Vicki's Blog

I told you I would let you know how the gingerbread house competition came out. Hard to believe, since we had the best one, but my team lost. We had a crosshatch roof, a licorice walkway and a candy corn fence with beautifully decorated Christmas trees . . . somehow the judge (a neighbor) liked the one with the big red hard candies on the roof better. Go figure! Anyway, I’m not bitter. Just determined to beat everyone next year.

We all went to the Philbrook last night to see the Festival of Trees and the Glow. The best part for us was the gingerbread houses, of course! We made notes of all the building materials that were used that were new to us. If you haven’t seen the trees and the stockings (one by our own Steve Smith, DJ at KBEZ) and the sculptures and the gingerbread houses, don’t miss it. The museum is open late on Thursdays and Sundays until Christmas.

On a sad note, a precious colleague, who has been in the wedding community for many years, died suddenly last Tues. Her name was Talesa Samuel and I knew her when she worked at the Renaissance Hotel. She may have helped some of you with your weddings. She was only 38 years old and had 3 young children. My mother, who is 78, went back to St. Louis after spending a week with us. I will miss her being here and can’t help but wonder how many more visits we have. That’s because of her age but, in reality, we don’t know how much time we have with any of our loved ones, young or old.

I know it sounds trite, but it’s true anyway, that we should enjoy each day we have with the people we love. When my mother is gone I will wish I worked less and visited her more. Talesa and I were supposed to have had lunch together after she moved to the Doubletree but we never did. And now we never can. So meet for lunch, sit and talk, color with the kids and listen attentively. These are some of the things that are important from an eternal perspective.

Just have to tell you about our weekend. My husband Rod and I flew to Houston last Thurs. afternoon to attend the Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50 Awards ceremony and conference. Our Aug. ‘08 Show was one of the recipients and we had a fabulous time! We’ve been “wined and dined” a time or two in our lives but never like this! We kept wondering if they had made a mistake because every time we turned around someone was giving us something. The city of Houston left a great gift bag, strawberries and dip . . well, I’m embarrassed to say it was absolutely over the top and everything was spectacular. What else would you expect from a group that was putting on an event for people who put on tradeshows! We came back with wonderful memories and a very heavy clear glass award.

While we were there it so happened that the Nutcracker Market was going on. It is a show that happens every year and is put on as a benefit for the Houston Ballet. It was huge with hundreds of exhibitor booths and a total overload experience. I was only there for about an hour and a half, which was a laughably short time to actually shop the show so I mostly walked around and looked at the booths from a tradeshow producer’s point of view. Very interesting stuff and I learned alot. I also saw many of the same things we can get here. One unique booth had some gorgeous (pricey of course), handmade beaded purses and they had a bridal line. You would enjoy seeing them. They are at Laura Lee Designs and show up fairly well on the website.

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are having a houseful, including my Mom from St. Louis, and our second annual Gingerbread House competition. I’ll let you know how it comes out!

I was lucky to get to read the paper this morning. If I get to it at all it is in the evening or the next day. I was really glad I got to it early today because when I opened the Scene section I saw a familiar face. Arin Zinke of Zinke Design was featured in an article entitled, “A Tale of Two Sisters”. I know Arin because she is an extraordinary event planner whose company has participated in the Show several times. She and her sister Jessie have started their own line of lingerie and it’s being carried by stores across the country. I called Arin to congratulate her and commented on how fast it all seemed to have happened. I should have known better! She laughed as all successful people do when someone says something like that, because they have months and years of hard work to look back on before the results started coming in. She also told me that they have several beautiful designs tailored toward weddings. So Congratulations, Arin, on another milestone in a career I look forward to continuing to follow.

To find Zinke Design intimates and loungewear here in Tulsa, get in touch with Deborah Croisant, owner of Muse Intimates in Utica Square.