McNellie’s Norman offers authentic World Cup experience

It was kind of strange walking into a bar at 8:30 in the morning. But fellow soccer fans and the staff at McNellie’s Norman made it feel like a real European pub event — only with Bloody Marys and biscuits and gravy instead of Guinness and corned beef and cabbage.

Check out the photos below and our interview with manager Shane Ballou. And don’t forget to come on out to McNellie’s for the U.S. vs. Algeria game next Wednesday, June 23 at 8 am!

Welcome to McNellie's Norman!

The Bar Crowd

U.S. Soccer fans Becky and Amanda

Mitchell’s Jewelry shines in downtown Norman

With the summer sunshine comes wedding and anniversary season. For our readers who may be thinking about purchasing something shiny to celebrate,  below are some tips and gift recommendations from Gina Mitchell at Mitchell’s Jewelry in downtown Norman.
And don’t forget about their new “Some Like it Hot” promotion — Shop at Mitchell’s June 1st through June 26th. If the temperature reaches 100 degrees at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City on July 4th, 2010, every jewelry purchase from June 1st through June 26th is absolutely free.
With so many people having anniversaries in the summertime, what are some of your gift recommendations?

Kirk Kara Pendant

You are right that summer weddings translate to summer anniversaries. We see lots of wedding ring upgrades for anniversaries – women and men. Many times the diamond from the original wedding ring is mounted as a pendant and a completely new wedding ring is created and given for the anniversary.
Our Antwerp diamond trips and events in the store are proof positive that diamonds are indeed the gift to give. Our Kirk Kara and Elma Gil bridal line feature gorgeous rings for the first time bride as well as for the anniversary upgrade. It is lovely to hear stories about couples buying what they could afford when they were first married and then seeing them choose something so fabulous for an anniversary.
Diamond pendants and earrings from the Kirk Kara line are also very popular anniversary gifts. For those already wearing a Kirk Kara wedding ring, the pendant and/or ring is the perfect complimentary piece.
A beautiful strand of pearls is a great gift too. We have pearls in every color, size and length you can imagine. My favorite pearl strand is an elegant strand of large white pearls. It was an anniversary gift to me after my daughter wanted the pearls I had been wearing for years. The pearls she now wears were my “starter pearls” and it was time for me to upgrade!

Scott Kay Bracelet for Men

Men also love receiving jewelry for their anniversary gifts! Scott Kay has a great line of men’s jewelry and the cuff links and bracelets are much loved for our customers. Upgrading is also popular for the husband’s wedding band. Platinum and alternative metals such as Scott Kay’s Cobalt are often preferred. We also recommend engraving the anniversary date or some special words inside the rings.

What are some tips for guys who want to buy jewelry for their significant others?
Everyone should have a Wish List at Mitchell’s Jewelry! Wish Lists are an important part of what we offer — we even have fridge magnets that say I have a Wish List at Mitchell’s Jewelry! Ask her to go in and select some things she might like. I can promise you she will be happy to oblige!
We encourage our customers to have several items so that the giver can surprise the recipient, but also because a Wish List may be used for occasions small and large. For instance, a gift to celebrate a new career might be a simple yet sophisticated pair of hoop earrings, but the birth of a child might be a gemstone ring. A diamond upgrade is a fabulous idea for anniversaries.

Rose Gold Set

If there isn’t a Wish List, we ask questions to help us determine what she might like. Does she mix white and yellow gold together or is most of her jewelry one or the other. Does she love new trends? The newest trend in jewelry is rose gold so that would be a great choice. Does she wear a watch every day? Our Michele watch line is fabulous and has interchangeable bands for every style and every occasion. How about bracelets? How about layering bracelets? Are her ears pierced? Does she have the classics? Diamond studs, hoops?
Our point of sale provides a history of items purchased from us and we often use that to suggest new items. For instance, if she already has a great strand of white pearls then we might suggest a beautiful diamond enhancer. If she has a white gold bracelet, layering another rose gold and diamond bracelet would be a great match. Our Michele watch line is very popular and the bands are interchangeable so you can give the watch and a band now and give her other bands in the future. How about upgrading the diamond earrings she wears every day? We have a great trade up policy that allows you to trade in any diamond for a larger diamond and receive exactly what you paid toward your upgrade.

