While the holiday season descend upon Tulsa, Oklahoma, like every other part of the country, if the football team is doing well, they may barely notice the leaves turning color and the temperature dropping. Forgive the out-of-state relatives if they take you for a Boomer Sooner fan-or send them some fruit cake as a means of getting even. But when you get some time to pull yourself away from the television, radio and local sports authority; you will want to know what your options are for getting shopping down.

Holiday decorations are not just for Halloween, but there are plenty of decorations made to celebtrate Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, and if you have a crazy Scottish neighbor, you might even see a kilt appear for St. Andrew’s Day. So when the football is over and you need to get out of the house and get the shopping done, what are your options?

Tulsa, Oklahoma residents definitely live out of driving distance for the Mall of America, so it is probably good to rule that out. While online stores like eBay, Amazon.com, and Overstock offer great opportunities and deals to buy Christmas gifts for everyone, they are not the best place to find actual Christmas and holiday decorations. So what does Tulsa, Oklahoma have to offer?

First, let’s skip over the obvious choices. It is likely, everyone reading this knows they can go shop at Wal Mart, Kohls and Target to get just about anything they want or need, especially if it is a Super Wal mart, and the same can be said about Target and Super Target. In addition, you do not go online to find out about the mall that is just a few miles from you. So here are some resources in Tulsa, Oklahoma that are worth checking out:

Collectibles, Gifts and Novelties

Looking for a new cookie jar or relish container? One of these spots has what you are looking for — at least we believe they will.

1. Becky’s Hallmark Shop 11109 E 41st St # B. Tulsa, OK. (918) 628-1766
2. Collectible Toys 14002 E 21st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 234-4806
3. Collector’s Choice Racing 9216 E Admiral Pl. Tulsa, OK. (918) 835-5855
4. Cookie Jars Of Tulsa 122 S Lewis Ave. Tulsa, OK. (918) 582-0245
5. Cornerstone Memories Inc 102 S 1st St. Jenks, OK. (918) 298-5962
6. Emporium 4265 Southwest Blvd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 445-9201
7. Fancy That 206 S Main St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 258-7499
8. Fast Thred’s 2122 S Memorial Dr. Tulsa, OK. (918) 664-3287
9. Glow Collectibles 1210 E 41st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 743-5858
10. Heartfelt Collections 4980 E 105th St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 299-9986
11. I-44 Antiques & Collectibles 5147 S Peoria Ave. Tulsa, OK. (918) 712-2222
12. Karen’s Classic & Collectible 701 S Main St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 259-9057
13. Pat’s Hallmark 1105 E Kenosha St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 251-3116
14. Perfect Touch 4932 E 91st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 496-8118
15. Postman Hallmark 6324 E Admiral Pl. Tulsa, OK. (918) 838-0573
16. Rathbone’s Flair Collectibles 211 E Main St. Jenks, OK. (918) 299-2349
17. Sooner Stamps & Watkins 4612 E 31st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 749-5897
18. Weldon’s Collectibles 5026 S Sheridan Rd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 622-3613
19. White Bear Antiques & Teddy 1301 E 15th St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 592-1914
20. Williams Cottage 6216 S 72nd East Ave. Tulsa, OK. (918) 492-7125

We found these locations using Best of Tulsa Yellow Pages.

Crafts and Craft Supplies

Crafts and Craft supplies stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma are an abundant source of decorations, decoration ideas, and everything in between to really get you rolling for the holidays. Between all the Hobby Lobby, Mardels and Michael’s Arts and Crafts locations, we know you can find something to fancy up your home or office.

