Shop. Eat. Play.
Local Flavor What’s In Store Shop Edmond Christmas Light Driving Guide Finding Family Life Happens
Table Of Contents
Vol. 7 2015 Issue 10
Publishers/Editorial/ Photography Chris Hultner Sherri Hultner For Commercial Photography Call Chris Hultner @ 405.315.6405 chrish@edmondactive.com
To Advertise contact us at: sherrih@edmondactive.com
405-315-7325 To submit editorial, events or PR: Sherrih@Edmondactive.com
Social Media: www.Issuu.com/EdmondActive www.Facebook.com/ EdmondActive @Edmondactive at Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest @EdmondActive with over 22,000 local followers.
4. Around Edmond 6. City Buzz 8. Christmas Light Driving Guide
Online: www.EdmondActive.com
10. Designer Showhouse
EA has over 50,000 local readers at EdmondActive.com, Issuu. com/EdmondActive, in print, at Facebook.com/EdmondActive, Instagram.com/EdmondActive, Twitter.com/EdmondActive. com and at Pinterest.com/ EdmondActive!
12. What’s In Store 14. Finding Family 16. Local Flavor 18. Event Calendar
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AROUND EDMOND It’s that time of year again! This issue holds our 7th Annual Christmas Light Driving Guide. When we started, we had seen lists and that was great, but what we wanted was a map to tell us exactly where we could find neighborhood lights, outside of corporate displays. Through the years, we have been receiving calls from our readers telling us where to go as soon as 3 days before Thanksgiving and this year was no different. You all are terrific, and keep the new suggestions coming, I can include any new displays within our videos at Facebook and Instagram. Speaking of videos, take a look at Instagram to find our mini tours of locally owned independent boutiques. This year, small business got hit hard with the ice storm we had on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Small Business Saturday is one of the biggest days for an independent business owner and hopefully all of you will spend at least $50 at a few independent boutiques, wine shops, paint studio, go kart track, restaurants, book store, scrapbook store, clothing store, florist, etc. These business owners pay city taxes that pay for upgrades to our community, as well as paying employees, and they spend their money locally, as well. If you forget, and then wait a few months to stop back by, your favorite places may be gone, and with them goes personalized service, someone who remembers you and is glad to see you and connect with you, and selection of items and services that don’t necessarily come with corporations and their outlets. In this issue, check out my What’s In Store section for some of the cute items you can find locally, in addition to following me @EdmondActive at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter under the hash tag #ShopEdmond for what’s current at these and more locally owned and independent businesses. Also in this issue our feature presents a sweet story and interview with Lauren and Andrea, owner’s of Roost and how they found each other after Andrea gave Lauren up for adoption 21 years earlier! If you haven’t met these two, they are so positive, sweet and energetic, it was a given they belong together! I also featured Fat Bastard Shiraz from Edmond Wine Shop at 15th & Boulevard, because... Santa. Hahaha! My humor is back and this wine was only $10.99 and perfect for sipping while visiting with friends and family at a moderate price. This month, Edmond Family Counseling wrote a great article in this issue’s Life Happens, about how to talk to your kids about grief, loss and tragedies under the circumstances of recent national and international events. This is full of great advice and a must read. Our hope is that despite the 70 degree temperatures, and the events happening around us, find the happy moments that are really what Christmas is all about, connect with our community and each other and that is a small start to making a difference in these turbulent times. Look for my last issue of the year to come out in about 10 days after picking this issue up, with full coverage of the fun events we have been promoting on social media. Thanks so much to all of you for reading this issue, and keep your eye out for more shopping previews for the holidays online, and also be sure to keep up daily at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @EdmondActive and at EdmondActive.com with Around Edmond! Until the next issue, I’ll see you around Edmond! ~ Sherri
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Advertise for the Holidays, and reach local residents at Edmond’s largest online network! Call 315-7325
What can you say about the 2015 Thanksgiving Ice Storm?! As the weathermen/women danced around the issue of how intense their warnings should be, their weather models originally had shown this storm to be hard hitting further north of the metro and Edmond. As the storm approached mid afternoon on Black Friday and ice began accumulating, the weather men/women starting upping their warnings and I didn’t see the particular strength of this storm coming. In my drive around Edmond, you could see how tangled the wires and trees actually got everywhere, not only in isolated locations. Thanks to the Linemen, it could have been worse. Here’s to a new appreciation for the Electric workers and the Linemen who hussled and restored power as quickly as possible!
