Weekend Recap - Otey's Fest

Last night Chad and I met up with Morgan, Mike, Allise, and Josh for the

4th Annual Otey's Fest

at Otey's Tavern in Crestline Village. This year Otey's Fest was held to benefit UAB's Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

The weather was a little cooler than it has been the past couple of weekends and there was a stage set up outside for live music featuring:

The Hurlers

 The Eliot Morris Duo

Secondhand Jive

Rollin' In The Hay

 Chad, me, Allise and Josh

 Even BIG AL was at Otey's Fest!! 

ROLL TIDE!!!!

There are three chic villages in Mountain Brook:

English Village
Mountain Brook Village

Crestline Village

Otey's Tavern is in Crestline Village and there are lots of neat restaurants in all three of the villages. We had heard great things about a little Mexican restaurant named Taco Mama. I'm so glad we listened to the recommendations because after having dinner there on Saturday, I've decided it is my new favorite Mexican Place in Birmingham!! Bright lights are hanging outside and two sliding garage type doors are raised to open up the restaurant when the weather is nice. Chad had the Alabama Redneck Tacos which are pork tacos and I had an order of build your own nachos. After dinner we headed back to Otey's for more live music.

 Today was a pretty lazy day!! Allise and I rented  

This Means War

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE MOVIE!!! I do love a good chick-flick and Chris Pine's looks alone can make any movie amazing. If you haven't seen This Means War and you like movies such as How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Sweet Home Alabama, and/or any other girlie movie then you have to rent it!!

I hate the weekend is coming to an end, but I am excited for

The Bachelorette

tomorrow night. I can't believe there are only two episodes left! Jef is still my favorite!

Happy Father's Day

Father’s Day Weekend

Let the grilling begin! Thursday night Alan (my previous manager at WAKM) and Leah invited Chad and I over for dinner. We walked in to a welcoming glass of champagne. Leah did such a fantastic job on dinner: tomatoes and feta, pork tenderloin and sausage, grits, squash and zucchini. For dessert we had crema de tequila and cookies. We had a great time catching up with Alan and Leah and hope we can all get together again soon! 

Friday I got off of work a little early. There is something about walking out of work on a Friday that makes you feel 100x better than when you walk out on any other day of the week. It also helped that Friday's weather made it a  

 roll down the windows and open the sunroof kind of day!

 

Chad and I woke up early on Saturday to drive to Troy and spend the rest of Father’s Day Weekend with my mom and dad. While trying to leave for Troy, I managed to get locked out of my apartment even though I had my keys with me. Yes, it happened. My key got jammed in the lock while I was locking the door. After waiting an hour and a half, I finally just took my key off my key chain and left the issue for the maintenance man. Luckily, I already had my car packed and my phone was locked out with me!

My mom makes the best cakes!! At 27, I’ve never baked a layered cake. The sad thing is I don’t even own a cake pan. That being said, my two favorite cakes are my mom's caramel cake and her key lime cake. I found CREATIVE GOLF CUPCAKES on Better Homes and Gardens Website for Father’s Day. I sent the link for the cupcakes to my mom. Click HERE for the link with the cupcakes that inspired us:

 Instead of making cupcakes, mom made her key lime cake! We wrote Happy Father’s Day on a foam golf ball and added a golf tee. My dad loves golf and with Father’s Day and the US Open both this weekend, I think it turned out perfect!

 One of my favorite things about my parents’ house is their back deck!!

 Saturday night we grilled steak and salmon while catching up on the deck. 

The bottle of wine we had before dinner had a quote on the cork. I’ve never seen a quote on the cork before, but I like it!

We woke up Sunday to run through Troy University’s campus, hit golf balls on the driving range, and have lunch with my Mema before heading back to Birmingham.

 

Weekend Movie: Man on a Ledge

 Elizabeth Banks is a police psychologist and works to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop all while the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion. It’s a good movie, considering at least 75% of the movie is filmed with a man on a ledge. The title pretty much sums it up. 

WHAT AM I LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK?

