Last year, I had to exercise serious control not to rack up my credit card bill. And now, I can't even find a pair of socks I like!
What's up, designers?
The skirts are too short (even if my butt weren't it's current size). I'm expected to pay $12-$15 dollars for screen tees and barely decorated tank tops.
Yeah, I'll pass.
The shoes are uninspiring and most are similar to what I saw last year. I'm bummed, and I'm ready for next year!
Let me in on the secret if there's some secret fashion stash out there...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Playing Hostess in B'ham Part II
This weekend three of my best friends (really, they're like my sisters) came to visit me in the B'ham. Yay! You'd think after spending college away would make it easier to be separated again, but after spending the last half of '09 with them, it was really hard to not see them all the time.
But, we totally made up for it! To be able to host them in my own place was very fulfilling as well. Almost as if I am a grown up now -- wait, what?
The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we ate lunch on the porch at Mudtown (I had the Monte Cristo again, yum!) and they really liked the food.
After, we headed downtown to explore Sloss Furnaces to explore. It's free to explore on your own, and Sloss provides a map to help you get around. There are eleven spots around the property with plaques that describe the work at Sloss during its heyday. We took a good amount of time to explore each spot, and we spent over an hour there.
I usually enjoy visiting places like this, but I have to say that a lot of Sloss creeped me out. There is something sad about the furnaces and dusty, grimy machines left behind.
I was especially uneasy in the blower room, and it the whole experience certainly makes me think hard about place, and how the people who lived and worked there have affected it.
Afterward, we headed to the Birmingham Botanical
Gardens and hit the
biggest gardens. The azaleas, Lenten roses, honeysuckle and jasmine are in full bloom, and I'll be happy to go back and see the roses and hydrangeas when they bloom! I was very happy to see a small group of poppies in a side garden.
By the time we wrapped up there, it was time for dinner...at Cocina! Guen and I split the fish tacos -- so yummy. Oh, but we weren't done yet! I took the girls over to Vulcan and we braved the windy evening to view the city from the observation deck.
As you can see, it was worth it. Perhaps a little too thrilling (terrifying) end to our sightseeing, but I'm glad we took the time to go up there.
On the way home, we stopped at Yogurt Mountain, because really how else should you end a beautiful spring day?
We let our yogurt digest for a bit before primping and heading to Rare Martini downtown. Have to say, wasn't that great of a night, and I was disappointed at the entertainment. Ah, well.
The next morning we woke up late and made our way to Five Points South to have brunch at the Original Pancake House. I had the bacon and eggs (scrambled) which comes with three, perfectly sized pancakes. About half the size of normal restaurant pancakes, I could actually finish them and most of my eggs and bacon without feeling awful. The food was good, but I wouldn't say what I ate was better than IHOP. Sorry, die-hard Pancake House fans!
The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we ate lunch on the porch at Mudtown (I had the Monte Cristo again, yum!) and they really liked the food.
After, we headed downtown to explore Sloss Furnaces to explore. It's free to explore on your own, and Sloss provides a map to help you get around. There are eleven spots around the property with plaques that describe the work at Sloss during its heyday. We took a good amount of time to explore each spot, and we spent over an hour there.
I usually enjoy visiting places like this, but I have to say that a lot of Sloss creeped me out. There is something sad about the furnaces and dusty, grimy machines left behind.
I was especially uneasy in the blower room, and it the whole experience certainly makes me think hard about place, and how the people who lived and worked there have affected it.
Afterward, we headed to the Birmingham Botanical
Gardens and hit the
biggest gardens. The azaleas, Lenten roses, honeysuckle and jasmine are in full bloom, and I'll be happy to go back and see the roses and hydrangeas when they bloom! I was very happy to see a small group of poppies in a side garden.
My favorite area is definitely the Japanese garden. There is a beautiful wooden bridge spanning a large pond. There are turtles, large koi, and a couple of geese. I think we spent twenty minutes on the bridge and watching the water!
By the time we wrapped up there, it was time for dinner...at Cocina! Guen and I split the fish tacos -- so yummy. Oh, but we weren't done yet! I took the girls over to Vulcan and we braved the windy evening to view the city from the observation deck.
As you can see, it was worth it. Perhaps a little too thrilling (terrifying) end to our sightseeing, but I'm glad we took the time to go up there.
