The blue light special art show is an absolute can’t-miss for Christmas shopping – I did over half my Christmas shopping there last year!!
This art show is a conglomeration of the works of over 30 local high-end artisans. They will have work from their regular collections, as well as highly discounted items including discontinued items, slightly imperfect items, and atypical items. It’s a great way to get amazing works of art for rock bottom prices!
The forms of art there will include pottery, jewelry, glass art, fiber, mixed media, basketry, drawings and paintings, soaps and lotions, and more. 
Plus you can help fight hunger with Empty Bowls: Purchase lunch served in handmade bowls—prepared by Chefs partnering with Cahaba ClayWorks benefiting First Light Women’s Shelter.
Your $25 (tax deductible!) lunch gets you an original, hand-made bowl with soup of your choice prepared by Chef Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club, Laney’s Country Cooking and Chef Sean Butler of Food Studio B.
The dates are Saturday, December 11th from 9-5 and Sunday, December 12th from 10-4.
The location of the sale is at Cahaba Clayworks in Leeds -
7575 Pkwy Dr.
Leeds, AL 35094
Admission to the show is $2, a portion of which goes to charity.
In 1992 Sarah Towery's children wanted to give her a special birthday gift to celebrate her life's dedication to art. They invited a few of Mrs. Sarah's artist friends to come to Lake Martin and paint.
And so The Sarah Carlisle Towery Art Colony on Lake Martin was born in 1992.Eighteen years later artists of all levels come to learn from Master artists during the Fall along beautiful Lake Martin. With two workshops as well as an independent study to choose from, artists from around the country are able to work and learn together.
Alabama's Art Colony is committed to producing an enjoyable environment to educate, nurture and inspire artists through workshops. We will enhance the quality of life for the greater community by educating and providing opportunities to experience, appreciate and support the arts. We will contribute to the cultural enrichment of the city and its local communities through our on-going collection and exhibition of art and through partnerships with diverse community organizations that celebrate life and art. -- Mission Statement
As well as the annual colony, The Sarah Carlisle Towery Art Colony hosts the Kitty Dark Kids Art Camp in Alexander City. The camp offers arts enrichment experiences each year during the first week of June.
To learn more about The Sarah Carlisle Towery Art Colony or the Kitty Dark Kids Art Camp visit their website.
Originally posted on November 3rd, 2010 at Grasping for Objectivity in my Subjective Life.
When I was a little girl, my impression of Birmingham’s downtown area was a jumble of closed up, falling apart, and run-down buildings. My Mom would tell me of their grandness when she was a child, and I would daydream as to what it must have been like to dress up in my Sunday best to go shopping downtown.
Because of this, my childhood assumption was that all downtowns were dead or dying like Birmingham’s was. I was amazed to visit vibrant city centers like Atlanta and Chattanooga and discover that in other cities, people not only went downtown, but actually lived downtown. I became, and stayed, very jealous of other cities’ awesome urban-ness.
So it absolutely thrills my heart that Birmingham is finally, but very rapidly, changing. We have real things in downtown now – Ali and I often visit our awesome children’s science center, The McWane Center, the historic but falling down buildings are being refitted and turned into lofts quicker than I can keep up with, and new and very-Atlanta-looking condominiums are popping up all around.
I hope that Ali’s assumptions about downtowns are completely different than mine were.
The newest addition to downtown’s growing appeal is Railroad Park. Located right in the middle of the city between 1st Avenue South and 1st Avenue North, it is a beautiful, crisp, fresh urban park. It is comprised of 19 acres of ponds, streams, playgrounds, picnic benches, walking and biking trails, and beautiful green areas.
We visited Railroad Park for the first time on Saturday, and it endeared me even more to our newly reviving downtown.
Ali loved running in the grass…
And on the long benches.
The playground was very clean and enclosed for plenty of safe playing,
There were also “biking bowls” (for lack of a better term??) and a skate park across the street for those more daring than my child will probably ever be.
