Show Us Your City!

Okay, so last week, I said one thing I love about having blogfriends from all over... is reading about where ya'll live! I've traveled a lot of places, but I find the details of your cities so interesting!! Soo... I asked that you participate in a one time post called "Show Us Your City!" Feel free to participate and link your blog post below-I'd love to read about where you live and where all your blog posting comes from. :) To be honest, this seemed like an awesome idea last week but for some reason, this week is nutso busy, right? Is it just me? :) *shrugs*

Without further adieu, I'd like to invite you to just SOME of the highlights from my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma!

Okay, we have about a million peeps when you include the suburbs...I think that surprises some people....When asked where someone lives, you'll often hear "midtown" or "out south" or "owasso" or "broken arrow" etc. (We have a lot of Indian names in our state). Midtown is where I reside. It encompasses the university, the eclectic areas, the older, historic homes, farmers markets, etc... I love where I live. Sure the homes aren't as new as in "south Tulsa" (aka the newer area), but they've got so much character and they all look so very unique. And one thing I LOVE about Tulsa is people have a fondness for the old homes.. They don't just tear them down. There are quite a few neighborhoods where people restore the old homes and they're truly works of art.

Anyway... I found this pic online of just one of the historic homes located close to my apt. :) (I even live in an old building! It was turned into some remodeled apts with wood floors, pillars, fireplaces, etc :))
One of my fav museums in Tulsa is located in an older neighborhood and used to be Waite Phillips' home. It's name-Philbrook. It was completed in 1927, much like the surrounding area! The grounds are amazing.. and as a TU student, I got in free and often wandered the grounds you see here in college just kinda having "quiet time" to avoid studying or when I needed to think. :) They have a great little restaurant as well and wine nights during the summer. :) (mmm wine! :))

On to something less aesthetically appealing.. haha.. The Tulsa Driller.. Okay, this dude was constructed for some reason unknown to me (I'm lazy and not looking it up) but he is situated just outside the Tulsa fairgrounds. To give you an idea, I come up to his shoe strings when standing. He's massive. And for some reason, people dress him up for events. It's weird.

Our skyline!! See the tallest building? Eric works in that! See the one with the angular roof? I used to work in that one at the law firm! It's called the "Midcontinent" building and was built in 1918! The tall one where Eric works was constructed by the same peeps who did the World Trade towers in NYC! :) Here is our brand new Bok Center! Thanks to this amazing venue (opened last year), Tulsa has gotten not only a stronger downtown, but also some great acts like Brit Brit, Elton John, Janet Jackson, etc.. Stuff like that used to only come to Oklahoma City, so this is HUGE for us! The center was just ranked number 5 in the US and number 14 in the world for ticket sales!! I guess we were hard up for some fun around here.. haha! :)

And this post would not be complete without some info about TU. :) I'm a proud alumni of Tulsa for both undergrad and law school. :) My mom went to TU, too! They've done some amazing things with the campus and here's just one of the new buildings. We tailgate in a field in front of this building and these fountains! :)

There's so much to say about Tulsa and I'm finding that pics aren't doing it justice! There's an outdoor shopping area modeled after the plaza in Kansas City called Utica Square.. :) There are two dog parks now...one called Biscuit Acres that makes me laugh at the name. :) There's an area called "Cherry Street" with lots of local eateries and old, antique shops....and one called "Brookside" with quite a few bars and eateries. :)

People often call Tulsa "a town within a city" b/c you'll always run into at least one (if not 5) people you know anywhere you go. That can be annoying, sure.. but as I've gotten older, it's come to be quite charming and comforting. The guy at the deli I like knows what sandwich I always order. The servers at my favorite sushi place greet me by name. Yet if I want to be anonymous, I know where to go in order for that to happen. :) There's something to be said for midwest hospitality and Tulsa is definitely no exception. I love it. I had many years where I wanted to escape....to get as far away as I could. I don't know what I was really escaping, but I think a lot of it wasn't really Tulsa. Anyway, I've come to respect my roots here...and to love the city...and to get involved in its development and future...and to aid in community organizations to make it a better city. Tulsa's a good place with a lot more history, culture and diversity than people realize. :)

So, there's a snippit of my city...I could go on and on, but I'll stop so I can get this posted!! Please link yours if you decide to join in! Post as much or as little as you'd like! :) And no matter where you are, have a fabulous Thursday!