Expecting Baby!

This summer The Oaks will be gaining a new neighbor, Sophia Kay Perry! My husband Adam and I are expecting a little girl on July 4, 2014! She is definitely our little fire cracker! We will see if she actually arrives on her due date, I think it would certainly be a fun "birth date". We can tell her all the fireworks are for her birthday..... for a while anyways!

We recently had a gender reveal party at my Aunt Donna and Uncle David's house to reveal the news  to our family that we are having a girl. No one knew except Adam and I. The theme was bow ties and pearls! It was very cute. When everyone came in they got to choose either a bow tie or a strand of pearls to wear based upon what they thought it was. We revealed the news by popping a balloon filled with pink feathers!

This will be a fun summer! I may have to delegate my annual 4th of July flag cake to someone else this year.... we will see!

Left to Right: My Aunt, Cousin, Me and my Mom

Cute Decorations!

Bow Ties and Pearls Cake

"She" Bars and "He" Bars. Cute Idea!

Viva Las Vegas! Builders Show 2014

A few weeks ago we returned from a great trip out to Las Vegas for the International Home Builders Show. This year the show combined the Builders Show with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show giving attendees 1,700 exhibitors to explore covering more than 650,000 square feet of floor space. The show has traded off between Las Vegas and Orlando over the past few years. I love when it is in Vegas! We are not gamblers but I love that there are always so many other things to do in Vegas on any given evening. From world class restaurants, to shows to sight seeing, there is always something fun to do within easy walking distance!



View from our room at The Bellagio

We stayed at the Bellagio and opted for a fountain view room this time, which is definitely worth it! The Bellagio is my favorite hotel on the strip. Not only do I love the ambience from the Dale Chihuly glass ceiling and the always enchanting conservatory and botanical gardens but its location is also hard to beat right in the middle of the strip! You are within easy walking distance to Caesars Palace, City Center, Paris and Planet Holleywood, however, I am perfectly content staying at the Bellagio most of the time!

Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. .

Every time we stay at The Bellagio or visit Las Vegas we always have dinner at Olives and request a seat on the patio. There is nothing quite like dining right at the base of the Bellagio Fountains where you can almost feel the power of the water. To me, this is the most impressive attraction in all of Vegas!

Dale Chihuley Glass Ceiling at The Bellagio

Another favorite restaurant on the strip is Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace. We went to the Shania Twain concert one night so it worked out perfectly to eat at Mesa Grill right before since its just across the casino from the Coliseum where Shania performed. Wow, what an incredible show!

We saw Celine Dion at the Coliseum a couple years ago which was absolutely out of this world!  We knew that Shania's show had to be impressive as well and it was! Her level of interaction with the audience was amazing. She actually spent two songs down in the crowd interacting with fans, shaking hands, giving hugs and signing autographs all while she was performing. My Dad was sitting on the aisle and got to shake her hand which I thought was pretty cool! You can tell that she truly appreciates her fans.

The builders show kicked off with a  high energy grand opening ceremony on Tuesday morning  featuring keynote speaker General Stan McChrystal, a four-star general and the former commander of the U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan.

In addition to exploring hundreds of exhibitors and new products we were also able to attend dozens of classes ranging from architecture to design to sales and marketing. Each of these classes were presented by the top experts in the industry. Our week was packed full!

 

It seemed that the attitudes of builders are definitely more optimistic than they have been in previous years and it is clear that the housing market has picked up steam. On a visit to the exclusive Sky Terrace Housing development to tour the New American Home, we witnessed significantly more more construction of multi-million dollar homes than we have seen in Las Vegas in recent memory.Click here to check out more info about the New American Home.

From talking to other builders at the show I think another dynamic fueling the housing market is that  Americans seem to realize that interest rates have already bottomed out in 2013 and  if they still want to get in on something low now is the time.

Looking forward to getting busy and incorporating all our new world class ideas into our homes here in The Oaks!



One of many outdoor living spaces at the New American Home

Master Bath at The New American Home




Outdoor Kitchen at the New American Home w/ Mountain Views



View all the way through the New American Home from the front door

Hammered Copper Farm Sink

Hammered Copper Freestanding Tub  

Fiberglass Free Standing Tub

Hand Forged Iron Outdoor Lanterns

Copper Vent Hood

 Dinner at Mesa Grill

Bellagio Botanical Gardens



Two story water feature in the entrance foyer of The New American Home  

Zen water feature connecting the front courtyard to the first level master suite
in The New American Home








 

Fall Block Party in The Oaks!

