Wes & Erica's vacation photo album// Tulsa, OK // June 2025

The June theme for my sewing club's sew & share is A June Wedding and, boy, did I fulfill that challenge!👰🤵 Wes & I got invited to my friend, Miranda's wedding so I made my dress, a garment bag, and her gift. The dress code was formal (evening) attire so the garment bag was extremely useful. Wes still had to steam his shirt at the hotel, but my dress came out in pristine condition. 💅 The wedding was in Tulsa so we made a little trip of it.  

Preview of wedding pictures... there WILL BE MORE!!
Fun fact: Andrea made her bridesmaid dress (top left). And even more impressive is that she sewed it in two days 😲

We dropped the dogs off at camp Friday morning, and headed out. The Road to Oklahoma shop hop is every June & July, and even though I've been an avid shopper for the past 3 shop hops, I've never visited any of the fabric stores around Tulsa. Our first stop once we got in town was to change that! 

Got my passport and block pattern. And, the striped fat quarter was the free shop hopper gift!

We went to The Quilting Studio. The store was gigantic with all sorts of fun quilting cottons. It was sort of a maze when you first walk in. 😵 There were several classrooms toward the back of the store, too. The shop hop special for the week was $2 fat quarters, but the specials change each Friday... the cashier forgot it was a new Friday so I got my 2 fat quarters at the discount! The only downside was that I had to spend at least $5 to use a credit card, so Wes had to grab all the change out of my car while I rummaged my purse for any cash I had. I guess I could have bought more to remedy this embarrassing situation but I'm trying to not buy too much fabric nowadays. 

I got the calamari banh mi and Wes got the fried chicken bowl. The cinnamon chips were weird as a side.

Next was lunch. 🥪 I saw an Instagram post about Lone Wolf years ago and have been wanting to try it each time we come to Tulsa... but then I find other restaurants I would rather try. LOL We finally made it, and while it was good, I kind of wish we ate somewhere else. 😕The restaurant was right next to Fixins Soul Kitchen (which was amazing... we had lunch there the last time we were in town) and Wes wanted to pivot to eating there again, but I stayed firm with banh mi. Like I said, the food was tasty; Wes said his chicken bowl was good, but my sandwich cost $13.50!! I've never paid more than $7 for a banh mi. Don't jack up the price because you "elevated" ethnic comfort food... ugh, so annoying. 😑

We still had time to kill before the hotel's check in time, so we headed to Scheel's after lunch. It is an enormous sporting goods & athletic apparel store. We were greeted by an aquarium at the entrance and a Ferris wheel in the middle of the store. We walked around both floors but barely looked at any sportswear. We spent most of our time in the pet🐕, snacks🍬, and toys 🏎 sections. In defense of our sportiness, I did look at Pilates attire and Wes looked at pocket knives... we just didn't buy any. We bought dog treats, candy, and Wes found some collectible Hot Wheels for a friend. 

My favorite hotel of all the places we've stayed at in Tulsa.

Our home for the rest of the day would be the Ambassador hotel. It is a historic hotel in downtown Tulsa. Our room was so nice!! It was a lot bigger than some of the others we've stayed in. The lobby had an alcove that was a photo booth, but the computer/camera didn't work 😞 We got to rest for about an hour before the wedding. I was going to curl my hair but my curling iron stopped working, so I took a power nap instead. Wes was worried we'd be late, but I know Miranda and I know weddings... both are rarely ever on time. LOL We had time to get all dressed up, drive to the venue, park on the street and walk to the ceremony, and still had about five minutes to spare!

I saw on their website that the Dresser Mansion has tours, so I'll have to add that to the to-do list the next time we're in Tulsa.

The wedding was at the Dresser Mansion. 🏡 The mansion is a historic site (with the actual National Register of Historic Places designation) built in the 1900s. The house is kept in its original state with art and furniture in all its rooms. We got to walk through a couple of the rooms on our way out to the back patio where the wedding was going to be held. I should have assumed a June wedding would be outdoors but I was so surprised (and a little annoyed) that it was. The mansion had such large, beautiful, air conditioned rooms.