They also advertise a Dining Car on their website at which we planned on eating, but it is either only open during the week or not quite open yet, or we were just too dense to be able to find it. However, there IS a Dominoes across the street that gladly sold us a Pizza Picnic.
They opened last Thursday and have a great selection of stores – all of my favorites, for sure. At first, I wasn’t sure about the internal format – I was afraid it would be hard to get around, but once we arrived, I loved it – it felt very much like a mall with two open-air hallways:
I was also surprised that the stores were already running some great deals – I figured since it was opening weekend, they might not have sales yet, but I picked up several things for Ali and Noah at highly discounted prices.
One store I was especially excited to visit was Stone Soup – run by my Aunt Tena of Earthborn Pottery (that I’ve talked about many times before), it is a conglomeration gallery of many local artists of all different types. And it was huge!!
The selection was an awesome mix of paintings, pottery, furniture, mixed media, glass art, and all sorts of other exciting artisan-level pieces at great prices – I will definitely be going back there for some Christmas shopping.
Ali found her favorite, a centipede:
Ali and I also checked out the food court, which was really great, except that half of the eateries weren’t open yet. But once they all open, there will be a good selection.
I was also very happy to see that, although the sidewalks were prepared for the arrival of my Nemeses…
There were NO kiosks installed yet.
Maybe they’ll let us have a happy, peaceful holiday shopping season before implementing Kiosk Predators.
Despite all of the walking we did, even Ali was a fan – when it was time to go, she begged me for more - “But I want to stay at The New Mall for FOREVER!!”
Both Railroad Park and The Shops at Grand River are great additions to Birmingham and the surrounding area – I’m thrilled to see our city growing and changing!
Tannehill Historical State Park is a wonderful family-friendly place where adults and children alike will have lots of fun. It is located on 1, 500 acres and you can do everything from hiking to camping, to fishing there, with lots more in-between. Located 12 miles southwest of Bessemer, it is a short distance from downtown Birmingham.
My husband grew up near Tannehill and his family camped there many many times. He has wonderful memories of playing with his cousins in the creek and hiking the trails. When we started dating it was one of the first places he shared with me. Now we take our own children there and they love it too!
Tannehill has three campgrounds (ranging from RV to improved to primitive). The way the campgrounds are set up provides a safe family-orientated place to go and relax. Children ride bikes up and down the paths and there is a great playground for younger children. Little children (and tired adults) love to ride the train from one side of the park to the other.
If RV or tent camping isn't for you then you can stay in one of the six rental cabins at the park. They are restored cabins and will give you a feel of how the pioneers lived. You can also visit the Country Church (available for weddings) and the Country School (available for receptions, meetings, reunions, etc...).
In the middle of the park there is a small country store and you feel like you are stepping back in time as you enter. The employees are always so nice and patient as my children decide whether they want Grapicos or root beer for their snack. We like to sit on the porch of the store and watch the children ride by on their bikes.
There is also a wonderful candy shop with homemade candies made right there in the store. You can get a gooey piece of chocolate or Blue Bell ice cream (or both!). Next to the candy store is The Furnace Masters Restaurant. Stop in for some real Southern cooking.
As you hike be sure to check out the Ironworks Furnace and the Ironworks Museum. It has been recently renovated and has a small bookstore and gift shop. Also, be sure to stop by the working Grist Mill to buy some local corn meal.
Tannehill has special events all through the year including Trade Days on the third weekend of every month except December. You can find everything from socks to purses to tools there. Its fun just to go and browse and people-watch. The first and second weekends of December Tannehill hosts a Christmas Village Open House. You don't want to miss it!
So, whether you take a picnic lunch and visit for the day, or take your tent and stay longer, you will love Tannehill. Just don't tell too many people. Its my secret, okay?