We had a wonderufl block party last weekend in The Oaks! We had close to 150 people out who enjoyed buffalo burgers and buffalo hot dogs! The weather was gorgeous. Slightly overcast but a perfect 70 degrees! We were very thankful the rain held off just long enough for us to have a good time! In addtion to our block party we also had the grand opening for The Bella Sicily! This is one of the smaller homes in Oak Pointe but very charming! Coming in at 1866 sq.ft. this home offers just the right amount of space for a 3 bed, 2 bath home but it is loaded with all of The Oaks Development signature extras and amenties. Furthermore, the living room fetures an open floor plan plus tall 12 foot ceilings creating a space that feels larger than it is! Everyone had a great time and we got rave reviews on The Bella Sicily. If you did'nt get a chance to make it stop by and we will give you a personal tour!

Neighborhood Watch @ National Night Out

Our local police department hosted Lawton’s first ever “National Night Out” on Tuesday at Shepler Park. This was an event with fun filled activities for the entire family and a chance to promote safety within the community. Several neighborhood watch groups including ours set up booths. We had a great time promoting Brentwood / The Oaks neighborhood watch and most of all handing out cookies to all the kids! The kids flocked to our table like it was Halloween! Our neighborhood watch group is something I can very thankful for. We meet hold monthly meetings where we are all able to catch up and interact with our local police. We also have patrollers who drive through the neighborhood at various hours of the day and night to keep an eye on things. We are very fortunate to live in a beautiful and quiet corner of the city. All of our neighbors know each other and we all keep an eye on our neighborhood. I often tell people that when I leave The Oaks I feel like I am entering paradise when I return. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else!

Bring On The Rain in July!!

It's been a beautiful July in The Oaks! We started the month off with unseasonably cool temps and recently enjoyed almost a week straight of rain! The Fourth of July was so cool I almost needed a jacket after the sun went down, that was a first! We spent Independence Day enjoying a nice BBQ with family then took in the view of fireworks from our backyard. Our neighborhood sits at one of the highest elevations in the city offering a terrific 360 degree view across the entire city. The Fouth of July is one of my favorite holidays and a great time to reflect on our blessing of freedom as a nation. Our course, I made my annual flag cake which I have made every year since I was 12. It's a tradition that I can't bring myself to break!

This past week we received a tremendous amount of rain, which we were all very thankful for. My rain gauge in my backyard recorded 4.5 inches of rain in 4 days! Considering our average July rainfall total is about 2.26 inches for the entire month this was pretty good! In Oak Ridge, we have a small portion of the dam completed on the new lake so we were able to catch a little bit of the run off water from all the showers. It was a beautiful sight to see!  The buffalo also highly enjoyed these days as they love cooler weather and rain!

We've also been hearing wonderful news in the national real estate market this month. New home sales and builder confidence continues to rise to some of the highest levels in five years.   I read an article in Builder Magazine stating that new home prices in many markets are predicted to rise 11 to 13 percent in 2013. The price of existing homes is expected to rise 7 to 8 percent. This is good news for everyone but what it also means is that if you're waiting to invest in a new home you're going to miss the boat. Now is the time, new homes are appreciating significantly faster than existing homes. Its a fact that new home prices will rise and rates will increase. Right now, interest rates are still wonderful! The longer you wait, the more its going to cost you to get into that beautiful home you've always dreamed of! In The Oaks we still have 9 homes ready to move into immediately. Come out, look around and talk to us about how we can make that dream become a reality sooner than you might think!

We would also like to welcome our newest resident, Dr. Le, to The Oaks. Dr. Le is a general surgeon at Southwestern Medical Center. Its great to be adding so many wonderful new faces to the neighborhood.



Happy Summer from The Oaks!

Things have been rolling along here in The Oaks this summer. Homes have sold, construction continues and we are finishing up work on our Lake in Oak Ridge.


Earlier this week we had a nice visit from the renowned TV celebrity chef, Dean Fearing who is known as the "father of Southwestern Cuisine". He came to do a photo shoot at The Ranch at Oak Ridge for his upcoming book. Chef Dean is the owner of Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas. Fearing's was named the best new restaurant in America by Esquire Magazine and their signature dish is our buffalo tenderloin.

We started June off by heading up to Tulsa to serve as judges for the Tulsa Parade of Homes. This is an incredible event featuring more than 150 new homes around the Tulsa metro ranging from $100K to $1 Million +. We were able to meet some very sharp people from the home building industry and view some beautiful homes and communities. We were very inspired upon returning home.