Right as we got settled into our seats, I realized I left Miranda's present (that I spent an entire week working on) in my car! 😖 It was already a little past when the wedding was supposed to start, but I know these things never start on time so I asked Miranda's mom and the officiant if I had 5-10 minutes to run to my car to grab something, and they both said no. So we stayed put in our seats while I sweated & stressed out about the gift. I guess it would have sucked if we missed Miranda's grand entrance. She and her dad appeared on the balcony and came down the stairs for us. She looked so happy. 😊 (In hindsight, I would have had plenty of time to run to the car, grab the gift and make it back into our seats.)

The ceremony was beautiful. 💕 Miranda looked gorgeous in her dress! She and her husband had a wine ceremony where she poured some white wine into a goblet, then he added some red wine to it, and they drank the combination. The wine had been sitting out in the heat all afternoon so I doubt it tasted good but it was a cute gesture. LOL At the end, they were announced as Mr. & Mrs. Mulkey... he took her last name!! That was the first time I've seen that and thought it was so cool!!

They had personalized Pop figures (bottom center left) #soadorable
One of our wedding gifts was a guitar pick with their picture on it (Miranda is a musician); also freaking adorable! (right, third from top)

There was an open bar so we all hung out and drank after the ceremony. Fun, but less so because it was outside in the early evening heat. (🌞 It would be another 2-3 hours before the sun set.) Initially, Kelly from sewing club, was the only other person I recognized, but then I noticed some other familiar faces. We all stood about in the +90℉ heat and talked about how hot it was, but was thankful it wasn't storming. Yay for summer in Oklahoma. 😒 By pure coincidence, we sat at a table with Kelly and Donna... Miranda's two other friends who sew! We had homemade authentic pork tacos made by one of the groom's friend's family. 🌮 The tortillas were so good!! I ate four 😋 I was hot, starving, and slightly buzzed by dinner time so I forgot to take any pictures of the meal.

We watched the first dances, cake cutting (🍰cake was also delicious and I ate it all before I remembered to take a picture), and listened to toasts after dinner. I've been to plenty of weddings, and I think Miranda & Josh have the most caring and genuine friends. Their toasts were so heartfelt; I almost started crying when Andrea started crying during her maid-of-honor speech. Then Josh gave a speech about how happy he is to have joined their family and how much he loves Miranda.💑 I would have been weeping along with him if I wasn't so mad about how hot & sweaty I was. One of his seemingly drunk friends grabbed the microphone after his super emotional speech to give an annoying bro speech, which I thought was kind of rude but it was a good segue into the next round of activities for the night. We had the anniversaries dance (Wes & I came in third with 10 years; Miranda's parents won with 48 years!), the shoe game, and the bouquet toss. 💐We were chatting with her before the toss and I was about to take a picture with her when the DJ announced it. I was like, we'll find you later for our picture. She insisted that we take it now, so I stupidly replied, but you have to toss your bouquet. Then I remembered she's the bride and I should take a picture with her and everyone else can wait. I was four drinks in by this time... and there was no water. Insanity. We were all outside, there was an open bar, jug of lemonade & tea that kept getting refilled, but no water. There was a small jug of water at the beginning of dinner, but no one knew where more was after it ran out (and trust me when I say I asked around). The bartender took pity on me and gave me a cup of ice with a little bit of melted water from the bottom of his bucket. 💦 I knew it was time to head out when heat exhaustion and dehydration started setting in. LOL 

The wedding was a ton of fun and the food was amazing (much better than your standard wedding catered fare); I'm extremely glad & thankful Miranda thought to invite us and let us be a part of her special night. 😍 My dress was literally stuck to me by the time we got to the hotel. I showered, drank an entire bottle of water and promptly fell asleep. I didn't even notice when Wes got in bed. 😂

We got there just before the rush. I've learned that if we're going to a popular breakfast spot, it's best to get seated before 10am.

The next morning, we went to Bramble for breakfast. It was so good! I got the birria chilaquiles; highly recommend. They had a breakfast cocktail menu but all I wanted was water. (I would definitely go again and I'll get a mimosa then.) Wes said he liked his breakfast, but the sausage wasn't as done as he'd like and the latkes were a little over done... if only they met in the middle.

I told myself I was only buying fat quarters for the shop hop block patterns, but I couldn't pass up the Ruby Star fabric with the dainty bows.

