile

after typing the title of this post, i tried to come up with some witty reference to eminem, but my aching legs are thwarting any attempt at being funny.

i ran eight miles this morning.

y'all, i am trying to be happy about my accomplishment. 

i really am.  yes, eight miles is a long way.  in fact, it is the farthest i have ever run.

i struggled from the moment we started and i never recovered.  i stopped to walk a few times.  i whined the entire time.  i doubted myself.  i felt slow.

i cried in the car.

i know i should feel proud, but i am just not there yet.

maybe once my muscles stop hurting, i will have a little bit of perspective.

so for now, i wait.

i looked to pinterest to see if anything i have pinned could apply to my situation, and viola!!

i knew all of these quotes i hoard would come in handy someday.

Source: thinkspeakpeace.com viaCortney on Pinterest

                                                                     Source: fuckyeahfitspo.tumblr.com viaCortney on Pinterest

                                                                             Source: tumblr.com viaCortney on Pinterest

                                                                                Source: thegiftsoflife.tumblr.com viaCortney on Pinterest

oh, the last one refers to the hour long nap i just enjoyed.  that should put me in a better mood, stat!

have a great weekend, my loves.

love,

coco