On the way home, we stopped at Yogurt Mountain, because really how else should you end a beautiful spring day?
We let our yogurt digest for a bit before primping and heading to Rare Martini downtown. Have to say, wasn't that great of a night, and I was disappointed at the entertainment. Ah, well.
The next morning we woke up late and made our way to Five Points South to have brunch at the Original Pancake House. I had the bacon and eggs (scrambled) which comes with three, perfectly sized pancakes. About half the size of normal restaurant pancakes, I could actually finish them and most of my eggs and bacon without feeling awful. The food was good, but I wouldn't say what I ate was better than IHOP. Sorry, die-hard Pancake House fans!
I love Leinenkugel's!
Actually, I like their summer beers the best. I'm not much of a lager girl, but I'll drink theirs every once in a while, and only if it's ice cold. Normally I prefer a type of wheat beer.
So when I went home for Easter and found a stash of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, I did a little dance of joy. I introduced my dad to Leinie's (Summer Wheat and Berry Weiss, yum!) last year, and there is often some of their beer in the fridge at my parents' house now.
So what's a Summer Shandy? Well, Leinenkugel's version is a wheat beer mixed with lemonade. I've been told by my friend that in Britain, it's beer mixed with lemon-lime soda.
When I read the description, I didn't have any hesitation -- some people might see "lemonade" and run. But I trust Leinenkugel's to get it right.
You can certainly taste the lemon, but I think it's still a secondary flavor to the beer. The classic tartness of lemonade isn't there. Shandy is easy to drink, and I didn't find myself feeling full when I finished the bottle.
Like it's wheat beer cousins, Summer Shandy will not be accompanying my heavier, richer meals and dishes. I'll save this one for picnic fare, grill-outs, fried foods, and I even think it would be good with Latin food.
In fact, I'm daydreaming now about going to the park with a great summer meal and a Shandy.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Yummy Funky Fish Fry
The weather this weekend was gorgeous! Amy and I headed over to the Funky Fish Fry at Crestline Village. It was organized by the Alabama Bar Young Lawyers and benefited the The Autism Society of Alabama, Mitchell's Place and Studio By the Tracks.
We had the catfish, hush puppies and coleslaw from Ezell's Catfish. It was very tasty, as you can see from my half-empty (soon after empty) plate. There was also gumbo, but I was personally too full to eat anymore food!
There were also several bands playing and a silent auction.
It was really nice to have some time to sit outside with a friend, catch up and eat yummy food.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Easter Bunny on a Cupcake
We celebrated a co-worker's birthday today with Easter-themed cupcakes from Culinard Cafe -- I had the vanilla with chocolate frosting and the cake was the right kind of moist-dense that I like, and the frosting wasn't overpowering.
And look at that Easter bunny!
And look at that Easter bunny!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Time to Be More Like My Grandparents
No, I'm not saying I should sit around and watch sports, complete crosswords and play bridge. Though that does sound like fun to have a day like that every once in a while, I still can't play bridge.
I need to be more like my grandparents in that they didn't whine (to themselves or others) about how many years they have to work to get to where they want to be; they didn't feel entitled to anything; they did what needed to be done in order to live right and live well.
The last couple of years have been eye-opening for me. I'm reluctantly happy to agree that I'm the product of a generation who let themselves be deluded into thinking that if we got through school, did a couple of internships, we would find that sweet entry level job and flourish.
Well, I thought that I was immune to that delusion, but I've realized in the last year that I'm not. I was deluded that I wasn't deluded. Get it? I do now!
I'm at the point where I've got to step up and reinvest in my skill set to move forward into digital media, where I'd like to be.
It's time to tap into my self-motivation and suck it up. Like my grandparents would say, I'm the only one who's going to fight for me.
I need to be more like my grandparents in that they didn't whine (to themselves or others) about how many years they have to work to get to where they want to be; they didn't feel entitled to anything; they did what needed to be done in order to live right and live well.
The last couple of years have been eye-opening for me. I'm reluctantly happy to agree that I'm the product of a generation who let themselves be deluded into thinking that if we got through school, did a couple of internships, we would find that sweet entry level job and flourish.
Well, I thought that I was immune to that delusion, but I've realized in the last year that I'm not. I was deluded that I wasn't deluded. Get it? I do now!
