Caption this challenge: Pink Ladies

pink1It is great when you go visit a friend in a city you have never been before. There are always hidden gems that a local knows that you would probably never otherwise get to if you were there on your own.

After an emotional visit to the Oklahoma City memorial it was time to for something sweet and cold to drink to break up the summer heat. Where should we go? Our resident and tour guide said, I have just the place. We drove towards downtown and parked at a place called Pinkitzel. What is Pinkitzel anyways? I am  sure the owners were crazy about the colour pink as much as I am of the colour purple, about candy, cupcakes, sweet treats and more and how they could parlay that into a business idea. Viola, you have a pink paradise to visit and enjoy and satisfy your sweet tooth and so much more.

It is in a very unassuming building in area of Oklahoma City called Bricktown. Once you pink5walk inside you are transformed into a land of pink. A beautiful fancy candy store filled with glass jars of decorative and unique candy, novelty items and sweet smelling treasures.

Did I mention the cupcakes? They are baked fresh daily and one of the things I loved wpinkas that they weren’t too large so you could have one and not feel guilty about enjoying something so delicious. There were very decadent flavours like Turtle Cheesecake, Chocolate Truffle, Chocolate malt and specialties like Chocolate Salted Caramel, Peanut butter nutella and of course Pink Lemonade.

There is a room at the back that is filled with every thing a young lady would want to have at a pink themed birthday party. I am not a young lady (cough cough) and I would have a party there in a heartbeat.

You can enjoy your cupcakes, maccarons and truffles to go or in a really nice decorative cafe. Since it was summer in Oklahoma city, we opted for the air conditioned cafe to enjoy our cupcakes.

I know that there are cupcake novelty shops all over most major cities in North America and there is always the question of where to find the best of but I will tell you, the cupcakes were delicious, the ambiance was right on the money for me. If you are every in Oklahoma you should give this one a try.

 

Caption this challenge: Wedding bliss

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I am not married. I have never been to a bridal show. Many bridal showers and weddings, but never the `show before the show`, until this past September. I will say that I am happy that I am old enough to know that when I may get married I will never go to one of these shows.

Our office participated in a booth for the Bridal Show at the International Centre this fall. Let’s just say walking in to find the booth, I was instantly overwhelmed and felt wedding nausea without even being a bride. If you have attended one of these events, you may know what I am talking about. Or not. Maybe you loved every minute of this wedding show madness, who knows. Maybe I am just too old for it.

Rows upon rows of event venues, tuxedo rentals, travel agencies, hotels, bakeries andimg_4798 accessories. More accessories than you could ever imagine in one place. The booths are overwhelming. Of course they want to showcase the “ultimate” wedding displays which from a sales perspective I totally understand. However, “if” I was a young bride to be, coming with my entourage.

Let’s call it what it is. It is all about getting you on their email marketing list. I am well aware of it working in sales and at my own booth as well. There are people that are professional trade show goers. They print their own labels so that they don’t have to waste time filling out ballots at every booth where there is some sort of giveaway. Having worked at many shows over the years, I always get a chuckle at that.

wedThe entourage is a whole other part of the experience. Mothers of brides who want something different than the bride. I spoke to one bride who had just gotten engaged the week before. When I wished her congratulations, the mother very obviously rolled her eyes. Mother “not” approved, it appeared to be. Why bring her to a bridal show where you are clearly excited to be planning your nuptials if your family isn’t on board. That is something in sales you need to stay as far away from as possible – family drama. Every situation has it.

I will end this with one last comment I was surprised about – where the food samples? I would have thought there would be bakery samples, food tastings, etc. We had an Inn across the aisle from our booth who was making this risotto which was a great sample, but other than that, there wasn’t much. No cake?  No cupcakes? No truffles? I did stop at the LCBO travelling wine truck and sampled some wine (of course) but that was it. Tales of a classic foodie.

Thanks for sharing in my stories. I would love to hear your comments on your bridal show experiences if you had one.

Live your best life,

Lisa

Caption this challenge day one: The waterslide

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People are different on vacation. Everything about your day to day life changes. It is a wonderful thing. I never take that for granted. I know that I enjoy sleeping in, eating when I and whatever I want, chatting with new people and more importantly, having experiences that take me out of my comfort zone and help me grow.

I had once such moment on my cruise this past October. It wasn’t exactly my shining moment in the sun, which also made me tell my friends that this experience will never leave the ship. Well, guess what, it has and it will today in this post. It was mortifying while it was happening, almost brought me to tears (who am I kidding did bring me to tears) but now I am over it and it is hilariously funny.

I don’t remember ever going down a water slide. I mean, not just recently, but ever. I have always been a bigger person and the thought of not being able to get all the way down the slide was something I would never want to attempt.

There was a slide on the cruise I was on. It wasn’t a big slide by any stretch, but for the first few days I watched my friends go down and they had a great time. They kept asking me and I kept saying no thank you.

I must have had a few too many mango margaritas but I finally said yes. There we were, four grown adults waiting on the stairs mixed in with a whole bunch of much younger little kids. Up to the top I went, waiting and froze. I had no idea what to do. Sit down, give a push and go. Seemed simple enough. Held on to the bar and pushed and away I went.

I had no idea what to do. I was sitting up and that wasn’t really working so I laid down on my back. The water was rushing down my face and it was so relaxing. Yes, until I realized that the slide was not that big and why was it taking so long to get to the bottom. Well….you had to BE MOVING to get to the bottom.

Yes, there I was in the middle of the slide enjoying the water rushing down my face, but that was about it. I sat up and all my friends were yelling at me from the top. Mortified – hell yes! Not at the bottom but somewhere in the middle of this not very big slide.

Somehow got to the bottom and then my friends followed. Laughing hysterically at my situation. I, on the other hand, didn’t see the humour in the experience. It was my nightmare coming to reality. After I told my friends we will never discuss this again, I thought to myself that I shouldn’t be embarrassed I should be proud of myself for doing something that scared me.

Lessons learned:

  1. I will probably never go on a water slide again. Been there, done that, check.
  2. Being with your friends and people you trust makes it okay. You are safe.
  3. It is okay to try something and not like it.
  4. Your comfort zone does have boundaries, but it is okay to step outside of the lines. You may even enjoy it, or not, but either way you will be just fine.

I wonder what I will attempt on my next adventure. Stay tuned to find out.

Live your best life,

Lisa