• Lunch tomorrow to catch up with 5 people I used to work with at WAKM 
• New flooring in the kitchen and dining room

 

I hope everyone had a very HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! 

 

Weekend Recap-2

I stayed in Birmingham this weekend. It was so overcast all weekend which made it such a great lazy weekend. Here are a few of my favorite things from this week/weekend:

1.   Chad had his last few days off of work. His new J-O-B starts today and I have to admit, I was a little jealous of his time off. It’s really hard to be productive at work when someone is sending you pictures like this:

2.   I bought ingredients to try a new dessert, but when my sweet tooth cravings come I need something right then. I didn’t have patience to mix ingredients together and I’ve made the pretzel Hershey Kisses with M&Ms from a recipe on Pinterest before.

Friday night, I had a few Rolos and pretzels but no M&Ms. I melted the Rolos on the pretzels on 350 for 3 minutes, took them out and added another pretzel to the top. They were good, but they were even better when I made Round 2 by cutting miniature Reese’s in half on Sunday (next time I’m buying the mini Reese’s to make things even easier). These might not be beautiful, but they are ridiculously easy and the perfect salty/sweet combination. These are great when it's just you and the last thing you need is an entire 9x13 pan of dessert.

3.   Saturday night we tried a new Mexican restaurant at The Summit. Lime Fresh Mexican Grill started in South Beach and opened its Birmingham location in late April. The ingredients were fresh and there were 6 different salsas to chose from – pico de gallo, black bean corn salsa, salsa verde, salsa asada, salsa suave, and habanero salsa. The chicken was delicious, but next time I am trying the fish tacos. 

4.   Chad’s mom has been the Director of Children’s Ministry at a large local church in Birmingham for 17 years. She is retiring and last night was her last Sunday at the church. I was very impressed and inspired when she shared her motivational life story with the church last night. There was not an empty seat and she received a standing ovation.

5.   Better than any restaurant, GUESS WHAT ELSE IS COMING TO THE SUMMIT!! A MICHAEL KORS STORE IS OPENING IN AUGUST!

And of course we rented a movie...

Redbox Rental suggestion: GONE – Amanda Seyfried stars in Gone. Her character is convinced her sister has been kidnapped by the same man that kidnapped her the year before. This movie will definitely keep your attention. 

I can't wait for next weekend. I'll be going to Troy to see my mom and dad for Father's Day!

Railroad Park and Parents Visit

Thursday for lunch Chad and I decided to both get out of the office and we went to Railroad Park. The Park makes up a 19 acre space in downtown Birmingham.

I am so lucky to have such a nice park within walking distance of where I work! Every Wednesday from 4-6 PM “Farm Stands on the Railroad” takes place and you can go purchase fresh, local produce. Thanks to Blue Cross and Blue Shield FREE classes are held weeknights at 6 PM at Railroad Park and hundreds of people attend:

Monday – Crunk Fitness
Tuesday – The BE FIT Group Experience
Wednesday – Zumba
Thursday – Yoga
Friday – Night PE

THE WEEKEND …

My parents came to visit this weekend and they brought my little dog MILLIE with them. I still say it’s my dog even though I got her in high school and when I left for college she stayed home.

I had Friday off of work and my parents came after lunch. We met Chad’s mom for an early dinner at Izzo’s at The Summit. It was the first time my parents met some of Chad’s family, but we think it went really well!

 I gave my mom tickets for us all to go see Joel Osteen together for her Mother’s Day present so after dinner mom, dad, Chad and I went to Joel Osteen ‘A Night of Faith’ at the BJCC. Joel Osteen is the pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas and he is watched by approximately 7 million Americans each week on TV. After watching him on TV, it was great to finally get to see him in person.

 

Saturday we woke up and took time to enjoy coffee and rented We Bought a Zoo with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. I absolutely LOVED the movie!! Maggie Elizabeth Jones (Rosie) is adorable!!

We sat outside and enjoyed a relaxing lunch in the shade at O’Carrs before doing some antique shopping. Then unfortunately they packed up and headed back to Troy. It was a short visit, but great to spend some quality time with my parents and to show them around Birmingham.