I haven’t worn shoes to work in almost two years.
So, when I do get the rare opportunity to be seen by others in a greater resolution than Zoom can offer, I make sure to take advantage of it. This week, to celebrate her 28th birthday, my sister and I got all gussied up to go downtown in OKC and have some holiday fun.
Even though it’s been nearly two years, it’s crazy to think about how much has changed since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2019, going out for a night on the town meant planning outfits with friends days in advance and everybody getting different drinks throughout the night to share. I never would have thought that 2021 would mean that instead I’d be planning out a round of vaccinations two weeks in advance of an event like I did for my booster shot earlier this month. I also never would have thought that “dressing up” for a night on the town would soon mean “dressing like HGTV realtors” in nice tops and sensible shoes.
We are hosting an open house from 2-4 on Sunday off of MacArthur. Find our Keller Williams profile on Zillow.
After my sweet husband drove us downtown after being bribed with a new game for his Switch out of the kindness of his heart, we started off the evening at The Manhattan OKC.
At the bartender’s suggestion, I ordered the Scofflaw, which consisted of grenadine, lemon, rye, and vermouth, as my sister ordered something called the “Rosery” since she was skipping mass Saturday night. We killed time reviewing the drink menu and discussing our overconfidence in our ability to craft any cocktail that wasn’t a rum and coke before heading up to our dinner reservations.
Literally.
Since this was the first time in about five years that we were both dressed nice for an occasion other than a funeral, we thought we’d commemorate by enjoying dinner at Vast atop the Devon Tower. We took the ear-popping elevator ride to the 49th floor and enjoyed a Thai Sky at the bar before being escorted to our table overlooking the Oklahoma City skyline.
From this height, you can almost make out something other than the Paycom Center lights.
We made small talk with our server, from whom I had learned...
1. That Vast is the setting of at least 3-4 engagements per week and,
2. One of the servers is apparently cursed and has served at least two declined engagements. My sister and I then ordered our respective steak preferences.
She likes her medium rare. I like mine butternut.
After being served a complimentary birthday cheesecake as if we were in a high-class Applebee’s, the tab was paid and our way was made to the Civic Center Music Hall for the Saturday night showing of the Nutcracker Suite. The last time I saw the Nutcracker was around 2003 in the SWOSU Fine Arts Center in Weatherford. No offense to the college sophomores putting on the last production for course credit, but Saturday night’s performance was the best ballet I’ve seen yet. The athleticism, discipline, and ability of the performers, paired with the talent of the orchestra made for a delightful Christmas program that could put anyone in the holiday spirit despite this week’s 72-degree weather forecast.
Once we were hella cultured and joined in the standing ovation of the performance, it was time to leave. Being that the Thunder game had let out about the same time, leading the cost of a Lyft back to Edmond to be about 35 bucks, my sister and I thought it would be more cost-effective to grab one more drink while we wait for the ridesharing pool to repopulate and prices to go down. After I got us hella lost trying to use Apple maps, we eventually found our way to the last stop of the night – Flint.
Bartender Matt hooked us up with classy cocktail recommendations while Shawn, who we gathered was an off-duty bartender, entertained us with Norm McDonald jokes and what we think was supposed to be an Irish accent. The next half hour or so was spent people watching, catching up on Thunder game highlights on the bar TV, and swiping through the plethora of pictures my sister and I took to capture the fun of our evening.
Around 10:30, we secured a much-cheaper Lyft back home, during which our driver took us through a journey of a few wrong turns narrated by the story of her divorce. She was a sweet woman who earned her 5-star rating and dropped us off just shy of 11:00 PM. The rest of our evening was spent in our pajamas, already reminiscing about the fun we had a few hours before and planning our next adventure.
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Girls just want to have fun. Broads just want to have adventure. Follow Hayley on twitter @squirrellygeek and become a contributing member of TLO here.
