Life with Dee

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Weekend Adventures…

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David and I had the honor of attending one of the most delightful weddings.  The son of one of my dear friends married his sweetheart Saturday night in Oklahoma City.  We had a few things to do on the way up so we left around 11:30 Saturday morning.  First stop was Jason’s Deli in Norman for lunch.  I love this place.  They eliminated trans fats from their breads and offer a number of organic ingredients.  David and I each had the 1/2 sandwich and salad option.  David had the Reuben and I had the turkey.  Yum. 🙂

He then dropped me off at Hobby Lobby so I could get my new painting framed (more about that, and pictures at a later date).  Unfortunately, the canvas isn’t a standard size so it will need to be custom framed.  Their custom framing goes on sale half price Monday so I’ll just need to make another trip one day this week.  Meanwhile, David was getting the car serviced so I had ample time to just browse around.  That turned out to be a good thing, at least to my way of thinking.  I’ve been wanting to do something with the downstairs bathroom.  It needs a total remodeling but we have just a few more pressing jobs to finish first.  So when I saw this:

and this:

I knew I had my inspiration.  I already have nice, all-white rugs, towels and shower curtain so adding some French and New Orleans-themed items in black and white will be easy.  I may paint the walls, if I get that ambitious but they are white now so it will still work if I don’t.

So now I’m actually happy to have an excuse to make another trip to Norman this week.  I’ll share the before and after photos when I get done. 

Errands completed, we then continued on to Oklahoma City and our hotel.  Most of the time when we go to OKC we stay at the lovely Skirvin Hotel.  And in fact, David has already booked two nights next month for my birthday.  For this occasion, however, we just wanted something fairly close to the wedding location and not terribly expensive.  We have stayed at a Crowne Plaza hotel before in another city and it was quite nice so when David got a good rate for the one in OKC, that’s where he booked us to stay.

Well, the first thing we noticed upon entering the room was that it was quite warm.  It was close to 80 degrees despite the fact the air conditioner was on.  But we just figured that perhaps the room hadn’t been booked the previous night so they had just turned on the A/C shortly before we arrived.  The bed did look quite comfortable and I thought this was a nice touch:

Eye mask, ear plugs and lavender linen spray

I took a bit of a nap while David watched t.v. and then it was time to get ready for the wedding.  Unfortunately the room still wasn’t much cooler and I discovered that the iron and ironing board were missing.  David called the front desk and they rushed these up to us…about half an hour later, delivered by a young woman who apparently never learned to use her inside voice.

The wedding was held at the chapel on the campus of Oklahoma City University.  I’m a traditionalist when it comes to churches and in general, am not fond of the more modern styles of church architecture.  They just feel like auditoriums rather than sanctuaries to me.  This one, however, while somewhat modern in design, was just beautiful and truly felt like a sacred place.  This picture doesn’t do it justice but I just love this purple stained glass cross.  It was approximately 30-40 feet high and simply glorious. 

The church was decorated with simple elegance and the bridal party looked terrific with the girls in black dresses and the men in white dinner jackets and black slacks.  This is the look that was popular when my parents got married and I must admit, I’m glad it’s coming back (or at least, I hope it’s coming back!).  The bride was a vision and I so wish I had gotten a picture of her dress.  It was strapless, with a fitted bodice.  The skirt was also quite fitted across the hips and then flared out at the bottom with a sort of vintage Hollywood look.  I’m not describing it adequately but trust me, it was one of the prettiest wedding dresses I’ve seen in the past couple of years.  
The ceremony was fairly short and the highlight was when the minister pulled out his phone, telling us all that since he had the best vantage point, he thought he ought to take a photo.  He took a quick photo of the couple and then uploaded it to Facebook right then and there!  Everyone was cracking up, including the bride who later told me how glad she was for this mood lightener because she was so overcome with emotions and already crying even before saying her vows.  This was definitely one of the more unique events I’ve ever witnessed at a wedding. 
 
The minister uploading his photo of the couple.
After the ceremony, we drove to the reception which took place at the old Will Rogers Theater which is now the most beautiful ballroom.  I was stunned by how gorgeous this place is.  I felt like I’d been transported back to the glamorous 40s or 50s.  The decorations were simple but gorgeous, the music was perfect and the food was exceptional (the groom is in the restaurant business and an excellent cook).  
 

The tables were covered in black and white cloths and in the center of each was a very tall, thin black vase with white feathers (even though they look pink in this photo) and crystal droplets. 


The groom asked David if he would move his motorcycle to the exit so it would be ready for their get-away.  David was only to happy to accept this assignment.  Fortunately the owner of the bike we thought was the groom’s didn’t come out while David was trying to start it.  We finally located the right bike and eventually David got it started and drove it over to the exit.  
After a few hours of one of the most enjoyable receptions, we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.  It was 11:45 when we got there.  We decided to stop in the bar for a drink but since they closed at midnight we decided to take the drinks to our room instead of staying there.  Besides, this was no Red Piano Bar, the elegant place we like so well at the Skirvin.  Cheap decor and brightly lit, it felt more like a cheap diner than a nice hotel bar.  
We had hoped that whatever was wrong with the air conditioning would have been rectified in our absence but that wasn’t the case.  David called the front desk, they assigned us a new room, we packed up and moved up from the 4th to the 8th floor.  I rather hoped that they might have upgraded us a bit for our trouble but if anything, the room wasn’t even quite what we had to begin with.  But the air conditioner worked and by that point that’s all we cared about.  David kept saying that from now on we will just stay at the Skirvin.  Apparently you really do get what you pay for. 😉
 
Geese in the hotel parking lot
After checkout at noon on Sunday, we had lunch at Chipotle and then went to the Oklahoma City Museum for the exhibit I’ve been dying to see.  It’s called “Sketch to Screen”.  We got to see costumes and accessories from dozens of Hollywood films.  My favorites were the costumes from “Gone With the Wind”, including the “curtain dress”, and the briefcase and glasses from Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck) in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  One of the things David and I were both struck by was how tiny the ladies’ dresses were.  The waist size on some of them couldn’t have been more than 20 inches.  Unfortunately they didn’t allow any sort of photography in this special exhibit so all I got was this sign at the entrance:
David hadn’t ever been to this museum before so I told him he just had to see the Chihuly glass exhibit.  OKC has one of the largest collections of Dale Chihuly’s glass anywhere and it is simply breathtaking. 
The boat containing this display of Chihuly glass is at least 15 feet long.
 
These fountains looked so cool and refreshing on a hot day.
On our way home we stopped at one of my favorite places for some humanely raised, organic chicken.  Native Roots is a relatively new market with a focus on locally grown food and other items.  It’s owned by a delightful young couple.
 
Every time we are driving home from the city, I think to myself that one of these times I’m going to take a picture of this:
 
Unfortunately there was a car behind us so we couldn’t stop or really even slow down much but that handpainted sign says that this is a neighborhood watch area.  The funny part about it is that there is only one house here and on the other side of that gate?  Yep, that’s a cemetery.  I’ve always wondered who is supposed to be watching whom.  
Other than watching a couple of episodes of “True Blood” tonight after we got home, that was our weekend.  So, what did you do?

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  1. jaci says

    HAve you ever asked Valerie what she thinks about Chihuly glass??? Just thinking she should see that huge boat.

    Nice pics, Deanna.

    Reply

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