CITY BUZZ
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Pole Position Raceway
Pole Position Raceway in Oklahoma City is the perfect place for entertainment this season. The location features one of the largest indoor go kart tracks in the country, and offers highperformance electric karts for both adults and junior racers. Pole Position Raceway is the perfect place for company parties, walkin racing, fundraisers and more. The chain of indoor kart tracks also offers gift certificates and has all sorts of gift ideas for the holidays. From a competition standpoint, our high-performance electric go karts accelerate quicker and handle better than other indoor competition karts. Best of all, the action takes place inside our comfortable state-of-the-art climate-controlled facilities and there are no smelly fumes! The end result is one of North America’s best motorsports entertainment venues, and nowhere else in OKC can you find the adrenalin rush created by this type of side-byside race action We offer several racing options. The most-popular racing format is our Arrive & Drive program that allows customers to show up individually or in small groups and race in standard races. These races last approximately 10 minutes and drivers are separated into three categories. In addition to the adult karts (56” minimum height required) we have youth karts for racers that are at least 56” tall and up to 13 years old & kid’s karts for racers who are at least 48” tall and can safely drive. We also offer group events and party packages that provide private racing and reserved time slots. These packages are available in two, three and four-race formats and include items to make the occasion extra special. For larger groups Pole Position Raceway also offers full facility rentals. This has become a popular option for corporate team building events, company parties, new product launches, family reunions, groups who want completely private racing, and anyone looking for creative birthday party ideas in OKC. Our mission statement is very clear: to create an exciting environment where casual drivers and professional racers have a chance to test their skills against one another on equal terms. Introduce new people to the dynamic world of motorsports while giving hard-core racers and fans an experience that they will want to share with friends. Pole Position Raceway is conveniently located on the corner of N.W. 36th and May Avenue. For more information check out PolePositionRaceway.com or call 405/942-2292.
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Edmond Christmas
Edmond Active’s 8th Annual Christmas Light Driving Map
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Oklahoma Designer Showhouse: Before Transformation This year’s inaguaral Oklahoma Designer Showhouse was held at a 4800 sq. ft. beautiful home on Red Rock Lake Road and was designed by 8 outstanding designers and firms. What the public doesn’t know about showhome’s in the metro is that they are highly political, and very restrictive on the designers. This home and this tour is the first one of its kind that fully allowed these designers 100% creative license. In our next issue, we will feature each of the designers creations, and let you know how much you all by paying your entry fee, donated to the Free To Live Animal Sanctuary. Keep your eye out in the coming months for updates on the 2016 Showhouse as Andrea Adair Meister and Kelly Clements search for the perfect home!
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30%
Off Christmas Until December 31st (Excludes Sid Dickens)
Holiday Hours are extended through the Holidays Thursdays until 7:00 pm Follow the latest trends from Sterling’s at Instagram @SterlingsEdmond