1. Crafters Market 9120 E 31st St # C. Tulsa, OK. (918) 622-0512
2. Heart To Heart Crafters Mall 114 W Dallas St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 251-5484
3. Mel’s Country Crafts Sand Springs, OK. 74063
4. OKHandmade Art, Gifts and Crafts Sand Springs 918-629-4785
5. Picket Fence 1000 N Elm Pl. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 258-2969
6. Quilted Bear 14002 E 21st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 438-4555
7. Sarah’s Arts & Crafts Designs 12640 E 31st Pl. Tulsa, OK. (918) 610-5142
8. Something Unique 110 E Main St. Jenks, OK. (918) 299-3322
9. Sullivan, Wayne 123 E Main St. Jenks, OK. (918) 299-0931
10. Airway Variety Store 8888 E Admiral Pl. Tulsa, OK. (918) 838-1901
11. Challenger N-Scale Hobbies 2230 E 56th Pl. Tulsa, OK. (918) 749-1634
12. Garden Ridge 11015 E 51st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 660-0543
13. Hobby Lobby 720 W New Orleans St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 455-3710
14. Hobby Lobby 8929 S Memorial Dr # 370. Tulsa, OK. (918) 250-5135
15. Hobby Lobby Creative Ctr 5130 S Harvard Ave. Tulsa, OK. (918) 749-8736
16. Hobby Lobby Creative Ctr 11205 E 31st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 664-7064
17. Jo Ann Fabrics & Crafts 5117 S Peoria Ave. Tulsa, OK. (918) 744-7621
18. Mavis Craft Shop 118 W Dallas St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 251-9799
19. Michael’s Arts & Crafts Inc 3116 S Garnett Rd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 622-8867
20. Michael’s Arts & Crafts Inc 8309 E 68th St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 254-2187
21. Rock Creek Emporium 2257 W Washington St. Broken Arrow, OK. (918) 451-5008
22. Silver Needle 6022 S Sheridan Rd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 493-1136
23. Tandy Leather Co 5010 S Sheridan Rd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 622-3996

Additional Shoppes of Interest

There are plenty of locations to start looking for holiday decorations in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma. You really just have to get out there, make a few stops and find what suits your desires best. We know of a few pretty decent locations to get some decorations for the upcoming holidays, so we thought we would share.

1. Pottery Barn at Utica Square 1864 Utica Sq. Tulsa, OK. (918) 743-1512
2. Pier 1 Imports at Utica Square 1926 Utica Sq. Tulsa, OK. (918) 742-1100
3. Pier 1 Imports 5255 S Sheridan Rd. Tulsa, OK. (918) 663-5546
4. Pier 1 Imports 9018 N 121st East Ave #500. Owasso, OK. (918) 272-4152
5. Garden Ridge 11015 E 51st St. Tulsa, OK. (918) 660-0543
6. Seasonal Concepts 10303 East 71st. Tulsa, OK. (918) 252-3396

Too Lazy to Light Up Your House

For many of you, storing, pulling out the lights, setting them up and making sure they stay lit for the holidays is a pain in the touche. If this is true, you could always check out Tulsa Christmas Lights, who will come out, get you setup with something beautiful and handle all the work for you!

The footnotes

There are plenty of resources in online yellow pages, super pages, white pages, and everything in between. We suggest you spend some time surfing around to find exactly what you are looking for. The absolute best place to get started is the wonderful Google, who can help you find local brick and mortar store locations and their online websites to help you find out if they have what you are looking for. Just in case you are new or visiting and not sure where the local Wal Marts and Target stores are, check out Yahoo! Search which we have linked up to outline their locations.

Watch with shock n awe, as the top Baristas from Green Country’s best cafés compete until one drops from a caffeine overdose. Not really, but you can catch the aromas, tastes and talent as Baristas challenge each other in a coffee contest that is a first for Tulsa and hosted by Café Topéca. Proprietor of
Café Topéca, John Gaberino III (Chip) says, “This will be an interactional event.” “Our (coffee) culture is at the right time for this (type of event)”.

So what is a “Barista”? A “barista” is a person who is a expertise in the making a espresso-based coffee drink. You know how cool those “art forms” on the top of the crème of your latte are and how quick you like your tasty beverage to be in your hands. Now is your chance to see artists at work during a day long competition against the best in Oklahoma right here in your own T-town.

The competition will be taken on by one representative from each participating café. They will get 10 minutes to perfect a espresso, cappuccino, and a personal “signature” drink (in the epitome of the Iron Chef”) for two USBC certified sensorial judges using manual grounding, dosing and tamping of the coffee beans. How serious is this? Besides the 2 sensory judges (one flying in from Nashville),
there will be 1 Technical judge and 1 head judge in the mix. The two sensory judges will judge
timeliness, consistency, cleanliness, quality, taste and presentation. 1st place gets $100, 1/2
day roasting class on a Detrich IR-12 Roaster., 2nd place-$50, 3rd place-$25 and 4th place a
can of Folders.

