Nutcracker Festival, Insomnia Cookies and More December Fun

Well, the holiday season continues to speed along, and I won’t be sad when Christmas rolls around and we get a bit of a break for a few days. Here are some things we’ve done this December:

Nutcracker Festival

Joss and I got to attend the inaugural Nutcracker Festival at Expo Square. This new holiday event was a collaboration between Tulsa Ballet and TulsaGo. In addition to a holiday market, it included a lot of entertainment for all ages. Joss’s favorite part was probably the giant gingerbread bounce house. But we also rode the indoor train, went ice skating on the iceless rink (his first time skating!), participated in the cake walk, etc.

Since it was the first year of the festival, the secret (not really a secret) didn’t seem to be out quite yet, so we never really had to wait in line, which was nice. I felt like the festival did a really great job of packing in a lot of different activities and sticking to the “Nutcracker” theme. We spent a couple hours there, but since Joss was such a fan of the bounce house, we didn’t even make it to every activity.

Insomnia Cookies

If you spend any time on social media, there’s a chance you’ve seen ads for Insomnia Cookies, which is now open in downtown Tulsa. And since we found ourselves around the corner for a holiday party, we had to stop by! The idea behind Insomnia Cookies is that they’re open late (till 1 or 3 a.m., depending on the day), and they deliver as well. So if you’re craving something sweet, even really late at night (or early in the morning), you can get it.

They serve cookies and ice cream, with both classic and deluxe (extra-large) flavors available. They also offer rotating filled cookies. And then a lot of the ice cream flavors have Insomnia cookies blended into them. I went with a double chocolate mint cookie, a caramel flavored ice cream and their purple Dreamweaver flavor (basically s’mores ice cream). I wish you could’ve only gotten a single scoop, but it starts at a double. It was a bit much for all in one sitting, but we wanted to try it out, and leftovers were appreciated!

If you’re curious how Insomnia compares to Crumbl and Crave (two other national cookie franchises that have opened in Tulsa), I think the general consensus is that their cookies are a bit more basic. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you just want a regular cookie. They do have the more creative cookies as well, though, so you can kind of get the best of both worlds. Their classic cookies aren’t giant, so you could eat one in a single setting, versus Crumbl cookies, which are actually four servings a piece.

Tulsa’s Insomnia Cookies is located at 505 E. 2nd St. S., Space 8, in the new Santa Fe Square.

Shopping Local

A favorite holiday experience is just walking around Utica Square and seeing the nutcrackers, tree and other decorations. Although I don’t know if the Nutcracker animatronics are there this year? Does anyone know about that? We always enjoy those as well, but haven’t seen them yet.

We also went to Meadow Gold Mack (11th and Peoria) for their holiday open house this past Saturday. They were giving out free cookies and hot cider, and Santa was visiting! I was in desperate need for fresh coffee beans so grabbed a bag of their Topeca-roasted blend. And we hadn’t gotten an up-close view of Mack yet, so it was nice to finally see him! It’s a fun store with lots of different vendors, so you can probably find something for anyone on your list.

Before heading to Meadow Gold Mack, I had to take some extra Christmas money to my favorite store, Love Me Two Times (17th and Harvard). It’s become a running joke in our family – Joss never wants to go there (even though they have a nice chair he can sit in while I shop, and I always hand him my phone to play games). And I always want to go there. It’s a giant antique mall, so a great place for gifts for your vintage-loving friends, Christmas decor or white elephant gifts. I bought a set of these beautiful 12 Days of Christmas glasses for under $30. There are others there, too, if you like this look. I recently inherited a set of 12 Days of Christmas plates and mugs, so now I’ve got some juice glasses as well! The French hens are always my favorite.

Where are your favorite places to shop local for holiday gifts? What’s the best white elephant gift you’ve ever given/received? Tell us about it in the comments!