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What’s In Store
Roost Interior Design
Serendipity Market
Edmond Wine Shop
2 Doors Down
Fit Circle
Paint Your Art Out
109 W 2nd Street just west of Broadway
1520 South Boulevard 15th & Blvd.
1200 W Covell Rd (by Uptown) 12
917 East Danforth Road
33rd & Bristol between Kelly & Santa Fe
10 S Broadway
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Silverleaf Gems
Paper Arts
Sterling’s Home Decor
Sterling’s Home Decor
Emory Anne Interiors
Emory Anne Interiors
917 East Danforth Road
105 S Broadway
917 East Danforth Road
632 W Edmond Rd just East of Kelly
105 S Broadway
917 East Danforth Road
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FindingFamily An Interview with Andrea Adair Meister and Lauren Bernhard By Sherri Hultner
When most of us are planning our family’s holiday season, some are in foster care waiting for adoption. In 1990, Andrea was delivering her daughter, Lauren, at the Gladney Center for Adoption maternity home. Lauren, was then adopted by the Bernhard’s who gave Lauren an amazing start to life, one that Andrea, at age 17, wasn’t able to yet provide. If you have been to Roost Oklahoma over the past year, you’ve seen the amazing connection of birth mom and daughter! Lauren went to Baylor to become a social worker, with an interest in interior design, and Andrea had spent years building up a clientele locally as one of the areas
most sought out designers. This amazing connection now has Lauren building her own client base and blossoming as one of OKC’s up and coming interior designers. For more information about the Gladney Home located in Fort Worth Texas, which is the largest, most comprehensive maternity home in the US, visit them online at www. adoptionsbygladney.com. They allow birth mothers to choose the family that will adopt their baby, provide services to pregnant mother’s, both before and after delivery, like birth mother support groups, dorm living, their Next Steps program that offers career counseling, budget coaching and educational opportunities. They can even help if you choose to live on your own. We sat down with this amazingly talented mother and daughter team to talk about how they found each other, despite their process being a closed adoption. EA: When did you start the process to try to find each other? Andrea: When I was 17, I went to Edna
Gladney Home for Unwed Mothers and they were wonderful! While I was there, they said it would be nice for me to write a letter to my baby, explaining her situation to her daughter, for delivery when the baby was old enough, if she decided she wanted to reconnect. EA: Lauren, how old were you when you when you decided to find your birth mom? Lauren: I was 19, so 4 years ago. All I had to do was tell Gladney I wanted to find her and they made it all happen. Andrea: In June 2012, I received a letter from Gladney saying, “We have a letter from your birth daughter, would you like us to send it? I was like “YEAHHHH!” For about 90 days, we had to send letters back and forth, and then attend a couple of hours of counseling, and that’s it. Lauren: We weren’t allowed to have any revealing information like email, address and so forth, and one day, after we had done everything, we woke up and had emails that
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had both of our information on each other. Andrea: Which is funny, because we totally already had found each other on Facebook. I had made it all really public. I found out she went to Baylor and was a Theta, so I looked up pictures. Lauren: I saw her picture from her stepson’s graduation with his yearbook that said Norman, I knew, because I knew he went to Norman High School. We broke the rules and kept it quiet, (laughs). So I found him, and then I found her. EA: What did your adoptive parents feel about you finding out you were looking for Andrea? Andrea: Lauren’s parents are both wonderful. They had gotten a divorce when Lauren was about 18, and I got a letter from Lauren’s mom. She was a little threatened. Lauren: She felt a little threatened, having nothing to do with Andrea, just due to what had happened in my parents divorce, and felt threatened about my leaving her. Andrea: I made it really clear, I said, “Look, I have two step sons I am really really close with and I’m crazy about, and so this is like a step mom thing with Lauren and I. Suzanne is mom. She is just as important as anyone, because she did what I couldn’t do. Lauren is wonderful because of the Bernhard’s. I am the extra mom here, again, like a step mom. Lauren: That’s what I call them, all of them are extra parents. Andrea: I think that’s why we get along so well, and I’ll give her advice like I would my step sons. I understand the boundaries, and I’m totally fine with it. EA: How hard was it, at 17, to give Lauren up for adoption? Andrea: It was hard, but I was so young. It was terrible, I spent a lot of time kind of being wild, and I spent a lot of time trying to find my place. There was a lot of shame back then, and we didn’t talk about it. Lauren: And I didn’t grow up in an environment of shame, I grew up like I was the miracle baby, because in my family, where there was no child, suddenly there was, and it was awesome. EA: So your adoptive parents weren’t able to have kids? Lauren: My parents weren’t able to have kids, so they started the adoptive process and adopted me. Then, after I was adopted, they had my brother, who is 11 months younger than I am. EA: So does everyone get along? Lauren: Oh yeah! My brother is up here and goes to OU. We have an amazing