I'm at the point where I've got to step up and reinvest in my skill set to move forward into digital media, where I'd like to be.
It's time to tap into my self-motivation and suck it up. Like my grandparents would say, I'm the only one who's going to fight for me.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Playing Hostess in B'ham Part I
Julie came to visit me yesterday -- hooray! She's the first friend that's been able to visit me since I moved here, so I was not only excited to see her, but also to play hostess.
It rained a lot on Monday, and it was supposed to rain again Tuesday, but God smiled upon Birmingham and it was a nice overcast day.
We had lunch at Bottletree Cafe, and it was pretty good. I had the Thunderbird sandwich with turkey, a red pepper mayo, Havarti cheese, tomato and lettuce on sourdough. This is probably my own doing, since they are known for their vegetarian items. But it sounded good! I chose the sweet potato fries as my side, and they could have been crispier. Julie had the veggie and rice burrito, and she really like it.
We headed over to What's on 2nd? which is a junk store downtown. And I don't mean junk as in trashy; it's an eclectic, overwhelming treasure store of all the things that people collect. They have an impressive collection of old postcards. I think every state in the U.S. was accounted for, and there were dozens for each one. They would be great to use for collages and decorating containers, table tops, etc.
The other items that caught my attention were the personal photos. There are several boxes of them all over the store. I found photos recording weddings, vacations, parties and just days of hanging out. It struck me as very odd that there were so many, illustrating so many intimate details of people's lives. How did those photos get into a junk shop? Did someone not want them? Wasn't there some family member who could keep them?
Afterward, I drove around and showed Julie around my neighborhood, and we spent part of the evening at the Summit. We spent some time in Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, and I of course I wanted to buy most of each store. And then it struck me how many items I could recreate myself, or find elsewhere. Oh, brand brainwashing, you are so devious!
We had dinner at FLIP -- yum -- and went to Yogurt Mountain for dessert -- another yum. They sell frozen yogurt and your choice of toppings for 45 cents an ounce! Believe me, you get a lot, even for $3. There are 16 rotating flavors of yogurt according to the website, and a couple dozen toppings from cereal to candy to fruit.
I had a really good time Tuesday, and it was a little -- okay, very -- hard to go back to work. Taking the day off make me think it was Friday/the weekend. So, thanks Julie, for giving me a Tues-weekend-day!
It rained a lot on Monday, and it was supposed to rain again Tuesday, but God smiled upon Birmingham and it was a nice overcast day.
We had lunch at Bottletree Cafe, and it was pretty good. I had the Thunderbird sandwich with turkey, a red pepper mayo, Havarti cheese, tomato and lettuce on sourdough. This is probably my own doing, since they are known for their vegetarian items. But it sounded good! I chose the sweet potato fries as my side, and they could have been crispier. Julie had the veggie and rice burrito, and she really like it.
We headed over to What's on 2nd? which is a junk store downtown. And I don't mean junk as in trashy; it's an eclectic, overwhelming treasure store of all the things that people collect. They have an impressive collection of old postcards. I think every state in the U.S. was accounted for, and there were dozens for each one. They would be great to use for collages and decorating containers, table tops, etc.
The other items that caught my attention were the personal photos. There are several boxes of them all over the store. I found photos recording weddings, vacations, parties and just days of hanging out. It struck me as very odd that there were so many, illustrating so many intimate details of people's lives. How did those photos get into a junk shop? Did someone not want them? Wasn't there some family member who could keep them?
Afterward, I drove around and showed Julie around my neighborhood, and we spent part of the evening at the Summit. We spent some time in Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, and I of course I wanted to buy most of each store. And then it struck me how many items I could recreate myself, or find elsewhere. Oh, brand brainwashing, you are so devious!
We had dinner at FLIP -- yum -- and went to Yogurt Mountain for dessert -- another yum. They sell frozen yogurt and your choice of toppings for 45 cents an ounce! Believe me, you get a lot, even for $3. There are 16 rotating flavors of yogurt according to the website, and a couple dozen toppings from cereal to candy to fruit.
I had a really good time Tuesday, and it was a little -- okay, very -- hard to go back to work. Taking the day off make me think it was Friday/the weekend. So, thanks Julie, for giving me a Tues-weekend-day!
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