Michele Watch

Not sure about what is in her jewelry wardrobe? Give her something that you like. Once we see what you are leaning toward, we can show you similar items. Our cases are full of beautiful items, but each one is hand picked by someone at our store so we are familiar with each piece. Jewelry is a sentimental gift and very seldom do we have exchanges but even then we make it easy and make sure she has something she loves.
Jewelry tends to have a story behind it… what are some of the most memorable stories behind pieces you’ve sold?
November Giveaway: This past November we gave away over $100,000 in jewelry because OU held OSU scoreless in the first half of the football game. Several of our dear friends and long-time customers were HAPPY HAPPY fans that day.
Diamond Giveaway: Each time Newt travels to Antwerp, we give away an Antwerp diamond. Newt always calls the winner to ask if they want to get a bigger diamond, and since there is a 7 hour time difference, sometimes he wakes up our lucky winner. During this call the winner seemed particularly groggy and then when Newt told him he won, he started yelling, “I love you man!”

Kirk Kara Wedding Rings

September Drawings: We have been open since September of 1981, so each September we have a gift certificate drawing with each purchase. This September will be our 29th year in business so there will be $29,000 in gift certificates available in denominations of $25 up to $5000. One year during our drawing, a young couple came in and had taken all their money out of savings and pooled it together to buy wedding rings. They were so sweet and when the total with tax was more than they had, Newt told them he would pay the tax and not to worry. Then they drew and the amount was exactly the cost of the rings! They didn’t have to spend one penny of their own money! The bride-to-be cried! It was one of our most lovely memories and we were so very happy for the couple.
And one more… The couple was having pictures taken and the groom-to-be had a Kirk Kara engagement ring in his pocket. She had no idea he would propose during the photo session!
What’s your favorite piece of jewelry that you personally own and why?

Pearl Necklace

Well it is so hard to choose because as you might imagine, I love jewelry. I wear my pearls often, but my Kirk Kara wedding ring, a white ceramic Michele watch with rose gold and diamonds, a charm bracelet and my diamond stud earrings are my go-to items most every day.
But my favorite piece would have to be my Kirk Kara ring. In February of 2007, we were set to host our first Antwerp Diamond event in our store. We had been in our new home just a year and I was lobbying Newt for a sprinkler system and for dozens of others items to feather our new nest. It never occurred to me that I might be receiving a new diamond even though February is my birthday month and, of course, Valentine’s Day. I loved the ring that I had and thought the diamond was beautiful.
Newt insisted that I simply look at some diamonds to see if anything caught my eye since we had such an amazing selection available. I did love cushion cut diamonds… I looked at a few that were the size Newt thought might work, but Ryan (our store manage AND my cousin) wanted me to look at a radiant cut diamond he thought I would like. IT WAS SPECTACULAR! And bigger than what Newt had in mind. I was blown away but wouldn’t have even thought about such an upgrade! I assumed that perhaps Newt might have another smaller diamond in mind when he asked if there was a Kirk Kara ring that I might want. Now the excitement took over and any thoughts of a sprinkler system quickly faded!
Newt didn’t really say much after I showed him a couple of rings and by the time Easter weekend rolled around, I wasn’t even thinking about the ring. And then I opened my jewelry box and THERE IT WAS! I was blown away! The fabulous radiant cut Antwerp diamond was mounted in the most beautiful Kirk Kara ring.
Mitchell’s has been owned and operated in Norman since 1981… what do you love most about living and working in Norman?
Newt is a Norman High graduate. Newt’s parents also graduated from Norman High. Norman is home. Norman is still small town to us because it is our friends and family that are living here with us in Norman. We serve generations of the same family. That is an honor that we take very seriously. It means everything to us that we serve the community that allows us to be part of their celebrations and most important occasions. We love to see our customers at sporting events, at school events, the grocery store, the dry cleaners, etc. Our customers are our friends and we consider ourselves lucky when those friends come through the doors at 218 East Main.

Nominate peeps for Fowler VW’s Peace, Love & Happiness Award!

Portrait by Scott Henderson

Who contributes to the peace, love and happiness of your community? We want to know! Fowler Volkswagen is accepting nominations for its Peace, Love & Happiness Award. Local artist Scott Henderson will paint super amazing portraits of the winners on the south wall of our shop for all to see! Check out details below… and please nominate your favorite peeps by this Thursday, June 17!


What is the Peace, Love & Happiness Award? An award recognizing those who contribute to the peace, love and happiness of our community.

Who’s eligible? Business owners, artists, musicians, community volunteers, etc. Pretty much anyone who has a positive impact on our community.

How do I nominate someone? Send names, contact information and why they deserve the award to VWFowler@gmail.com.

When will the winners be announced? The 2010 awards will be presented at Fowler Volkswagen’s grand opening celebration in late August.

What do winners receive? A super amazing portrait painted on the south wall of our shop by local artist Scott Henderson. Check out his work.

2013 Golf E-Motion Electric Car Coming To US

Volkswagen has entered the war of electric cars by introducing one of its own. It will commensurate as part of the Golf series, Volkswagen’s number one seller worldwide. The VW-2013 Golf E-motion Electric car is one of the most greatly anticipated cars. The vehicle is equipped with a lithium battery having a capacity of around 26.5 kilowatt hours and is expected to generate as much as 270 Newton meter in torque from the start.