extended family. Andrea: She has a huge extended family, it’s crazy! Lauren: When I was four and my brother was three, he came downstairs crying and my mom asked what was wrong. He said crying, Lauren has two moms and I only have one. Apparently, this was street cred on the playground (laughing). EA: When did you decide to find your mom? Lauren: I always knew I was going to try to find her. Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to. I always talked to my friends about it in high school and knew I was going to do it when I was out of college, mostly because I was just curious. We laugh at the first letter I wrote to her. EA: Lauren, did you major in Interior Design at Baylor? Andrea: She should have and her mother was right! Lauren: So, the story with that is my mom isn’t good at creative, she’s a pharmacist, really analytical in her thinking. She loves good interior design, and wants that. We had 3 different designers, one like every 5 years. At one point, when I was in middle school, Christmas was just mine. I did the yard, with lights in the trees, the Christmas tree, the whole inside of the house. I would always pay attention when the designers came over, and would redecorate my room about once a month. My mom wanted me to take Interior Design when I went to college, but, of course that was the opposite of what I was going to do. My mom was like you really need to major in Interior Design, and I said “Mom, I have better things to do than to put couches in peoples homes.” Andrea: Hahaha! I love that age! Lauren: What I wanted to do and what I majored in was social work and I wanted to work in adoption, and focus on the birth mother. It’s a forgotten about subject and nobody really works on that aspect, or celebrates the birth mother for what they did. Adoption is really focused on just the after relations. I grew up around the agency, and they didn’t do that. They put the birth mother’s out in the open, told their stories, did interviews with them and it was all really cool. I literally wanted to get my degree in social work so I could work at the Gladney Home. Andrea: Edna Gladney started this organization about 100 years ago in her house in Fort Worth. She would invite unwed mothers to come and live with her, she took care of them and protected them.
She made sure they were safe so they could have their babies and then go on with their life. Now, even if you are in your 20’s, you can stay for about 3 months after the birth so that you can learn a skill, and get yourself together. EA: Lauren, what did you end up getting your degree in? Lauren: I couldn’t start over, as that would’ve cost another $60,000, so I ended up getting my degree in social work, even though as a sophomore all I cared about was decorating and crafting. My roommate was always buying things and I was always decorating for her. It was so much fun. She still texts me and asks me to help her out, even though she’s still in Dallas. EA: What was the deciding factor in your collaboration to create Roost Oklahoma? Lauren: Since I couldn’t change my major and I didn’t want to leave Baylor, and my Senior year I was doing an internship for social work and I just loved it, Andrea would come and fix up my apartment, and I completely loved it. My boyfriend was like, “Why don’t you just intern with Andrea? You’ll never know if you don’t just ask, and it’s the only way you’ll ever figure out what you want to do.” To be a practicing social worker that can make a living, I’d have to get my Master’s in social work, and after the internship, I realized that doing this was only putting a band-aid on a larger social problem. I liked design at this point, and I was ok at it, so I wanted to see if I liked it, as I wasn’t sure if Social Work was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. So, at this point, I learned how to sew, and I was making t-shirt quilts for the girls in my sorority, with left over fabric scraps. So I asked Andrea if I could intern with her, and if I didn’t like it, no harm no foul, I could just go back and get my master’s in social work. But then, I liked it. We opened Roost Oklahoma, and Andrea had so many friends and connections, and I started to acquire my own clients. I was able to do this with Andrea’s assurance to clients that I would have full access to her and her expertise, and this is how I have gained experience with running the financial end of a job to the installs, the exact same thing as a UCO Design intern would have to do. And, this month, I just completed my biggest job to date! For more information about Roost Interior Design, contact Andrea or Lauren at 109 West 2nd Street or by calling 405-7268666. You can find Roost Interior Design at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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Local Flavor Editor’s Edmond Wine Shop Recommendation for mid priced great wine! Edmond Wine Shop is my personal favorite place to go when buying a mid priced wine, and because I don’t know much about wine flavors and pairing, this Wine Shop at 1520 S Boulevard is my go to. In 2011, John had me try the Fat Bastard Pinot Noir as a good fit for a mid priced wine with great flavor. Their Shiraz is no different and my new favorite, coming in at $10.99 per botlle. Every employee is qualified to help, and check their employee favorites as you walk in the door for extra savings!
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Emory Anne Interiors has scheduled their 2015 Holiday Open House for November 5!
Company C offers colorful pillows, throws & accessories to brighten up your spaces! Emory Anne Interiors has a full Bridal Registry!
