Stormy weather

Wow, it has been a stormy April here in the midwest and the south this spring. Knock on wood, nothing like this picture has come close to our Tulsa bed and breakfast.
The Inn at Woodward Park does have a disaster plan in place. During storm season upon check-in, I show guests where the door to the basement is located. I inform them if the sirens sound at any time day or night that they may go there. We have emergency lights throughout the Inn that are plugged in to outlets in the hallways and guest rooms. These lights come on if the power goes out or they are unplugged. Guests can use them to light the way if necessary. These lights are inexpensive and can be found at any home improvement store.
In the basement, I keep bottled water, individually wrapped snack crackers, a first aid kit, a battery operated radio and a flashlight. A charged cell phone is a good thing to have also. The laundry is down in the basement, so there are plenty of blankets. I have a lot of pictures albums of my kids growing up down there that we could entertain ourselves with. I have some great pictures of me with the big hair of the 80s.
The Inn at Woodward Park is located about a mile from the Council Oak Tree that was a meeting place of the Creek Indians and ,according to legend, blessed ground. The oak tree still stands and is over 100 years old. It survived the ice storm several years ago without losing a limb while trees all over Tulsa crashed down. I am hoping we are close enough that we are protected here as well.
If you don't have a disaster plan at your home or place of business, make one now. The Red Cross can help you with that. My sons were Boy Scouts and I believe in the motto "Be Prepared."

Girlfriend weekend

I recently had the pleasure of being one of the girls at a girlfriend getaway weekend at my own Tulsa bed and breakfast. Four of us are pictured here. I'm the second from the right. One had a plane delay and didn't make it for lunch. We all attended high school together but had lost touch over the years. Thanks to facebook we have connected again. Some of us had not seen each other for many years. I'm not going to even tell you how many years! But we had a blast catching up and all those years just melted away. The ladies showed up around noon, parked the car in the driveway of the B&B. After unloading their bags and picking their rooms, we walked 6 blocks through the Swan Lake neighborhood to an area known as Cherry Street.
We had a pleasant walk enjoying the varied style of homes on our way. Swan Lake neighborhood is a historically protected neighborhood with homes dating from 1907. You can find small Arts and Crafts bungalows to grand Italiante Revival Mansions here. Spring had sprung and many yards were in full bloom. Arriving at Cherry Street, located on 15th Street between Peoria Ave and Harvard Ave; we had a wide choice of places to eat. We chose the Full Moon Cafe with the outside patio. Two of us had their famous tortilla soup which is cheese based and unique and yummy. On our walk back, we visited Swan Lake. Swan Lake is a spring fed pond home to a pair of white swans. It is fenced with a walkway all the way around. We saw the swans, geese, ducks, turtles, fish and a heron.
Then it was off to the airport to pick up the late arrival. We returned to the Inn at Woodward Park and sat upstairs in the sunroom overlooking Woodward Park. We opened a bottle of wine and had a great visit. Later that evening we walked back to Cherry Street for dinner. We could have gone to Utica Square, an upscale shopping and restaurant area, which is just two blocks away. One friend is of Irish descent so we decided to have dinner at Kilkenney's Irish Pub. We let my husband join us for dinner. Kilkenney's really seems like an Irish Pub. It is always crowded and loud and fun.
We returned to the Inn and set outside on the covered side patio, drinking more wine and telling remember when stories.
The next morning I served us all hash brown casserole, bacon, blueberry scones, fruit salad, OJ and coffee. My husband was so thoughtful. He cleaned up after breakfast so the girls and I could walk across the street to Woodward Park. The park was gorgeous. The azaleas, redbuds, tulips, and dogwoods were all in bloom. We took a lot of pictures of each other with the park as background. We enjoyed seeing families there taking pictures of their children and got to experience a dog's first meet up with a brave squirrel.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. My friends all packed up to leave and we all hugged and said our good-byes vowing not to wait so long to see each other again. I think we will keep that promise. It was such a heart warming experience. I hope you can get together with your girlfriends soon and do the same thing. You will be glad you did.

Feng shui the front door

I can't say I am a master of feng shui but I do enjoy learning about it and putting in place some of the practices. I feel anything that helps me to live a more positive, enjoyable life is a good thing. Here are some things I have learned about feng shui and the front door. The front door of our Tulsa bed and breakfast is right in the center. This means we are inviting in positive career opportunities, fitting since this is my career. The orange color stands for enthusiasm, joy, interaction and fun. All things I want my guests to experience at the Inn at Woodward Park. Feng shui teaches that the front entrance is the first impression of yourself that others see and. as such it should reflect you. I hope that my front entrance does give the impression of being a warm and welcoming entrance to a fun place to stay. Would you like to know what the color of your front door means? A red front door is very fortunate. It uplifts the energy and opportunities coming through your door. A gold door calls in prosperity. A green door symbolizes money and health. Purple calls in spiritual energies. A blue door stands for calmness and serenity. Brown is stability and warmth. Black is strength and elegance. White is purity, honesty and faith. Do you need to paint your front door to reflect who you are or want you want to invite in?