The car has a driving range of more than 100 miles and of course is dependent on a number of factors. Obviously, using the heater and the radio will use the battery much faster; so calculating the range is going to depend on many factors. It can reach a speed of around 85 miles per hour and has shown enormous capacity to save energy while on ‘sail’, that is when the driver lets go of the gas pedal once the car has got a forward impulse. The VW-2013 Golf E-motion Electric car is coming to US and will definitely please the environmentalists with its no nonsense zero emissions approach. It can even recover some of its energy by regenerative braking, a technology becoming more and more trendy these days.

The five door vehicle can accommodate 5 people easily and has a weight of around 3,300 lbs. It can do 0-60mph in less than 12 seconds and has a top speed of 85mph, this having been limited due to battery constraints. It is expected that around 500 such vehicles will be tested before a large scale production is started in 2013. It should then be available in the US and around Europe. However, while such cars will definitely reduce the Carbon dioxide emission, a major concern that remains to be sorted out is where the electricity will be supplied from. Incentives will likely encourage owners to investigate energy sources such as solar or wind if they want the VW – 2013 Golf E-Motion Electric Car to run exclusively on renewable resources.

Two guys, some records and a pizza place: The true life story of Guestroom Records

OK, so maybe no one else remembers that old ’90s show — Two Guys, a GIRL and a Pizza Place. But it was my favorite show as a 16-year-old girl with a huge crush on Ryan Reynolds.
You know what else is my favorite? Guestroom Records. And it all started with two guys who loved music and worked at Pizza Shuttle.  Check out our interview below with Guestroom Records co-owner Travis Searle.

When and how did Guestroom get started?
We opened our first shop in July of 2003 in downtown Norman.  For a year and a half previous to opening, we ran a small distribution/door-to-door record shop.  We would collect names and phone numbers and call folks when we got in monthly orders and take them around various homes.
Justin Sowers and I met while living in the dorms at OU and worked up our business plan while driving pizza for Pizza Shuttle.  Decided that we both had the same good idea — and that two intelligent music fanatics would have a better chance to succeed than one.  When the shop was ready to open, we put our entire personal music collections (Justin had about 1,200 LPs and 400 CDs, I had about 1,500 CDs and 400 LPs) into the shop to give us a great opening used stock.  It’s been fairly uphill since then.

What made you decide to expand to Oklahoma City?
From the onset, we had the belief that at some point we would outgrow our Norman location and need to open a second store.  We didn’t really want to move to Tulsa, Denton, etc. Fortunately for us, the current location of Guestroom OKC (3701 N. Western) came up for rent in February 2007.  The price was right, the location was fantastic and the space was just what we needed.  We sort of hit a plateau in Norman and knew that the needs of music lovers and collectors were not being met 100 percent in Oklahoma City.  Made sense to us then and our sales numbers (roughly 25-35 percent larger than Norman store) show us that it still makes sense.

What are your top five favorite albums of all time?
It changes pretty regularly.  I could narrow it to 30-ish that would stay the same.  As of today my favorite albums are something like this:
Neutral Milk Hotel — In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The Ramones — Rocket to Russia
Thee Oh Sees — Help!
Mika Miko — We Be XUXA
The Replacements — Let It Be

What new music are you listening to right now?
Again, it changes every day.  This week, I’m digging the new albums by The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Ty Segall, David Cross, Tobacco, Thee Oh Sees, Rainbows are Free, Woods, Roky Erickson, The National… geez too many to list.  Come ask me in person and I’ll give you an updated rundown of what’s worth hearing.

What are some of your favorite local bands?
There are so many great local bands in Norman and OKC!  Here’s what I can think of off the top of my head — The Boom Bang, Rainbows are Free, Brother Gruesome, Shi**y/Awesome, Mayola, Student Film, Gang Starr Museum, Penny Hill, Jacob Abello, The Starlight Mints, Gentle Ghost, Depth & Current, Evangelicals, Early Beat… there are lots more but I don’t want to take up a gigabyte.

What’s in the future for Guestroom?
More of the same… but with mustard!  We’re holding pat on opening another shop for the meantime.  We’re concentrating on maintaining quality in the stores and working on our record label (Guestroom Records Records).  Future plans include hosting more shows, throwing more parties and figuring out time travel.

What do you love most about Oklahoma?
Tough one to answer.  It’s definitely NOT the weather.  I’d say it’s probably the number of awesome people I get to see on a daily and weekly basis.  The scene is pretty fun currently.  I wish there were more independent businesses to support, but they’ll come with time.  Thanks for keeping it local.