HOURS: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Saturday 10am-5pm 405.753.4466 www.emoryanneinteriors.com
15020 Bristol Park Place, Edmond (on 33rd, between Santa Fe & Kelly)
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Edmond Events December 2015 1-31 Edmond Holiday Light Displays Downtown Edmond, Spring Creek Plaza, Spring Creek Village, First Baptist Church, UCO & OC Campuses. 1-31 Edmond Outdoor Ice Skating Rink Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell 2 UCO Symphony Orchestra Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 3-6 Musical Theatre Christmas Show - Naughty & Nice & a Little Bit Nuts UCO Jazz Lab 3 Cocoa and Carols Hardeman Auditorium / OC Campus 3 UCO Wind Symphony School of Music Concerts Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 4 UCO WinterGlow Old North, Nigh University Center - UCO Campus 4-6 Boys Ranch Town Drive-Thru Christmas Pageant Boys Ranch Town 5100 SE 33rd St, Edmond 4-5
Outlaw Kart Winter Nationals Lazy E Arena 5-19 Christmas in Downtown Edmond Downtown Edmond 5 Edmond Electric Parade of Lights 6:45pm Downtown Edmond 5 Mayor’s Tree Lighting and Essay Contest Awards 6:00pm Shannon Miller Park 5 Holiday Lights Run 2:00pm Mitch Park 5 Breakfast With Santa MAC (Mitch Park) 5 Holiday Hustle 5K Oklahoma Christian University 5 UCO Choirs Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 7 Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra UCO Jazz Lab 10-12 Musical Theatre Christmas Show Naughty & Nice & a Little Bit Nuts UCO Jazz Lab 12-13 Cowboy Christmas Cheer and Dance Classic Lazy E Arena 12 Santa’s Art Workshop
Fine Arts Institute - 27 E. Edwards 19 Santa & The Edmond Police Department 11am- 4pm 100 East First St. 19 Downtown Edmond Horse Drawn Carriage Rides Downtown Edmond
January 2016 1-10 Edmond Outdoor Ice Skating Rink Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell
13 Frigid 5 Miler Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell 14 Band of Royal Marines and the Scots Guards Armstrong Auditorium 19-20 A Doll’s House Judd Theater / OC Campus 26-27 A Doll’s House Judd Theater / OC Campus
March 2016
8-10 Annual Eagle Watch Arcadia Lake Park Office
3 Beethoven’s Fifth - Polish Baltic Armstrong Auditorium
14 Sara Sant’Ambrogio - Chopin on the Cello Armstrong Auditorium
3-6 Serse Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO
22 Broadway Tonight: Linda Eder Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 25 Cinderella- Moscow Festival Ballet Armstrong Auditorium 26 The Sleeping Beauty Moscow Festival Ballet Armstrong Auditorium
February 2016
8 UCO Wind Symphony Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 9 UCO Symphonic Band Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO Mar 31 - Apr 2 UCO Kaleidoscope Dancers in Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO
April 2016
4 Mariachi Los Camperos Armstrong Auditorium
Mar 31 - Apr 2 UCO Kaleidoscope Dancers in Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO
11-14 The Odyssey Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO
7 Song of Songs by Ryan Malone Armstrong Auditorium
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21-24 My One and Only Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 26 UCO Symphony Orchestra Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 27 UCO Symphonic Band Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO 28 UCO Wind Symphony Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO Apr 29 - May 1 Downtown Edmond Arts Festival Downtown Edmond
Concert Mitchell Hall Theatre, UCO
May 2016 Apr 29 - May 1 Downtown Edmond Arts Festival Downtown Edmond
June 2016 4 Route 66 Corvette Club Roundup Hafer Park 9-12 17th Annual UCO Endeavor Games UCO
30 UCO Choral Masterworks
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Shop.Eat.Play.Edmond.