We stopped in Sand Springs on our way home. I had another fabric store to visit! We went to Quilt Nuts. It wasn't as big as the shop in Tulsa, but I liked it more. The owner was friendlier and the store just had more welcoming vibes. Most of the fabrics weren't my style, but she had Ruby Star Society on the clearance rack!! 😲 This NEVER happens. I asked how much it was discounted and she said 70% 😮, so I had to get 3 1/2 yards. Main Street in Sand Springs had a ton of cute little boutiques & antique shops, but we couldn't browse because we had to pick up the dogs from camp early. We did stop into Boulder Coffee for a driving home drink. I got the Almond Joy cold brew, but without coconut syrup, so it was more of a chocolate covered almond-flavored cold brew. 🥤 Wes got a plain cold brew and said it tasted average. 

I am so jealous of this lush & healthy basil plant. Mine is dead. 😢

It was a short trip out of town this time, but we enjoyed it. 😀 I really liked the hotel we stayed at, and am glad we got to attend Miranda's wedding. I would consider her sister, Andrea, a close friend but I was a little surprised when we got Miranda's wedding invitation. Wes & I have been to a bunch of weddings, and I think (and Wes would agree) that we felt most welcome & comfortable at this one. It was like we all knew each other and were ready for a good time... more like an evening out with friends than a formal wedding. We talked to everyone, including Miranda's parents, and everyone was just so authentically happy to be there. 💗 Best wishes to Josh & Miranda Mulkey!! 

Wes and Erica's vacation photo album // Tulsa, OK // December 2023

We went to one of my friend's weddings in Tulsa. Wes absolutely hates selfies. 

One of my childhood friends got married on December 2nd and we got to celebrate with her. 🎉 The wedding was on a Saturday afternoon in Tulsa (only a 2 hour drive), so we could have just went and came back... but why waste a chance to take a mini vacation and eat out as much as we can??!?

A suitcase Christmas tree... very appropriate for a hotel lobby. We stopped in Barnes & Noble after dinner for my Unicorno. They had the sky mochi series, which I've been wanting! 🦄

My friend, Chinh, and I met as alter-boys (are they called alter-persons now?) at St. Patrick Catholic church in middle school. (She's a bit younger than I am so I think I was in high school and she was in middle school... regardless it was a loooong time ago). I haven't talked to her in ages so I was pretty surprised when I got the wedding invitation from Zola. I was so surprised that I texted my mom to make sure she also got an invitation, and to make sure that it wasn't spam. LOL My mom texted Chinh's mom and confirmed that yes, we are all invited to celebrate this happy day. 👰 

Our first meal in Tulsa was dinner at Zogam Café, a Malaysian restaurant. The restaurant was a tiny spot in a shopping center. It was really hard to find since their sign was unlit and we came when it was already dark. This was my first time having Malaysian food and it was really good. 🥘My favorite part was the runny egg on top of my fried rice. (Wes said he would have preferred his egg fried.) I also liked the bits of anchovy mixed into my rice. The only thing I didn't like too much was that the sweet & sour sauce for the tofu was way too garlicy, but I'm not a huge garlic fan so that's on me and not the restaurant. The restaurant had pictures of Malaysian landscape hung on the walls. One of the pictures showed two men looking off into the mountains, it didn't show their faces but I swear one of the men in the pictures was our waiter. 🌄

We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Daily Grill, the next morning. About the hotel - we stayed at the Hyatt downtown and the valet service was superb. 🚗 Like, seriously the best! The Grinch musical was performing at the BOK center when we arrived, and there was some sort of professional bull riding/rodeo convention going on at the hotel that same night. Regardless of how busy it was, we were still checked in super fast and my car was parked right away. And it was brought right back out as soon as we needed it. We came and went a lot so we got to know both the day and night valet drivers. Both were excellent. 👍 Anyway, back to breakfast. We originally were going to walk to Dily Diner. It was only about a 10 minute walk but it was 37℉, and I only packed a hoodie (silly me forgot my jacket in our haste to leave the house). I got an everything lox bagel and Wes got the steak and eggs. He said the skirt steak was marinated really well. I liked my bagel but I think the restaurant was pricier than the tastiness of the food. 

Notice how there are no pictures from inside the market because it was just a giant slow moving crowd.