Participating cafés will be: Jews Coffee & Health, Coffee House on 15th Street, Café Topeca, DoubleShot, Shades of Brown, and Coffee Slingers.

All the details

Where Café Topéca, 115 West 5th Street (south-east side of the historic Mayo Hotel)
When Saturday, December 6th, 2008 at 10:00AM

A machine shop here in Tulsa is planning on adding 80+ jobs to its workforce. M&M Manufacturing Inc will be tripling the workforce with the new employees who make parts for the aerospace, automotive, medical and oil industries.

Jerry Faulkner, 27 & Tulsa native, wins the 3rd annual Route 66 marathon with a record breaking time of 2:27:20.

On Nov. 4th, all Tulsa area Chick-fil-A restaurants are being civic minded and giving all those who come in with an “I Voted” sticker the option to trade it in for a new sticker and a 3 count serving of their new Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips.

Tulsa ranks 3rd worst in the nation for digital TV switchover preparation. Apparently, we haven’t done enough to be ready for this change. A study found that over 14% of households in Tulsa “have done nothing to ensure” they’ll have reception. The government will even give you $40 to buy one.

One Million Miles! That’s correct, Tulsa’s been challenged by the mayor to walk, run, bike, even swim 1,000,000 miles.

Mayor Taylor says from the site, “It’s not just about weight loss. It’s about being active for life! I challenge everyone in Tulsa to make fitness and health a top priority in their lives.”

So basically, by making ourselves healthier; we’re happier and the city looks good in the process. Tulsa’s notorious for being an obese city. In 2005, we were ranked 22nd in the Top 25 Fattest Cities. The then Tulsa Mayor LaFortune took this information and challenged Tulsa to get healthier. It worked and in a recent study Tulsa is now 13th Fittest Cities. That’s impressive, but its not enough.

When our state’s most favorite foods consist of barbecue, fried “anything”, cornbread, etc…its no wonder why we’re fat! So get of your duff, get out in the city and get some exercise. Its good for you, good for your health, and good for our city to try to become more fit.

Soon, Tulsa will have a new technology that will be able to trace the location of a wireless 911 caller. On October 22nd, Tulsa’s new E-911 system goes online and should prove to be a valuable service for all Tulsa callers.

This new system will allow the 911 dispatchers to be able to locate a wireless caller within a half-block of their call. John Hampton, the manager of Tulsa’s 911 call center states “It’s based on the strength of the signal reaching each one of the (cell) towers…”.

Even though Tulsa’s E-911 system will be online this month, the cell phone providers are not required to adhere to this for another six months.

Is that acceptable to you? If not, call your cell phone provider and demand they expedite this process for the safety of all their customers.

Just for your convenience, ThisTulsa has provided all the customer service numbers for most of the local cellular companies. Call and demand they step up!

Updated:

AT&T

1-800-331-0500

Sprint

1-800-877-4646

T-Moble

1-800-T-MOBILE

US Cellular

1-888-944-9400

Verizon

1-800-922-0204

A local company, Tulsa Biofuels are recycling your old cooking oil into biodiesel. Instead of pouring it down the drain, take it to 81st & Lewis in the Wal-Mart parking lot where they’ll take it and convert it to a much cleaner burning fuel.

Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation, the North American division of a company based in Spain, soon plans to build a new biorefinery in southwestern Kansas that will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Oklahoma scientists are looking to use switchgrass as a component of ethanol at this facility. Realistically, this building wont be completed until mid 2011 right about the time this switchgrass will reach time for its full harvest. Even though this seems to be far off - time wise - it will form a sustainable form of income for the state and be a significant contribution to the biofuel industry.

Cellulose is the main ingredient in a plant’s cell walls and is “the most common organic compound in the world.” The biorefinery will use a “biochemical and thermochemical process” to convert said cellulose for its use in ethanol.

The demand for ethanol continues to outpace ethanol production which doesn’t help the transition from gasoline to ethanol. Many continue to be skeptical because of this inability to meet demand in our country.

The new refinery will be able to convert both starch-based and cellulosic products for their use in ethanol. Starch based products of course include corn, cereal grains, etc. and currently are the majority of the ethanol produced. The transition to more cullulosic products will help the demand by allowing more and more products to be used for this production.

Unfortunatly, this type of thing cant really happen quickly. This takes time. Facilities like this new biorefinery are paving the way forward for US companies.