We specialize in wooden letters from 6” to 4 feet tall, wooden words, growth charts and crosses. We also offer a full line of Greek products for sororities and fraternities. We love custom orders and our motto is “ We don’t do ugly”. We can be found at Paper Arts on 2nd Street and Fretz in Downtown Edmond, Cabin Fever in Kingfisher, And The Funky a Trunk West in Yukon or online at WagsCreations.com! Phone# is 405-206-4325 Email: Susan@wagscreations.com
Emory Anne Interiors is one of the trendiest stores in Edmond, with a fantastic selection of new high end to affordable pieces for your entire home, very unique home accessories, full line of Company C, Lenny & Eva and Waxing Poetic Jewelry, Thibaut fine fabrics, wallpaper and custom furniture. Emory Anne’s also offers fabric by the yard and design services in store. Be sure to stop by to visit this store first when redecorating on any budget. You can find Emory Anne Interiors at 15020 Bristol Blvd, on 33rd between Kelly and Santa Fe Open M-F 10 am to 6 pm and Sat. 10-5 pm. Be sure to follow at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest for sales & inspiration and online at www.Emoryanneinteriors.com! If you have any questions, you can call the store at 405-753-4466.
Paper Arts is a scrapbook and art boutique that provides top of the line supplies, classes and one-on-one instruction, as well as, ready to buy gifts. We take pride in offering a comfortable space for anybody to come create their heart’s desires. You can visit the store at 632 W. Edmond Road 405-330-2055 https://www.facebook.com/pages/PaperArts/
If you are looking for a cozy place to stay for your special day, whether it be while visiting family, a winter Wedding or another special occassion, visit ArcadianInn.com and reserve your room, as they book quickly at this time of year. The Arcadian Inn Bed and Breakfast is located at 1st and University, across from UCO. To book a reservation, visit www. ArcadianInn.com or call 405-348-6347. Follow for specials at @ArcadianAarons at Facebook, Twitter Instagram & Pinterest!
MILLIES TABLE CATERING & More Millies is the place to go for weekly prepared meals, catering for your wedding or special event and for your Graduate! Millie’s also has new healthy items available for pick up in their Meals to Go freezer! Give Millie’s a call at 330-9156 or visit her website for more information! Located at 1333 W. Danforth Rd in Edmond! For more information, visit her website at www.MilliesTable.com
We offer affordable & stylish accents, restyled furniture, fun jewelry, unique holiday and home decor & gifts and we have an Etsy like atmosphere! Stop in now to see all of the latest decor & gifts and accessories for you and your home. Find Serendipity Market at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest! Our Location: 917 E Danforth Rd, Edmond (Across from Ted’s Cafe Escondido) and you can call us at 405-340-8869
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Shop.Eat.Play.Edmond. Go Local with Citizen’s Bank of Edmond Businesses!
2 Doors Down Furniture Consignment is now accepting select gently used brand name quality furniture and accessories. If you’re looking to make a change in your home, this store is the place to check first as their stock is unique, trendy, and affordable, but you have to check in often as their inventory changes daily. Be sure to stop in to 2 Doors Down, located at 15020 Bristol Park Blvd Ste 400, off 33rd Street, between Kelly & Santa Fe, and take a look around, great owners and great pieces! You can also find them at Facebook & Instagram at 2DoorsDownEdmond or by calling them at 405-254-5175 if you see something you’d like to place on hold! If you’d like to consign your gently used pieces, send your email to twodoorsdown.edmond@ yahoo.com Store hours are M-F 10-6 and Sat. 10-5
Enjoy the country at any one of the 5 cozy cottages at Aaron’s Gate Country Cottages, in Guthrie, all decorated for the Christmas Holidays! They are just a few minutes north of Edmond. Located on a beautiful wooded 10 acre property, you can relax with the outdoor jacuzzi’s or just relax indoors in front of the fireplace and wake up to a beautiful candlelit breakfast. Visit online at www.Aaronsgate. com to discover the different packages and to reserve your room, or call 405-282-0613.
It’s almost Mother’s Day and Graduation , and now is a great time to save on something new with Edmond Wine Shop’s Employee Picks! Cases are discounted, too! Be sure to follow them at Twitter & Facebook @EdmondWineShop! Located on 15th & Boulevard and open Mon– Sat. from 10 am until 9 pm! You can also call in any order at 405-3413122 for a later pick up.
The Animal Medical Center at I-35 offers comprehensive medical care, annual vaccine packages with heartworm checks, general surgery & dental care, senior pet care, a well stocked pharmacy, nutrition counseling, a large indoor dog and cat boading facility with 2 large outdoor play areas and professional grooming Mon.-Friday by appointment. The vets on staff are Dr. Tomlinson, Dr. Krenek and Dr. Farr. You can find them at Facebook at Animal Medical Center I-35, at Twitter at @ EdmondVet or call 405) 359-6301.