We had some time between breakfast and the wedding ceremony so we went to the German Christkindlmarkt. 🎄🎅 It is an annual tradition at the German Association events center. The events center is very small and the market is very large. I've been a vendor at events that try to cram in as many vendors as possible and it is NOT an enjoyable experience. All the shoppers are funneled through like cattle since there is literally no aisle space and you don't really get to interact with anyone. I did not enjoy the Christkindlmarkt at all because there was zero room to browse & shop. I'm sure the building was 5-10 times over capacity and we'd all be in danger if there was a fire or any other sort of emergency. There were a few booths I would have liked to look in but I couldn't get near them because of the crowds. It was awful. Even so, we still managed to support a few local vendors. We bought honey butter, Wes bought a bookmark, and I bought Christmas ornament (pen pal gift). One of the German association members collects nativity figurines which she displayed in a tiny room (probably a broom closet) called Bethlehem village. She had so much stuff!! All the figurines were laid out in a cityscape on a table. 

Now onto the wedding of Chinh & Steve. 💗 This is by far the nicest and most elaborate wedding I have ever attended. Chinh was flanked by 3 photographers and a videographer everywhere she went. She also had a drone circling overhead for the outdoor events. The ceremony was held at Holy Family Cathedral and the Bishop of the Tulsa & northeastern Oklahoma diocese presided. ⛪ It was a traditional Catholic wedding with a full mass. No cell phones were allowed so I didn't get any pictures but it was a beautiful ceremony. We had a sendoff afterward and a 3 hour break before the reception.

We went back to the hotel to grab a snack at Topeca Coffee. I got a strawberry Italian soda (good but I wish it had whipped cream on top) and a salted chocolate chip cookie. 🍪☕Wes got a juniper berry latte which he said had too much berry and not enough juniper. (He got a cold brew from the café previously and said it was good).

Reception time!! 🙌We all gathered in the foyer of the Big 10 Ballroom for a meet & greet with Chinh and Steve. We got a turn to take a picture with them and sign their wedding book. Once the reception officially started, we were ushered in and found our tables. Wes & I weirdly weren't seated with my mom & stepdad. There were a few others from St. Patrick there but none of us were seated together. Wes says it's so we can mingle and meet new people, but I would have preferred sitting with old friends to catch up. The reception started with a traditional Vietnamese lion dance! 🦁

To all of my friends who plan on getting married soon -if your wedding reception doesn't involve a lion dance, I'm not coming. LOL

Then it was time to eat; there was a Vietnamese buffet on one side of the room and an El Salvadorian buffet on the other. 🍴I stood in line on the El Salvadorian side behind one of the groomsmen and got tips from him on what to get. He suggested the mixed pupusa (with pork, beans and cheese) and it was so good!! I ate from both buffets and enjoyed the Salvadorian stuff more. The reception had all the usual dances and speeches, and it was all very nice (and extremely organized!) The other neat thing, besides the lion dance, was a troupe of Salvadorian dancers came out to perform traditional dances. Around 9pm, we had a faux sendoff (drone awaiting) where Chinh & Steven got into a Rolls Royce, drove around the parking lot and came right back in. LOL It was freezing outside. It gave us oldies a chance to go home while the cool kids danced the night away. 

The next morning, we had brunch at Kilkenny's. I've always heard great things about this restaurant but have never been. It got the traditional Irish breakfast and it was SO MUCH FOOD!! I only ate half of it. It was really good but I think I prefer an American breakfast. 😅My favorite part was the grilled tomato - a whole tomato!! 🍅 I only expected a slice or two. 

After breakfast, we stopped in Hey Boba to get drinks for the road. I got a honeydew milk-tea with boba and Wes got a passion fruit oolong tea with boba. Both were standard drinks and pretty good. The owner is what made this café so cool. Aside from being a boba café owner, she teaches Sunday morning square dance lessons at the park and she is a horticulturist. 🌱🌸She grows Chinese plants in her yard and brings them to sell at the café. I bought a Chinese mum and she gave me very thorough instructions on how to take care of it. 🌺🌿She is the sweetest lady; she gave us a piece of oatmilk candy for being her first customers of the day. 

My plant is currently enjoying the weather on the patio. I'll take a post a picture in a few weeks if it survives. 🤞

And that wraps up Tulsa. We have to wait a week at home, and then it's my annual birthday trip to Carrollton, TX to eat at as many restaurants as we can at the Carrollton Town Center! Until then ✌

Saved the best picture for last: delicious wedding food!! 😋