One of the things that stuck with me from our trip to Tulsa were some of the stunningly beautiful communities that we visited. These were communities filled with lakes, sidewalks and timeless, cohesive architecture. Some of these neighborhoods truly stirred my soul and made me feel right at home. It occurred to me that Lawton only has one community that even comes close to these and it is The Oaks. There are certainly some other nice neighborhoods but non that compared to what I saw in these communities. From the scale of our lakes, to the fountain, to the gazebo, to the sidewalks, to the timeless architecture, The Oaks is the only community anywhere in Lawton that even comes close to the best of what I saw.

Another dynamic is that our lakes are designed in such a way that all residents of our community can see and enjoy the beauty of the water, not just the residents whose homes back up to the lake. This is also what I saw in some of the communities in Tulsa. Oak Pointe Lake is open for everyone who lives in our neighborhoods to enjoy by fishing or simply enjoying a break from an evening walk at the gazebo. Furthermore, Oak Ridge Lake will come all the way up to 67th street and span 3/4 of a mile long. When complete it will be the largest lake in the city limits of Lawton. From the gazebo on Majestic Oak Blvd. everyone will be able to enjoy the expansive view all the way down Oak Ridge Lake.

Someone asked me a few days ago if the overall vision of "The Oaks" was my idea. I had to be honest and admit that it was not, The Oaks is the tangible dream of my Dad. My Dad began development of The Oaks neighborhoods just before I graduated from The University of Oklahoma and began construction on the first homes in Oak Pointe right when I came back to join the company full time. He is extremely creative and I am continually impressed with his vision. Now that I have joined the team I am involved with the design of each home but I must give my Dad credit for the overall vision of the community!

Pictured below is the first stage of our sunken fire pit on the center island of Oak Ridge Lake. I can envision the canopy of Oak Trees overhanging the island! I'm already dreaming of a block party for the entire neighborhood where we will give everyone rides by boat out to the islands which will be accessible by water from the homes on the lake.

I am very proud of my Dad for bringing his vision to Lawton and creating a timeless community on par with with what you will find in the larger metropolitan areas. Stay tuned for more details and come out sometime for a tour of some of our Open Houses. Homes are open for viewing every day. Head south on 67th St, 1 mile past Lee Blvd!

Big Brother's Big Sister's of Oklahoma Fundraising Event- May 18 at The Grand Bellissimo

RSVP:   Audrey Dolar Tejada

              tejadayu@gmail.com
              580.531.4654

               OR

               Whitney Nance Perry
               wnance@ronnance.com
               580.917.2706

Join us for a signature event on behalf of BBBSOK on May 18, 2013 in The Oaks!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma (BBBSOK) wants to help children in Lawton who need us most. With 27,000 Oklahoma children that have one or both parents in prison, the likelihood of them following in their footsteps is staggering. There is hope! Your support helps us place a caring, adult role model in their lives that has significant impact:

94 percent of Adult Littles said their Big provided stability when they needed it

81 percent said their Big changed their perspective on what was possible in life

77 percent said they set higher goals and did better in school because of their Big

65 percent said their Big helped them reach a higher level of education than they thought possible

BBBSOK is actively working to open an office in Lawton by engaging the community's support. We thank Audrey Dolar Tejada for helping us spread the word by organizing this fundraiser. All proceeds will be specifically earmarked for our expansion into Lawton. Thank you for starting something in Lawton and helping a children reach their potential. For more info about BBBSOK, please visit www.bbbsok.org

Saturday, May 18, 2013
12:00 pm -3:00 pm
6310 SW Oakmont Blvd., Oak Ridge Addition

Experience Arbonne Session I: 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm. Plant based products and remedies are the wave of the future. We'll have the anti-aging, skin and body care, cosmetics, health and wellness, and aromatherapy lines represented, all botanically based and Vegan-certified using no petrochemicals or animal by-products. Proceeds will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma for its expansion into Lawton.

Business Builders Workshop Session II: 2:00 pm-2:30pm. Arbonne is an innovative business model for the 21st century. Featuring Arbonne Health and Wellness Consultant MariaElena G. Rubio, MA, HBCE, former Harvard University Administrative Fellow at teh Harvard School of Public Health.

Fundraisers Workshop Session III: 2:30 pm -3:00 pm. Learn how to fundriase more effectively with a 35% profit margin, no financial outlay or inventory, and time leveraging. We can customize a plan based on your organization's needs and priorities. Virtual guests can participate from around the world. The Arbonne Foundation is a national sponsor of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.