birmingham

what to do: The Sour Room

February 17, 2017 · 1 Comment

I mentioned last weekend B and I got to have a date night – so we opted for dinner and then a few beverages. I had been wanting to try this Avondale brewery spin-off The Sour Room for awhile. I love sour beers and ciders, and heard this was the place to be!

We walked in around 830 on a Saturday night, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the place wasn’t completely crowded – we were even lucky enough to snag a seat at the bar. It wasn’t loud; it wasn’t pretentious, and it was exactly what I wanted in a place where I was going to drink.

After B and I perused the chalkboard, we decided on a flight of the four we wanted to try (we did actually end up getting another flight to try a few more). The first four we tried were: Plum Crazy, Juicy and Fruity IPA, De La Grange, and Blend #1.

My absolute favorite was the Juicy and Fruity IPA– duh, as I’m an IPA girl, but even B, who does not like IPAs, liked this one. We were informed to save the Blend #1 for last as it’s a palate wrecker. We followed directions, and drank that one last, and ended up really loving it.

If you like sour/tart beers, then this is definitely the place for you. The people behind the bar seem to have a genuine passion for what they’re doing. The beers are very “clean,” and I like that you can take home a bottle of your favorite straight from there – albeit, they don’t have every single one available yet, and the bartender did say they expect to do growlers of their larger batches sometime in the future.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend in Birmingham, definitely check this place out. You won’t be sorry!

A Birmingham Kind of Weekend

August 15, 2016 · 4 Comments

As baby boo gets a little older, our weekends become more and more fun. Mainly because we’re not toting around a million baby things, and he can pretty much eat whatever and wherever we’re eating. Plus, his personality has really started to come out lately, and he’s one pretty cool dude.

We woke up on Saturday and headed to Pepperplace Farmer’s Market — it rained for a little bit, but it actually made it tolerable. I guess the rain kept most people away so it wasn’t as crowded as normal, and the rain actually cooled things down. Baby got to try his first biscuit from Pop’s Neighborhood Grille (spoiler: he loved it and ate the whole thing), we tried a new flavor of Piper and Leaf tea, got a Green Matcha doughnut from Hero’s doughnuts, and even got to celebrate Grapico’s 100th with a free Grapico and an airplane sighting!!

On Sunday, we tried to recreate the biscuit breakfast baby loved so much, but to no avail. That kid will eat one thing one day and then want nothing to do with it. Hurt feelings all around. After that we spent the afternoon walking around the Summit and headed to Steel City Pops for baby’s first taste. He was a little unsure at first, but kept leaning in for a lick. After our stroll, we headed down to Superior Grille for some margaritas and cheese dip — and beans and a quesadilla for the kid.

It was a really great weekend — one of those where everything just seemed to work out and even baby boo was happy all weekend. We’re off to get him some tubes for his ears this morning, so wish us luck. I know I’ll need it more than him.

Hope y’all had a great weekend!

Friday Favorites

March 11, 2016 · 1 Comment

I’m going to do Friday Favorites a little differently this go-round. I was going through my blog posts, and realized that I hadn’t written about my Birmingham in awhile. So, I thought I needed to change that. I mean, I love talking about my baby boo, but I love my city too!

With that being said — I’m going to count down my five favorite Birmingham cocktails!!

5. Pineapple Margarita – Babalu.

This thing is so good – it comes with a piece of pineapple, but that puppy has been soaked in tequila for a couple of days and is not yummy.

4. Oka Uba IPA – Cahaba Brewing

I love IPAs, and this one is so smooth and yummy that I’d even feel ok drinking it on a full stomach.

3. Snakehandler – Good People

This is my most favorite beer in the world. At an over 10% ABV, this is my choice of drink before flying, and luckily for me, the BHAM airport has a mini Good People in it. Seriously, though, two of these and you’re on your ass. (also, a dreamcakes cupcake, because it goes awesome with it – promise).

2. El Chango – Cocina Superior

Margarita swirled with sangria and topped with Chambord. Frozen, delicious. After one of these, you will feel it. Go during happy hour though, because these bad boys can cost you a pretty penny.

And #1: Bushwacker – Lou’s Pub

You think you’ve had a bushwhacker down in Florida, but you haven’t. These guys take the cake when it comes to a delicious frozen bushwhacker.

What an appropriate post right before the weekend! Beverages for everyone – I hope your weekend is full of yummy cocktails!

BIRMINGHAM EATS – OAK & RALEIGH

October 30, 2015 · 2 Comments

A few weekends ago, B and I decided that it was time to get out of the house. I had heard of this place, and it sounded amazing, so we headed on out into Homewood to check it out.

It was a cute little bar/restaurant. It was completely empty when we went in there, which was good since we took little man with us. Thankfully, he likes to behave in public, so we usually have no problems.

They have a full bar, as well as bottles of wine and beer for sale. They usually also have a dinner deal for the weekends, which will include meat, a side and a bottle of wine <—- we will be doing this one day.

We weren’t that hungry for dinner-y things, so we settled on their beer cheese dip, which they served with pretzels, and their nachos. Both were delicious. I’ll probably write about them again once we have a chance to actually go there for lunch or dinner, but we loved the atmosphere, the bartender was amazingly sweet (and knowledgeable!), and our apps were tasty. Needless to say, we do plan to head back!

Weekend 9.26

October 2, 2015 · 1 Comment

Yes, I am far behind on recapping my weekends, thank you for noticing. Anyway, a few weekends ago, B and I decided that we were going to take Sheffield into the outside world — he doesn’t get out much during the work week, so we thought it might be good to get him some fresh air.

Saturday morning, we headed to Pepperplace Market — the weather was beautiful! And Sheffield behaved just as beautifully! We got a bundle of sunflowers and some iced coffee, and just walked around. We also got some macarons from Magic City Macrons, and they were delicious!

Sheffy was clearly dressed in his Auburn best, because war eagle for life!

Then we woke up on Sunday, got on our Packer gear and headed to Trucks by the Tracks — I can say that this will be the last year we go to this — it was so uncomfortably packed out, and trucks were running out of food left and right. We tried not to let that bother us! We got some nachos from Notorious P.I.G. and sat and listened to some tunes with Sheffy.

Ahhh, the cuteness!!

And check out the rainbow colored Vulcan!! So fun!

Then we came home and enjoyed a Seahawks beat down. It was such a fun weekend, and gave us such confidence about being able to do fun weekend things with Sheffield!