Visit www.tannehill.org to see all this great place has to offer!
 |
| Billy's Seafood Market On Bon Secour River, Bon Secour , AL Is Beautiful At Sunset. |
 |
| The Workers At Billy's Seafood Market, Bon Secour, AL Are Helpful And Will Help You Make Selections. |
 | |
| Billy's Seafood Market In Bon Secour, AL Is The Only Open-Air Seafood Market Located On The Bon Secour River. Shrimpers Deliver Their Catch To Billy's Market And To Other Waterfront Markets Along The River. |
 |
| Signs On Cty Rd 10 Foley, AL Direct Guests To Plenty Of Fresh Seafood. |
 |
| Tourists To Gulf Shores, AL Hired Shrimping Charters Prior To BP Oil Spill. |
 |
| The Captain's Galley On The Bon Secour River Was A Favored Restaurant To Enjoy Seafood Prior To BP Oil Spill |
 |
| The Captain's Galley Has Been A Foley, AL Business For 25 Years But Did Not Survive BP Oil Spill. |
 |
| As You Walk Gulf Shores, AL Beaches You Are Struck By Beauty Of Sugary White Sand. |
| Cleaning oil from Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge |
 |
| Freshly Caught Shrimp Bon Secour, AL. |
 |
| Oysters Served "Nude" Wintzells, Orange Beach, AL |
 |
| Royal Red Shrimp Are An Alabama Gulf Coast Pride. |
 |
| Fishing Alabama's Gulf Coast At Gulf Shores Is A Favorite Pastime. |
 |
| You Can See Gulf Shores Beach Boulevard From The Inside Of This Popular Souvenir Shop. |
 |
| This Photo Of A Rainbow Was Taken After A Gulf Shores, AL Storm. |
In November, we’re going to take the opportunity to support UAB’s Sweet on a Cure campaign with our meet-up!
Sweet on a Cure takes place November 8 – 14, where bakeries, cafes, restaurants and catering companies across the Birmingham area will be selling specially designated sweets and donating 100 percent of the proceeds to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center. The funds raised from this fun and exciting event will support leading-edge cancer research at the Cancer Center.
So we will be meeting at one of the participating restaurants, Urban Standard, this Friday, November 12th at 11:30am. And what better excuse to order dessert than that 100% of the proceeds going to Cancer Research??
The address for Urban Standard is:
2320 2nd Ave N
Birmingham, AL 35203
Everyone is welcome – and yes, we have many attenders that are more tweet more than they blog, so please help pass the word around Twitter! The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet.
We always have a fabulous time visiting, so we’d love to see you there!
Be sure to RSVP if you plan on coming so we can save you a seat, but feel free to still come at the last minute as well.
Hope to see you there!
Fox 6 News is launching a new community news feature on their website, myfoxal.com. If you go to their site, you will see a red box to the right that says “Your Neighborhood”. You can change the location so that you can see the news that is directly related to your immediate area or neighborhood!
They are looking for Community Content Providers (CCP’s) for each area, and knew that the blogosphere is a great place to look! They would love to have people write for them that are plugged in and interested in their neighborhood.
And, of course, they'd be glad to have a link to your blog in the post so that you could benefit from extra traffic from their site!
If you’re interested in writing for their site, please contact them at web@wbrc.com.
In November, we’re going to take the opportunity to support UAB’s Sweet on a Cure campaign with our meet-up!
Sweet on a Cure takes place November 8 – 14, where bakeries, cafes, restaurants and catering companies across the Birmingham area will be selling specially designated sweets and donating 100 percent of the proceeds to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center. The funds raised from this fun and exciting event will support leading-edge cancer research at the Cancer Center.
So we will be meeting at one of the participating restaurants, Urban Standard, on Friday, November 12th at 11:30am. And what better excuse to order dessert than that 100% of the proceeds going to Cancer Research??
The address for Urban Standard is:
2320 2nd Ave N
Birmingham, AL 35203
Everyone is welcome – and yes, we have many attenders that are more tweet more than they blog, so please help pass the word around Twitter! The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet.
We always have a fabulous time visiting, so we’d love to see you there!
Be sure to RSVP if you plan on coming so we can save you a seat, but feel free to still come at the last minute as well.
Hope to see you there!
p.s. – If you’d like to guest host (which just means choosing the location and date and committing to being there) the December, January, February or March Meet-Up, please let me know! I’ll have a new baby, so I’ll need all the help I can get!