The Healthy Cookies for Nursing Moms! If you are nursing or pregnant, More Milk Cookies can assist in breastfeeding. Currently sold at cupcakes to go go in Edmond and The Changing Table in Oklahoma City, lactation cookies are a delicious way to meet dietary needs while nursing. For shipping or questions, email MoreMilkCookies@yahoo.com or call 405.330.2190. For wholesale and retail opportunities, please email melanyboughman@yahoo. com or call 405.657.4646Cupcakes to go go, 2524 West Edmond Road 405-330-2190 www.MoreMilkCookies.com
Roost Oklahoma is Downtown Edmond’s newest retailer. Designer owned, they offer a little of everything, including furniture, home accessories, jewelry, gifts & custom made items. Be sure to stop by the shop located at 2nd Street just west of the Farmers Market/ Festival Marketplace and Fretz, in the little turquoise building. You can find them online at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @RoostOklahoma.
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Life Happens How to Talk to Children about Grief, Loss and Tragedies By Sheila Stinnett, LPC
Over the last several weeks I have been trying to process the significant number of tragic situations that have occurred in our community and in our world. Multiple reports and pictures of violent crimes, terrorist acts and deadly accidents have become the norm on the news. Unfortunately, as much as I don’t like it, tragedy is a part of everyday life. When it occurs, if it is handled correctly, it provides an opportunity for adults to model appropriate emotional coping strategies for the children around them. Research shows when talking with children about tragedy they respond best when the adult speaking with them uses a calm and gentle voice. It is important to encourage the child to ask questions, but understand that it may take a significant amount of time for a child to process the event. It is normal for a child’s questions to come up in conversation days, weeks or months after the event has passed. The developmental age of the child will impact how the information will be processed. In young children, it is best to speak with the child on their eye level, using words the child understands while focusing on the basic information and not sharing too many details. Often young children will not understand abstract concepts such as death. It is important when talking with children to use words like “dead” or “died” rather than euphemisms like “passed away” which can confuse them. The most important thing to remember when talking about tragedy with young children is to reassure them that they are safe and protected. When talking with older children, be prepared for questions. If you don’t know the answer, it ok to say you don’t know. Upper elementary and middle school students may already have some information via social media; it is important to assist them in processing truth from fiction. Older adolescents, will most likely want more detailed information about the event. They may have strong opinions about what happened and want to engage in discussions and actions to prevent the event from occurring again or have a desire to help those impacted by the tragedy.
With every developmental stage reinforce the idea feelings are normal and need to be experienced and discussed. Help the child identify individuals around them, teachers, counselors, coaches, clergy, who are there to assist them in appropriately dealing with their emotions. If the child has experienced any previous trauma, they may require more support to effectively cope with the current tragedy. Maintain a normal routine if at all possible; children in times of crisis need the comfort of structure and normalcy. The only changes in schedule should be child focused. Finding some extra time to spend with your child will help them and you begin the process of healing. Media exposure should be kept at a minimum, repeatedly seeing or hearing events about the tragedy do more harm than good once you have all the facts and can often heighten a child’s anxiety. When talking with kids who have been impacted by tragedy it is important to remember that children and adults process grief differently. Often, in children, grief is not displayed through tears or sadness, but through fear, anxiety or anger. Younger children may struggle with separation from a parent and may also demonstrate some regressive behaviors such as bed-wetting or thumb sucking. Anxiety may appear as physical aches and pains, such as headaches or stomach aches. It is not uncommon for children to experience issues with respect for authority, sleep, appetite, maintaining focus in the aftermath of tragedy. Although these are normal reactions, if the child displays these behaviors for more than several weeks or if you have concerns about your child’s reaction, seek the support of a mental health care provider. Edmond Family Counseling is deeply committed to educating and serving our parents, teens, and families. If we can be of help to yours, please contact us at 405341-3554 or visit our website: http://www. edmondfamily.org. Donations are always appreciated and a vital part of the continuation of our mission in the community.
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